Grannies to The Alice

Two people I wrote at lot about last night were Pastors Carl Strehlow and FW Albrecht. They were both incredibly motivated to treat the Indigenous population with respect, learn their language and wanted to improve health outcomes for the Abiriginals. The mortality rate for aboriginals at that stage was something like 85%. There was too much last night to repeat, so once again, if you are interested, their stories are inspiring, particularly when we’re talking about the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Today was a bit of a tourist day, so after our early morning coffee in town, we wandered through the Sunday Markets in Todd Mall and had a look at another art gallery in the Mall. The markets were a mixture of rubbish and good stuff and interesting food vans from different countries (too early in the morning for a curry, even though it smelt delicious!). There was a sales’ tent run by some Aboriginal Children (and three teachers) from an Aboriginal Primary School 400km away in the north of South Australia. I bought a key ring from these SHY children, one of them who was brave enough to talk to me, chose his favourite one to sell me. The idea of the stall, which I think they do every year, is to teach the kids to liaise with people, learn the fundamentals of selling and maths.

After that, we went for a long walk - because it was in the wrong direction!! - and another long walk in the right direction, walking up to the Anzac Memorial Lookout.

Back to the van again and out to the Beanie Festival at the Araluen Arts Centre. Wendy bought a great beanie to wear in Orange and I bought a sweet beanie for my English friend Sasha’s new (18 months old!!) granddaughter! The Beanie Festival began in 1997, inspired by the colorful beanies made and worn by Aboriginal people in the cold desert winters, was initiated by one person who organised a beanie party, it was then run by a group of friends, became incorporated in 2004, with the aims of:

* Promoting community participation in the arts, developing fine art, reducing poverty and dependency by developing artistic and entrepreneurial skills and promoting reconciliation. It was organised to sell beanies crocheted by Aboriginal women in remote communities and has grown into a fun event where Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal artists share their culture and exhibit together.

In 2024, 520 beanie makers from all over Australia and some from overseas, have made more than 7000 beanies, the sale of which goes towards running the festival and out into the Indigenous community. It is run by volunteers! Food is also sold.

Back to Todd Mall to look again at the painting galleries but - luckily for my dwindling dollars - they were closed. We then hung around and had a G and T where a bit later we bought the most delicious take away pasta (for me) and risotto (for Wendy), so we could eat dinner in the van and finish our bottle of wine!

That’s it for today …. and our holiday. Flying to Sydney (via Adelaide!) tomorrow, arriving late! I will enjoy my own bathroom again and no grit in my bed!

Just one thing though. A friend of Wendy’s said if you hug a tree in or near a water course, you can hear running water. Yeah???!! In the last 10 days or so, we have driven over so many dry creek or river beds. They are very pretty, with loads of,sand and smooth pebbles and rocks and quite a lot of beautiful shady trees. But how do the trees survive!? We know,River Red Gums need a LOT of water at regular intervals. Have they tapped into the water table somehow? Well… today we stopped at a dry river crossing with a couple of pools of water close by. We separately hugged a River Red Gum and pressed our ear up to the trunk and as clear as day, you can hear running water! Is it real? Is it the water coming up from the water table below?