Drama at the Watering Hole

Okay, the headlines are slowly reaching BILD newspaper level, but rightfully so. But one thing at a time.

First, let's talk about yesterday's cliffhanger in Alice Springs.

When I arrived at the hotel, it wasn't immediately clear where to park, so I initially parked opposite on a public parking lot. When I asked at the check-in desk if I could leave the car in the parking lot, they told me 'No', it's 'Dangerous'. Unfortunately, this is related to the large number of Aboriginal people living here... For many years, Australia has been trying to achieve some kind of reconciliation with the indigenous people, including through financial support. Somewhere beforehand, I had read that a large portion of the Aborigines prefer to spend the money on alcohol. And I can say that this seems to be confirmed in Alice Springs. Aboriginal people sit under many trees, drinking alcohol. I witnessed two police interventions at stores that only sell alcohol, and in both cases, it involved Aboriginal people causing a disturbance. That's why I was advised to park the car in a fenced area at the hotel and the receptionist recommended that I not be out late at night...

And speaking of alcohol... Alcohol in Australia, like in other countries, is only sold in special stores. I wanted to go into one of these specialty shops and I saw a policeman standing in front. Just like in front of the other stores I had seen. I had barely stepped foot inside the store when the policeman approached me and said, 'Passport'. I gave him my passport, and he immediately handed it to the salesperson, and before I could even say anything like, 'I'm just having a look around...', my information was already being recorded. I thought, well, it doesn't matter, and I grabbed a six-pack of cider beer...

This morning, I continued towards Glen Helen. According to the itinerary, it's about 130 kilometers with some beautiful scenic stops. I didn't know beforehand that I would only be seeing different 'watering holes'. But the fact that something different happened at each watering hole made it interesting again.

The first stop was Simpsons Gap. Quite beautiful in the morning sun, and I was the only one there. Or so I thought...