DAYS 13 & 14 : ALICE SPRINGS

OLIVE PINK BOTANICAL GARDENS (www.opbg.com.au)
Here's a cute ornament in the garden named after an extraordinary woman who had a passion for social justice for aboriginal people and her campaigns to establish sanctuaries for them is the stuff of folklore.

At the age of 72 she was successful in having the Australian Arid Regions Flora Reserve gazetted and she remained its curator until her death at the age of 91 in 1975.

In the 1950s she battled drought conditions, feral goats and rabbits to establish plantings but many of her trees still survive. There are now more than 350 Central Australian plants.

Throughout the garden there are themed areas, e.g. Edible Plants, Medicinal Plants, etc. This section is Bird Attracting Plants.

As it was still raining I stood under the dripping veranda and was highly amused by a family of Babblers, including a baby, who played around in the pools of water.



PIONEER WOMEN'S HALL OF FAME (www.pioneerwomen.com.au)
The pioneer women showcased in this Hall of Fame are not only early settlers but those who were pioneers in their field of endeavour - Australia's first women doctors, lawyers, aviators, movie stars, etc.

There was also an exhibition of Women of the Heart with photographs and stories relating to pioneering women of Central Australia, including the "Petticoat Drovers" (click on above pic to read).




ALICE SPRINGS REPTILE CENTRE (www.reptilecentre.com.au)
At this centre there are over 100 reptiles of 60 different species. The Gecko Cave has 13 Northern Territory geckos whose habitats range from harsh desert to lush tropics. They were so well camouflaged that we had great difficulty seeing them! (Pic above shows a Frilled Neck Lizard). There was an interesting talk about the reptiles and we were allowed to handle them....

A Bearded Dragon (with a bearded Wolfgang on the left!)....

Wolfgang with an Olive Python....
A Blue Tongue Lizard.... here they are a lighter colour to blend with the landscape....

It's such a hard life being a Perentie Lizard!!




MURAL ON COLES SUPERMARKET WALL
This mural depicts the history of the area including the Afghan traders with their camels who carried supplies across the outback and the old Ghan train....




ALICE SPRINGS SCHOOL OF THE AIR (www.assoa.nt.edu.au)
This school has the largest classroom in the world covering 1.3 million square kms (that 's 10 times the size of England!) The map shows the area covered by the school which teaches the curriculum required by three states.

The children who receive the benefit of this education live on homesteads, aboriginal communities, roadhouses, tourist facilities, military bases or traveling with their parents.

One of the teacher's studios - note the overhead camera. Children can enrol in pre-school from age 4 1/2. Each student is supplied with all the fully installed interactive IT equipment required - and all the class materials (books, art materials, musical instruments) are sent out by an airline trust fund. (In first term 40 guitars were sent out to students). At least once a year the teacher visits each student at home. Recently the school inspector went out to meet an 8 year old girl and she drove him all around the station in a ute!!

Here's a map showing all the present 138 students (two of them in one class live 1,800 kms apart!) All the students receive an allowance to travel to Alice Springs 2-4 times a years for a week to meet with their fellow classmates and teacher. These weeks can be Sports Weeks or Swimming Weeks, etc.

Many famous people have visited the school and talked to the children. They have signed the wall in one of the recording studios - here is a painting and message from Rolf Harris ( Hold Me Kangaroo Down Sport).