Treasure!

Well, not "treasure" in the strictest sense...but in the shining eyes of the six and eight year olds of my close acquaintance...A veritable eureka!  Of course, I am referring to the daily walks I force my kids to take to learn our way around the area and to get some exercise.  We've been taking these neighborhood walks almost every day since we arrived in Alice Springs and now Beaux, Jones and Jax are actually looking forward to them!  They have a much better endurance now and we are spurred on continually by, "Keep going, there might be more treasures up ahead!"  My children are expert treasure finders on walks.  Most people walk with their heads up, looking around at interesting things around them, nodding to neighbors, that kind of thing.  We are heads-down hunters for valuable objects we might be passing on the ground.  Serious business.  Backpacks are donned before we head out the door so we can fill them up with "treasures!"  Some of the great items found so far:  money (we have probably found close to a dollar in coins!), bits of metal, tools, toy cars, screws, bolts, marbles, ribbons, lighters (only one of them works), a picture frame...you get the idea.  It is actually very fun to see what the kids think is a treasure and what they do with it when they get home.  Today they had a sit down trading session after our walk that must have lasted a half hour!  They are mostly inventing things with their finds.  Geniuses!

Another treasure we acquired yesterday were our library cards!  The kids and I found the library (it is downtown, so we drove), got some cards and some books.  The librarian helped me request some books on local plants/animals so we will know what we are looking at around here, so I am excited for those to come in.  Things here in Alice are much more high tech than I thought they would be!  The library has the self check out system, but you can put a pile of 5 books on the counter and it can see all of them and checks them out to your account!  They have downloadable e-books to request online and lots of other online features.  The audio books are called "Spoken Word." 

Funny how we just want to play, but we have to do regular life too.  Grocery shopping was a two day affair.  Not only are the products and prices all different than we are used to, the shopping carts have 4-wheel drive (this does not make driving one easier...and they are "trolleys" not shopping carts, don't forget), the people walk on the left side of the aisle (you know, similar to the driving!!), there are truancy officers that take the children's names down since they are not in school (we are not in trouble, since I explained our situation, but yikes), various people have to go potty, the only open line is with the new checkout girl who takes FOREVER to bag (with our remembered recycled bags) the groceries and insists on putting chips and bread and fruit where it is most likely to get squashed.  Not a nightmare exactly, but not pleasant.  Now, the freezer is full and the cupboards are not bare, so we should be good for a bit.

We got a message that our air shipment is in the country and going through Customs now, so we should get it by Sept. 17th-ish.  This will be a fairly small shipment, but has our bedding and kitchen items at least, so it's a help!

There are at least two lizards living on our house and I managed to get a picture of them today for Trent...They usually are out during the day when he is at work, but are fairly skittish, so run back under the roof trim when we come around.  They are little and greyish and I hope they are getting fat by eating all our bugs and spiders!!



Beaux, Jones and Jax climbing at Simpson Gap

Say 'Hello' to Jax and Jones

We hiked a bit last weekend in the Standley Chasm/Simpson Gap area.  Hiking the actual Chasm costs $25, so we didn't do that this time, but went up a dry rocky riverbed back up the road a bit.  It was very fun, but a bit hot and the hike was 17 km, so we didn't do the whole thing to see what was at the end of it.  Jones got pinched by a big black ant that got on his arm from a bush, but that was the only injury.  There was a Red River Gum tree growing that was leaking red sap on the ground that looked like blood drops...kinda creepy.  Then we drove back to Simpson Gap and the kids ran and climbed and slid on rocks.  It is a beautiful walk up to these steep cliffs and there is a gap between them where water runs through when it is the rainy season, but now there is just a pool.  There was an eagle calling and flying up at the top of the cliffs and there were two wallabies scampering a bit on some rocks.  Those things are almost impossible to see, their camoflage is that good!




Trent was told that there are about three weeks left of "good camping weather."  It is getting very cold at night here still, so I can only suppose that after it gets warm, it is too buggy or too hot to do much rugged camping.  I guess people here get "swags" which are sleeping bags with built-in mattresses that have a flap to cover your head, so you can just drive out to the bush, slap your swag down in a dry riverbed and sleep under the stars.  Trent asked a co-worker if spiders and snakes try to get in the sleeping bag, and the co-worker said, "Oh, you just don't go where they are."   WHAT??!  That is not the sort of camping we will be doing.  Our tent is coming at least, and we will have to find campgrounds with water...

The Alice Springs Aquatic Centre is a very nice pool (indoor and outdoor), and the kids are very excited about getting our membership there as soon as possible!  We have to drive there, but it will be a fun active thing we can do year round.  I believe we will go Saturday for the first time.  We will try to get the kids enrolled in swim lessons there at some point as well.  Fun stuff!

Well, time to wrap up.  There is no "left-turn on red" here like we have "right-turn on red" in the States.  We saw kangaroo tails in the freezer section of the neighborhood grocery store.  Aussies call electrical outlets "power points" and "fair dinkum" means genuine, or the real thing.  They do have Sultana Bran here however (Raisin Bran), so no worries!  We are learning tons over here, but miss our family and friends very much! 

Hilary