Exploring Australia&NZ Day 6

Day 06 - Thursday, April 21, 2011 - Flight from Cairns to Alice Springs; ANZAC Hill Monument; Royal Flying Doctors Service; School of the Air; "Bush" Dinner

Our late morning flight gave us a leisurely morning to finish packing and to catch up on e-mail and write a few messages. I paid the bill at the desk and noted the high cost of internet.

As a comparison for information sake - the charge for the internet was $10 for two hours and $27 for 24 hours. We spoke to Leigh asking if this would be the case all over Australia and he pointed out that the free wifi in the lobby in Cairns would be the last we would see.

He mentioned to us that Australians loved to go to the United States as there is free internet, excellent food service, and the cost of meals is way below what they have to pay. We noticed as we looked in many of the restaurants that the price of an average dinner was $30 - $40 per person whereas in the USA these dinners would be between 10 and 15 dollars.

Our bags were out at 9:00 and loaded into the bus when we met in the lobby at 10:00. Odysseys Unlimited has a very interesting way of airport check-in. We identified our bags and Leigh gave us a boarding pass. A porter checked them in for us and we went directly through security and to the departure gates.

Flying from the Tropics in Cairns to the Desert in Alice Springs in the middle of the country was very fascinating. We flew over absolutely flat lands with very few dry river beds and long, long straight roads that did not appear to end up in any town or community.

Leigh had told us that there was a ½ hour time change when we reached Alice Springs; apparently something to do with the cows and the milking schedules…

The flight was very pleasant, only a little over two hours and we were served a beverage and a lunch. Leigh had arranged for great seats for us but there were many vacant seats. The Qantas domestic service seems to be very efficient.

Landing in Alice Springs we found very warm temperatures but also low humidity. Leigh likened it to Arizona. We had flown 1500 miles to the capital of Australia's Outback situated in the country's exact center.

The desert country looked green to us and Leigh reminded us that they had 42 inches of rain this summer and fall. Usually it rains very little; the last rain had been 8 years ago!

As we drove from the airport to the city, we saw many solar panels, eucalyptus trees, and cattle ranches. Alice Springs is often called the Red Center because of the red soil and the red rocks of the McDonald Range of rock outcroppings.

The cattle ranges out here are immense, as it takes 100 acres for grazing one head of cattle. The average size of a ranch or station is 1,000,000 acres.

When we arrived in Alice Springs, a town of 27,000 people, we went to the Royal Flying Doctors Service; a team of pilots, nurses, and doctors who look after the medical needs of 36,000 people in the Outback, an area greater than the size of Western Europe.

Started in 1928 by Rev. John Flynn, the Flying Doctors now have 54 aircraft. We saw a video and a slide presentation along with a discussion of the work of these dedicated medical professionals.

Our next stop was to climb ANZAC (Australia and New Zealand Army Corps) Hill Monument to soldiers who fought in both World Wars and recent world conflicts. As Monday will be Memorial Day in Australia, Leigh told us to expect many parades honoring these veterans.

Passing through the town we saw many small groups of Aboriginals congregating under the trees and along the roads. Although the government provides subsidies and housing, many people prefer to live in their traditional way of life sleeping outside under the stars on the ground.

Our next learning opportunity was a visit to the School of the Air. Hannah, our guide, gave us an overview of the program begun in the 1950 that provides schooling to widely scattered Outback children.

The “district” has 116 children ages 4.5 to 14 in over a million square miles of Australia’s Northern Territories. When the children reach high school age they have the option of attending a boarding school in a city or they can continue with their Distance Education.

The government provides all of the learning materials including technical equipment and broadband satellite communication as well as books and workbooks. Each child has a designated time that they log on to live interactive feeds with their teachers.

We made a brief stop at the local grocery store as no stores and few restaurants will be open tomorrow as it is Good Friday. Jim and Mary Ann and Gennie and I bought food for a picnic.

Leigh gave us one hour back at the hotel to check in and get settled before we got back on the bus and headed out into the ‘bush’ for a traditional Outback dinner.

Truly out in the middle of nowhere, we went to a covered area known as the Outback Bushman’s Dinner. We met our hosts John and Kathy, Conrad, and Barry who entertained us with an Aussie Country dinner.

The menu included grilled chicken, steak, and kangaroo, salads, a potato, veggies, and all the wine, soda, or beer one could drink. For dessert they showed us how to bake a campfire cake called a spotted dog, very good!

After dinner Andrew, an astronomer, gave us a very interesting look at the Southern Cross, the Milky Way and constellations of the Australian sky. Because there was absolutely no light pollution, it was incredible to see all of the heavens above us that we take for granted at home.

It was past 9:30 when we got home. Gennie did a little laundry and we worked on the journal for the day. They say life moves slowly here in the Bush Country, but our day was anything but dull!

Accommodations: Crowne Plaza Hotel - - - Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Please see our Trip Evaluation -- Click Here -- A Complete Review of Exploring Australia & New Zealand with Odysseys Unlimited.