Alice Springs - 17th to 20th September

Alice Springs is a fascinating town in its history. Originally just a telegraph station on the North-South line from Adelaide to Darwin, it was a vital link in communications with Britain and the rest of the world. The telegraph system meant messages to London that previously took three months to get there and back could be transmitted in a matter of days. The name came from the Alice Spring, a waterhole by the station 3km north of the town (originally called Stuart after an explorer). The spring, in turn, was named after the postmaster's wife, Alice. It's around 1500km to Darwin, and the same to Adelaide, and those two points are the closest coastal towns, and the closest settlements with more than about 10,000 people. A lot of this history is told on a very informative and well presented tour of the telegraph station, which I took yesterday.

Among Alice's attractions are a Desert Park (which Bill Bryson dryly remarks upon, exclaiming disbelief at a recreation of authentic desert environments in the desert), a Botanical garden sycophantically devoted to the woman who set it up, and even the reports in the ark only manage to thinly disguise how cantankerous she was - part of dealing with the harsh conditions, I suppose - and an annual regatta which has to be cancelled if there's any water in the river. The Todd river flows very rarely, and once didn't flow for 8 years. In fact, they say if you see it flow three times you're a local. This year it flowed three times between January and March alone, s there's a lot more locals out there these days, but right now it's dry as a bone.

Waking up in the dorm at Annie's Place just in time, I went out to meet Danie and Yoko for breakfast. We wandered up Todd Street Mall, and picked up a substantial breakfast. We bumped into Susan too, who was exploring the town. We all learned that Susan had vaccinated chickens for a living in Perth, and when she described the skills this required we were a bit surprised. Susan is a very quiet young woman from Taiwan, and the thought of her carrying 7 chickens in each hand didn't sit right somehow. Anyway, after sitting enjoying the busker on the bench across the street, we parted ways, and I explored the town for myself. The view from Anzac Hill was a great way to get oriented, though it's difficult to get lost in Alice Springs, and there were numerous places selling aboriginal art and didgeridoos. You get the impression that a number of Aborigines are able to make a living from this, as they should - it's good stuff. The sad thing is, the vast majority of Aborigines seem to be very poor indeed. The crowds outside the hospital alone are testament to that. This morning's local paper reported on some YouTube threads against a video containing racial slurs from a local sports match, and seemed to suggest that there were still a lot of problems in that area.

Across from the hosital there's an excellent secondhand bookshop, where the lady who runs it is so familiar with her products that she was able to turn straight to the section on Alice Springs in "Down Under" by Bill Bryson. "He was a bit harsh with Alice" she said. I read it later. He said it was a bit dull, and peole come here largely because it has a reputation for being hard to get to, which is absurd now it has a commercial airport. He also said people came because outback life is harsh and gritty, and right now, Alice is full of American chain shops. He also said that, despite all that he liked it rather a lot (though he liked it more after a few drinks). I agree with all of that, and don't think it's unfair or harsh at all.

Back at the hostel, Scott, a reptile expert from North Sydney, is staying overnight to make his way to Darwin. He's been trying to get there for years, but something always comes up. "Last year my brother died" he said. "That was inconsiderate of him" I replied, as sensitively as possible. "Yeah, he always was a selfish bastard". After the uncomfortable pause that followed, Scott said he was heading down to the bar "so I'll see you down there later". It was a statement rather than a question, so I went. There, Evan from New Orleans, Mark from England and Scott and I put a few beers away, with a German girl called Caroline and a Dutch girl whose name I've already forgotten, and Rio from Japan. Eventually the male contingent returned to our room and played Uno with a bottle of bourbon and some Coke. The room was a ten bed dorm, and there were six of us playing. One other guy was out for the evening. So we were a little surprised when 4 guys from Hong Kong arrived for the night. The problem was compounded when two Irish guys returned from their evening out. Eventually someone was called up from the bar to sort it out - it turned out the guys from Hong Kong had booked for the following night, or otherwise had been booked for it in error - and we got a good night's sleep. Scott, on the other hand, full of bourbon and Coke, decided now was a good time to hit the road. So he jumped back in his car and disappeared. Being half asleep when he left I did say "What, now?" and when he replied "yeah, this is the best time, the roads will be quiet", I hadn't the presence of mind to argue.

Most of the rest of my time in Alice has been pretty uneventful but it does have a certain charm. You kind of want to stay here longer just to see if anything happens. Maybe it's also because you want to see whether the river "flowing" is the same as rivers flowing everywhere else, or it's just a damp streak of mud down the middle. Maybe it's to see whether the busker knows the middle section to Easy by the Commodores or not (sadly he was interrupted halfway through by an admiring member of the public). Maybe it's because there's a rock festival here this weekend. Anyway, I'll be on the train to Darwin in a few hours either way, and I'll leave feeling glad I came to Alice, even if I can't quite say why.