Outdoors in Central Australia

The recent winter weather in Alice has opened the outdoors. Being out in the sun feels like wearing a comfortable second skin, warm but not too warm. The landscape is accessible, and it is easy to use paths and trails that are close to town but located so that they block out the sound of traffic and the view of buildings. It is possible to find yourself amongst desert hills iced with green vegetation and be the only person around, but still be only minutes from town.

Is it possible to only see beauty? Or can you feel it, too? The recent lockdown has highlighted the pleasure and freedom of the wide-open spaces hemmed in by a ribboned horizon. The limitless blue sky and the changing light on the MacDonnell Ranges create a feeling of space and unending opportunity. This past week, I indulged in a walk to Wigley’s Waterhole, which starts at the Telegraph Station. The red trail rose and fell slightly with the undulating landscape, although it was easy to follow and mostly flat. It was wonderful to be outside and yet isolated from the crush of people in town, and the views justified me calling Central Australia home.

    View from the Walk to Wigley's Waterhole which begins at the Telegraph Station

The Telegraph Station is a stitch in the historical fabric of Alice Springs. The walls of the buildings have seen so much, and so many voices are soaked into each structure. Atalanta Bradshaw, born in 1886 and the wife of Tom Bradshaw who was the charge of the Telegraph Station, once called this place home. The voices of the children in The Bungalow, a home for ‘half-caste’ children which was moved to this site a generation ago, hover over the grassy courtyards. We take Alice Springs for granted, but for many of the residents of the Telegraph Station, it was just a fledgling town on the outskirts of the Empire.

Walking through the Telegraph Station is like walking in a photograph. The buildings are calm and still, and the breeze flickers slightly in the tree boughs. There is a marked contrast between the temporal, man-made Telegraph Station and the unmoving, natural landscape. Winter is a time to share this gift with friends. The snapshot of the Telegraph Station is seared on the memory of Alice Springs. Although it was not the first place to cradle humankind in Central Australia, this town began with it.

Today, the traces of the voices of those who lived here and walked the copper soil are still visible, linking us to the past. We hear them when we truly listen. They tell us where we have come from, and thus prepare us for where we are going. They are a gift, to be unwrapped in the winter sunlight.