Thankfully last night was not as cold as the night before. Maybe we were more prepared and ready for it!
We set off on our next journey but I wanted to stop in at an Aboriginal
gallery at Mt Ebenezer which I had seen on the way in. Shane had a bit of fun with a couple of NZ
backpackers who were working at the roadhouse, but we also really enjoyed
looking at the artwork by some local aboriginal artists.
As we were leaving the roadhouse, a white holden stationwagon was
parked in the car park in front of our car.
We waited as the Aboriginal family embarked and started the car. In a plume of blue smoke, they departed and
headed up the road.
Finally we met the Sturt Highway again at Erlunda and deciding to
refuel we turned in only to see the same big line for fuel. We turned out onto the highway and came in
from the other side behind another 4wd which was filling up. He finally paid and drove off and we pulled
in to the pump only to have abuse hurled at us from a lovely man in another 4wd
towing a caravan, wife and child in the vehicle with him. The abuse included some comment that all the
other cars were going the other way and we were in the wrong. No “Do Not Enter” signs from our side and
apparently he had not accosted the driver we had followed in so I’m not sure
what his issue was. Our experience a
couple of days ago had seen vehicles only entering from that side. But still he was determined to make his point
and drove his car right up to the front of ours in an effort to force us to
reverse. Not after filling up with fuel
though. I hope his rant was worth it.
Not too far down the road we spotted the Aboriginal family in the white
wagon stopped on the side of the road and fishing fuel containers out of the
back of the car. Lucky it wasn’t a big
walk back to the Erlunda fuel station.
A burned out car, still smoldering on the side of the road, was a stark
reminder to be cautious. We have seen a
number of abandoned cars, as well as a few nasty wrecks, along the way. It just serves to remind you that both the
risk of accidents and crime are alive and well and it pays to keep your wits
about you no matter what you are doing.
We pulled over for a bit of a rest stop and had a chuckle as that dusty
stationwagon rolled on past us down the highway again. But not too much further, our paths crossed
again, this time they were pulled well off the road with the bonnet up. I’m not sure how that scenario ended but you
can be assured it included a very long walk.
We could scarcely believe it, as we were a few kms from Alice Springs –
another Dingo stood at the side of the road and eyed us as we passed by. What are the chances of experiencing that in
the two main Central Australian locations as if to welcome us!
We located the showgrounds and checked in. We very soon helpful assistants swarmed the
car like the proverbial moth to the flame.
One particular woman was very helpful in telling us where we should and
shouldn’t pull up the van. “Don’t park
there because there is obviously a broken pipe there and you can bet we’ll be
having plumbers in over the weekend digging it up to fix it”. “You could park over there and just plug in
to that shed” – well actually no I am not happy about parking or plugging in to
a shed without speaking to the person responsible for the shed…… “You can’t
park there as that spot is saved for someone with a tent”. “You could park in the middle”. “Don’t park too close to the power box”. “Don’t park too far away from the power box”. “That’s fine but the wind comes from this
direction so you probably want to turn your van around the other way”. Let me say that after a long drive, all I
want to do is get set up and take some time to relax. Moving the caravan 5 times at the whim of
someone else is not my ideal way of ending the day. So in the end I said to Shane – this is where
we are camping – end of conversation! Well not quite the end of the conversation - she soon informed us that she was from Warrnambool! And here we thought she was a local running the show!!!!!
In need of a much earned glass of wine Shane went to town to make a
purchase only to discover that interestingly wine can only be purchased in
bottles. No casks are sold in Alice
Springs. And as soon as the liquor
stores are open they are required to have police or security present. That was the first sadly telling indications
of Alice Springs.
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