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.