A Town like Alice

With apologies to Neville Shute, I had to do it.
When I took the job here, I knew roughly where Alice was- somewhere in the middle of Oz , equidistant from all Australia's beaches. Alice was settled in the early 1800's, mostly by miners, prospectors, and cattlemen searching for fortune.These characters brought invention and ingenuity to the heart of Oz. They also brought some firsts for this huge land. The laying of the Overland Telegraph Line that opened Australia to the world, the establishment of the Old Ghan Railway, the world's first motorised road train, and the Royal Flying Doctor service, the first aerial medical organisation of its type. I find these accomplishments amazing for a town that isn't that big, but is unique. Where in the world do they annually have a boat race, actually a regatta, that has these ingredients-a dry riverbed, bottomless boats,plenty of human horsepower, and a delight in the ridiculous? Also a day at the Races- camel races.....
The hospital is the largest employer. Consequently most of the bars and eating places have special rates, all we need to do is show our ID. Sweet.
I have booked myself a 3day/2night tour to Uluru(Ayers Rock ) at Easter. I am not sure how long I will be here, so need to see as much as. We camp out under the stars in swags....not sure about the snakes, scorpions etc.I will keep you posted. Not a fan of bus tours, but...needs must.It is cheaper than hiring a car. One of the nurses in the compound has a car, so she is taking 3 of us away for the day on Sun. The Macdonnell ranges head 400 km eastwards, and 400kms westwards of Alice. There are such huge distances here-I thought we were just up the road from Uluru- 466km actually. I think I am something like 1600 km from Darwin!!!!!
Here endeth the Geography lesson for today, just snippets I thought were really interesting on doing some homework over weekend.
Take care and look after each other.