Wednesday in Alice Springs

Laughing Kookaburro

Gray Currawong

Pied Butcher Bird

We have been hearing these wonderful birds sing in the mornings and even in the middle of the night. Jim finally got a couple pictures of our bird neighbors. The black and white ones are Pied Butcher Birds and the grayish one is a Gray Currawong. We keep hearing a Laughing  Kookaburro and at last got a picture a picture. The sound really does sound like a wild laugh! The porch and the openness of Bill and Katherine’s house really gives you the feeling of living outside in nature.

This morning we were transported to the airport by Hughes Limo. We had  a really nice and knowledgeable driver. He found the house with no trouble and even got up the shared driveway to the parking area. The traffic into the city was just what you would expect on a Wednesday morning- thick and fast, but it all flowed with no problems. We saw the port area where we docked when we were here last trip.  Got to the airport in about 45 minutes, checked our one bag ( and there is no charge for baggage) and went off in search of coffee. Security was not near as serious as in the US. We didn’t  even have to take off our shoes.

We have always heard that Qantas Airlines was really good…and we discovered for ourselves that they do a very nice job. The flight was about 2 ½ hours and there was a free movie and free morning snack. We munched on a hot sweet potato and capsicum quiche. Had to look on the Kindle to get definition for capsicum. They are  a tropical American pepper plant of the nightshade family. Some are sweet and some are spicy. We think the quiche had spicy capsicum. Many of the pizzas seems to also feature capsicums.

We got water and a coke and could have also had coffee or tea. When they brought the drinks they also brought a recycle bag with clear instructions. We were to give the attendant the cans, cups and bottles, and put all other trash in the bag for recycle. We learned that Qantas has a goal to reduce waste to the landfill by 25% in 2011. So far they are recycling 390 tons of paper per year, 200 tons of bottles per year, and donating Qantas uniforms to charity to be used in the manufacturing of pillows and mattresses. Nice to have a tasty snack and feel like we were doing something good for the environment.

The 2000 km flight was over very barren land that was mostly red and didn’t appear to have much in the way of development. As we neared the end of the flight the land became spotted with some green patches and some trees.

McDonnnell Range from our balcony

We arrived at the tiny Alice Springs airport and were met by our driver Denis- a really chatty man filled with lots of information. The town is surrounded by the small McDonnell Mountain Range which we can see from our balcony. We’re hoping to enjoy being out there later this evening when the temperature drops a  bit. The air is rich with the aroma of eucalyptus trees. 

Eucalyptus Trees

This area was explored for the purpose of setting up telegraph lines by John MacDouall Stuart. He came from Adelaide in 1862. By 1872 the telegraph was complete and it then took 7-8 hours for a message to go across the continent with Morse code. It took 10 weeks before that time.

Alice Springs from the air

Alice Springs has NO spring. What they thought at the time of discovery was a spring was actually where the Todd River came to the surface. There are 28,000 people who live here and they make their living by tourism and government jobs.

Alice Springs is the heart of the Aboriginal People and has a famous cultural center and also some interesting art for sale. Historically Australia has treated the Aboriginal in ways to ways very similar to how we treated Native Americans in our early history.

This is a very laidback area. We are going to eat in a Thai Restaurant in the hotel and Jim asked if his shorts and knit shirt complete with sandals would be OK. They said it was fine. “We only worry about flip flops and no shirt.” A stressless life sounds appealing!