First hike up the mountain
Wonderful. Did the Rim Walk. I have realised that the harder the hike, the better, in that it really holds T’s interest that we are scaling a mountain, or clambering over large rocks, wading through water…… but the downside is that on these hikes P has to pack J pretty much the whole way…. a complete work out.
then around the rim
Todd River flowing
P was marginal about going, but I was insistent….. an iconic Australian town! Plus, we have friends there. On the day we arrived the Todd River flowed, which was quite exciting. The next day we got caught in the heaviest rain of the trip – drenched in 5 seconds. Had a great lunch with friends. Alice was great, with one exception. We had to go into the tourist bureau to get info on where to get our permits to travel through Aboriginal land. While we were getting them, I picked up a brochure for tourists….. the dos and don’ts of Alice Springs….. including *don’t* give money to beggars and *don’t* try to intervene in any altercations. I just felt uncomfortable as officialdom advises against any empathic behaviour – surely this isn’t the answer to (any) community dysfunction. We had also been advised by someone previously that if we were to hit someone with our car in Alice Springs, don’t stop, but rather drive straight to the local police station instead. I didn’t say anything to that person (a character issue of my own that needs further work…… I think it’s important to present alternative world views…… but whenever opportunity presents my natural response seems to be *not* to do so) but I wondered to myself…… I don’t think I could actually do that – hit someone with my car and then *not* stop. I know that is the advice in other parts of the world too – in some parts of India I believe – but what if someone died as no-one else was on the scene to administer first aid…… or you were the only one that would have known what to do….. or even just the vomitous view that you would then have of yourself as a hit and run driver. This type of advice, to shut down empathy and “save yourself” from possible “danger”…. maybe I’m just naive….. but I *like* being naive. There’s a link here between naivete and hopefulness….. and new possibilities.
Anyway, all the tracks around town were closed, so we hit the bitumen again.
