Welcome to Alice Springs, Pussy − 13 June, 2000
We left so fucking early for the drive to Sydney, I don't even know what time it was. Got to say, though, it was a nice traffic-free drive.
The sun was just coming up as we were wheeling all our crap to the airport terminal. We had to stop way down at the "special" end of the terminal first to drop Indy off for loading. Even though he would be on the same flight as us, it still broke our hearts to see his sad little pug face looking at us from his crate. I'm sure he was thinking he being sent off for another month of doggie jail.
The flight to Alice Springs was only a few hours. It was amazing to watch the landscape change below us from lush green coast line to a red desert-scape. And we'd be living right in the middle of the latter one.
What the fuck were we thinking?
The Alice Springs airport is a small regional airport -- you know, where you exit the plane out on the tarmac and walk a few hundred yards to the building. It was a fairly nice airport; Alice Springs has long been the gateway for tourists going to see Ayers Rock (or Uluru as it is properly called now).
My wife's sponsor (another Air Force officer) met us by the baggage claim. Brad was thin as a rail and smiled like he was about to disembowel you. He was probably the nicest (and most intelligent) guy you'd ever meet, though.
We gathered up our luggage and Indy -- he went absolutely ape-shit when they brought his crate in and he saw us. Brad had a concerned look on his face as we lugged all our crap out to his car. Ah. He is the proud owner of a tiny little sub-compact.
Shit.
We all just stared at the pile of luggage next to the car for a while. I made the suggestion that my wife and Brad take half the stuff to our new home and I would wait at the airport with the rest of it -- basically, make two trips. My wife was having none of it. She set to loading the car, and damn if she didn't get it all in. The problem, though, is that there was now only room for two people.
Not to be out-done by my wife, I contorted my 6' 2" frame into the back of the car (partially climbing into the dog crate). I hoped this wouldn't be a very long drive.
It was about a ten or fifteen minute drive into town. I don't know, since I couldn't see my watch. Watching the countryside roll by out the window, I was impressed, awed, and a bit nervous. This, my friends, was a remote, harsh, small town. My initial reaction was, holy shit, you really have to be a bad-ass to hack it out here for any length of time. I grew up in small towns and the Rocky Mountains, but man, this really made me feel like a dandy, city-boy wuss.
We arrived at our new home: Stephens Flats. I would have called it a town-house. We were in the end unit, and when we got inside, we wondered if we were in the right place.
It was fantastic. It was huge for a town-house, and very nice. We didn't have much time in our new home before Brad was ushering us back out the door. Now it was off to town to see where the stores were and pick up some groceries.
Yeah, Alice is a small, dirty town. That's the quick-glance impression it gives, anyway. However, I knew we were going to like it here.
The grocery store we went to was Coles. For the most part, the same as any small grocery story in the US. Except for the bug-zapping lights hanging over the meat cases. (Trust me, here, they were a necessity.) Brad was rushing us through the store since he still had to take my wife out to the base for inprocessing. I guess we'll have to explore all the different things in the store next time.
After that, I stayed at home and started unpacking while my wife went out to the base for inprocessing.
This is going to be a great two years.
The sun was just coming up as we were wheeling all our crap to the airport terminal. We had to stop way down at the "special" end of the terminal first to drop Indy off for loading. Even though he would be on the same flight as us, it still broke our hearts to see his sad little pug face looking at us from his crate. I'm sure he was thinking he being sent off for another month of doggie jail.
The flight to Alice Springs was only a few hours. It was amazing to watch the landscape change below us from lush green coast line to a red desert-scape. And we'd be living right in the middle of the latter one.
What the fuck were we thinking?
The Alice Springs airport is a small regional airport -- you know, where you exit the plane out on the tarmac and walk a few hundred yards to the building. It was a fairly nice airport; Alice Springs has long been the gateway for tourists going to see Ayers Rock (or Uluru as it is properly called now).
My wife's sponsor (another Air Force officer) met us by the baggage claim. Brad was thin as a rail and smiled like he was about to disembowel you. He was probably the nicest (and most intelligent) guy you'd ever meet, though.
We gathered up our luggage and Indy -- he went absolutely ape-shit when they brought his crate in and he saw us. Brad had a concerned look on his face as we lugged all our crap out to his car. Ah. He is the proud owner of a tiny little sub-compact.
Shit.
We all just stared at the pile of luggage next to the car for a while. I made the suggestion that my wife and Brad take half the stuff to our new home and I would wait at the airport with the rest of it -- basically, make two trips. My wife was having none of it. She set to loading the car, and damn if she didn't get it all in. The problem, though, is that there was now only room for two people.
Not to be out-done by my wife, I contorted my 6' 2" frame into the back of the car (partially climbing into the dog crate). I hoped this wouldn't be a very long drive.
It was about a ten or fifteen minute drive into town. I don't know, since I couldn't see my watch. Watching the countryside roll by out the window, I was impressed, awed, and a bit nervous. This, my friends, was a remote, harsh, small town. My initial reaction was, holy shit, you really have to be a bad-ass to hack it out here for any length of time. I grew up in small towns and the Rocky Mountains, but man, this really made me feel like a dandy, city-boy wuss.
We arrived at our new home: Stephens Flats. I would have called it a town-house. We were in the end unit, and when we got inside, we wondered if we were in the right place.
It was fantastic. It was huge for a town-house, and very nice. We didn't have much time in our new home before Brad was ushering us back out the door. Now it was off to town to see where the stores were and pick up some groceries.
Yeah, Alice is a small, dirty town. That's the quick-glance impression it gives, anyway. However, I knew we were going to like it here.
The grocery store we went to was Coles. For the most part, the same as any small grocery story in the US. Except for the bug-zapping lights hanging over the meat cases. (Trust me, here, they were a necessity.) Brad was rushing us through the store since he still had to take my wife out to the base for inprocessing. I guess we'll have to explore all the different things in the store next time.
After that, I stayed at home and started unpacking while my wife went out to the base for inprocessing.
This is going to be a great two years.
welcome to alice springs
our kitchen
our back yard
ridge behind our flat
