Leaving Alice

Alice is the same, yet different.  Seedier than I remember, and that was pretty seedy! 

It's a tough place.  (Have you seen Sampson and Delilia?  DO IT!) 


When I drove through Tennant Creek and I wondered about the large number of Aboriginal people.. wandering around the pub.. the shop.  Like they had nowhere to go.  My mind was elsewhere, so I hadn't really thought about it.. but Alice is a bit like that too.  I could have forgotten, but I think it is more than that.

It’s the wet.  It is even affecting this area: people are trapped by the impassable roads.  They can’t get home and are getting restless. 

Dave said someone was calling for help last night: for ages.  He didn’t go to help largely because he is used to these homeless people yelling and hollering in the night.  He also thought about the two backpackers who were attacked by a bunch of aboriginal people looking for some change just a couple of days ago.    

They get their money from Centerlink, and before the week is out.. or sometimes even a day, it is gone.  And they are hungry and have no place to stay: again. 

Dave doesn't lock the car: he has learned that they don't break the window looking for change. 

It is the aboriginal way to share: but there are those that take a lot more than their share and indulge themselves.  There are greedy, lazy people in every culture, and here, some of the traditions that once helped the group is now working against them.  As long as you can buy beer... everyone suffers. 

I imagine they will have to ‘clean up’ soon.  The coppers will run through the Todd, the river-bed and the mall, and chase people out into the suburbs.  Good for us here so close to town, not so good for people living in the ‘burbs’.  And not good for the indigenous people themselves.  Their problems won’t be over until the rains stops and the roads dry out so they can get back to their families who can help them dry out a bit.  They need to be away from the ‘grog’ for sure. 

Tourists come to Alice Springs to check out the ‘culture’.  It's almost a right-of-passage for city folk.  The art is beautiful here in Alice, as are the gums and the waterholes.  There weren’t a lot of tourists in the mall today.  Lots of art shops though: I had forgotten.  If you want indigenous paintings.. this is certainly the place.  And I think I see new styles of dot painting.  Aboriginal art is always evolving.. some of these people are absoutely amazing!  They stick with the main shapes, but what they do with them is what makes them all so unique. 

Life goes on for those that live here on a regular basis: but I am glad to be moving on.  It is definitely a creative place to be, but the hard life is always there.. There are the people in charge and those that they are in charge of.  I just want to be one of the people in the middle for a while, and there isn’t a lot of room in central Oz for that right now.  Dave figures it is changing, and that is why he stays.  He loves it here, with his family and the opportunities available to him and his wife and kids.  If you are willling to be here, it does have it's rewards.

The property managers that I pay to manage the property don't seem to be doing much.  Whittles are the only ones in town right now - a license to print money I think.  Not sure what we are getting for our dollar.  So, even at 'home' things look a little shabby. 

My place in Alice

I am sure it will be good to come back, some day.  Poo (Dave's wife) takes good care of my 'home'.  The time will be right to return at some point.  But for now, I am on my way to Sydney, with Qantas at 12:20.  And I feel  good about the decision.