Day 44 in Oz, or January 14 as it is better known.

G’day mate.

It was an early wake-up in Brisbane at 5.45 this Sunday morning as I got ready to head to the Red Center and leave the Australian East Coast behind where I had spent the last 2 weeks. An hour later I was already at the airport looking forward to a new exiting day, flying first to Alice Springs and then further on to the most famous rock in the world, Ayers Rock (Uluru).

As the plane took off and I took the last longing views of the Pacific Ocean, we hit major turbulence shaking the plane pretty badly as if to remind me that after 6 weeks on the road I was finally heading West on a journey that would eventually bring me back home in a couple of weeks.

After the 3.5-hour flight I found myself at the very small and pretty modest Alice Springs airport. Here I was, in the center of this huge continent, in a place that has always had an exotic appeal to me. Unfortunately I had only 1.5 hours before boarding my next flight. Nevertheless, I wanted to make the most out of it, so I promptly walked though the terminal and headed to the first taxi in a row of 4 cars. I asked the driver how much it would cost if I would hire him for my 90 minute visit of Alice. We agreed on 60 dollars (36 euros) and I jumped in the car.

Larry, the driver, was a friendly 50-something year old fella with look of a former rocker. He was almost like one of the ZZ Top guys, with facial features of a man who has seen the world and experienced life to its fullest; so I was looking forward driving around Alice with him and was hoping for a few good stories.

The town of Alice Springs is some 15 km away from the airport, just behind the MacDonnell Ranges and as we headed towards the Heavitree Gap (the only passage through the mountain range) the first raindrops fell on the windscreen. Even though it had been a cloudy day I was surprised to see rain in this dry, red country. Larry on the other hand was rightly pleased to see some much needed rain. He has been living in Alice for the past 12 years (originally from the southern coast in Victoria, he lived in northern Queensland for 16 years before coming to Alice).

Larry told me that it is very exceptional to get rain in Alice at this time of the year and that normally we should have been enjoying blue skies. Due to the rain and cloud cover it was “only” +34 degrees, normally it should have been over 40. As we entered the town, we agreed that Larry would drop me off on Todd Street (the main street running through the town) so I could have a 60 min stroll through the pedestrian section, before picking me up at the Bojangles Saloon, apparently the best pub in town.

Alice Springs, originally called ‘Stuart' came to life as a simple telegraph station in almost the exact center of the continent, and was renamed as Alice Springs in 1933 after the wife of Sir Charles Todd who was the superintendent of telegraphs and government astronomer to South Australia. Alice has nowadays a population of about 27,000, of which some 17% are aboriginals.

So, I was standing in light rain on Todd Street, with the town hall behind me and the pedestrian section in front of me. This is where most shops, cafes, bars, 2 churches, a small cinema and the supermarket are located. The street was pretty quiet (no real surprise as it was 10.45 am on a Sunday morning) with a few people having breakfast in the cafes and some aboriginals sitting on the lawns. Some of them trying to sell their artifacts, some just sitting around.

As I reached the end of Todd Street and the ANZAC Oval at the bottom of the ANZAC Hill, I was contemplating the remoteness of Alice. Not only was I some 17,000 km from home but also some 1,200 km from the nearest ocean and 1,500 km from the nearest major cities, Darwin and Adelaide. Having reached the end of the street I turned back hoping that despite the early time of day (and local licensing laws), I could find a pub that would be already open. Having traveled this far, I couldn’t imagine leaving Alice without having a beer there. Halfway back on Todd Street the Town & Country Tavern had just opened its door so I walked in only to see that the thirstiest locals were already enjoying their morning beers.

I asked for a pint of Tooheys but the tap didn’t work so I settled for a bottle of ice cold Crown Lager. The bar was like any average bar, with not much special identity. It might be due to the early hour as well but I guess it wasn’t the liveliest place in town even at best of times. I had to finish my beer pretty quickly as I still wanted to see the Bojangles Saloon before leaving town. Fortunately the Alice isn’t a very big town so I quickly walked to the Bojangles, which was further down on the same street.

I walked through the revolving saloon doors and as I was their only customer I quickly got a bottle of Pure Blond. As I told the barman that I was doing an Alice-in-90-minutes tour he told me that they have snakes in the side room and might want to take a look. It turned out that they have a shrine to Meat Loaf and the Bat Out of Hell song there, where a skeleton leans on an old rusty motorbike with a couple of live pythons in the shrine. The pub as a whole had a very strong Wild West & Outback feeling and I wished I could have seen it in full swing on the previous evening.

I saw Larry’s taxi pulling over in front of the door so I finished my beer and hopped in the car. Larry drove me to the town’s lookout, the ANZAC hill, for a panoramic view of the town. I could only imagine how the town would look under blue skies and blistering sunshine but the view was nevertheless good and from there you could clearly see the MacDonnell Ranges and the Gap. Time was running out (boarding for my next flight was in 10 minutes) so I had bid farewell to the Alice and get back in the car.

As we passed through the Gap, we drove along the Todd River, which was totally dry, as it usually is. It normally flows once a year but might take a couple years as well to get some water. When there is water in the Todd it is the main talk in town. “Have you seen the river?” is then the question on every ones lips. Larry found this weird at the beginning, coming from the tropics with rivers always full of water but he has gotten used it by now.

I pointed out to him that for a former diver coming from the coast he has found the place furthest away from the oceans and wondered if he didn’t miss it. He said that he got worn out with growing tourism and coastal development so he came to the Alice for a break and has not left since. He said that the sunrises and sunsets in the Red Center give him the same kicks he got when he started diving.

As we approached the airport Larry told me he has never been to Ayers Rock (my destination of the day, some 500 km further west) but he’ll probably go there this year. I smiled as Northern Territory (NT) is also known as Not Today, Not Tomorrow, Not This Year, knowing that when the time is right he’ll make it to the big Rock.

We got to the airport just in time and I paid Larry for his tour, wishing him all the best, sharing a strong handshake. Seeing the Alice has always been a dream for me (don’t even know why, not even now) and I am glad that I managed to do it, even if I did it in 90 minutes; so I happily boarded my 35 minute flight to the Ayers Rock for new adventures…. but that’s a different story.

Cheers mate!