I am back in Vancouver for a few weeks already. I really wish my posts are all written and my photos all shared before my return, but that’s not the case, and I still want to write about them, so bear with me. Allow me to reminisce for a few more weeks.
This post is dedicated to Lisa.
I have heard from multiple sources that there isn’t much to do in Alice Springs. I agree, there isn’t, but I manage to squeeze a few things in: Olive Pink Botanic Gardens, Alice Springs School of the Air, Alice Springs Telegraph Station, and Heavitree Gap.
Alice Springs, Love it or Hate it
My tour guide for Uluru looks like Jay Leno, so I will refer to him as Young Leno. During one of the campfire nights, Young Leno spoke of Alice Springs as one of those places that people either love it or hate it. He initially hated it and wanted to leave, but after he left, something did not feel right. He’d end up wanting to come back.
The bus driver – who drove what seemed like the only route in Alice Springs (it came every 1 or 1.5 hour)– expressed the same fondness. He moved from NSW (if I recall correctly) and lived here for over 20 years. Why would people move here? I wonder.
Olive Pink Botanic Garden
I quite like this garden, mostly for the view up top of Meyers Hill. It is a small one.
Alice Springs School of the Air
Children who live in the outback and don’t have access to schools can enrol in the School of the Air. They attend classes via the webcam (or back in the day, via the radio) where a teacher would teach them from the studio here in Alice Springs.
Alice Springs Telegraph Station Historical Reserve
The bus driver suggests that I visit the Telegraph Station, an hour walk away from the School of Air.
Heavitree Gap
With my tour mates, we walked to Heavitree Gap to see the Rock Wallabies. There used to be a hotel near the Gap. They would feed the wallabies every evening, but the hotel is no longer in business and feeding the wallabies is no longer allowed. Luckily, we were still able to see the wallabies.
Random Picture
My conclusion
I can see why Alice Springs is attractive: the red colours, the layered mountain ranges, the plants that strive to live in this desert– dead yet so alive, like the struggle of its people. Maybe it’s a sense of hope, a sense of unbreakable pride, of the wild, untouched outback that keeps people coming back.
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