This week, Don and the Burke’s Backyard team visited Alice Springs. Don met some of the locals and had a good look around the area. He loved seeing all the subtle colours: the silvery blue-green of the spinifex and the lovely colours of the gum trees, with their beautiful, twisted white trunks and the light shimmering on their leaves. Wherever you look in the country around Alice Springs, there is a painting that you could put on your wall.
Corroboree Rock
This is an unusual outcrop of dolomite from the Bitter Springs Formation, originally laid down in salty lakes 800 million years ago. At the base of the rock, dark and light grey streaky blobs of ‘dalmation rock’ can be seen. A ring of low ground surrounding the rock makes it look like an obelisk.
This site is of great significance to the Eastern Arrernte Aboriginal people. It was used as an important storage site for ceremonial objects, and was probably used as a corroboree site or a site where important ceremonial activities were carried out.
Emily Gap
Emily and Jessie Gaps are small gaps in the Heavitree Range, located 10 kilometres east of Alice Springs. These are important spiritual sites to the Eastern Arrernte Aboriginal people. The most significant is probably Emily Gap, which is a registered sacred site. This is where the caterpillar beings of Mparntwe (Alice Springs) originated. A large rock painting depicts the caterpillar dreaming.
Emily and Jessie Creeks run through the gaps, and then feed into the Todd River. These creeks form an invaluable source of water in dry times.
Olive Pink Botanic Garden
The Olive Pink Botanic Garden is one of the best examples of an arid zone botanic garden in Australia. There are over 300 of Central Australia’s plant species within the 16 hectares of the botanic garden. Miss Olive Muriel Pink founded the garden in 1956 and lived there until her death in 1975.
The Olive Pink Botanic Garden grows many plants that are aboriginal herbal remedies. Don met with Aboriginal Elder, MK Turner, an Alice Springs local and great-grandmother who is a member of the Arrernte People. She told Don about some of the plants that are used by her people, including wild orange (Capparis mitchellii) and wild passionfruit (Capparis spinosa var. nummularia). MK also gave Don a tip about eating mistletoe or snotty gobble – swallow it quickly otherwise it sticks to your tongue!
MK Turner is the Chairperson of the School Committee of Irrkerlantye (pron: Air-a-kulan-ga) Learning Centre. She does Parish work with the Catholic Church at the Centre. MK also teaches the Arrernte language to adult members of the community outside of the school.
Her book, Bush Foods-Arrente Foods from Central Australia by Margaret-Mary Turner-Neale, costs $15.99. (Visit: www.bushtuckershop.com)
Olive Pink Botanic Garden
Tuncks Road, Alice Springs
Phone: (08) 8952 2154
Fax: (08) 8953 5522
Sturt’s Desert Pea (Swainsona formosa)
The floral emblem of South Australia, Sturt’s Desert Pea is a frost-tender annual or short-lived perennial spreading to around 2m (6′). The flowers, which appear in spring, are scarlet, white or mixed red and white, usually with a black ‘standard’. Its genus name, Swainsona, commemorates Isaac Swainson, who died in 1806. He was a private gardener in Twickenham, London.
Sturt’s Desert Pea thrives in hot, dry desert conditions or elsewhere in coarse, gravelly or sandy soils with perfect drainage. It dislikes humidity, so it is grafted onto stock of the New Zealand Clianthus puniceus, which is less sensitive to humid or wet conditions.
It can be grown as an unusual annual, as a scrambler or climber to a height of 1-2m, or planted to cascade over an embankment or retaining wall.
The Ghan
This year, The Ghan arrived in Darwin for the first time, making a dream that has lasted for 150 years a reality. There were earlier attempts to link Adelaide and Darwin by rail, and even a little controversy as to where the train got its name. Most think it was named after Afghan camel drivers, who operated the route before the railway was built. Others say it was named after a commissioner who finally got the line to Alice Springs up and running back in 1929.
Booked out right up to Christmas, the new railway is one of the most exciting infrastructure projects the Northern Territory has seen in more than half a century.
The 2,979 kilometre trip from Adelaide to Darwin takes 48 hours. For bookings, phone Great Southern Railways on 132 147.
Further information
Northern Territory Tourist Commission
Phone: 13 61 10
Fax: 1800 808 666
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.nttc.com.au
