Alice Springs I

Hello, all. I just wanted to send a quick note up to the folks reading the journal to let you know that I have not gone away -- though I will tomorrow. We begin our camping adventure early , and will not return until two days later. So, I will probably not be able to post anything until we return.

And I only have a few moments to do this entry, so I will post more complete accounts of what we've been doing in Alice Springs later. We've had a lot of fun, and the weather has once again been most cooperative. We arrived yesterday, and spent the afternoon getting our bearings. In the evening, we were treated to a wonderful didgeridoo concert performed by Andrew Langford, an internationally known 'didge' virtuoso. He was also kind enough to help willing students learn the basics about the instrument, and involved most of the audience in a large jam with didges, rhythm sticks, and shakers.

Today we took a tour of Alice Springs. The Desert Park is an outdoor wilderness park that duplicates the environments found in Central Australia, red sand desert, dry riverbed woodlands, and salt pans. They also have exhibits for the flora and fauna of the area, and a free flight bird show. Very nice, and good preparation for our students brfore the camping adventure.

After the Park and a lunch, we made brief visits to each of these: the Telegraph Station, the School of the Air, the Royal Flying Doctors Centre, and ANZAC Hill. The Telegraph Station is the reason Alice is here, as one of teh spots with enough water to host a repeating station on the line from Darwin to Adelaide. The School of the Air is an educational services for children living in areas of Australia to remote for a school -- they go to school via the Internet, though it was by radio only a few years ago. The Royal Flying Doctors offers medical emergency service and transport to those injured in the remote Outback (I always make a donation. You never know ...). And ANZAC Hill is the town's memorial to teh soliders, and affords the best view of Alice Springs there is.

Well, I must go. I apologize for the typos and mistakes; I am not on my handheld as I write this. Please return in a few days for the rest of the story.