I'm a Territorian thats been living in S.A. for nearly three years. Recently I had really been suffering from withdrawals, so when the misses asked should we go back for a friends 30th the response was along the lines of an energetic "is a frogs arse water tight". Unfortunately, the D21 still isn't ready for such a long trip (only getting about 300k's out of a 50l tank), so we packed the kids into the Escape and started heading north. With every K closer the ticker was beating faster and faster, so much so that as soon as we crossed the N.T. border I leaped from the car and imediatly started to bath myself in the red dirt. It didn't occur to me what onlookers might think, until I noticed that everybody there began to do exectly the same thing. Afterwards, the wife began complaining of how she had never been so embaressed in her life, but what would she know, she's just a crow eater.
It was my home town of Alice that we were heading for, and it wasn't until we passed through the Gap that I truly felt as if I were home. One thing that I thought odd at first was that for at least half an hour, I did not see one 2wd vehicle. 4wd's were everywhere to be seen, not your average of the shelf veriety either, but at least half of them had been modified to within an inch of its life. Apparently Central Australia is were 4wd's come to die. Now Alice, has always been a good place to buy cheap 4wd's, the only thing is that the trucks around here have been used and truly abused. The tracks around here are very unforgiving. An example of this is when I had to go to Kintore (about 30ks from the W.A. border, west of Alice) for work. The road had not seen a grater for at least a few years and the corrigations, the deepest you could imagine. By the time we were half way there the front end was bouncing like a boat on choppy water, the front shocks were gone. On the way back the engine cooked and I had to be towed the last 150k's back and I also lost two brand new tyres ( I'll never buy Bridgstone Dueller AT's again).
Alice Springs, you either love it, or hate it. It's really an Oasis in the desert, but lets face it, it's not the asshole of the world, but you can see it from there. But its the poeple who live there, the fact that you could be away for years but there is always a friendly smile from a person on the street, or a good long hug from a friend. Or to walk into the pub and be greeted with a handshake and a "Thomo! We were just talkin 'bout you, are ya back for good?" and with every time it became harder to say "what?, to this shithole".
The fact is, that I had my reasons for leaving and mostly for the future and safety of my children, those reasons are still there.
So in closing, I am now back across the border and every time I cleanse myself in this Murray water, I wash a little more of that red dust off and even though I now know for sure I can not go back, I long for the next time I can visit.
Thanks for listening,
Thomo.
I cant wait to fit them up! They look awesome off the car, I hope they look as good on there.
