More From Alice Spings

We're really enjoying our time in Alice Springs.  We've had some very hot weather - up to 42C.  Today has been a pleasant 28C.  We are lucky to have mains power at the Blatherspike Park (show ground) Campground so we can use our air-conditioning to keep cool.

We visited the Araluen Cultural Precinct where we spent about 4 hours immersed in culture and history.  At the Art Gallery we spent about 2 1/2 hours looking at the fantastic artworks.  The 2013 Desert Mob exhibition is on for a few more weeks.  We saw a great variety of paintings by modern indigenous artists.  All I can say is WOW!!!!  Everywhere we turned we saw more amazing works and wished we had a few  $millions so we could buy them all and take them home.  As well as paintings there were sculptures, ceramics, leather works and woven sculptures.  The foyer to the Art Gallery and cinema was decorated with stained glass windows, the small ones being done by local art students.

Outside and into the heat we passed the mural inspired by Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri on our way to the artists workshop and shop where we saw some resident artists painting.  We walked through the giant witchery grub sculpture with its decorated ceiling.












Then it was on to the Museum of Central Australia with its rammed earth walls and excellent displays.




After the museum we continued on to the Aircraft Museum where we saw the remains of the Kookaburra which crashed while searching for Kingsford-Smith and Ulm.  It was found in 1978 by Dick Smith.  There is also an early Flying Doctor Plane and several other planes in the 2 hangars.

It was very hot as we made our way back to the car and coolness of the air-conditioning in the caravan, after ice-creams at Uncle Edy's.

The next day we headed for the nearby sports complex to see the Solar Car Challenge which passed through Alice Springs on their way from Darwin to Adelaide.  There was no shortage of solar power in the lunchtime heat.  The cars rely completely on solar power and can travel at speeds up to 100kph.  The cars in the race would be most uncomfortable as the single driver sits in a bubble very close to the road surface.  

Cruiser class vehicles look a bit more like a car as we know it, have 2 seats and are able to use electricity to recharge their batteries overnight.  We spent some time talking to the engineering student crew for the UNSW entry.










The next morning Robert went back to the highway to see some of the cars as they left Alice Springs on their way to Coober Pedy and Adelaide.






More sightseeing over the next few days saw us drive north about 30km to see the Tropic of Capricorn.  On the way we saw a monument marking the highest point on the Stuart Highway between Adelaide and Darwin - about 750m above sea level.

Another 40C day and we drove the 80km to Santa Theresa which is an indigenous Christian community noted for their artworks.  The walls inside the church are painted with murals depicting indigenous interpretations of christian stories - fantastic.  Near the church is a spiritual centre where artists paint on silk as well as on wood and canvas.  More amazing artworks were at the Keringke Art Centre with dot paintings in psychedelic colours.  Such a feast for the eyes, we didn't want to leave.  To see some of the works just google Santa Theresa NT or go to keringkearts.com.au




In the cool of the evening we were back to Anzac Hill to take photos of the sunset.