Reading from the beginning there is a very skewed view of the Alice. Whoever it was who never read "A Town like Alice" doesn't know this but the Alice is probably in the movie for about 5 seconds. It's actually about female POW's of the Japanese being marched around Asia constantly as they die off. A habit of that wonderul culture.
Sammi is far closer to correct than the woman whp tries to romanticise it. And no, The Alice is NOTHING like any other town at all.
It has a number of distinct communities and they do NOT mix. There's the oldies, lived there forever and done nothing but complain about the new people, you know, only been there 30 years stuff.
There's a number of differing groups of abotiginals but they all share the same problem. Booze. There are those that live in the dry creek bed and get drunk as soon as the pub opens each day. They do have a habit of killing each other, Other people? Not so much but it happens. As a kid I used to walk across the sandy parts and sometimes step over someone out cold, I hope they were. These people in the creek have been rejected by their communities which are dry and threw them out. White society doesn't want them as they are a social nightmare. Drunk aboriginals on the street? No way. If they do that they go to jail. Stay in the creek and they are usually OK, except from each other.
Then there's those that come into town from the nearby town camps. Supposed to be dry too but what's a short walk matter when you need a hit? And usually stagger back home later and beat up and rape anyone at his camp. If he can.
Then there's those that have obtained houeses and employment. Two types there too. One has rejected the life of booze and are good citizens. The other lot do have a house but they act just like the creek people. How do you know one from the other? Only by getting to know them and if you are a single female that's a huge risk.
Then of course, the holier than thou whites. They do the same as the creek aboriginals but keep it inside until they really lose it.
Drinking is the only common activity in the Alice. Everything revolves around it and if you don't drink you are spurned. Or you hang around and wonder what the hell they are talking about as it's all dribble.
Yes, there are great sights to be seen and places to visit just to see it. About 300 miles betwen each one though and usually on dirt roads so don't drive yourself. Take a tour, at least first time round. Climbing the mountains around Alice? There is only one, split by The Gap. The McDonnell ranges. Believe me if you have climbed left or right, then you have done both.
When you say you know you won't be there for long that is the sign you are on your way.
Another group, who I also was part of, when older, is the backpacker but with friends type people. Like I knew plenty of people and always had somewhere to stay and made great friends with other casuals. They are the best people in the town. They just change every few months as they run out of things to do and get sick of the constant booze. I was there abiut 6 months before another friend asked if I wanted to hitch to Darwin, I sure did, only 1000 miles. It was great fun being around him again. But it broke my connection with Alice and while I did go back for a short period I then hitched to Adelaide. Another thousand miles of nothing.
To me the Alice is now dead, just tourist trash and developer's in cahooots with Council type stuiff.
But it is still my heart. I live with a lady I knew when I was 14 but never talked to back then. We now have 2 kids, together 22 years but met in Darwin. Second time we met in Alice when I was hitching we had a 3 week fling and she told me it was over, so Darwin and onwards. She had a baby and yes she is mine, No one told me. I ran into her while working in Canberra and visting Darwin. I found out she had a kid so I checked and the dates fit and yes, she was mine. It does happen for real. My life IS a soap opera. I married not too long after leaving the Alice as I went up to Sydney and met a girl. We married and had two kids then she stole them and all I had. So my eldest and youngest are with my current partner and the other two with the ex.
I can't stay away from Alice, I just have to see it again and again. First thing is up Anzac Hill and spot the changes. And it's fast growth too.
Growing up there was the greatest No TV, just the radio with one station, the ABC . But the Beatles happened so who needed TV, right? When I went back as older and stayed a while I never even talked to my old girlfriend who I had loved so much, as you do at 15. I decided she can come see me if she's interested. She didn't but it was cool as I had that fling with the lady about a metre to my left right now.
So the Alice WAS great but now it's a tourist trap and a place for the older inhabitants to die. Someone mentioned not going out at night. That's wandering around. Sure you can drive to a restaraunnt and so on. But walking? Hope you knew Bruce Lee. The sun does get to you too. Better than humidity but some days it feels like you could just crack an egg in your hand and hold it to cook it. That sun really does burn hard.
You can make friends with those who work with you etc but not if you don't drink too much regularly. They'll call you a coward and gutless and ignore you unless you throw up regularly like you should, according to them.
Quite a few of the local white boys hang around to pick up strays from tourist buses. No evil intent, just sex, Perfected the art they have. Only some of those girls think it's love. What can you do?
Most of the unique things about Alice have been touristed, meaning destroyed.
But go, for a visit as someone above wrote, after settling in Sydney etc.It's extreme out there. A thousand miles from anywhere And no, you don't fly to Darwin for the weekend. You drive. Used to be open speed limits you see.
