Crazy days at the moment. Chaos at home, with dust and piles of furniture everywhere. The builders dug the holes for the new concrete stumps in two rooms on Friday: there was so much dust everywhere the smoke alarm kept going off, and clouds of black dust (the volcanic clay of the Merri creek bed) have filled the house, even upstairs into the beautiful new room.
We leave for a holiday in Alice Springs first thing Tuesday morning, and before then I have the usual pile of deadlines to meet. A tenure review for someone in the US; my Shakespeare review for The Age (done!); a job reference for someone that has to be done tomorrow if I'm not to miss their deadline; a conference proposal for NCS in Swansea next year (half-done: a grovelling letter to the panel chair promising a proper proposal when I get back). I'm also at a symposium, tomorrow, for most of the day, on philanthropy and the humanities. I should also be cleaning the house for the family members who are going to babysit the cat and the fish; and updating my publications on the university's research file.
Well; what gets done will get done. What doesn't, will have to be left behind.
Will be back in ten days, eyes filled with desert and sky, and looking forward to the symposium on October 12 on blogging and writing at UWS with Pavlov's Cat. I'm hoping she'll be posting about this before it happens; if not, I'll update when I get back.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
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4 comments:
Well, if you're coming to central Australia, I would take a look at Trephina Gorge in the East MacDonnells ranges, and the various stops along the way to Glen Helen in the West MacDonnells ranges. They're do-able without a 4WD. Uluru is something of a tourist trap; the Kata-Tjutas and Watarrka-Kings Canyon are almost more worthwhile. You can do these three sites in a round-trip of about three days.
Food isn't great in Alice Springs. The best places to eat in town are The Lane, Casa Nostra and Rudi's Trattoria. Out-of-towners tend to eat at Hanuman's at Crowne Plaza for some (rather oily) Thai. Bar Doppio's is ok for coffee and a bit of a 'Melbourne' feeling.
Excellent! thank-you, El; I'm printing this out as I write. Our first plan is to get ourselves to the airport on time, and after that we have almost no plans at all, so this is very helpful. Let's see if we can resist Bar Doppio's... the idea about this holiday is to get away from that Melbourne feeling, but the lure of a good coffee is going to be hard to beat: should have started my withdrawal earlier!
Also -- a few more thoughts -- if you want to buy Aboriginal art, the most trustworthy galleries are Papunya-Tula, Gondwana Gallery & Caama's shop, all on Todd Mall.
If you're into the family bushwalk thing, there are good trails going from the Bush Telegraph station/Old Eastside up onto Spencer Hill. Another good climb is Mt Gillen, which starts near Flynn's Grave, tho the summit might be a bit tricky for a child. Leave at 5-ish and take wine and snacks for a spectacular sunset view. Simpsons Gap path is also very good -- on bikes (it's 18 km).
Sept is usually the best time to visit tho we're having unseasonably hot weather at the moment (35 C).
I would offer to meet up but I will be out of town for the next couple of weeks.
Have a great time!
hi stephanie,
in order of international delurk day i'm commenting to say how much i enjoy your blog. it's been very interesting keeping up with what's happening in the (ex) english department - good luck with all the changes ahead.
i don't put my real name on the internet, but i'm an former student of yours, just finished my masters in canada and applying for phds throughout north america. you said i should go, and you were right! (though it hurt like hell for the first month or so.)
i've done one medieval subject here, and two renaissance, so i'm keeping up with the disipline in a minor way. piers plowman is totally weird. the end.
thanks again for your posts!
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