Day 10 - The Red Centre - Sunday in Alice

---

Hi everyone, we are still in Alice Springs. It started with Xavier feeding the local parrots. We ended up being surrounded by bright green parrots and local collar doves. Today is Sunday and we thought it would be good to start the day by attending mass at the local Catholic Church called Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. It was interesting to see the different cultures coming together at church. Close to half the church were of Indian descent. Another large contingent of Asian background and the rest were Anglo Saxon. No Maltese and no Aboriginals. It appears there is another mass at 11 am for the aboriginal community. After mass we headed off to Todd Mall where there was a street market. Not impressed with what was on offer. We had a lunch there but it felt like we had to try and find a stall that was suitable given the lack of choice. A quick visit to the Territory Information centre and after this Paul and his family went back to the camp as the grandchildren wanted to swim for the rest of their day. A holiday for them is simply enjoying the simple things in life irrespective of where it is. It just happens it is hot enough for them to swim here so this is what they do. Xavier and Tracey and my wife and I went to Anzac Hill. This is similar to our Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne but this hill overlooks the town of Alice. Alice has a population of about 25,000. Anzac Hill has a 360degree view of the town. Not very big at all in the scheme of things. Having said that it has all that you need. A Mall, McDonalds, KFC, Toyota dealership and even a Ford dealership, plenty of truck depots and even a train station (the Ghan stops here twice a week on its way through to Darwin or Adelaide). After looking over the town we headed down to the Northern Territory School of the Air. The school caters to all of the children who live in remote locations in the Northern Territory including some areas in Western Australia and South Australia. We sat to watch a movie and also watched a tape of a real lesson including interactions with each of the children. The government provides the children with satellite dishes and all of the equipment to support this. After this we headed back to our camp to plan tomorrow and Tuesday..

---