This morning we drove up the small Anzac Hill which overlooks Alice Springs, to get a panoramic view of the town. It is more substantial than I expected - population about 30,000, and fairly well served with shops and businesses. There is a huge modern building in the middle labelled "The Supreme Court of the Northern Territories", which I would have expected to find in Darwin rather than here.
 |
| Looking down on Alice Springs, with "The Gap" in the MacDonnell ranges visible behind. |
The story of Alice Springs started with the telegraph station, established here in 1871 as one stage of the telegraph line across Australia from Adelaide to Darwin in the north. This was the first link, established not long after the the first ever successful crossing of Australia from south to north by a European, by John Stuart in 1862. The telegraph linked Adelaide all the way back to England, crossing under the oceans and across Asia and Europe, and was a major leap forward in communications at that time. Telegraph stations were required every 200 miles or so to re-transmit the weak signal received over the wire from the previous station, and the Alice Springs station was the starting point of this town.
 |
| The restored 1871 telegraph station, on the north side of Alice Springs. |
 |
| The telegraph office. |
 |
| Canoodling local pointy-headed pigeons. |
 |
| Mother and daughter on the telegraph station lawn. |
We finished our Alice Springs visit with a drive out to Simpson's Gap. These "gaps" are a local feature, being naturally occurring gaps in the long MacDonnell ranges which cross the land here. Roads and rivers flow through these gaps rather than climbing over the range. Simpson's Gap has a river flowing through it in the wet season, but at the moment the river is dry and there is a stagnant pool in the gap itself.
 |
| Sue on the track to the gap. |
 |
| Simpson's Gap |
 |
| A local Black Footed Rock Wallaby, which I was able to get very close to! |
 |
| The dry river bed. There are many dry rivers in central Australia. |
The rock wallabies are very cute. They live amongst the tumbled piles of rock which line the gorge leading into Simpson's Gap, and run about on the rocks with great agility.
We sat in the sun and ate our peanut butter sandwiches, and the ranger came over and talked to us about the wallabies and the birds. He was about to go and help with a "burn", the burning-off of dry grass and vegetation to reduce the chances of major fires later on. Everywhere you go here you see large burnt areas and blackened trees. The native trees have adapted in many ways to survive fires; either by having thick bark (cork trees) or being able to regenerate from their roots if they are burnt to the ground. Fire has been part of the natural cycle here for thousands of years.
It's been a great trip and we've learned a lot about this part of Australia. We are back on the plane tomorrow afternoon, from Alice to Sydney and then on to Wellington, arriving late at night. See ya later!
