Blogs from Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia, Oceania - page 8

We decided not to move on today as Barry is feeling a bit tired after the long drive yesterday. This gives me a chance to do more of the blog and for us just to relax. We did have an outing, though, to the Alice Springs Sunday Market in Todd Mall. We found parking not too far away along the Todd River and walked into the Mall in the middle. It wasn’t a large market but there were quite a few stalls spread along both sides. They included the usual food outlets, photographers selling their prints; crafts; Aboriginal paintings, some nice jewellery (no I didn’t buy any) and some home-made lollies and cakes. I treated Barry to a horrible greasy Kransky sausage in a roll (he loves them – they turn my stomach) and bought us ... read more

I was coughing a lot during the night and the pain is still sharp every time so Barry bullied me into making an appointment for the doctor. Unfortunately, there are none for today and I can’t make one for tomorrow until 8.15 am tomorrow. Odd system. Barry booked us in for a couple more nights and I noticed the “Ghan” timetable on the counter. The receptionist told me that it was in the station this morning and was due to pull out at 12.45pm. We jumped in the car and headed down to the Alice Springs Station, which is tucked away in the industrial area as if they are ashamed of it. Once we got there, we saw that it doesn’t have a raised platform – just a long bitumen area with yellow lines saying keep ... read more

We slept in a bit today and didn’t get moving until about 10am. We then went to look around the CBD of Alice Springs and get Barry’s hair cut. While he did that I started looking around the galleries and tourist shops in Todd Mall. I didn’t get very far before he returned but he put up with the rest of them, under sufferance. There were several places showing Aboriginal art and crafts, much of it similar to other places we’ve seen it and some that were cheaper than usual and looked as if they had been churned out on a conveyor belt as they were almost identical. A few, though, were innovative and colourful and I would have liked a couple but, as with all good works of art, they are hundreds or thousands of ... read more

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. ... read more

Hi there, Waking up less early than the day before, we felt a little less cold but still clothed ourselves really warm for the day. We left the Ayers Rock Resort Campground and went to the Kata tjuta rock, which is not a massive rock like Ayers rock, but actually a few big rocks whivh consist of smaller rocks 'glued' together and they're higher that Ayers rock. After some photograping and walking to it, we went on our way back to Alice Springs. On the way, we stopped to get some groceries, drink a coffee and look at some stores. A little further, we stopped again for lunch and some more photograping of a really big salt lake along the way. After another icecream stop, where I got a smartie popsicle, we drove further to Alice ... read more