Monday, August 23, 2010

Bye Alice



What with uninspired job offers, outrageously expensive accommodation, and a sense that we 'had done' the major tourist offerings, we have decided to move on - Tennant creek, here we come. Alice really is a bonza place, it has a wonderful setting in a fold of the Macdonnell Ranges, and is shielded by them to the extent that the town only becomes visible when you have almost arrived. The backdrop of reddish purple rock faces looks as though it was designed by an abstract artist. There is obviously a great deal of civic pride, and the impression of being in an oasis is heightened by the fact that trees are preserved at all costs, and buildings designed around them and through their clumps. Alice has been the recipient of the Julia Gillard stimulus package, and the Kevin Rudd stimulus package, and the John Howard stimulus package, and every other stimulus package back to Chiefley and Curtin. As a consequence, there is a child minding centre on every corner, just across from the Health and welfare centre, opposite the AIDS clinic, behind the Drug Dependancy office, along from the Cultural precinct, next to the Dialysis practice, in front of Civic Amenities block, all of which overlook the Alcohol counselling services. This means that the shops selling plastic boomerangs are squeezed in to a small area around the Todd Mall. Unfortunately, the outer and more modern suburbs share with the rest of Australia those sort of non descript, uninspired and impractical houses which make assaulting architects obligatory in civilised society. My one regret is that at no point were we able to have anything to do with the indigenous people. They seem to account for about half the population, and spend the day shuffling along, or just sitting in the streets and watching the world go by. Of course there is no formal apartheid, but an informal version seems solidly in place. There seems to be no overlap between the western and indigenous worlds. All the drunks are black, as are all the vagrants, but none of the shopkeepers, or bus drivers, or bank tellers. I make this observation in a completely non judgemental way, and I wanted to talk to indigenous people, and try to learn a little more about them. The only occasion when I felt distinctly uncomfortable, was when a group of Aboriginal children came with us into the tea rooms at Hermannsburg. When their dog also followed them in, the owners of the shop, both husband and wife, screamed abusively at the children in a way, which if directed at a white child, would have been outrageous. Perhaps it was my ear, or a sort of projected paranoia, or perhaps just my imagination. Alas the kids responded as if they were used to it. So at the end of a couple of weeks, my single conversation with an indigenous person occurred when a fellow gambler explained to me the way to get change at the pokies. Incidentally, We've noticed that virtually everybody here, black and white, are morbidly obese, and Cecile and I are working hard to ensure that we do not stand out from the crowd.

2 comments:

  1. Interesting to hear your (commendably non-judgemental) thoughts on the Alice - and looking forward to the next installment from Tennant Creek!

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  2. Hope all is going well with you lot. :) David, Tony Johns rang me for a chat the other night. I got his email and we will keep in touch. It was nice of him. I suppose he had to as you are not here to keep him updated!!!!!

    Regards, Paul

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