Outback – Alice Springs

I just remembered that the third season of Survivor was in the Outback? I have to rewatch that.

The airplanes have been a real bonus in that there was another tv screen at my seat on our trip to Alice Springs. I watched Oblivion which had a decent sci fi premise.

Arriving in Alice Springs, we realized that THIS is where things get different in the world! Welcome to the Outback! Walking into the airport we were already getting annoyed with the flies around our heads. Would this be worse while sleeping under the stars?

We hopped onto the shuttle bus to town and ended up at the Alice Springs Motor Inn which is a ten minute walk out of the city centre. The town itself isn’t too large…probably a little smaller than Hearst. Very easy to find your way around the city center.

Alice Springs Motor Inn reminded me of the hotel that Aunt Lana and Uncle Tony had in Spanish, Ontario. Gee was an excellent host and let us know everything we needed to know about the town. It was pretty hot (thirty) so far and he said its around fifty degrees in the summer months! His family enjoy running the Inn and it looked quiet packed while we were there. We loved the rooms and the hospitality. Two thumbs up!

We walked into the city center and witnessed the Aboriginal culture hanging around the local liquor store. Very similar to some Canadian sights. We were informed that Alice Springs is safe enough at night but be prepared for drunks who like to get into a lot of fist fights. Luckily on the last night when we decided to walk home, the only drunk we encountered was the one in the mirror!

The Rock Tours eased some fears of mine as I was worried how I could fit three days clothing in the backpack as well as the mandatory three litres of water for each hike. Luckily they said we could leave things on the bus whenever we headed to a hike for the day. Vero and I went to the local KMart (When is the last time we saw that store?!) and picked up some bags and some snacks. We also picked up our water and some pepperettes which were definitely not the best tasting! I didn’t want them stinking up our bag all trip long so I ditched them.

I decided to bite the bullet and pick up a typical outback hat to cover my head for the trip. We checked out a few stores and settled on a fine kangaroo leather hat for seventy bucks. It was a little pricey but I figured it would be a useful souvenir and I wanted to see if it worked better than my ball cap. I have fallen out of love with souvenirs that don’t have a useful purpose.

I popped it on as soon as we exited the store and felt like a king. Vero thought it looked quite fetching on me.

We walked into the didgeridoo store next door and immediately the owner looks at me and says “You should go to the soup kitchen, am I right?” Or something like that. He was laughing when he said that and all I could think about “What the heck!” Vero started chatting him up but I was so insulted and I thought “This must be a local tourist joke! Get the tourist to spend seventy bucks and look like a chump!” I was ready to return the hat immediately.

When we left the store Vero noted that I was upset. I told her how I couldn’t believe that the guy was making fun of me and my local tourist trap hat. She laughed and said “He was talking to the drunk Aboriginal guy who was leaving the store!” I couldn’t believe it! We had a great laugh after I explained her my viewpoint! I ended up telling this story to the tour group later on and they had a great laugh.

It was around supper time so we decided to try a beer and some wild meats. Luckily we found a great little restaurant with a bushmans plate of kangaroo and camel meats. Kangaroo was good but nothing entirely different than cow beef. The camel sausage was pretty great though. The Coopers Pale Ale was good enough for another to be ordered. Note: We are realizing that food and drink are pricey…nine dollars for a beer.

We headed back to the hotel, packed our bags and Vero listened to my fears of tarantulas, snakes, hiking with too much stuff on my back…she is a great woman in that she pushes me to go on these adventures and also assures me that whatever happens, we will make it through together. Even if it is a snake bite on the ass that she has to suck the venom out of.