Alice Springs

Day 14 - Alice Springs

Alice Springs

Friday, 5 August 2011

We got up at 08:45 and headed out for breakfast in Alice Springs. We walked in to town and found a cafe in the precinct where we had eggs and bacon in various ways (Wendy sent her poached eggs back as they were too hard). Then we went off souvenir shopping. I went to several Akubra shops and eventually bought myself a lovely hat (it was a bit pricey but I couldn't resist it as it fitted really well and made my other one feel a bit small - they do tend to shrink over time as the band on the inside is made of Kangaroo hide and shrinks with wear, and my first hat is now 21 yrs old). I spent so long choosing it that there was very nearly a family revolt. I then bought Tom one too, but don't tell him! I hope it fits him, I bought one 1cm smaller than mine as we had measured our heads before we left.

Cathy bought a nice piece of Aboriginal art from a gallery which was closed but opened it's doors specially. Lizzi bought a piece of art from another art shop too.

We then dropped in to Emu Tours who organised our Ayers Rock trip to thank them, and they told us that Johann and Max had been looking for us. I phoned Johann and found that they were waiting for us back at our hotel. We walked back and met them and arranged to go together to the Kangaroo Sanctuary at 4pm.

The maxi taxi turned up just before 4 and we all piled in and went out of town to the Kangaroo Sanctuary. This is run by a bloke called Brolga (his real name is Chris but he is known as Brolga as he is 6 foot 7 and has long thin legs - a brolga is a bird with long thin legs). He basically found a bit of land outside Alice Springs and erected a tin shed which he lives in. It has no electricity and no water but he had a TV and a fridge in his living area. I asked him about this and he said that the TV and fridge don't work (obviously) but that it gives a lived in appearance if anyone was thinking about breaking in. He has no lights and so in the evening he sits out and watches the stars.

He has devoted his life to looking after injured or orphaned Kangaroos. Roos are often hit by cars especially in dry weather as they then have to hop long distances looking for grass. No one checks their pouches and there are often joeys in the pouch of a roo killed by a car. Brolga goes and checks them and brings any he finds back to the sanctuary.

A year or so ago, someone bequeathed $100,000 to him and he built a fence round 50 acres of bush to keep his kangaroos.

We arrived and he gave us a long talk about Kangaroo rescue etc, while he was holding a baby kangaroo called Fidgit in a pillowcase. Fidget sleeps by his bed and was found in the pouch of a roo killed by a car and is about 7 months old and very cute. He's happy in his pillowcase and if Brolga goes anywhere he takes him with him in a rucksack and hangs him up.

After the talk we got to bottle feed the baby kangaroos and then we all got a turn to hold Fidgit while we walked with Brolga round the Kangaroo enclosure, feeding them as we went. He showed us Roger who is a 5-6 yrs old male. Because he was brought up like Fidgit, he has no fear of humans and sees human males as competition. Because of this he is kept behind two fences and as soon as Brolga went near him he tried to drag him over the fence and have a boxing match with him. He stands about 6 feet tall but will be 8 feet tall when fully grown. He is basically massive.

Fidgit was extremely cute, but he will grow up to be like Roger and will eventually try to kill Brolga if he gets the chance, just like Roger.

The sanctuary trip was fantastic and it was humbling to see a man who had given up so much for the welfare of the kangaroos. I asked him how old he was and he told me he was 38. He did look quite a bit older and I think I might have put my foot in it when I thought he was joking. Long days of sun exposure have aged his skin. He was a rugged looking fella with piercing eyes and the girls thought there was a bit too much man-love for their liking!

After the Kangaroo sanctuary trip we all went to town and went out for dinner (to BoJangle's again!). I had the "Big Bugger" steak...no problem. I texted Simon because there is a webcam there which you can access on the web and watch people eating their meals. Simon watched us on his computer and we waved at the webcam!!

After our meal we said our goodbyes and headed back to our hotel.

	Brolga and Fidgit [Map]		Fidgit [Map]
	Cathy and Fidgit [Map]		Anna and Fidgit [Map]
	Lizzi and Fidgit [Map]		Wendy and Fidgit [Map]
	Chris and Fidgit [Map]		Jess and Fidgit [Map]
	Feeding Kangaroos [Map]		Roo [Map]
	Bojangle's [Map]		800gm steak! [Map]

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