The flow has me on the go!

There is a popular saying, that if you see the Todd River in Alice Springs flow three times you will never leave. Well it has flowed twice during my current visit so lucky I'm heading home.

For those who may be unfamiliar with the nature of australian outback rivers, they are mostly dry, flowing only a few times a year. The sandy river beds, edged by magnificent ghost gums and grasses look so welcoming, many a traveller has fallen for the temptation to camp there. The danger is, that the rivers are prone to flash floods and it may be from a rain event many kilometres upstream.  The latest flow in the Todd surprised locals as there had been no rain in Alice Springs before it occurred.

Because the Todd River is usually dry, a local service club runs an annual 'boat' race in Alice Springs called the Henley on Todd, featuring bottomless boats powered by runners.

Water in the Todd is such a novelty, that people go out of their way to have a look.

Some, otherwise very sensible people, allow their small children and dogs to go crazy in the water. 

Roads may be closed

But some people will just not take no for an answer.

I do feel very fortunate to have seen this rather rare phenomenon of the outback. It was, however, enough to have me packing my bags and heading south. From the blue skied outback to cold, wintery Melbourne.

Don't go far, Dear Reader, I am off to the United States in a few days. I know this is a blog about my travels around Australia, but I may have the time and inclination to write the odd post from the other side of the ditch.  Then, I am on a road trip up the centre of Australia, back to Alice Springs for another extended visit. Please do come along and tell your friends!

To gallery or not to gallery?

Todd Mall is the pedestrian heart of Alice Springs. It sports a range of shops and many galleries selling indigenous art. We have, thank goodness, moved on from the days of tea towels with stolen indigenous art on them.  But I have heard so many stories about the artists being exploited by galleries, I am reluctant to go into any of them...even if they have signs purporting to support community arts and one that sells 'proper indigenous art'.
















I do feel comfortable in suggesting a few,  of what I consider, 'must support' shops in the mall.

Red Kangaroo has an extensive selection of Australian books and literature of all genres. They also have an online shop with an ever-changing catalogue at: Red Kangaroo Books

Ininti gallery and gift shop sports all kinds of art, clothing, bags, jewellery, made by indigenous people from all over the globe. Siri Omberg, the owner is an accomplished jeweller and there are some of her lovely pieces in her shop. Siri also has a studio only five minutes walk from the town centre. Check out this link on Red Hot Arts.

Lovely Lesley from Leaping Lizards makes a visit to her shop almost mandatory. She is a delightful,

chatty and helpful person. Her gallery and shop are full of local arts and crafts with something

to suit most taste and pockets. Allow plenty of time to browse and chat. 

Not pictured here, are the indigenous women who sit under the trees and on the grass outside the Flynn Church and old hospital with their canvasses laid out in front of them. They are there most days, and definitely on market days and weekends. I really admire their determination. I happily bought one of these, probably a rather cliched bush tucker painting, because I knew my money was going straight to the source.

Olive Pink - a garden and woman

The Olive Pink Botanic Garden is worth a visit (apart from the cafe lauded in a previous post). There are flat walks, art installations and of course the walk up the hill. All are detailed in the guide booklet which contains photos and notes about the plants which correspond to markers along the walks.

The Hill Walk is a goat track but if I managed it, then it can't be that bad.

Stairway to heaven?

There are lovely views to be enjoyed along the way and at the very top.

 Going up is hard work, but I find coming down more daunting when one suffers from Old Lady Disease...scared I'll fall and break something!

I DID NOT jump like this, I took a far more demure approach!

Entrance to the Wattle Walk

The Mallee Walk

There is art in the park. Check out the emu's beak.

Remember to look down...

..and up. You never know what you will find!

Olive Pink Gardens are named after an early character who evoked contradictory opinions. An unconventional anthropologist Miss Pink (1884 - 1975)  has been described variously as colourful, unforgettable and indomitable.  The unconventional label was probably affixed because she took a non-mainstream stance in regard to indigenous people. She championed their cause and fought for a secular sanctuary for the Walpiri people in the Tanami Desert. She was once charged with contempt of court for interrupting proceedings because she didn't think tribal law was being taken into account. She refused to pay the fine and was facing a custodial sentence...but the head goaler paid the fine because he didn't want her causing trouble in his jail!

Miss Pink was also a botanical artist and developed an abiding interest in local flora, promoting the cultivation of native species. She lobbied successfully to have the gardens established in 1956 and they were opened to the public in 1985.

Miss Pink was influenced by the indomitable Daisy Bates, and later, resided with and had a close friendship with Annie Meyers. 

The Sun sets on Uluru

Any mention of Uluru would not be complete without the obligatory sunset photos.  However, communing with the rock at sunset is not the solitary, spiritual experience you may imagine. It is to be done in designated areas...one for folks in cars and the other for paying bus/coach types. Check out the picture below...see all those shadows in the foreground?  That is only a tiny sample of the couple of hundred people who joined me to gaze in awe the night we was there.

It is an amazing thing to see and different every night. Well worth elbowing others out of the way.

Uluru - Mala walk

You can walk the whole perimeter if Uluru which is around 10 kms... or enjoy views of the rock from the Mala walk which is a leisurely 2 kms return. It is named for the small marsupial hare-wallaby once numerous but now scarce because of predation by foxes and feral cats. A breeding program hopes to remedy this. The track visits significant indigenous ceremonial sites and has informative signs. To fully enjoy the experience, I suggest you take an enthusiastic five year old boy with you.

The teaching cave, where the grandparents schooled the  small children. 

Entrance to one of the women's caves.

Inside one of the women's caves

Rocks smoothed by thousands of years of grinding grass seeds to make flour.

The pool at the end of the walk is a permanent water source, recently refreshed by run-off from a rain event which happen only about six times a year. 

The Tjukurpa and Anangu people request tourists do not climb the rock due to its spiritual significance. On the day we were there, several people were on the climb totally disregarding the closed gate and signs declaring the climb closed due to high winds on the summit.

Look closely, you can see the fools up there. No wonder the Tjukurpa and Anangu call people who climb, 'ants'.

Horizons #6 and # 7.

Somewhere along the Lassiter Highway - a celebration of the red!

View of Kata Tjuta and Uluru (if you look closely) from the dune viewing area on the way to Kata Tjuta.

Harmony and Art in Alice

Yesterday was Harmony Day in Alice Springs, with a celebration of diversity, in the park. There was music, dancing and drumming, national costumes, activities and delicious food.  For a smallish town, Alice is quite diverse with representatives from Sri Lanka, India, Africa and South America. I especially loved the junior Bollywood dancers, but my favourite, was Drum Atweme. The group is made up of indigenous children from the town camps and the program is run by the Tangentyere Council.

The town camps were established early in the town's settlement by europeans. The indigenous people were pushed together on the edges of the town. Not a very unique story, sadly.  The people were treated at as one homogenous group, whereas the continent consisted of many nations, cultures and language groups. The map below is an attempt to demonstrate this diversity. There is an interactive map here, if you want a closer look. Life has always been tough in these camps and today it is no different.  Programs, such as Drum Atweme which promote harmony and provide positive experiences and opportunities are vital.

 

Incidentally, I also attended the opening of two art exhibitions on Friday night. One of these was at the Tangentyere  Gallery.   The artists are all women and the paintings are a wonderful mixture of naive and contemporary depictions of traditional stories. The second exhibition, also showing art from indigenous women, was at the Raft Artspace and featured paintings and textile sculptures, I spent ages admiring these sculptures. Click on the link and scroll through the site to see some of them. They are made from old blankets and embroidered. I was lucky enough to meet a couple of the artists and they were rightly proud and happy to show their work. 

Tjanpi desert weavers

Situated at the NPY Women's Council, 3 Wilkinson Street, Alice Springs is the Tjanpi Desert Weavers Gallery. Tjanpi, means 'dry grass'.  Basket making is not a traditional craft of the Western Desert but builds on traditions of using fibre for medicinal, ceremonial and daily purposes. It evolved from a number of workshops run in remote western communities by the NPYWC in 1995. Today over 400 women across 28 communities are involved in making baskets and fibre sculptures. Tjanpi weavers is aboriginal owned and run. The baskets and sculptures are sold at the gallery and the marked price reflects the amount of money which goes back to the women. 

When collecting desert grasses, women visit sacred sites and traditional homelands, hunt and gather food for their families and teach their children about country. The grasses are bound with wool, string or raffia and sometimes decorated with emu feathers and the red seeds from the bats-wing coral tree. 

Indigenous grasses, raffia and emu feathers.

My purchases

Each item has the name of the artist on the tag. My basket was made by Pollyanne Smith and here is some information from her biography:

'Pollyanne was born well in the bush near Ernabella in South Australia around 1957. She grew up and has spent most of her life in nearby Kaitjiti( Fregon), where she now works as a teacher at the school, as well as look after her grandchildren. In school holidays Pollyanne also paints at Kaitjiti Arts.  She first started making baskets in 2010 after seeing lots of other ladies in the community doing it.'

Thank you Pollyanne and the NPYWC.

Horizon # 5

Alongside the Stuart Highway in Alice Springs. It's blurry because I had been holding the phone in my hand as I walked. I think the lens must have fogged up, but I quite like the effect.

Lovely Alice

Surprise, I have dropped into Alice Springs for a few weeks. So I will take the opportunity to write a few posts while I'm here.

Today was a public holiday in the Northern Territory and there was a parade through Todd Mall...The 55th Bangtail Muster. Originally this was a celebration of the end of the muster which enabled a count of cattle (especially those not previously counted) and treatment. As each beast was counted, a straight cut was made across the tuft on the end of their tail to prevent double counting (hence the name). Much of the count is now carried out automatically through the use of trap yards around water. The cattle enter through one-way gates to access the water,  enabling a count to be carried out with out the need to muster.

Today the parade is a showcase for all sorts of community groups, providing an interesting cross-section of life in this isolated desert town.

Nepotism Alert: one of the parade participants was a family member. Maybe, even, a great nephew.