Alice Springs

Alice Springs reminds me of St. George, Utah. After a short flight from Ayers Rock this morning, I took a walk through town and noticed quite a few similarities. Both cities are mid-sized, low rise metropolises, both are surrounded by rocky plateaus, both are in the middle of the desert, both have warm, dry weather, both have streets using the grid system, both are near wildly exotic natural red-rock formations, and both are centers of tourism for the region. With that said, I doubt there are any outlet malls in Alice Springs… and I’ve never seen a wild kangaroo or an aborigine in St. George.

I began my day in Alice Springs by visiting the ‘Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia Museum’. The museum documents the development of a flying doctor service in the outback; a service that makes it possible for Australians to live in remote areas of the outback and still receive emergency medical attention when it is needed. I was interested to learn about John Flynn, the founder of the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), and how he began the organization in 1939 with a small network of radio transmitters and a single tiny airplane. Currently the service has 19 centers of operations and extends throughout most of Australia, enabling doctors to pilot airplanes to tiny airstrips in the most isolated locations of the outback. As a side note, I also learned the meaning of the name of Australia’s national airline QANTAS; it’s an acronym: Queensland and Northern Territory Arial Service. The museum in Alice Springs is located at the current operational headquarters of the RFDS, and during a half-hour spent there I watched an employee coordinate one of the emergency flights and was even passed in the hall by an actual flying doctor.

I think I spoke too soon when I wrote in my last entry that the ‘Real Australia’ isn’t about aborigines and didgeridoos. Alice Springs is packed with aborigines. Granted, they aren’t covered in face paint and holding wild dance ceremonies like the aborigines in ‘Crocodile Dundee’, but at least 50% of the non-tourist population in Alice Springs must be aborigine. I guess it’s about like seeing a Native American in Taos, New Mexico; they’re around, but for the most part they dress and act just like everyone else.

That brings me to didgeridoos… I noticed a flyer advertising a free didgeridoo lesson in Alice Springs and headed to ‘Sounds of Starlight Theatre’ this afternoon to learn how to play with a group of about fifteen others. The lesson was conducted by Andrew Langford, a tall, blonde Australian who has lived in Alice Springs for the last 25 years and is internationally renowned for his proficiency with the didgeridoo. I was blown away with the sounds Mr. Langford was able to make with a hollow stick of wood; the rhythms, textures, and melodies he created could rival those of an accomplished violinist. I can’t say that I was quite as proficient. My rhythms and textures sounded more like an old, tired, inexperienced tuba player. Still, it was fun to try to learn the ancient aboriginal instrument, and now I have an appreciation for what it takes to really play the thing.

Later in the afternoon I stopped into the Alice Springs Reptile Center; an exhibit featuring several live reptiles from Central Australia, including a 12-foot crocodile. I happened to arrive just in time for a presentation during which visitors can handle the reptiles. An expert reptile handler showed off a few choice animals for the crowd; a lizard with skin like a pinecone and a tail that looks like a second head, a lizard with a penchant for climbing on top of peoples’ heads, and a six foot snake with skin that reflected bright green and blue colors with the light (I was reminded of a similar place I visited in Bangkok – a snake farm where the Thai staff excitedly introduced a giant King Cobra and other infamous snakes). I enjoyed handling all the reptiles at the Alice Springs Reptile Center, but my favorite was easily the long green snake, which slithered along my arms and wrapped its body around my torso.

Passing aborigines in town and playing the didgeridoo are both exciting experiences that scream ‘stereotypical Australia’ to me; but I also had the chance to go looking for wild kangaroos today. Wayne, the manager of the hostel I’m staying at, directed me to the top of a rocky hill east of Alice Springs, where he was certain I would find kangaroos. Immediately after hiking to the top of the hill I got very lucky and spotted a kangaroo hopping along. I followed the animal for a few minutes and snapped a few pictures, but unfortunately the beast quickly hopped off and I spent the rest of my time on the hill spotting no kangaroos, but heaps of their dung. Still, it was incredible to me to actually find a wild kangaroo on my own in Australia.

I finished off my day with a juicy hamburger at ‘Bojangles Saloon & Restaurant’. The place reminded me of an Old West style saloon, complete with swinging doors to enter and exit. Speaking of the Old West, I’ve decided that there are a lot of parallels between the American Old West and the Australian Outback. Stories of the Old West are filled with all the classic stereotypes; wild Indians with bows and arrows, headdresses, and facepaint, heroic cowboys and gunslingers, and the occasional mountain man and ‘I wrestled a grizzly bear’ story. These days the American Old West is a tall tale; gone but not forgotten, and with plenty of mementos to remember it by. The Australian Outback is similar. Crocodile Dundee is a heroic characterization of the Outback that incorporates all the stereotypes. Mick Dundee wrestled crocs instead of grizzlies, and while his story is legendary to anyone who has seen the Hollywood movie, it’s about as realistic as exaggerated accounts of Jim Bridger or Davy Crockett. Still, I’d love to see the movie again when I get home, and as long as I’m in Australia I’ll enjoy experiencing the modern-day, realistic version of Hollywood’s tall tale.