Saturday

Saturday - Alice Springs to Darwin Despite a lot of initial noise it all went quiet and we both slept well. I got up and had a shower and washed my hair but the hot water ran out with my head full of shampoo and I nearly froze to death. Jon decided to wash rather than shower and I don't blame him as it was very cold this morning. We went across to the kitchen area for a DIY breakfast. They leave out bread, cereal, milk and tea and coffee and jam and of course Vegemite and you help yourself and then wash up. All cheap stuff but it was OK. Some people there had stayed here three times! I wouldn't come back again, it needs major renovation and hot water! Some of these people are in their 70s and go on trips of five or six days camping in the Outback and think nothing of it. You see their vehicles loaded up with everything, apart from the obvious camping equipment, they have spare parts and spare wheels! We left the motel and drove to the Botanical gardens and had a look around but they were not particularly good but then with the climate here you are not going to get lush gardens and even a bit of grass is difficult to maintain. We then drove out to The Old Telegraph Station which is where and why Alice Springs began before moving to the new site it is now. It is a lovely spot and very well cared for with some lovely old buildings and lots and lots of Galah birds (think of Karl and Susan's bird in Neighbours!) The station is also a very sad place as once it closed down and moved it was used to house the half caste children born to the Aborigine women and snatched from them and taken into care as it was thought they would be better off. It is all a big disgrace to the then government a bit like the Barnardos disgrace by the British government in the 60s. Many never saw their mother again. It was known as The Bungalow. We didn't really think much of Alice Springs. It seems to be a town that has spread out either side of the Stuart Highway with not much thought. We still haven't seen any kangaroos! We then drove to get petrol before heading to the airport and it was still only 9.30! We stopped by the Flying Doctor Station which is now three very large buildings with lots of planes, gone is the little wooden building of yesteryear if it ever existed! We gave the keys back to the car and checked in. This plane is smaller and we are in a row of two so I will be able to see and take photos during the flight. As we were going through the security check they pulled Jon's bag out as they spotted the scissors he has for cutting the holes in Bertie. None of the other security had seen them. He was not allowed to touch his bag and we explained what they were and he had to tell the guard exactly where they were and she got them out. She said we could surrender them or take them back to check in and they would put them in a bag in the hold which is what we did. We then had a coffee and waited for our flight and had a few minutes of Internet. The flight was really good, smooth and clear and we landed on time in a very warm, 30 degrees, Darwin. Jon's scissors came through on the carousel with the cases, a little plastic bag with a luggage label on it! We got a taxi to the hotel and checked in. Darwin is much smaller than I though. Population of 120,000. In all the Northern Territory only has 200,000 total and that includes the 120,000 here and it is a really big area! There are more Aborigines living here than in any other city in Australia and you see them lying around drunk, sleeping in doorways and parks and they are very scary looking. We went and sat by the pool and had a couple of beers and read our books and it was very relaxing. We got ready and went down to the restaurant in the hotel for dinner. I had Laksa soup which was very good but too big a bowl for me to finish. I then had a vegetable tart. Jon had Baranundi and really enjoyed his 'invalid food' as I call it! Jon ordered apple crumble and we waited 25 minutes for it and when it arrived it looked more like a pie with crumble topping and it was cold! We didn't eat it and told the waiter and he took it off the bill. We went back to our room and had a coffee there before going to bed.