Alice Springs
Flew to Alice Springs via Adelaide for a couple of days of work there – was a great flight in one of the smaller Fokker 100 Virgin jet planes.
As we flew closer to Alice Springs, the scenery became more and more interesting.
Landed and found the warm air beautiful to breath – it encouraged you to enjoy full breaths. Felt good.
Drove in with a taxi through “The Gap” - a gap in a rocky barrier of hills and checked into the hotel. I didn’t have as much time for sight-seeing as I’d have liked as there was a lot of work I needed to do – so I hit the books and worked, stopping for a parmy and a beer at the pub before continuing.
The training sessions were both teaching our course Organisation with Outlook for the NT Correctional Services over two days, which is always a productive interesting and beneficial session.
I worked on Thursday evening but went for a walk to see some sights on Friday after the training session.
The second-hand store.
Walked to the Olive Pink Botanical Garden and enjoyed a hamburger there – the buns were pretty average but the marinated chicken in the burger was amazing. A local wallaby came by...
Extremely cute.
Then it hopped up onto the seat opposite me at my table. I could see this little wallaby head and shoulders poking above the table, like it was having sitting having lunch with me.
Even more extremely cute.
I went to take a photo but before I could, it hopped up onto the table.
Not good. You can’t let wildlife eat human food, and anyone who knows me well knows that you don't get stuff from me just because you're cute..
So I pulled my plate away from the table with one hand, and with my other arm gently pushed against the wallaby figuring it would jump off the table like a cat.
Nope. Stoic wallaby. I didn’t want to press harder in case it bit me. I don’t want a case of wallaby-rabies (wallarabies..?)
A tourist took a photo of this which she sent to me later. This is what I look like when refusing to share a hamburger with a wallaby…
So I go to get up but by lowering my arm, the wallaby walks straight down into my lap. Again, extremely cute but no hamburger for wallaby.
A park ranger had watched this and came over to scoot the wallaby away.
So that’s my Crocodile Dundee story.. more of a Wallaby Hamburger story..
After that, I walked up a nearby hill and took these shots.
Found a bench that had been put there and finished reading my mate’s book (www.GoneDragon.com).
Saw some beautiful colourful birds flying around..
..then walked down then back to the hotel via the Todd River.
Next morning, drove back to the airport in a taxi through The Gap…
…and while waiting, saw a 1920 Rolls Royce which had been used up there until the mid-50s with a beautiful engine.
Finally, more of the view flying out..
Loved Alice Springs – hoping to work there again in the future, and hoping to ride up from Adelaide in the middle of 2018 with a good mate so we can ride around Uluru and take it all in.
In the meantime, not long until I’m back on the bike - two fists in the wind with a few days to ride a loop from Canberra to somewhere next week.