No town like Alice

I wish I had written this post on the first day I arrived in Alice Springs because now that I am fully ensconced in the ALIA conference and a bit more acclimatised.

As we flew here from Melbourne the earth got redder and redder which was pretty exciting. Landing on the strip with all the flat red earth around us was pretty special too. Lots of librarians on the plan, imagine what that might mean.


My first impression of the place were of the colours. Lovely ochre and silvery greens of the vegetation and the bright blue of the sky. Surprisingly, it is not really hot here. There is a cool wind blowing. To be honest it is making it a very pleasant place to be. I have been for one swim so it isn't that cold.

Sunrise out of my hotel window overlooking the golf course and some new houses

Carolyn and I walked in to town on our first afternoon and I think we were both shocked at how grotty it is here. Well, it was in Todd Mall, the centre of the town and the place where tourists are encouraged to go. There was an uncomfortable air about the place. Indigenous people sitting around watching us go by, silently trying to will you over to check out a painting they are trying to sell. We went to the mall and it was almost empty and had a bad feel about it. However, things were redeemed when we went a block back and found a vibrant shopping and commercial area full of locals enjoying the shopping and socialising. This was marred by the eruption of a full on punch up between two teenage Aboriginal girls. Just what I thought I might see and so didn't want to. Really sad.


Anyway, the following day we went on a tour as a pre-conference event and again saw a very different part of the place and felt much better about all the cool stuff happening here. Still think the place is really different. All the Aussies we have met (which is many) have all said 'different' to describe the place.


I am getting the hang of the place and am really keen to come back with Jonty and Nic to have a good look around. Things are full on with the conference and we are just not going to get to see the surrounds. There are hills surrounding the town so it feels a bit cosy.

School of the Air 50th anniversary wall of animal paintings by the 114 students enrolled

Supposed to be 21 degrees today. Looking forward to that. Got a bit sun burnt the other day as we walked about even though I had my hat on. More about the Conference later...