Desert Gardens, Art & Airplanes

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Following breakfast the next morning, the train arrived at our destination in Alice Springs. A shuttle took us to our hotel, the Cheifly Alice Springs Resort where we had a few glitches – they had no record of Judy and Mal’s booking, and the car rental place wasn’t answering the phone (again!) All was eventually resolved, and we headed off to the Olive Pink Gardens. These gardens held many desert plants and animals. Like the Canadian prairie scrub, one must look closely to appreciate how nature adapts to such a harsh environment.







The next day we visited the sprawling Alice Springs Desert Park. It was a cross between a zoo, botanical garden and educational centre. Truly worth the price of admission, I saw more species of birds in a few hours than I have ever seen. Just spectacular! (see next post More Birds, Birds, Birds!!!)







After lunch, we drove the short distance to the Art Museum where we wandered around an Aboriginal Art Exhibit which featured 30 different Aboriginal groups, and landscape water colour paintings going back five generations. We also visited an Airplane museum with many old aircraft lovingly restored by enthusiastic volunteers.







At the hotel’s restaurant, we had delightful meals on both nights. The service was a little slow, and a little scattered; however, when one is in ‘The Alice’ one must adjust to the pace of life and enjoy.

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