I made a friend today. Her name is Oshaiya. Our acquaintance started in the hotel swimming pool. She was swimming while her mom sat by the side of the pool, often talking on her phone. Oshaiya had some toy weights that she would drop to the bottom and then retrieve. I asked if I could try to do it, so she dropped the weight, and I dove down to bring it up.
Eventually, I said, “Close your eyes and count to ten and I’ll hide it and you see if you can find it.” That game, which I’ve played with all four of my grandkids, continued on, taking turns, for most of the thirty minutes Judy had on her washing machine timer.
After a while, Oshaiya said, “What is your name? I forget.” We’d never exchanged names, but I said, “My name is Jon. What’s yours?”
She told me her name and after a few tries I could pronounce it (I didn’t have my hearing aids in).
“That’s a pretty name. I don’t know anyone called Oshaiya. How do you spell it?”
“Guess.”
“O-S-H-A” I guessed
“You need three more letters.”
Eventually, I gave up and she told me.
“How old are you?”
“Eight”
“Oh, my grandson is 10.”
“Actually I’m almost 10. I’m 9 and will turn 10 on December 31.”
I’m guessing 8 is closer to the truth. You know how kids can be.
But here was the real eye opener:
“Do you live in Australia?” I asked.
“No, I live in the Bush.”
“Is that in Australia?”
“No, it’s the Bush. Because of the color of my skin.” pointed to her arm with what I took to be pride. I live in <something> Station. In the Bush.”
I didn’t get the <something> (no hearing aids, remember?) But a station is what we would call a cattle ranch. So I concluded that she lives somewhere in the center of Australia, that she’s a member of an indigenous group and that she’s proud of it. She also knows that she doesn’t live in Australia, and that’s not a defect in her understanding of geography but rather an awareness of her heritage.
“Our creek flooded.” “From the rain?” “Yes, from the rain.”
“I have an uncle who lives in Sydney. He has skin the same color as mine. He has a tattoo here,” pointing to her wrist.
What did I learn? That kids everywhere like to play the same games, regardless of national origin or ethnic heritage. And I learned that Oshaiya is being brought up to be proud of her heritage and to celebrate it without a hint of shame or defensiveness. Only, “you’re an old white guy and I’m from the Bush with my dark skin and we can have fun playing together.”
I was in the water for a long time, swimming underwater to play the game. That’s why my eyes are stinging right now, I am sure.
Sorry for the long recitation, but I wanted to get it down on paper while it was fresh in my mind. When someone asks, “What’s the best thing you did in Australia, I’ll have a ready answer.”
Today, otherwise, was a scenery day as we drove up into the Western MacDonnell Ranges west of Alice Springs. The Western MacDonnell Ranges is a series of mountain ridges formed 350 million years ago through I’d guess the same geological plate movement that created Uluru. Since then, folding, faulting and erosion have created a number of gaps and gorges. These are what we explored this morning. Some local guides claim 500 million years and that, back in the day, the MacDonnell Range was taller than present-day Himalayas. That makes a better story so I’m going with that one.
On our way to the gorges, we stopped just outside of town to see the Reverend John Flynn’s burial place – he’s the Royal Flying Doctor Service guy, remember? His image graces the 20-dollar Australian bill. He’s a big deal here.
First, we visited Simpson’s Gap and then Ormiston Gorge and the Eller Creek Big Hole. Then, on our way back toward town, we stopped for lunch at Standley Chasm. I’ll let the pictures show you what we saw: mountain peaks (the tallest are 5,000 foot-ish) and the same arid desert-like foreground similar to what we saw at Urulu. There were significant signs of brush fires almost everywhere. Our guide/driver told us that the fires occurred three weeks ago. The green grass has grown since then. The scrub trees will leaf out again later.
We had a chance to get out and walk at all three gorges. It’s hot again today – well over 100 but maybe a touch cooler than Uluru, or maybe I’m just getting used to it. The paths were well prepared and fairly flat, so not a huge challenge for most of us. We have, however, had two casualties so far: a lady tripped and fell and bruised her ribs yesterday going into the RFDS building yesterday. She spent the night in the hospital for tests and recovery. Then today her traveling companion tripped and hurt her arm. The guides put all of us in one bus (we’ve been traveling with two) and took her back for examination.
At Simpson’s Gap, climbing on a rocky section of the gap, big as life, were several wallabies. Yes, they look like small kangaroos but they are different. Finally, wildlife in the wild, not a zoo!
The Eller Creek Big Hole is a swimming hole. I was hesitant at first but quickly changed my mind and put on my swimming suit and enjoyed a delightful float in cool, refreshing water. See the pictures. Judy enjoyed a shady log while I swam.
The hike at Stadley Chasm was the longest – maybe a half mile – and the hottest. The guides wanted us there at noon since that’s the only time the sun shines down into the chasm. After, we had a nice cold buffet lunch.
I hate it when I do it, but I napped the 30-minute drive back to town. Just think of all the pictures I didn’t get to take!
One other cultural note. Several signs along the road pointing to Alice Springs and other destinations were defaced, the English words marked out, replaced by handwritten words. in, I presume, the language of the Arrernte people, the traditional owners of the Western MacDonnell. I asked the bus driver about that. “Well, these things take time,” was his response
Back at the hotel, Judy started a load of washing and then we went for the swim, described above. We’re off this evening for a “traditional bush dinner.” Given Oshaiya, I can’t wait to see what the tour company considers a bush dinner to be. Maybe I should invite Oshaiya.
We’re back from the bush dinner and it turned out to be a western show like you’d find out west in the US but with an Australian accent. You know, first the guy telling funny stories: “I’m going to make you some raisin-rum bread in a Dutch oven. The recipe calls for thirteen and a half mouthfuls of water and six and a half metric handfuls of flour. We’ll cook it over the embers at 362 degrees, metric or Fahrenheit, doesn’t matter.” Then a steak dinner followed by Katie, a pretty good country and western guitar player/singer, including audience participation. Remember Dancing Matilda? Did you know that it ends with the cowboy drowning himself in a billabong? Finally, a lights-out internal to observe the stars, including our old friend upside down Orion, with an electronically assisted Didgeridoo playing in the background. A good time was had by all, and the bread, served as dessert, tasted fine.
But the best part of the evening was the bus ride to the show. We saw a half dozen or so of real life kangaroos in the wild, hopping around just like you’d imagine. One of our group says one of the ‘roos had a joey in her pouch.
Tomorrow it’s a noonish flight to Melbourne. No more Outback for us. It’s two of days of Melbourne, two days of Sydney and then home.
OK, so I didn’t get this posted before we left Alice Springs. We’re now in Melbourne. It took most of the day. The only flight was scheduled for 12:30 and left a half hour late. Traffic was bad in Melbourne and so we didn’t get to the hotel until 6 PM. The weather: rainy and cold. It didn’t break 70 today and after 100+ up north this is a pleasant relief.
We were on our own for dinner tonight so off we went in search of food. Turns out the Crown Metropol hotel is part of the Crown casino complex, and what a complex it is. In addition to the casino there’s a web of mall-like corridors with shops, restaurants, bars, you name it. We wandered through the casino, resisting the temptation to pull a lever or two, walked by one food court featuring KFC and another with upscale offerings. We ended iup at a medium-scale Chinese restaurant. The upscale Chinese restaurant we tried was fully book.
Everywhere was packed some ladies were dressed to the nines (the guys they were with looked like slobs), and there were families with kids and everything in between. We were undoubtably the oldest in the entire operation.
Melbourne is a big city. We’re doing a tour in the morning and have the afternoon to ourselves. One stop tomorrow is to the house where Captain Cook lived. It sure would be fun for him to come back and see this place today.
Judy’s been hard at work putting together videos. Here are the three latest.
Australian Zoo at Mooloolaba: https://judyrick.zenfolio.com/australia_videos/hc812bddb#hc812bddb
Newcastle and Sunrise at Sydney: https://judyrick.zenfolio.com/australia_videos/hc8d2f140#hc8d2f140
Townsville, Queensland: https://judyrick.zenfolio.com/australia_videos/hc956949b#hc956949b
You can see the gallery of all videos for this trip if you want to see the ones you missed. Here is that link:
https://judyrick.zenfolio.com/australia_videos
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