Stage Two: Cairns to Alice Springs

Monday, Nov. 22

I was awake early so I hopped on-line to check that nothing had changed with our flight out of Cairns to Alice Springs.  Nothing had.  Cynthia woke around 07.00 and I made us some tea.  Our excitement level was beginning to build again as we anticipated the flight to Alice Springs and what the town held in store for us.  However, there were some things to attend to before we boarded the plane.  We had to return our rental car to Cruising Cars and get them to take us to the airport.  We then had to go through the check-in stages.  We hoped those things would go well and saw no reason why they shouldn’t.

The car drop off went very smoothly after we’d filled and returned the car.  Matt, one of the employees and an ex-Devon (Exeter) resident, drove us to the airport.  We had about a ten minute wait at bag check-in then went off to get a “short black” at the coffee counter.  Cairns terminal is bright, lively and modern.  It was bustling with passengers but was never crowded or inconvenient.  Once again Qantas staff had made our entrance easy and quick.  Our flight was up on the departure board as the 11.30 to Alice Springs, boarding at gate 21 at 11.05.  We relaxed, sipped our short blacks and looked forward to boarding.  We’d had a great time in Cairns and would come back at the drop of a hat.

At 11.05 precisely, as Jack Webster would say, Qantas opened our departure gate and we cattle streamed on board.  Our seats in row fifteen, were a joy to behold for they were at the emergency exit.  As I read through the instructions for handling the emergency doors, I knew that Cynthia could manage to yank the door out of the fuselage in the event of an emergency, even if I couldn’t.  However, another potential problem to us staying in these fine seats now reared its head.  I’d noticed that as a hearing aid wearer, I would have to declare myself to the flight attendant and we could possibly be relocated elsewhere in the aircraft.  I contemplated removing my ears but my conscience got the better of me. Slowly, reluctantly, I raised my hand and drew the attention of the male attendant near us. I pointed out the problem.  “Can you hear me now?”, he asked, to which I replied in the affirmative.  “You’ll be fine,” he told me and I felt like giving him a hug. What I didn’t tell him was that once the engines roared away and cabin noise upgraded, there was a distinct chance I might not hear him command me to “evacuate!” in the event of an emergency.  Cynthia was secretly glad too I think, for she really didn’t want me to be moved to the side of the pilot, while the co-pilot got my seat next to her.  We buckled into the seats and we were off, smack dab on time at 11.30.

The take-off took us out over the ocean in a broad, sweeping left turn as we climbed.  The sky was clear and we got a good idea of the enormity of the Barrier reef as we circled over it.  Varying shades of blue enabled us to pick out the channels between the coral.  My mind thought back to the biography I’d read in prep for the trip, about the life of Captain Cook and the incident where the Endeavour, his ship, had been holed in these waters.  He put ashore close to what is now Cooktown and stayed there for six-eight weeks I believe while repairs to the hull were completed.  He climbed the nearest hill, and from it gained some knowledge of what he had bumped into.  He was never to make the same mistake again.

Drinks were served on the flight and I had my usual orange juice,  Over the years of flying long distances, I’ve found it best for my body if I limit myself to water or O.J. with perhaps one of those mini bottles of wine with the main meal.  Once the drinks round was complete, Qantas once again surprised us with a lovely lunch of sandwiches, fruit, dessert and coffee.  Actually it wasn’t really a surprise as I had checked to see if there was anything being served on this flight before we boarded.  We needed to know whether we should be eating in the airport or not. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that they were going to feed us at all on a 2 hour and 20 minute flight.  It seemed no time following the meal, that the pilot announced his starting the descent.  The landscape was much greener than I’d expected.  I learned later that was due to record rainfalls in months gone by.  I also learned that The Alice sits on the largest source of water in Australia, a massive aquifer below the town.  About 28 000 souls depend on that water for their living.

Soon we were on the ground and leaving the plane via the front exit door, to the tarmac below.  Wow!  As we stepped out of the air conditioning of the plane, 36C hit us in the face.  It was like a furnace on the tarmac.  Quickly we stepped out the distance to the terminal and into the cool of the air conditioning again.  We got our bags, boarded a shuttle bus dropping off at local hotels, and 7Km later we were at the Heavitree Gap Lodge. Tasha, the young woman behind the desk welcomed us and got us sorted out with keys and info.  We also quizzed her about us driving to Uluru and back in a day.  She urged us strongly NOT to do that as it would be too far and too dangerous in one day.  She told us to leave the driving to the pros and take a one day tour.  We booked with a local company called Emu Run tours.  They will pick us up at 06.05 on Wednesday and return us by midnight.  The trip includes a light breakfast, lunch, a tour of the rock, and dinner.  We will be shattered when we get back to motel, but at least we will be able to sleep in the next morning.  Stay posted for that one.

Reception at Heavitree Lodge

Hand-fed wallabies at the lodge

Our room was plain but clean and completely adequate for our needs.  However, we did notice a number of one centimetre long brown bugs crawling around in the room, one of which nipped me. I went back to Tasha at reception and mentioned this to her.  She told me that due to the high rainfall they’d received in Alice lately, the bugs were everywhere.  She suggested we should place a towel at the base of the door to the room, to block the entrance of the beetles to the room.  I should have been suspicious at that, when she didn’t offer to get cleaning or maintenance to do something about clearing the ones already in the room, The hotel has a store and a liquor store, so once we’d  dumped the bags we got goodies for breakfast and some beer.  I think we’ll eat here tonight at the motel as they have a steak dinner for ten dollars.  Tomorrow morning we will ride the 09.00 shuttle from the hotel to the town and spend the day looking around The Alice.  We’ll let you know what happens.

Tuesday, Nov. 23.

When I got up this morning around 07.00, I checked the damp towel across the floor at the door to our apartment.  We’d noticed some wee beasties crawling around in the room yesterday.  When I lifted the towel, and shook it, about ten creepy crawlies descended to the floor and I was immediately in chase mode.  I’d cleaned up the squad in a few minutes and went on to make us some tea.  It was a good start to the day.

After breakfast we caught the 09.00 shuttle to downtown Alice.  I was once again surprised beyond compare.  I think I was stuck back in the days of the movie, for I expected to see tin shacks and dusty streets.  How foolish can one get?  Here was a gleaming, bustling town of 28 000 with malls, Subways, Target Stores, Safeway etc.  There are at least three malls in town and we enjoyed their coolness periodically.  We strolled the length of Todd Mall, which is open air, pedestrian,  and more like shopping in fifth street Courtenay.

Todd pedestrian mall Alice Springs

It had lots of interesting places to see containing aboriginal art and locally manufactured goods.  We visited the Flynn Memorial church, built to the glory of God and as a memorial to John Flynn, who was famous here for his tremendous achievements for the people of the outback.  From there we walked a couple of blocks in the now 37C heat, always keeping in the shade when possible and sipping water.  We landed at the Flying Doctor centre and explored it a little.

Outside the Flying Doctor Centre in Alice

It’s still active and attending to the needs of those in trouble in the outback.  We had a very nice lunch in their café then walked back to a different mall to get some food supplies.  We bought 2 litre water bottles each, ready for our trip to Uluru tomorrow, some fruit and some more cereal.  We were in good shape for tomorrow’s grunt. Finally, we made our way back to the shuttle pick-up point at the Aurora Hotel, twin sister of our motel.  On the way back, we passed the original jailhouse in Alice.  It is a small brick building which now sits outside the town’s modern police station.  Apparently before the building was raised by someone called Jack Williams, prisoners were held, for the most minor offences, in a rough, desert oak shack, out of town near our motel.  We relaxed in the cool lobby of the Aurora and waited for Scott, our driver, to appear.  When we got back, we spent the PM in the pool. We had our dinner in the hotel’s tavern.  After that we decided to have a reasonably early night in anticipation of the massive trip to Uluru on Wednesday and its 06.00 start.

Wednesday, Nov. 24.

I was up and about at 05.15.  I had spent a night of clock-watching, which is typical for me whenever we have to depart early from a place.  Our bus to Uluru was to pick us up at 06.00.  I made some tea for us and gave Cynthia one.  We knew we’d receive breakfast on the bus, so we didn’t bother with getting ourselves some in the room.  I checked the towel at the back of the door.  Once again it was full of beetles trying to join us.  I shook them out outside noting the hordes that were already out there in the light from the emergency lighting on the building.  We made our way out into the parking lot ready to catch the bus.  I wondered what our room would look like when we returned from Uluru, as it was impossible to leave a towel behind the door as we left.

At 06.05, the mini bus from Emu Run Tours rolled into the lot and we boarded.  The driver took us to join the highway to await the arrival of the big coach from Emu Run Tours.  Within minutes they arrived.  We were their last pick up.  There were 28 of us on board, a cosmopolitan group, of all ages.

06.00...Waiting for the tour bus

Lochie, a big beefy guy, and Tic a smaller gent with a Craig Stadler, walrus type ‘stache were our drivers.  Tic gave each of us a breakfast pack as we boarded.  It contained a juice box, cheese and cracker packs, and an apple.  It was perfectly adequate for our needs and we were content.  Tic was at the wheel and as we left Alice he mentioned this was the first of two right turns in the next 400+ Km.

Emu Run Tour Bus

He told us a little of the day’s outline as we rolled out of town and then left us to sleep if we could.  I couldn’t.  The vegetation was incredibly green, and as we rolled along, I thought of how much this landscape reminded me of southern Texas and the time we’d spent motoring there. Two hours later we pulled into Erldunda for a bathroom break and to stretch our legs.  At the service station there were gas pumps, a restaurant, snack bar and a good. clean bank of toilets for the hordes to use.

Back Packers' vehicle at Erldunda service station

30 minutes after arriving at Erldunda we were leaving and making the second of the two right turns to take us to Uluru.  Lochie, who had been sleeping in the sleep compartment at the rear of the coach, was now at the wheel and Tic had gone back to get some kip.  This was to be the pattern of driving for the rest of the day, two hours at the wheel or sleeping for two hours.

Along the way, and almost to Uluru, we paused for another break.  This one was a leg stretcher and an opportunity to photograph Mt.Connor.

Mt. Connor, the toothbrush, brush on right, handle on right

 

Apparently this massive monolith is older that Uluru, but doesn’t receive the same attention as the latter as it is not made of the same red sandstone and doesn’t change colour as does Uluru according to the light conditions.  Nevertheless, it was very impressive even when viewed from the highway and quite a distance away.  After another two hours on the road, we spotted the great red dome of Uluru on the horizon and excitement began to build on the coach.

First glimpse of Uluru

Our driver also pointed out Kata Tjuta (formerly called the Olgas), another group of outcrops, and it was to them that the bus went first.

About to walk at Kata Tjuta

On the way to them, we visited Yulara Resort.

At Yulara Village...very, very expensive

Yulara is a complex of a few two storey hotels.  It is incredibly expensive to stay there and the resort has its own airport into which Qantas flies.

We motored on to Kata Tjuta and learned the history of their discovery by white explorers, though, of course, the Aborigines had known of them, and Uluru, forever.  The Olgas and Ayers Rock, named by white explorers were re-named by the natives when these lands were assigned back to them and recognized as sacred territory. Kata Tjuta, which in the local Aboriginal dialect means ‘many heads’ lie about 50 km from Uluru and to the west.  We spent some time there and on re-boarding the bus, we were given our lunch packs to eat on the bus while we headed to Uluru.  The packs were good.  Each had a large fresh ham bun with tomato and cucumber slices, and lettuce.  Another drink box was inside along with granola bars and cookies.  By the time we got back to Uluru, the contents of the packs had been devoured.  We spent the afternoon (in 38C conditions) visiting the cultural centre at the park, and doing a couple of base walks and talks (of no more that 30 minutes each).  Visitors to the rock are asked by the aborigines not to take pictures at their cultural centre as it is a sacred place for them.  All of the art work there is also copyrighted.  They have the right to confiscate your camera if you do take pics, and you will be escorted from the park.  If you are on a bus tour, they will take you back to your bus, though how they ‘jail’ you there I don’t know.  We all complied and left our cameras on the bus.  However, once we left the centre, we were free to click away on our cameras to our hearts’ desires.

As  in all national parks anywhere in the world, visitors are asked to leave only footprints and to take only pictures from the park areas.  The native people here also say that if you remove rock samples or samples of any kind from the park, bad luck will follow you. It is interesting that in the cultural centre, they have a ”Sorry Book”.  This book is made up of letters from visitors to the park who did take stuff away, only to find that unfortunate things happened in their lives afterwards.  Would those things have happened anyway?  Was it all coincidence?  You be the judge of that.  Personally, I don’t believe that, but wouldn’t take stuff anyway.  Obviously those visitors felt strongly enough to write letters of apology back to the park and to the local people.  I wonder if their fortunes changed after the letters had been received and apologies accepted?

Visitors are also asked not to walk/climb on the rock for a couple of reasons. 1.  It is an aboriginal sacred place and 2.  it is unsafe to walk on the rock.  35 people have died while climbing on the rock.  The park provides scheduled tours around the base of the rock, but they were cancelled when we were there as the temperature was over 36C  (as I mentioned earlier the mercury had hit 38 at lunchtime when we were there) Our walks, done with the drivers as guides, were good, and informative.  We learned legends of the native people and about how they survived in and around the rock.  At one lovely waterhole, with water 17 feet deep at the base of the rock, vegetation was so lush it was almost like jungle, and wee flowers abounded everywhere.

Waterhole at base of Uluru...17 feet deep.

We spotted a large owl asleep on her nest.  The drivers knew she’d recently had young ones.  She looked quite comfy up there in the foliage as we sweated it out down below.

Beefy Lochie, one of our guides and drivers

About 16.00 we boarded the bus and were taken to an area called Sunset.  In this large parking area, each of the tour operators has a designated area in which to feed their guests.  The area also offers tourists a fine view of the setting sun’s light striking the rock and changing its colour.  Our bus rolled in, and within minutes Lochie and Tic had opened the sides of the bus and hauled out a large barbecue, tables on which to set up a buffet, enough plastic chairs for one each and all the food we were to consume.

Supplies under bus storage..extra water, food for meals and the BBQ

They opened up a cooler containing champagne bottles and glasses.  Soon we all had our glasses charged while the lads cooked super bratwurst bangers and laid out about 12 different salads.

BBQ is ready in the shade of the bus

We all ate very well.  A toast to the drivers/guides was proposed and the cameras clicked at sunset.  Actually, the cloud cover which had rolled in left the rock looking a chocolate brown.  I didn’t care as it also provided relief for us from the blistering sun of earlier in the day.  As the last rays of the sun hit the rock, the horn on the bus was sounded and after the clear up, we were on our way home.

Champagne at sunset with Uluru in background

Our first break back at Erldunda and after the first of two left turns going home, came about two hours into the ride.  It was fifteen minutes long and just enough time to visit the biffy.  Videos were played on the bus in the early going, but as the ride wore on, the bus quietened as folk tried to sleep.  Once again, I couldn’t sleep but greatly envied those who could.  Close to midnight we were dropped off at the hotel.  As we hauled ourselves across the parking lot to the room, we were both apprehensive about what we might find on the inside of our room.  As we turned the key and entered we realised we had every right to be concerned as the floor was crawling and alive with beetles.  Normally up to now, I had grabbed handfuls of toilet paper to grab and dispose of the beetles, but now there were just too many.  We began, to an observer, what would have seemed like a tribal dance, for we were doing the dance of the BugCracker Suite.  I kid you not, we killed dozens in the room and the bathroom before we deemed it safe to get into bed and go to sleep.  We also decided to leave all the little carcasses there for the cleaning ladies to get the next day, and to provide evidence we weren’t fabricating stories. We applied the towel to the bottom of the door. Then, we piled into bed and slept.

Thursday Nov. 26th.

At 06.30 a sharp pain in my back woke me.  I realised it wasn’t Cynthia as she was in the other bed sleeping blissfully.  When I rolled the sheets back, I saw one of our beetle friends, Ringo I think, heading across the bottom sheet and down the side of the bed.  I was not about to let it get away with nipping me, so I gave hot pursuit and caught up with its at hem level.  Crack went the fingers and with great glee I deposited the little swine with its dead colleagues on last night’s battle-field, the tiled area behind the front door.  With that, and knowing that reception opened at 06.00 I donned my battle gear of sandals shorts and shirt and went with barrels loaded to encounter whomever was at the desk.  It was Sarah, another lovely young lady.  She was dealing with a Swiss couple who’d just arrived, only to find out that the local tourism office with whom they’d booked the room at Heavitree Gap Motel, had not rung through to the hotel to confirm the reservation.  I decided to jump in anyway in the hope of telling this young Swiss couple they might be better off somewhere else, unless they were here to study beetle life in which case, they had found Shangri-La.  They listened intently, their senses on high alert.  All the while, Sarah, poor Sarah, was going redder in the face.  I ploughed on, then went to sit down in an armchair and leave the three of them to sort out their problem which they did in another five minutes.  I realised I had the “beetle towel” from the room in my hand and had been waving it round like a battle standard as I spoke.  Once the Swiss couple had left reception and I had Sarah, poor Sarah, to myself, we formed a plan.  She would contact house-keeping to find another room (if it was beetle free) for us to move to.  I would return to have tea among the carcasses with Cynthia, and Sarah would call me when ready.  40 minutes went by and no call from Sarah, poor Sarah. What a way for her to start her day when none of this was her fault.  Back I went to speak with her.  She told me Kate-in-charge-of-cleaning, had not yet arrived, but would be directed to me as soon as she made her entry.  10 minutes later, Kate-in-charge-of-cleaning banged on the door.  As I opened the door and greeted her, her gaze went down to last night’s carnage on the tiles.  “Oh my goodness,” she said, “we have to get you out of here and it should already have been done”  Was this music to our ears or what?  She told us that B-block (sounds like the county jail doesn’t it?) had 11 bug free rooms, into which we could move and she would set us up with #235 immediately.  She even offered to move us but I pointed out Cynthia who had already launched into packing suitcase two as we spoke.  We would not need help as we would be out of there before the cavalry even got there.  I got the new key from Sarah, poor Sarah and turned in the key to beetle cave.  My feet rapidly crunched back to get the bags and within five minutes were in #235, upstairs (can beetles climb?) in B-block.  It was sparkling and beetle free.  Cynthia climbed back into bed as she was still exhausted from the trip last day.  I had a shower and began to type up this blog entry for yesterday’s events and for the beetle escapades.  As I sat on the bed and typed, I felt a tickle on my toes and glanced down.  One of those damned beetles was dirt biking  across my phalanges.  I waited for it to hit the carpet and cracked it with my big toe, got some tissue, cleaned it up and flushed it away.  Had it hitched a free ride over with me, or had it been lying in wait for us behind the curtains or under the bed?  I was willing to give Kate-in-charge-of-cleaning the benefit of the doubt (“no beetles in B-block” remember?) and considered the former option.

After lunch, when Tasha the terrible had arrived at reception, I went over to see her and have a wee chat about how she had left us in the lurch regarding the beetles.  She once again retreated to her original position about all rooms being in the same position regarding the beetles.  I informed her that one couple we’d asked about the beetle situation in their room said they hadn’t seen one.  I told her what Kate-in-charge-of-cleaning had said, and how both Sarah, poor Sarah and Kate had said, that we should have been moved on Tuesday into one of the 11 empty, beetle free rooms in B-block.  I asked her what the hotel might do for us to show some good-will and business savvy, and to compensate for our three miserable nights.  She said she would send the manager to talk to us.  (That was around 13.30. It’s now 19.15 and we’ve seen no sign of him)  We spent the PM by the pool reading and doing puzzles in the shade of the trees, taking a dip from time to time.  Just a few minutes ago we polished off some lamb shanks in the tavern.  I’ll try to get my revenge as I take Cynthia on in Quiddler, the card game we brought.  I’ve yet to beat her, but our scores are growing closer,  Maybe tonight will be the night.

Friday, Nov. 26th

We slept as peacefully as lambs last night, without any beetle apparitions to wake us.  There were no pincer pricks in the back and no shells crushed under foot.  Heaven!  Kate-in-charge-of-cleaning was right.  There were no beetles in B-block.  We had a leisurely breakfast and then headed down to the pool for a quiet couple of hours there.  It just so happened that i wandered over to reception mainly to book us on to the 12.00 shuttle into town, but also to see if terrible Tasha was there.  what do you know…she was there as large as life.  I had the pleasure of telling her that indeed, Kate-in-charge-of-cleaning had been right about the beetles.  Tasha backed down not an inch.  However, she did tell me that the manager had agreed to charge us four, not five nights accommodation as a token of goodwill towards men and for our miserable first three nights. My faith in hotel management was somewhat restored.  It seemd that our protestations had not gone unnoticed.  Mid morning, pest control roared in and three men with back pack sprayers set to work on the buildings and surrounding areas as we sat by the pool and watched.  Our ears rang to the sound of their machines.  As spray wafted over all of us by the pool, the guys seemed to care not a fig as unmasked and without any apparent concern, they continued to soak the buildings, kerbs, doors and walls in some kind of insect repellent. All of us around the pool were about to revolt, when the machines quit and the men zoomed off in their trucks, presumably going to the next desperate hotel. We had our swim, went back to the room and dried off and then came down for the shuttle run into town.

The Alice was hot again as we rode behind Scott in the bus.  Once off, we headed to the library to use their internet and our laptop.  Cynthia used our time there doing her mail. It wouldn’t work well for me and I ran out of time. Next stop was to Bar Doppio’s where we had lunch and used their free internet service to do my mail.  (I apologise to those of you who had written us and got sparse replies.  The internet is not easy to come by in Oz and time is of the essence).  At 14.25 we had eaten our lunches, done the mail and strolled back to the Aurora Hotel to ride the bus home.  It was a good ride back with Scott.  On the way I chatted with Derek, a young Oz fella who was going walkabout and heading south, driving to Adelaide to pick fruit.  He had been laid up in Alice while his Subaru received a new part which had to be imported.  He was going to be stuck in Alice for another five days waiting for the part to come and repairs to be finalised.

Once back at the hotel we hit the pool again pool.  However, our time there was not to be long, for a huge thunderstorm came our way.  We exited the water with everyone else not wanting to receive a shocker any time soon.  The rain poured then it was gone as fast as it had come.  Oh dear!  More beetles?

Later, after dozing in our room, we headed over to the tavern where we had the special for dinner…fish and chips.  Does the same question immediately pop into your mind as it did mine?  From where,  do the restauranteurs in Alice Springs, receive their fish? We are probably at least (guessing now) well over 1000 Km from the nearest ocean, which I would estimate to be the north coast.  I asked the cook that very question…from where do your fish come?  His response…”out of my freezer!”  He did relent to tell me that yes, the fish is imported and he even mentioned the type of fish it was.  I can’t recall what name he said, but it was delicious and tasted a little like cod.  The meal was great, and we ate it out of paper right at our places at the table in the tavern.

By this time, Tim the guitarist, a guy about my age I ‘d guess (21 or so), had set up and was right into his folk song repertoire.  He sure was good, and Cynthia and I sang along, even with mouths full of unknown fish.  One song he sang was The Last Farewell by Roger Whittaker.  At the end he asked for the composer.  Shouted answers ranged from Bach to the Beatles (the good ones).  I chimed in, right under the wire and having just finished another moutful of unknown fish, with my Roger Whittaker answer.  Tim heard me and as a result, I got a free schooner of beer (about a pint) from the minstrel himself.  Cynthia and I listened a while longer, enjoying the music and singing along where possible.  Eventually it was time for us to go.  I paid for a schooner for Tim and left it over the bar, with the promise from the girls there they would relay my message of “Thanks…from Canada”  We strolled home to our room through the campground attached to the hotel.  We noted, and spoke to, some of the campers sitting arond in circles with cold brews in their hands.  The responded kindly and once again I was struck by the openness and friendliness of the Oz people.  They are fair dinkum, that’s to be sure.

Tomorrow, at 12.25, our plane leaves for Sydney.  I will remember The Alice for it’s kind people, interesting characteristics, Uluru, Kata Tjuta, and its beetles.  I hope to make this long post from 29 Seabreeze Parade, Green Point, New South Wales, about a five hour drive north of Sydney, at the home of our dear friends Ralph Violet and Fiona Ponting.  If you click HERE, you will see exactly where we are.  Good night and God bless.