Alice Springs Desert Park
The manager at Wintersun Caravan Park where we've been staying at Alice Springs recommended that we visit the Alice Springs Desert Park to see the bird feeding display. We thought he'd said that it was on at 1030 am and duly arrived at 1015 only to discover that it had begun at 1000am. We were pretty disappointed as we'd just outlaid $32 to get in. Luckily there was another show on at 3.30 pm, so we thought we'd take a look around and then maybe come back later in the afternoon for the bird show.
Firstly we went in to the movie theatre at the venue to see their show. It turned out to be excellent. Very well presented and the photography was brilliant. At the end of the show the movie screen dropped down to reveal the fabulous view of the real ranges beyond. We were sold!
Off we went to the next thing on the programme. It was a talk given by one of the Aboriginal rangers, Jeremy. He really was an engaging and natural speaker. He had a tableful of artefacts such as nulla nullas, spears and shields, didgeridoos and rhythm sticks. He explained all about them. How they were made and what they were used for.
Then he gave a demonstation in how to make fire. It really works! Also how the women gathered and carried food.
Lastly he gave us a bit of a talk about bush tucker. What kinds of food the aboriginals ate. The men of course were the hunters, while the women gathered and prepared the food as well as took care of the children. It was very interesting and we were all asking questions at the end of the talk which he was happy to answer.
Instead of going back to the van for lunch we stayed and looked further around this vast complex. There's a lot more here than we realised. The bird aviary was great. You could go right in amongst the birds and identify various birds we'd been told about.
The nocturnal display building was massive. It had lit diorama displays of various insects, snakes and lizards and well as huge enclosures of mammals birds and bats. We spent a long time in this display. There was just so much to see and it was very well presented.
We wandered further around the park looking at various trees and native flowers, as well as dingoes, emus and kangaroos before stopping for lunch at the café.
After lunch Jeremy gave us another more detailed talk on aboriginal food. We learned about witchety crubs, snotty gobbles, honey ants and lots more.
Then it was time for the bird show. I'm so glad we didn't miss this! I have no idea how they trained all the birds to appear on cue and go to exactly where they were meant to go. We saw Kites, owls, and a cheeky bush stone curlew that followed his master around everywhere. Seeing the birds of prey diving for their food and snatching it from the keeper was spectacular.
When we finally left, we had just enough time to stop in at the nearby John Flynn memorial which was on the highway near the park.
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