January 11 2016
Yes I’m back. I said goodbye to Linda and Mum at Tullamarine
airport on Friday. Flying into Alice Springs, I was blown away by how green it
was from the air and on the ground - it was greener than Victoria!
I was also
blown away by the heat. How quickly had I forgotten how to drink heaps of water
- not just 2 litres per day. Two nights at the Chifley resort in Alice Springs
was lovely. I will certainly stay there again.
Yesterday morning I got up very
early to hit the shops to stock up on food. I started shopping at 7 AM. I
filled my eskie with fruit ($150) worth for the vacation care program. The
supply truck didn't get through last trip due to the rain closing the road and
they had run out of fresh fruit. I also stocked up for me on non-perishable
goods like pasta, rice, coffee, sugar, bread mix - the essentials including
square crumpets. I will wait for the next truck run for fresh veges and I still
have plenty of frozen meat. My colleague Kate drove us to Mt Liebigg and I
debated whether to continue on as we didn't get away from Alice Springs till
nearly 10 AM by the time we finished shopping - it takes a lot of thought to
shop for possibly 3 months’ supply, then pack it safely onto the back of the
ute. Then we had to collect the Sat phone and personal tracker from the office,
fuel up and air down before hitting the road. Anyway when I got to Mt Liebigg I
decided to continue on to Kintore. I’m so glad I did because got to sleep in my
own bed and also it rained all night last night and I’m pretty sure the road
will now be closed again today or at least be quite treacherous.
As I got closer to Kintore the clouds got
darker and more ominous with lots of lightning strikes. Not one speck of rain
though. I finally reached a rise (sand dune) and got my first glimpse of the
Kintore Mountain Range. Another hours drive before I reached the turnoff into
Kintore and then finally home. As I was unloading my car there were loud
rumblings of thunder coming from "women's mountain". I’m pretty sure
they were saying welcome home to Kintore. I really enjoyed my holiday in
Victoria and miss my family and friends very much. (Throat lump forming right
now) But as I fell asleep listening to rain on my tin roof and rumbling thunder
in the distance, smelling the desert rain smell and watching the distant light show
that doesn't cost millions of tax payers dollars, I am glad to be back in
Kintore. Now to tackle all that red dust that has gathered over the past 3
weeks.............
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