Alice where the f#*# is Alice?
Photographs show Gordon –
1. Gordon rowing in the River Todd- 2. Gordon and the Trains of Alice Springs
3. Gordon leaning on a sign prohibiting Alcohol
4. Gordon showing the cultural walk of Alice- a tad confusing as points in both directions
5 Gordon showing the wildlife of Alice ( a shopping trolley)
ALICE SPRINGS
Oh My God Alice Springs has got to be the most hot – dry – boring – godforsaken town in the history of the earth. There are no springs in Alice Springs! There is not alot of anything in Alice Springs!
It is a flat town – that boasts of having a river – The River Todd that only flows ONCE a year. Other than that it is a flat dry sandy, dusty hole. And so is the river bed.
There are supermarkets, there is a pizza takeaway, numerous ART shops & galleries showing over inflated priced works of Aboriginal art – but sold , managed and owned by white people.
It has a cinema- with pre adverts before the film being shown ( yes I went to the cinema for summit to do) showing the JOYS of Alice Springs. This one is for my sister Elaine…it reminded me of Tywyn cinema when we were kids and I was expecting to see the 30 year old film of us in the advert for the swimming pool!!!!
Its saving grace was a bar called BOJANGLES with a live web cam which I made use of – thanks gang for those who tried to get to see me…..live
The other saving grace was a fab cafe that served goregous Baklava and coffee.
The saddest part about Alice was the Aboriginal People – found wandering the streets.
I have told you about this in a previous e-mail and my thoughts – but it saddened me to see this amazing looking race of people, reduced to wandering around aimlessly , arguing in the street, looking totally out of place in this shabby town. Police wagons with cages – regularly picked a person up off the floor where many had collapsed in a heap- due to alcohol drugs whatever. ( I saw this happen at least three times )
It was devastating to see. No answers but I did hear this from a guide called BT . BT was the guide who took us on a bus 1500km to Adelaide :_
Aboriginals dont count in numbers – they only have words for 1, 2 then many – which explains why many in the shops were at a loss as to how much to give in the shops – garages whatever ( saw thisa few times with frustrated shop keepers getting impatient with them )
1 in 5 are diabetic ( due to western diet)
1 in 7 have an addiction problem
Their stomaches are not made to take 3 meals a day- their culture thrived on insects – bugs bush tucker every three days
They believe education should take place at home – with the elders- not in schools- hence the lack of success of school programmes
Yes there is a great deal of crime – robbery – and seemingly violence- but all of this seems to be related to alcohol. In one area of the ULURU – no Aboriginal is allowed to buy alcohol- and if you want to buy alcohol you require a special permit.
As BT the guide said- why do we have to impose what we belive is right and proper on them ?- we have taken everything they had. Who needs the education here!
No answers – just what I saw in the Town like Alice. Terribly sad and difficult problem
We said goodbye to our swag friends Mark and Lisa and we were really sad to see them off to Cairns – but hey thats travelling. Despondent – left bereft in Alice Springs ,Gordon and myself had to entertain ourselves for two days in the dustbowl.
The photographs show what we got up to . says it all!!!!!!!!!
Tags: Travel
wanderingyoz