Notice, readers, that I have finally left Queensland, and am now in the center of Australia :)

I really liked Alice Springs. It's a beautiful little desert town, but that's not what first grabbed me. On my first day in Alice, I stepped outside and noticed something wonderful -it was no longer humid! Gone was the muggy heat of the east coast, the moisture that signaled a rainstorm was not far behind. It was still hot, very very hot, but the air was clean, and smooth and not humid. It felt like home, like Oakland in the summertime, or perhaps April in Phoenix. so the weather was definitely the best part. Other really interesting things about Alice included the royal flying doctor service and the school of the air. The RFDS was set up to bring good medical care to Australia's outback. Australia contains cattle stations the size of scotland, and stations and farms hundreds of kilmetres from any remotely urban settlement. Thus, the RFDS flies doctors to these stations, in the event of emergencies, and also at scheduled times for regular checkups. The School of the Air also provides services to Outback families, by holding school lessons over the radio. After age 12, it is usual for Outback kids to travel to towns to attend boarding schools, but they use the school of the air for lessons up to that point. They get occasional visits from teachers, but most of the work is done over the computer, through the post, and lessons are given over the radio. I was fascinated by both these services, by their uniqueness and also by the fact that they are largely government funded.

Alice also has a neat desert park, with native desert plants and animals. Lots of snakes too, although we got our own at my hostel one day. A large brown snake had somehow found its way up to the patio door of one of the rooms, and was trying to slide up its glass door. the hostel manager came and got rid of it, and we learned that it was a western brown, the 3rd deadliest snake in Australia. I'm glad I saw it at the hostel rather then while hiking in the bush!