Oh take me back up north, where you can wear shorts and thongs and the T-shirt is optional. The Red Centre is freezing – or, at least, it's freezing when it's not bloody hot. It's funny how you dream of cold mornings when you're stuck in the muggy sweat shop they call Darwin, but it's a different matter when you wake up and, no, you can't feel your feet, your fingers just can't get the hang of fumbling the radio on, and your breath is frosting in the early morning air (it gets to 2°C at night at this time of year). This morning I kept dreaming of thick walls, cosy fireplaces and warm mugs of ale, but instead I got something even more delightful: the first cold milk on my Coco Pops since Perth. What a way to start the day!
Despite the temperature, Alice Springs is a delight. Considering how remote it is – there's a rather tacky signpost in the centre of town showing just how remote it is from various famous cities of the world, but no, I didn't waste a photo on it – it's remarkably modern and enjoyable. True, the historic buildings in the town aren't terribly historic, but that's more than made up for by the fascinating Old Telegraph Station, some 2km north of town, to which there's a scenic walk up the Todd River. This is interesting if only because it shows how utterly dry the area is; the Todd River doesn't flow that much, and when it does it doesn't flow for long, and when I walked along it, there wasn't a drop to be seen. There's an annual event in Alice Springs called Henley-on-Todd, and – you guessed it – it's a rowing contest. The difference? The boats don't have bottoms so the crews' legs stick out the bottom, and they run along the river-bed; how ironic, then, that the river flooded in 1974, and the regatta had to be abandoned because there was too much water...
The Old Telegraph Station is great – it's a wonderful balance of historic buildings, an interesting museum and a selection of walking tracks, all brought to life by the superb guide booklet that you get for your A$2.50 entry fee. This describes the story of the overland telegraph line, built in the 1870s from Adelaide to Darwin to connect the colony to London, and it fills out the buildings with considerable historic atmosphere. Overall Alice Springs does its tourism bits rather well, as ANZAC Hill, a lookout over the town, also had some excellent plaques explaining the view; they almost kept my mind off the freezing winds whistling through the three layers I had on.
If you don't believe how cold it gets in The Alice, how about this. I've got two mugs that have made it all the way round Australia with me, holding more cups of tea than most mugs would hold in a lifetime. When I brewed up one teatime after a day's sightseeing, the boiling water cracked one mug from top to bottom. Go on, tell me it wasn't because of the cold...