Touring Australia's Interior and the Outback

Today we leave Sydney and the coast and head deep into Australia’s interior to see Ayer’s Rock (Uluru- pronounced oo LOO roo) via an overnight stop in Alice Springs. We met the same driver (he likes to be called coach captain) that brought us from the airport at 0720, and after picking up a few more people at other hotels, we arrived at the airport. We went to the Qantas check-in kiosks with some anxious doubt. For some reason we are generally unsuccessful in getting the passport reader to read our passports, and this time proved no exception. Trying to find a human being to help us, we were turned back to the kiosk by a firm but polite guardian of the check-in line who suggested we try to retrieve our passes by using other information (name, flight number, reservation number, etc.). We entered our surname and were prompted to enter the first. No go. Try again. Nada. Then realizing that our travel agent made the reservation using our first and middle names, we added the middle. Bingo!

An old tavern in Alice Springs

But it was still an anxious, frustrating 20 minutes to sort this out. We found our gate, boarded the plane, and took off for the heart of Australia.

Flying into the outback is an interesting experience. After crossing the Blue Mountains and into the rainy or wetter side, one can see all kinds of farms, ranches (they call them cattle stations), roads and signs of human activity.  But after about 45 minutes from takeoff there is only barren, arid land devoid of vegetation, roads, and homes until you get to Alice Springs which is roughly 1300 miles away.

We arrived in Alice Springs, exited through the rear of the plane on a portable airstair and were hit by a wall of stifling, dry, heat. What a change from cool, coastal Sydney. We met our driver Denis who would take us to our hotel. What a character! Denis was quite loquacious and talked incessantly about Alice Springs, the Aborigines, local events and activities, marriage, and the benefits of being divorced (he of 26 years)! He moved here 26 years ago (his wife wouldn’t come), a single man after being married for 26 years. However, he did provide some interesting information about Alice Springs, a city of around 28,000 with the government (Alice Springs serves as a regional center for many agencies), tourism, and mining being the largest employers. He also mentioned that there are around 1500 Americans living in the city who work at a secretive satellite tracking station the locals know nothing about (the Americans tell everyone they’re painters and gardeners). We arrived at our hotel too early for check-in and had a beer while we waited for our afternoon tour of Alice Springs to begin.

Alice Springs School of the Air

ASSOA coverage area

Our tour guide arrived at the appointed time and we headed out to our first stop, Alice Springs School of the Air (ASSOA). Recognizing that the outback had children living in remote conditions who lacked social contacts important for a well rounded education, ASSOA was established in 1951 using radio to provide a community aspect to the education of these children. ASSOA is a distance education organization that involves teachers, support staff, parents, home tutors, and fellow students to optimize learning outcomes for these children. Calling itself the “largest classroom in the world,” ASSOA reaches out to children over an area covering 512,000 square miles, double the size of Texas.

Quilt made by ASSOA students

Students enroll at the age of 5 and are taught until the 10^th grade, then must decide whether to go to boarding school or finish their education through correspondence studies. Home tutors (usually parents), home visits, and in-town visits and events throughout the year round out the educational experience. Radio was used as the contact medium until 2005 when the internet, which provides much greater interaction capabilities, was implemented. As for the success of the program, ASSOA ranks in the top 10% of Australian schools. We were impressed with this program and enjoyed the tours of the studios where classes are conducted.

The telegraph office

We left ASSOA and drove to the Alice Springs telegraph station which actually was responsible for the city’s start. In the 1800’s

On the telegraph office grounds

Australia was isolated from the rest of the world and communications by sea took two months to send or receive. With the invention of the telegraph, the idea that a telegraph line from Indonesia could be routed to Australia started to gain support. After the usual political wrangling, a line was laid and in 1872 the Alice Springs telegraph station was opened. This reduced Aussie isolation allowing communications to be sent and received over a few hours. Touring the grounds, we found that this very remote outpost was a very self-sufficient, but lonely community. Over time the station became home to an army detachment, served as a school for aborigines, and a weather station. Most of the buildings have been restored to their former condition and are filled with a collection of furnishings from the past. The station was closed in 1932.

A camel saddle

Next we headed to the Royal Flying Doctors Service (RFDS) headquarters. The RFDS was established in 1928 as a means of providing medical services to the isolated communities of inland Australia. Today it operates out of 21 bases and provides routine and emergency services to remote areas covering most of Australia. The RFDS is only partially funded by the government and relies on donations to continue its mission. We watched a video about the inception and growth of this service and toured the facility. This is another Australian answer to meet the needs of its isolated people.

Ghana lizard

Our final stop was at the Reptile Center (get the idea there’s not much to see in Alice Springs?). We learned that Australia has more species of snakes than any other continent. Additionally, they have about 125 species of venomous snakes which rank among the deadliest in the world and were unsettled to learn that a large proportion of these snakes inhabit the outback and the Alice Springs area. They’re everywhere we were told. We viewed various snakes and moved on to the center’s collection of lizards. Finally, we were introduced to Buster, the saltwater crocodile. Living up to a crocodile’s reputation as a killer, we watched buster attack a boat fender that was tossed into his pool. It made us glad we live with the much more docile alligator! We returned to our hotel and prepared for tomorrow’s flight to Ayer’s Rock.