Alice Springs - The Outback: Australia-(Travel Day)
Alice Springs - Travel Day
After breakfast, we loaded the bus and headed to the airport, our next stop: Alice Springs, the heart of the Outback. A short flight later, we arrived and quickly dropped our bags at the hotel, knowing that adventure awaited us just outside the door. We set out to explore the stunning landscapes and rich culture that this unique region promised.
The Red Centre
Our local Site Coordinator, Meredith Peters, gave us our orientation of the Red Centre program. After the lecture on Indigenous Australian heritage, art, and culture, we embarked on a culinary journey where an Aboriginal chef introduced us to bush foods, showcasing their traditional uses and modern applications in Australian cuisine. She explained that there were plenty of food sources in to what our eyes was a barren landscape. The harsh environment requires more gathering, as the seeds are very small, or more processing to get the taste out of the grains and spices. She also described finding her way between the 2 cultures, that of the European settlers, focused on change, and adaptation, and the Aboriginal way focused on tradition.
Southern Sky
After dinner under the vast expanse of the southern sky, a local astronomer unveiled the mesmerizing constellations of the southern hemisphere. (Karen’s input — or he tried to. There was so much light pollution around us that we did not get the hoped for view of the expansive horizon we had anticipated.)
