Ribs and Shanks

Wednesday 8 November

Despite not moving on today, we had another early start for an appointment with an Aboriginal guide, who would tell us about his culture and way of life. Paul, our driver, had another day off today, and Jennifer was his replacement. Picking up Jungola the aboriginal guide, at the local office in town, as Jennifer swung out into the road, the back end of our pristine coach caught an overhang of the verandah and the back of the coach screeched as the metal ran along the side, near the top, and the back window ‘popped’ loudly as the laminated glass crazed – oh dear, what would Paul say, he seems very fond of his coach? Having moved everyone out from the back seats – lucky some people had decided not to come on this tour today, so there were a few spare seats – we moved off, back to the Repeater Station, where we had visited yesterday.

Jungola took us along some paths through the surrounding parched land, and showed us many trees and plants, which bear fruit and berries, and even bark, which are food to the Aborigines living in the desert. He also explained about the way of life of this indigenous people, and how “nobody understood them”! He was particularly emphatic that no one took the history of the Aboriginal people into account when making laws or dealing with the people today. From 1894 until 1973, the Government had the right to remove aboriginal children from their parents, putting them in camps, in very poor conditions. Sometimes the camps were hundreds of kilometers away from the tribal home and many never saw their parents again. An Act passed in 1911, took away all rights of the parents over their children, and, in fact, Jungola had been removed from his family and only met up with his mother some eleven years later. Aborigines were not accepted as Australian subjects until an Act in 1967 which recognized their status and allowed them to vote. Equal rights for Aborigines came in 1984 – it had taken nine years of negotiations and pressure for Aborigines to receive wages in monetary form, not goods, such as bread, flour, clothes, etc., as had been happening since the white people arrived. He seemed very keen to incorporate all the benefits of white Australian life into his life, provided that Aborigines could still practice their traditions and tribal customs, which would supersede the White culture when they wanted. A typical philosophy of a people who have lost their land, through wars, treaties or because they were too laid back to put up any opposition – it is happening the world over.

Aboriginal men were hunters and women were gatherers – this meant that men went out and hunted for kangaroo and emu, and any other meat they could find (probably not above rustling the odd cow or two, but Jungola wouldn’t admit to that of course), while the women gathered fruit and berries, lizards and grubs to supplement the meal. Most of their food is fat free, so they do not have problems with their hearts or cholesterol, but they have had endemic eye problems in the past (trachoma), but with the help of the RFDS, this has now been addressed.

Jungola also explained how their “kinship” system worked. Not only do they have biological parents, but “uncles and aunties” as we know them, are considered parents too. Elder brothers and sisters look after younger siblings and teach them - as they have been taught by their elders - the laws to make them men and women, by the time they reach puberty and can marry. It doesn’t matter where they travel, there will always be a “parent” to look after them. When a man marries, his wife comes to live with his family, but the husband will never, ever speak to the mother-in-law again – Dave could think this is quite an advantage and like this idea!! If the husband dies, the wife can stay with the husband’s family or return to her own family, but she will always be one of the husband’s tribe. The children can decide which family they want to live with. If there are any disputes within the marriage, the wife will go to her husband’s grandmother to get it sorted, while the husband will go to his wife’s grandfather. But he stressed that the aboriginal way of life is to avoid conflict and altercation.

It was another extremely hot day, and every time we stopped for a “chat” we had to find shade and take a few gulps of water. At the end of walk, Jungola took us, on the coach, to an Aboriginal resort, with corrugated tin “”Nissan” hut buildings, as well as a few western style rooms. There was a small stage area – a raised pile of flat red earth about 20 ft x 10ft, behind the living accommodation with a large undercover seating area – more shade – hooray! A cup of tea and strawberry jam sandwiches were very welcome. A group of four Aboriginal dancers from Queensland performed some of their traditional music and dances for us, imitating kangaroos, emus, welcoming guests and saying goodbye. The lady played “clapping sticks” while one of the men demonstrated how to play the didgeridoo – or yakuri - in Aborigine. This instrument is made from a branch which has been hollowed out by termites. It is washed and cleaned and the bark stripped off, before a natural form of beeswax is applied to fill the holes made as the termites entered the wood. This beeswax (known locally as “gitchy gum” from bees that do not sting) is also applied to the narrow end to form a mouth piece. To play the instrument, you have to do four things at once after sealing the mouth piece with your mouth: 1. vibrate your lips; 2.circular breathing – in through nose, out through mouth; 3. the tongue moves up and down and side to side, to make the rhythm; and 4. use of the vocal chords or voice box to make wailing sounds. The music reminds you of Rolf Harris, but can be very melodious, or even haunting, when played by a “professional” – the didgeridoo can only be played by men (for physical reasons – adam’s apple, six packs and all that) and some of the male members of our group had a go, but they only managed a squeak at best. We all had our photos taken with the performers, before getting back on the coach to go and pick up those still at the hotel (some others were dropped off, as the heat was becoming extreme and a walk in the mountains did not seem appealing).

We continued on the tour the Western McDonnell range, another series of sandstone rocks, running left to right across the centre of the desert, covering an area of about 800 sq miles. Our first stop was at Simpson’s Gap – a long narrow gorge through the mountains. We walked along the rocky water course, clambering over rocks to reach a small water hole at the far end. The red rock forming the sides towered above us. The mountains here had formed in a similar way to Ayers Rock and the Olgas, except that when the tectonic plate movement occurred, the rocks were thrown up in folds, at a 40 degree angle. These rocks were then subjected to great heat and pressure and quartzite formed. This gap was formed by a large creek eroding a crack in the folds of quartzite. No-one is sure why it was called “Simpsons Creek”, but there was a Very Reverend Simpson in the early 1900’s with the Australian Land Mission. He was a great supporter of those trying to start up the RFDS, and continued helping this service until his death in 1951. To recognize his contribution to desert Australia, it was decided to erect a memorial. A huge chunk of marble was taken from the land in the north, without the Aborigines’ permission, and placed over his grave. Years later – in 1999 – this piece of marble was returned to the Aborigines, and a piece of similar marble found in the south, replaced it.

From here we wended our way along the Stuart Highway to a “pull off” where there were two large red gum trees. We stopped just long enough to take a few photos. These trees were painted by the first commercial Aborigine painter, Albert Namajara, and are now famous throughout Australia. One of the trees is not looking too well, with several bare, skeletal branches, but the second one is still healthy. Namajara’s potential as an water-colour artist was first recognized in the late 1920’s and an Englishman, Rex Battersby, took several of the paintings home, where they were an instant success. Many people wanted “a Namajara”, and soon the aborigine was a wealthy man. In the 1940’s a documentary was made about his life and in the 1950’s, the Queen, on her first visit to Australia, made him a “Freeman of Australia”. He was the first Aborigine to be recognized as an Australian – of course, he then had to start paying taxes on his earnings!

We continued on the coach to Standley Chasm. This was another gorge where the rocks had been thrown up and quartzite formed. Later in this region, there was some volcanic action and a grey/greenish lava poured into all the cracks and crevices up to 70 metres thick. This lava, known as dollarite, was softer than the base rock and was eventually worn away, leaving the chasm. There are still some traces of the green volcanic substance on the floor. Again we scrambled alongside a dry creek, over rocks and under fallen trees, to reach a narrow point, where the surrounding rocks almost joined. Again this cleft was full of huge boulders,that prevented you getting any further. Luckily it was just a short walk – half an hour each way, as the temperatures were really to high to stay out for too long, even in the shade. The chasm was named after Ida Standley, one of the first female teachers to come to the outback, There had been no school in Alice Springs since the town was first settled, until Ida arrived 1914 and recruited eleven children. She stayed here until 1929, when she moved on. Ida as awarded the MBE for her services to education.

Our last stop of the day was at the Alice Springs Desert Park where a large tract of land has been developed to provide habitat for lots of local flora and fauna. We were given an audio guide (free of charge) which enabled us to have full information about what we were seeing. Unfortunately we were only here for about an hour and a half, and as the distances to be covered between each exhibit were quite a way, we didn’t see a lot of the park. We made our way towards the nocturnal house where lizards, snakes, spiders, mice and rats were on show. We watched fascinated by mice who danced over the sandy bottom of their cage, up branches and over rocks, by the lizard who seemed to sit up and pose as we took his picture. We just didn’t have enough time to see everything. We had been told that the highlight of a visit to this park, was the Bird Show. We made our way to the Theatre complex and sat under cover (the temperature was soaring now, and had reached the top 40s - everyone was melting). A park ranger lured two black kites by throwing raw meat into the air. The birds caught the meet in their feet, and immediately transferred it to their beaks. He had just started this display, when a third black kite came along and mobbed one of the birds, so that both flew away over to the mountains. Apparently the visiting bird has a nest nearby with young chicks, and was defending its home. Another bird, looking much like a small fluffy brown owl, was perched high on a girder in the roof, with its back to us – it couldn’t see us, so we couldn’t see it. It differs from an owl in that owls have very strong talons and feet, used to catch prey, while this bird only uses its feet to perch. Another bird flew in – this time a hobby. A girl ranger came and whirled a lure on a string, and the bird immediately flew down, thinking it was about to catch some food (a small bird or insect on the wing). It was tempted down by the lure in front of us many times, often flying away through the shelter over our heads. The display was only short, as they use free flying birds, but they told us some interesting facts about how to look for wild life in the desert.

We still had half and hour or so before pick up time, so we wandered round to the kangaroo and emu enclosures. There were four kangaroos, spread out on the ground under the trees, obviously trying to keep as cool as possible. As we approached to take photos, they didn’t move – it was just too hot to bother. The emus were standing under trees, bobbing their heads as they watched us pass by.

It was then time to return to the hotel. We needed to load our travelers cheque card again, but on phoning up, we were told all systems were down due to maintenance problems and to try again in six hours – this is only the second time we have tried to load this card (the first time they wouldn’t let Colin top his card up using my bank account) and we have had problems both times. I don’t think I would recommend travelers cheque cards to other people.

We just had time to write a few lines on the blog and change, before it was time to meet for dinner. We had decided to join the group going to the Overlander Steakhouse, just ten minutes walk from the hotel. There was an option to go camel riding with a dinner included, but we decided to give this a miss. As a group of about twenty-five walked the streets of Alice Springs in the early evening, we saw several aboriginal people, near the river, sitting around drinking. Several people have told us that these indigenous people have an alcohol problem – they feel that Australia does not welcome them as citizens, and therefore lots of them believe they shouldn’t work or become part of the community – it’s a national problem. One man had a supermarket trolley loaded with cardboard boxes and was making a fire with some logs – cooking his dinner or getting rid of cardboard boxes? It couldn’t have been for warmth as the temperatures were still round 30 degrees.

The Overlander restaurant was decked out with saddles, tools and other memorabilia from the old days when cattle men would come to town to eat and drink. It was in two halves with a bar in the middle. We were in the back half of the restaurant, and a young man ( he looked about twenty) was “singing” country and western songs – singing is being very kind, but he was enthusiastically strumming his guitar. There was a large menu, but I decided that steak was on the menu for another night (tenth night running) and I chose beef ribs with plum sauce – this turned out to be three huge beef ribs (looking like spare ribs from the Chinese shop, only ten times larger) with a yummy dark, sweet sauce. Colin chose lamb shank (he has been going on for days that lamb hasn’t been on any of the menus, so he had to go for it tonight. Up came two large lamb shanks – each about the size of a small whole leg of lamb at home. Each meal was served with roast potatoes and veggies. Neither of us touched much of the vegetables, but made a brave attempt the meat, both of which were extremely tasty. As everyone knows, Colin loves desserts, so, even though he had eaten his way through most of two legs of lamb, he couldn’t resist the apple pie and cream. The “yodeler” serenaded us all evening, and at one point, was accompanied by volunteers playing the “wobble boards”. The toilets here were called “dunnies” – apparently its well known, but had escaped me – and you had to be careful to chose the right door when you got inside. It was a great fun evening, with lots of singing and raucus laughter, and a fitting farewell to eleven of our group, who leave us tomorrow morning to go home, or continue their holiday elsewhere.

We have really enjoyed our visit to Alice Springs – it wasn’t anything like I was expecting, and I am surprised that so much goes on around this city in the desert. There is lots to see and do, and we could easily have spent another couple of days here, exploring the area more thoroughly – I know we missed a couple of museums and we had no time to explore the shops, and of course, there was that park. It would have been difficult to come here on our own without a car and see everything, as the city is spread out and you would need transport to see everything. But it has been another highlight of our tour, and who knows, we may be back one day, to find out more about Alice Springs.