Chaos Reigns Supreme

Sack the navigator! What! I was doing my best but it didn’t matter where we were heading I didn’t know which way was up, north, right but mostly wrong, even with a simple map. Ooops, we just missed the turn off to Alice Springs Telegraph Station, Lasseters Casino and Anzac Hill. At least I was consistent. A train line helps especially if it’s dead straight, but only if you know which way is which.  Wearing a cap didn’t help as I couldn’t see the sun but then again, what time is it here anyway? Sydney no longer has daylight saving so there’s only half an hour, not one and a half hours difference I discovered. Chaos reigns supreme.

Sadly, there are no pictures of Alice Springs as they were accidentally wiped a few days later when I tried to download them to the ipad. It doesn’t let you select which ones you want to download unless you do them individually. Be warned this is a dangerous activity! Miss and the delete button is final. There’s no message to verify, they’re just gone. I even checked with Apple in case there was some way to retrieve them from the trash. NO! Next time I’ll try starting with an empty SD card. Looks like we’ll have to use imagination and links instead of images. Feel free to send me any photos you would be happy for me to use to illuminate our adventures.

Anyway, we finally managed to find the Old Alice Springs Telegraph station and it was a real surprise. We were in luck. This was Heritage Week  so the station was alive with Morsecodians eager to enlighten or simply send a telegram for you, (in morse code, of course) to the Power House Museum in Sydney where it would be typed and posted for a nominal fee. Such enthusiasts really brought the place alive. The Telegraph station includes several dwellings and out buildings used by the staff here connecting Australia to the world by relaying through this and other repeater stations. It was a lovely, clear day which made our visit very pleasant and enjoyable and the station is obviously well looked after. The Todd river is close by and still has  the original waterhole known as Alice Springs and some very welcome shade. The station seemed to be popular with plenty of the locals too.

After chatting with one of the Morsecodians from Bendigo about their Art Gallery we were amazed when he suggested we visit the Grace Kelly Exhibition and to especially treat ourselves to the Society High tea at the Shamrock Hotel. Strange but true.

Nearby Trig Hill beckoned, so we ventured forth (after solving the puzzle of the stick & wire gate lock) and enjoyed the views and even managed to find a few kangaroos  adeptly avoiding a few over zealous tourists. Here’s some pictures of the Telegraph Station and some details of walks in Alice Springs, including Trig Hill.

We had been recommended the Golf Club to eat but lost interest after all the driving around in circles it took us to find it, and the prices were similar to those at Lasseter’s Casino anyway. After a refreshing swim, we found the Juicy Rump was the only casino restaurant open on Sunday nights so we ordered and enjoyed a drink on the deck, chatted to some exhausted travellers who’d just arrived from a whirlwind coach tour and weren’t at all impressed with the cost or food on the Ghan, checked out the night sky, some brochures and wondered what was ahead.