Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Still in Alice - most of our repair issues have been resolved, except for one. The new Primus fridge we bought in Melbourne to have in the back of our car is not working. Last Tuesday Primus told us they had sent the spare part and it would take 2-3 days. Thursday, they told us it would take 3-4 days. Now they are saying - oh, it should be here by Monday. We have been in Alice Springs more than a week. It is a great place to visit, but we really need to move on, as we still have a lot to see and do. It is now Friday and I think we will head off with the caravan tomorrow and look at the Eastern parts of the MacDonnell Ranges: N'Dhala Gorge Nature Park - maybe head up towards Gemtree and then back to Alice on Monday to - hopefully - pick up the fridge.
Since I last wrote we have visited the School of the air. It was very interesting and informative.
The school of the air started in Alice Springs in 1951 at the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Today they have their own facilities. There are 15 schools around Australia - this is the largest with currently 167 students enrolled between grade 1 and 8. It is most defiantly the largest classroom in the world. The closest student lives 78 km away - the furthest lives 1265 km away.They all meet up 3-4 times a year. For some of the children, this is their first encounter with so many other children. They typically live on a cattle station or a roadhouse (hotel) or their father is a ranger in a National Park or a police officer for the country station.
Each class logs on to the computer 3 times a week and it is such a highlight that they never miss a lesson even if they are very ill. They are all very eager to learn and all do very well. Apart from the online lessons, each student receives a package which is sent out to them containing workbooks. They have to complete all the tasks in 10 days and return it. Each student has to have a home tutor which is often the mother and each student works 4-6 hours per day with schoolwork
We where able to follow a grade 1 class with 8 student who where all logged on. They could all see each other and the teacher. The teacher had access to different cameras that could show either her face or the "blackboard". The school only started using computers in 2005 - as supplying all these families with satellite broadband, fax, printer etc. has been quite costly. Only this year the webcam has been added, as previously the connections were to slow. It has made a world of difference to both students and teacher. Now they even have P.E, where a local fitness instructor comes and does a session and they have just stated guitar lessons. Absolutely amazing!
After the school we went to the old Telegraph station which is where Alice Springs started. The first person for the job, died of thirst before he reached the place. All building materials, furniture etc. were carried by camels 500 km from where the train line ended in Oodnadatta.They spoke of camel trains consisting of 50 camels each able to carry 250 kg.
On Wednesday we went back for a swim at beautiful Ellery Bighole - we also stopped at Simpsons Gap and Stanley Chasm.
Thursday we visited The Desert Park, which is a main attraction in Alice. It takes you through 3 types of desert - The Desert Rivers, The Sand Country and the The Woodland Habitat. We heard an Aboriginal guide speak of weapons, bush tucker, etc. He also explained a very impressive and complicated marriage-system, which the Aboriginals had developed to make sure they didn't' interbreed. It was very interesting. He was in his forties and he told us that his grandfather had lived in the bush until his 25th year. Not a long time to adapt to our society.
Anyway - as you can read we have not been bored while stranded in Alice. Paul didn't have very high expectations before we came. He has been very pleasantly surprised. The nature surrounding Alice is truly worth a visit. When staying in town you do get a view of the local action between the police and the indigenous people. We have witnessed a few not so nice incidents. Looking at the camps just outside town - it does make you feel sad. However, we have been told that there are only 250 trouble makes in town - they have been thrown out of the communities and the police know who they are. You don't walk down the streets late in the evening.
Our motel is right in the centre of town. Tourists, business people and indigenous all stay here together - mainly the indigenous who come into town and have business with the galleries or the council books them in (for what reason, we do not know, but the motel is pretty sick of it, because when one person is booked, the whole family follows - 10 people in a 1 bedroom). The Aboriginal are quite loud in their own language, but otherwise very harmless. Today we met a woman at a Gallery who just received a contract for printing one of her paintings onto silk scarves. Our stay here has been quite an eye opener. Of course Emma and Thomas have raised many questions and we have had to cover many topics, from alcohol and drugs (including purple coloured mentholated spirits, which we have seen indigenous people drink in the streets) to history, socialization, politics etc.
I have been out running a couple of times in the mornings - only 18 degrees, but I have to leave no later than 6:30 and I feel perfectly safe. Alice is a very modern town with both Woolworths, Coles, Kmark, Target etc. - the only difference is, it is situated in a very isolated area.
Danish:
Vi er stadig i Alice Springs - de fleste reparationer er blevet ordnet, undtagen en. Det nye Primus køleskab vi købte i Melbourne for at have bag i bilen virker ikke. Sidste tirsdag fortalte Primus os, at de havde sendt reservedelen, og det ville tage 2-3 dage. Torsdag fortalte de, at det ville tage 3-4 dage. Nu siger de - den bør være der mandag. Vi har virkelig har brug for det køleskab. Vi har været i Alice Springs mere end en uge. Det er en fantastisk sted at besøge, men vi har virkelig brug for at komme videre, da vi stadig har meget at se og gøre. Det er nu fredag, og vi har besluttet at tage af sted med campingvognen i morgen. Vi kører til den østlige del af Macdonnell Ranges: N'Dhala Gorge Nature Park - måske fortsætter vi op til Gemtree og derefter tilbage til Alice på mandag for, forhåbentlig at hente vores køleskab.
Siden jeg sidst skrev, vi har besøgt The School of the Air. Det var meget interessant og informativ.
School of the Air startede i Alice Springs i 1951 hos Royal Flying Doctor Service. I dag har de egne lokaler. Der er 15 skoler rundt omkring i Australien - dette er den største, pt. med 167 elever indskrevet mellem 1. og 8. klasse. Det er helt sikkert verdensstørste klasseværelse. Den nærmeste elev bor 78 km væk - den elev, der bor længst væk, bor 1265 km væk. De mødes alle 3-4 gange om året. For nogle af børnene, er det deres første møde med så mange andre børn. De bor typisk på en kvæg-farm eller et Roadhouse (hotel) eller deres far er en ranger i en National Park eller en politibetjent for landsstation.
Hver klasse logger på computeren 3 gange om ugen, og det er sådan et højdepunkt, at de aldrig går glip af en lektion, selv om de er meget syge. De er alle meget ivrige efter at lære, og alle klarer det meget godt. Bortset fra online lektioner, modtager hver elev en pakke med posten indeholdende opgaver m.m. De skal lave alle opgaver inden for 10 dage og returnere det til skolen. Hver elev skal have en hjemmetutor, som ofte er moderen; den enkelte elev arbejder 4-6 timer om dagen med skolearbejde.
Vi fulgte en 1. klasse med 8 elever, der alle var logget på. De kunne alle se hinanden og læreren. Læreren havde adgang til forskellige kameraer, der kunne vise enten hendes ansigt eller "tavlen". Skolen er kun begyndt at bruge computere i 2005 - da levering af satellit-bredbånd, fax, printer osv. til alle disse familier har været ret kostbart. Først i år har de fået webcam da de tidligere forbindelser var for langsomme. Det har gjort en verden til forskel for både elever og lærer. Nu har de sågar idræt på skemaet. En lokal fitness instruktør kommer og underholder foran et webcam en gang om ugen. De er sågar begyndt med guitar undervise. Helt fantastisk!
Efter skolen besøgte vi den gamle Telegraf station, der hvor Alice Springs startede. Den første telegrafist , døde af tørst, før han nåede frem til sit nye job. Alle byggematerialer, møbler osv. blev transporteret af kameler - godt 500 km fra hvor toglinjen endte i Oodnadatta. Ca. 50 kameler gik på række, hver enkel var i stand til at bære 250 kg.
Onsdag tog vi tilbage til smukke Ellery Bighole for at svømme. Vi stoppede også ved Simpsons Gap og Stanley Chasm.
Torsdag besøgte vi The Desert Park, som er en vigtig attraktion i Alice. Vi lærte om 3 typer af ørken - Floderne, Sandet og Træerne. Vi hørte en aboriginal guide tale om våben, Bush mad osv. Desuden fortalte om et meget avanceret ægteskabs-system, som de indfødte havde udviklet for at forhindre indavl. Det var virkelig godt. Guiden var i fyrrerne, og han fortalte os, at hans bedstefar havde levet i "bushen", indtil sit 25 år. Ikke lang tid til at vænne sig til vores samfund.
Som du kan læse har vi ikke kedet os her i Alice. Paul havde ikke særlig høje forventninger, før vi kom. Han er dog blevet meget positivt overrasket. Naturen omkring Alice er virkelig et besøg værd. Under opholdet i byen får du et indblik i de lokale problemer mellem politiet og de indfødte. Vi har været vidne til, et par ikke så rare hændelser. Betragter man bostederne, der ligger lige udenfor byen, bliver man også lidt trist. Vi har flere gange fået at vide, at der kun er 250 ballademagere i byen - de er blevet smidt ud af deres "bosted" fordi de ikke kan opføre sig ordentligt. Politiet ved dog hvem de er. Du bør ikke gå ned på gaden sent om aftenen - heller ikke som familie.
Vores motel ligger lige i centrum. Her er både turister, forretningsfolk og indfødte. Nogle indfødte kommer til byen fordi de har forretninger med gallerierne, men kommunen indloger også mange på motellerne (grunden hertil kender vi ikke.)Vores motel er temmelig træt af det, fordi når en person er booket, følger hele familien og 10 personer ender med at overnatte på et værelse med 1 seng). De indfødte råber meget højt på deres eget sprog, men ellers er de meget harmløse. I dag mødte vi en kvinde på et galleri, der netop havde modtaget en kontrakt omhandlende trykning af et at hendes malerier på silke tørklæder. Hun var meget glad! Vores ophold her har været en øjenåbner. Emma og Thomas har haft mange spørgsmål og vi har dækket alt fra alkohol og stoffer, til historie og politik.
Jeg har været ude at løbe et par gange i ugens løb - det har kun været 18 grader, men jeg har været nødt til, at starte senest kl. 6:30, da det ellers bliver for varmt. Jeg føler mig slet ikke utryk. Alice Springs er som enhver anden moderen by - blot ligger den totalt isoleret i midten af ørkenen.
- comments