Alice Springs: Overland Telegraph & Anzac Hill
We Had loads and loads of washing to do this morning after our free-camping at Devils Marbles, so Karen Kathy and Barb spent the morning doing that while Steve Ian and John did stuff around the car and caravan. It's nice to be set up for a few days here at Wintersun. It's a lovely caravan park, and we are surviving the very cold weather quite well in our cosy van. |
| Nine lines full of washing! |
 |
| Lunch at Ian and Kathy's van |
 |
| Steve and Karen |
 |
| Ian and Kathy |
 |
| Barb and John |
 |
| Razor wire round our campsite at Alice Springs |
After lunch we headed out to see the Old Overland Telegraph Station on the outskirts of Alice Springs near the banks of the Todd River. The Todd river was completely dry, as it usually is at this time of year. In fact they hold the annual Henley-on-Todd regatta ONLY if the river is dry! We were told if you dig down for a metre or two fresh water wells up, which is why it was mistakenly called a spring by the early explorers.
 |
| The dry bed of the Todd River |
 |
| Waiting for our tour to start |
 |
| Karen and Steve |
 |
| The Old Overland Telegraph Station |
 |
| Ian and Kathy |
The Old Overland Telegraph Station and its surrounding out-buildings has been remarkably well preserved despite its rather crude construction all those years ago.It was in operation until the 1970s too!
 |
| John and Barb |
 |
| Our tour guide |
 |
| Listening intently to the story |
 |
| You'll be tested on this later |
We were fortunate to have a guided tour of the facility by a nice young man whose relaxed style of presentation was both informative and interesting.
It is a real achievement that back in 1870 they were able to lay cable from Adelaide to Darwin in some of the harshest terrain around. Some of the land hadn't even been properly explored yet, and a way through the MacDonnell Ranges had to be found to make the process easier and to meet the two year deadline.
 |
| Stables |
 |
| John exploring the precinct |
 |
| Transport buggy |
 |
| The old school room |
 |
| The mission children |
After posting off some post cards to our grandchildren from one of the oldest post office boxes in Central Australia, we headed back into town towards Anzac Hill, driving up the steep and winding road to view the Anzac memorial and the magnificent views over the city of Alice Springs.
 |
| Posting post cards to the Grandies |
 |
| Gift shop |
 |
| Anzac memorial at Anzac Hill |
 |
| Great views of Alice Springs |
 |
| The boys |
 |
| Karen |
 |
| Anzac Hill |
 |
| John and Barb |
We all gathered at Ian and Kathy's van to enjoy our evening meal together. It's so much easier taking turns to cook a meal to share for the six of us and we even manage a dessert most nights too. We are dining like Kings!
No comments:
Post a Comment