Day 82 - Alice & her Springs
Wednesday, August 15, 2012 at 07:14AM I really don’t know how to accurately describe this place, it is a real hotch potch of people & cultures, sure it’s easy to focus on the indigenous people and their way of life in the Alice but there is so much more than that. This place is a mini city, there is everything here that you would need, it has a coles & a woollies, all the fast food chains are here, all the franchises, then you have the tourists, from no star to 5 star, backpackers living & working here & then Mr & Mrs average & their average kids. And it all has to work in a desert where it gets below freezing overnight & very hot during the day!.... so it’s a really interesting place! Get up here one day.
Have a listen to this for a business idea, my son Brad told me this today. Obviously in some indigenous areas alcohol is a major problem, and to overcome it the local community has tried to come up with ways of “Controlling” alcohol sales. So in Alice Springs you cannot purchase alcohol at any drive through bottle shop unless you arrive & leave in a vehicle. So guess what…. A taxi driver came up with the idea to offer to pick people up, drive them through the bottle shop to buy their grog & then drop them off around the corner! I’m not kidding….Brad said that some days the queue waiting to get in the taxi is huge, they wait up the street from the bottle shop & the taxi just drives around & around & around… He charges $10 a head to drive them through the bottle shop! And then drop them off around the back of the bottle shop!
Not much else to say tonight, spending a couple of days with Brad & then on to Coober Pedy for the last week of work for this trip……Yaaaaayyyyyyy!!!!
Reader’s Comments
None, zilch, Nadah, zero, you all must be busy?
Annie’s Blog
I’m in training for the Lympics, today I did heaps of laps of the Box on Wheels park! I crawled to the bathroom, onto the footpath, into the camp kitchen, I even got up this big gutter today all by myself! I face planted on the way down but that doesn’t matter! I reckon I’ll be the fastest crawler in the world in 2030…..Crawling is a Lympic sport isn’t it????
Saw Brad again today, he picked me up and carried me….he is soooo tall, I hope I grow big like Brad one day….. I don’t want his hair though, he has hairy back & chest & legs…I hope I don’t get that!
Tomorrow we are going out for the whole day, I’m going to tell Mum to buy Dad’s Fathers Day present here….I reckon he needs a good hat, I’m going to look for one with crocodiles tooths in it for him….I reckon he would suit it. What do you think?
Sleep well peoples
AnnieInAVan….XXXX
Reader Comments (9)
Hey Guys - Mum said to naff off (or something like that?) as she's a party animal.....NOT! Love the recent pic of you Annie on FB . . kinda looks like you've been adventuring around the new digs? Find anything fun to chew on or yell at? I'm really good at yelling at all kinds of people and things. Makes people look at you no mater what they are doing - Awesome fun x
Geez you're getting so much bigger now and can't wait to chase you all around the park in YG when you guys make it home... Gotta go as it's late and I need to sleep . . so does mum - still catching up from her party night!!!!
All the best xx
Geeze, that's one sick b*****d, using his taxi to make money out of other people's misery. Go slash his tyres James!!!
Please make sure you go to the desert Park. Run jointly by the native Council and National parks. Especially watch the eagle flying and maybe listen to some of the Elders talking.
I love AS. Will you be there for the Henly On Todd regatta? Soooo Australian!
Geez you have coverered some ground now, and nearly at an end. Time to book in the master for rat detailing. Hope brad didn't think of getting his taxi licence, might be a stealthy assassin on wheels slashing tyres in AS soon, if not already.
Hi Annie, issy says a big thanks for my present and looks forward to seeing you again soon. Abi also says hi. They both want to see and play with you and panda. Don't fall down any mines in CP.
Ps, made some ripper pork last night with the best crackles ever.
Later dudes, oh have you seen any camel buts running around. Haha
Hmmmm that taxi driver is so out of order! I wonder if he is breaking any laws or if they can make a law to stop that from happening? Why not get a mini van and make a real killing!
Hope you have fun in Alice - never made it there and is on my list of places to visit.
Annie - get your Dad a didg to play. I reckon he would be quite good at it.
Ness - Cooper Peddy - make sure you get an Opal to go with the "Purls". Love Liz xxx
I cant believe your trip is almost over!! (I'm sure you're all probably looking forward to getting back to your own environment, bed, pillow, lounge, back yard etc).
What are we (well me!) going to do without your daily blog James!! .. I think you should do this as a regular thing (maybe once a month, an update on the Wood family for those that don't live Vic). It's the last thing I do each night once hubby & bubs are tucked up in bed (I normally read the blog from my phone in bed & often wake up hubby with my laughing or sighing with envy!).
Glad the last stop of your tour is in SA - yay! SA rocks! (not really!) :)
Message for Annie
Hi Annie, It's Ashwin here! Did you realise that both our names start with the same letter? Mummy said that we are lucky to be at the top of the alphabet, she also said that when we go to school, we may not be too happy that our names start with the letter A as they always start from the top of the alphabet when they do the injections :(
I think im getting new teeth as I am in lot of pain (you're lucky you nearly have all your teeth). I tried a new trick on mummy the other day, I was looking for something to put in my mouth as my gums were hurting and I grabbed her finger to put in my mouth and bit on it really hard! Mummy screamed and said that I nearly made her cry, I thought it was funny! Even when mummy puts teething gel I bite her finger .. I think it's really funny! How are you going with screaming at the people at the caravan park?? It sounds like so much fun! I can't wait to try it!
Bye for now your friend Ashwin xxx
P.s Mummy says goodbye too!
We went to Alice last June for the Finke desert race, we stayed at the motel / camp ground on the way into Alice, near where the race was. It was an interesting experience going into town! From the 50 cent toilets where you pay 50 cents and get a coloured ticket so you can use the toilet all day if you need there cleaned regularly and it stops the aboriginal people from sleeping in them. The bottle shops were interesting too, you have to show ur ID and they scan it before they sell you any grog and there is a limit to what you can buy.
Bojangles pub/tavern is a great place to go for a meal and they have so much to see in there, they also LIVE STEAM to the internet so if you tell us when your there we can go to there web site and watch you eat tea!!! I also took Cameron on a camel ride while we were there (Jack too I guess he was just bumping around in my tummy then!)
James you should really get up there for the Finke desert race you would be in your element.
I found the aboriginal people just sat and rested / drank / got together in the most unusual places! Traffic islands, parks, dry river bed, side of the road etc Alot of them just seemed to not have much to do.
Hope your all having an awesome time catching up with Brad I'm sure he's changed alot
xxT
Make that June last year not last June!! I went to Alice in June 2011! Was gonna go this year but Jack is a pain in the A__E and didn't fancy flying to alice with him! LOL