A Town Called Alice - Day Seven

I am now writing to you from Alice Springs where I am able to access much cheaper internet. I stay here for five days, so it will be where I will be able to write to all of you about Uluru, my adventures around the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, and a little more about the home of the Anangu People, the traditional owners of the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, where the magnificent Uluru and Kata Tjuta rock formations lie.

Right now though, I am in Alice Springs and if you've read the "famous" novel called "A Town Like Alice" or seen the adapted movie...well... lets just say things have changed since the book was written in the 1950's, where an English woman finds love and life amongst the outback in the tiny town called Alice Springs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:TownLikeAlice.jpg

Sadly, Alice Springs is now the bustling metropolis of the lower Northern Territory and while it is not exactly a city, it certainly is a town that is full of many people from all walks of life and particularly has a large contingency of Aboriginal people who have moved into the town from the outer, more remote communities. All of this combined makes for a town that is quite unruly, and a little bit dangerous at night. I will talk a little more about the impact that my traveling has had on my understanding of our native Aboriginal communities out here in the Outback, but it is with much sadness that I write that there are a significant number of displaced Aboriginals in Alice Springs who have succumbed to toxin that is alcohol.

So I will remain in the hostel for much of the time, with a few visits to the local historic sites, but I am treating the next 5 days as my "Christmas Holiday Relaxation Time", sitting by the pool, reading books, uploading photos and telling of my stories so far.

I really hope you enjoy my stories of the last 6 days, as I have thoroughly enjoyed traveling through the very heart of Australia, the Outback, the Red Centre......my homeland.