The final blog. We're flying home today after once again a wonderful holiday with friends and country. The heartland.
Yesterday morning we drove out again to Simpson's Gap, along the Hermansburg Road, not far out of town. According to the signage and story-board at the ranger station, there is some confusion about who Simpson actually was, but his gap is a striking feature of the landscape.
We spent a short time in the creekbed, enjoying the ancient river-gums and vistas but the flies were really annoying. A friend told us that the winter this year had not been very cold and the flies had not died out as they normally did every winter.
This rock wallaby near the ranger station is actually made of rock. It's a carving.
We drove slowly around Ilparpa Road, past Honeymoon Gap where in past years we celebrated the wedding of Bill and Ann's daughter Nyree and, where fifteen years ago we mourned the untimely death of my Nyangatjatjara boss Laurie Gorman.
We drove the Desert Knowledge Centre, where Ann works, for lunch in the canteen with Ann and Meredith Campbell. An old friend, John Oster joined us and it was good to see him. John is currently working on getting proper recognition, accreditation and pay for Aboriginal artists and workers in the Aboriginal arts industry. Before that he was CEO at Desart, an Alice Springs based umbrella organisation for Aboriginal art centres. Before that he ran the art centre at Balgo for about ten years. Before that, twenty years ago he was the presenter on the children's TV show 'Fat Cat and Friends' and I was the clown o the show!
Me, MC, John Oster, Ann
Next stop was the supermarket to buy some supplies for tea. Merri made her celebrated Thai Chicken dish.
Bill turned up unexpectedly. He'd left on Monday morning to drive to Umuwa and work there for the week, but he's been diagnosed with a hernia and it was playing up and he didn't feel to flash, so decided yesterday at mid-day to return to town. Just 400 k's or so. Nothing, really.
In the evening Merri went with Ann to see a dance show at Araluen and I went to help Oakes with some more computer software and hardware and the carton of Guinness, so we both had a pleasant last night in Alice, in different ways. Meredith came home excited and elated about the dance show, titled 'Alice Can Dance' and featuring about 200 local kids. She said the standard was brilliant, and she should know,
Well well, that's about it.
John Oster also fronted with the puppet Rock wallaby on Earlybirds (a highlight for all us kids at the time). But, who created Rock Wallaby? He seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth.
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