4 weeks to go.

Well where should we start? I have only one more roster at work, which is about 4 weeks, or 16 shifts.  I cannot believe that it has gone so quickly.  I have had an awesome time and my love for Nursing (which lets be honest, had waned to the point of barely existing) has been reignited.  I have learnt so much about these things called adults and the things that go wrong with them compared with children!! I am unsure if I will ever work in a purely paediatric setting again!!!!  

Lyndi’s office work has finished, now that the busy peak period is well and truly over (what would you expect with minimum 40C temperatures!  So she is still doing a bit of cleaning, but otherwise we are able to do a few more tourist things and chill out.

  

Some of the flowers over the last couple of weeks have been amazing.  These on the left are Sturt desert peas.

The local 50m outdoor pool has reopened, although the water is still a chilly 16-18C.

A few of us taking the local courtesy bus to one of the clubs here in Alice for a night out!!! Well beer is cheap there!

Then our gorgeous friends Cath & NIc came up to visit from Melbourne.  We hired a car and went to Standley Chasm, which is approx 50km from Alice.  It has been gouged into tough sandstone by floods over millions of years that have surged down a narrow tributary of the Finke river system.  The result is a deep cleft with craggy slopes on either side that rise 80 metres above the floor. 

A trip to the Desert Park to look at all creatures great and small.

A visit was made to our local weaving centre where we bought a perentie and the girls both bought something.

                                    

Our noodles and boogie boards got their first use in about 9 months when we went with friends to the closest permanent water hole to Alice ‘Ellery Creek Big Hole’.  Great on a 40 C day.  It is an internationally significant geological site, and was a special meeting place for the local Arrente people.

We visited the local gallery to look at some Wallace Rockhole Pottery.  Wallace Rockhole is an Aboriginal community 117km’s west of Alice Springs that runs a pottery studio producing some great pieces with great stories.  This pot incorporates real echidna quills. And our purchase was a small dish (It was more in our price range!!).

So thats about all for now and will try to get another one put here before we leave Alice.  Love to you all from Us xx

Alice in August

For those of you who know me well, it will come as no surprise that I have not posted a blog for a very long time, so it is well and truly my turn. Alice has been a busy little town over the winter months with festivals, fetes and reunions. Attending all the festivities has proved to be a bit of a difficult juggle when working weekends  

but we are loving life here and now it is warming up a little, the sunnies are on as we sit outside to eat our weetbix.

  

Spent a morning visiting John Flynn’s grave and taking some really bad photos of wildflowers and rock formations (yes that is correct Tash was not with me, thus the poor photography!!) 

John Flynn was a Presbyterian minister who established the Australian Inland Mission and became totally committed to providing assistance to remote populations. His most recognized achievement was the establishment of the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

Interestingly the rock marking his grave was removed from the Karlukarlu (The Devils Marbles) some 46 years ago. 

  The Karlukarlu are regarded by the traditional owners to have extraordinary powers with life threatening consequences for themselves if they should be damaged. It took until the late 90’s for the rock to be returned some 400km north (near Tennant Creek) from where it came. The local Arrernte people found a suitable alternative from the Alice Springs region associated with the Yeperenye (caterpillar) dreaming, which now protects John Flynn’s ashes.

Anyone recognize this famous regatta? This is the Territory’s longest running iconic event! A complete lack of water for the boat races makes the Henley-on-Todd Regatta the world’s only and original waterless regatta. Now in it 53^rd year it includes “maxi-yachts”, “bring your own boats” and “oxford tubs”.

A fun day had by all, even had Macca from our caravan park on one of the battleboats. 

Our big day that weekend was on Sunday, as this was Alice Springs Running Festival. Yes all that preparation and exhaustion for the half marathon 

did pay off as Tash did a P.B. for the 21km run. That is correct there are no photos of Lyndi as I was needed as the support team! After the medal celebrations we splurged and spent the night at Lasseters Hotel Casino, which was total luxury. Tash got to sleep in a bed where she could put her feet over the end and I did not have to go outside to pee……. winners and grinners.

 This weekend is the Transport Hall of Fame reunion, biggest transport museum in Australia, biggest weekend around for the truckers. Tash and I did go to the museum a while back, loved the history of the Afghan cameleers but the rest of it ……….. well you have to love trucks I suppose.

Territory Day & more.

So ‘Finke’ was a great success apparently.  We made it out to the 40km mark to watch them come home,

it was a great experience, even if it was really dusty. 

I survived the first night shifts I have done for quite some time!!!  It worked out well as I am sleeping whilst Lyndi is doing her cleaning!!  It’s the perfect temperature for sleeping in the day too.

The insurance came through for us to get a new air-con unit (the last one got its cover smashed in hail over Christmas in Grafton) so the lovely man installed a new Air Command one in a couple of hours. 

 Its very exciting that this one has a timer and a remote so now Lyndi does not have to leave the warmth of her bed to get toasty in the morning!!!  Trust me when it’s minus 2 in the morning it is a proper treat!!!

Brett & Narelle (Lyndis brother and wife) came to visit, so that was awesome to see them, it was a

great treat to be driven out to some of the local sights as we are limited to what we can reach on foot or cycle!! 

The beanie festival was also on, so we all tried some on but sadly came away empty handed! 

July 1^st was Northern Territory Day a day to celebrate being a Territory and not a State, also happens to be the one day of the year that you

can buy and set off fireworks, so Lyndi was very excited, along with a lot of other people too. How none got injured I will never know!

This was a rather unexpected visitor to the park the other day.

I cycled out to Simpsons Gap today which is about a 50km round trip on a sealed cycle path, it was just beautiful. Thought this sign was really funny, and then as I continued I realised there actually was water...it was freezing!