This morning I woke to another clear winter outback sunrise.  While not as good for dramatic photography it did allow for the firey glow on Chambers Pillar.  The explorer John Stuart named it after his fried and sponsor James Chambers. It is a shame his name was not Peter as I like the idea of it being called 'Peter Pillar'.

The rock pillar is what remains after eons of wind erosion.  The same erosion will eventually erode the names of famous explorers that carved their names in the sandstone, for example Hohn Ross the leader of the exploring party for the Overland Telegraph construction and his second in command Alfred Giles.  There are many other scratching in the rock some of them more recent. For example 'wazza waz here 12-07-2013'.  It is interesting to consider when vandalism and graffiti becomes history?  Although I am not sure the images of male appendages and 'Johno luvs Marsha' scrawled on the historic Ghan Siddings are relevant. 

The drive back our from the Pillar was slow but the road not in that bad condition (ie corregations only the size of ant hills not mountains).  Fom Titjikala it got better as we made our way in to the big smoke, Alice. I must admit it is strange entering one of our major capital cities and you can be on a dirt road until 20km out of the centre of town.

 

Having been on the road for almost two weeks and my first access to real water from above for 9 days I think I had the longest shower in my life.  The dust that has been matted on my hair became a sticky mud consistency, eventually dissolving to form an orange pool at my feet.  I wonder if mud packs are supposed to be so good for your skin does this mean the same thing for dust as it is just the same without water?

After feeling human again we made our way in to Alice for dinner and a beer.  My first impression of Alice is a mixed one.  One unfortunate aspect was the presence of police at the Woolworths liquor shop, the pub and even stoping us to check the car before we entered the drive-in bottle shop. This is reflective of the numerous highly intoxicated locals wondering the streets.  The challenges of alcohol and it's impact on the aboriginal community are not new. While we have our fair share of challenges in Sydney that affects all communities, it is a complex issue that I have no answer for.  I do know that no matter what the 'shock-jocks' say it does not have a simple solution.

Tomorrow is a rest day. Shopping. Car service. Catch up on blog.