We left Ti Tree around around 8:30am and began our short drive to Alice Springs. We weren’t expecting anything too exciting on this “short drive”. That thought was short lived.
About 60km south of Ti Tree (135km north of Alice Springs) is a little settlement by the name of Aieron, home to one of the best kept secrets in this part of the world, The Anmatjere Man.
As we drove down the highway approaching Aileron, I saw a massive statue of an aboriginal man holding a spear on the hill overlooking the small roadhouse settlement, it was The Anmatjere Man.
After a bit of hardish braking we managed to turn off the highway and into the settlement. There was a roadhouse, art gallery, a few other buildings and a couple of amazing sculptures.
Overlooking us from on top of a hill was The Anmatjere Man, but more immediate was The Anmatjere Woman and Child. These statues are incredible, they are the work of Mark Egan (son of Ted Egan) and were put up in 2005 and 2008. The Anmatjere Man stands 12m high from the tip of his spear to his toes, the Woman and Child are of similar proportions. The sculptures are very dramatic and give a very proud looking representation of the local Anmatjere people. After Mark constructed the man, the tribes woman asked / demanded that they be represented too, and so the Woman and Child were made. I took the climb up a very rough track (in my new thongs, nothing like wearing appropriate footwear) to the top of the hill, and it was very much worth it. The statue was very imposing up close and the view down over the country side was fantastic.
Back on the road and we were in Alice Springs and our caravan park by noon. After we settled in we took a short drive into town and had lunch in Todd Mall at a little place called Soma (Meagan had suggested Spanish eggs, but as it was lunch Deb had a B.L.A.T. and I had the pasta of the day, soooo delicious. After that we did a little shopping and went back to the van to relax a bit.
That was about it for the day, other than 2 more exceptional events, Australia beat New Zealand in the rugby to take out the Tri Nations Cup (& maybe the Bledislow Cup) and I finished my 3rd book for the trip!! LOL this last point only ranks a mention as Deb is so impressed, LOL!
Sunday 28 August 2011 Alice Springs
We passed up a free breakfast of pancakes at the caravan park this morning to get out to the Alice Springs Desert Park “early”. We arrived at around 8:35am and soon had our headsets for a self guided audio tour of the park. Before I get going I should point out that Deb and I have a habit of doing this sort of thing in about 1/3 of the time that is normally suggested it should take. So we figured we should be out of there by 10am at the latest. :-$
Once in we were told that the Bird Flight show was on at 10am, we had heard this was good so we decided to make that our last thing before we left, then we heard about the talk by a local aboriginal on bush culture and survival skills was on at 11am, so that became our last thing to do before we left, we were then told about the 20 minute movie presentation that was supposed to be awesome, so that became our last thing to do before we left!! LOL
We managed to do the walk around the Park in plenty of time to see the Bird show (Deb here, I(Greg here – me too) found it very spiritual walking amongst the vegetation and birdlife, such a beautiful part of the world – was really peaceful, probably helped by the fact that because we were there early we mostly did this part by ourselves)
The bird show was great, the birds all came through into the amphitheatre on time and on cue – was amazing. They were all very well trained for wild birds. From Magpies to owls and hawks, the demonstrator was able to show us a mix of the agility of these birds and their respective hunting skills.
The Aboriginal Culture demonstration was a highlight for us both. The young guy that did it (we were both expecting a very dark female for some reason?) didn’t look particularly aboriginal, but after he introduced himself we soon learnt he was (at least 1/8th) and had grown up in the local culture (between Kings Canyon and Alice Springs). He was a very good communicator and passed on his knowledge and respect for his culture very well. He explained how children learn the way of the land and the dreaming, to hunting and gathering and how to not only survive, but also thrive in the desert. (After the show we spoke to him for a while and got some suggestions and contact details for future experiences along the lines of his talk.)
Finally we got to the movie, it took us through a very quick explanation of the geology and cultural changes that had occurred in this part of the world. The ending was very dramatic, it ……….. No it is one of those endings you have to see for yourself. J
So at about 12:30pm we finally headed out of the park, Deb was amazed at how long we had been there, and how much we had enjoyed it.
From there we went into town, topped up with fuel and did a bit of shopping before enjoying a lazy afternoon.
There is didgeridoo entertainment here in the park tonight, we may or may not go. We will let you know in the next blog.
We will post some more pics soon
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