Monday, March 12, 2012

8:00 AM Breathalyzers???


I am still amazed when I see the police pulling people over for random breathalyzers at 8:00AM, last week would make the third time I have seen this since we moved here.  The funny thing is I have never seen the random testing any other time of the day.  The legal limit here is .05 so it does not take much.  They even have a TV show based in one of the big cities called Random Breath Tests, it is a Cops type format.  How ridiculous to think you can make a guy who had one beer without eating appear to be exciting television! Luckily I have yet to get pulled over on our way to school, but many of the moms at our school have been.  I explained what was happening to the boys, and their prompt response was “well, you would never do that mom” – of course not…..
The kids plotting their next move in Shark Attack.
So needless to say when we went out Saturday night with friends we took a taxi!  We went to the Gillen club with a group of new friends.  What a great place to hang out with friends, the kids have an enormous play area to keep them busy and we can sit outside under a cover and enjoy some adult time.  It was fun to be out with such a great group, everyone was getting along really well.  I am looking forward to doing this again! 

The days have started to get busy again; the boys are taking Karate, piano and tennis lessons.  They have decided that karate is not their favorite thing, not sure they will make it past this term.  I am amazed for such a small town that there are so many options for special interest and sports.  We are currently trying to decide between basketball and soccer for team sports and there is also a hip hop dance class we are going to check out.  JD is also getting into the act and taking guitar lessons, the boys said we will be a jamming family – when asked what I would do, they said I could sing if I would take some lessons.

We are also helping to put on the Easter event in town, the boys helped me paint moving boxes that will be used as “walls” in our Nerf war.  This was hilarious – 5 colors of paint and we told them to get crazy, they had a blast.  What we did not realize is that one of the cans of paint must have been oil based – of course the one that Jake decided to paint his hands with to make handprints.  I learned a valuable lesson last night about removing dried paint, you can put mayonnaise on it and the paint softens and rubs off.


Of course we have to do something touristy when we can, so this weekend we headed to the Tropic of Capricorn.  It is about 20 minutes north of town, not much of anything there – just a marker and an invisible line – but we were there!


Monday, March 5, 2012

We saw the Todd flow!

JD and the boys on top of Anzac Hill

This week the biggest news in Alice Springs was the rain and possible floods.  We had rain for three days and after only being here 2 months, I saw the Todd River flow!  The majority of the time the Todd River is a dry river bed, and legend has it that if you see the Todd River flow three times you will stay for life. While flooding was a concern most were happy to see the rain, it cooled things off to about 65 – 75 degrees plus gave the plants and trees a nice drink.  JD has been very surprised that we have had 2 rain events since we moved here, he had told us repeatedly that it almost never rains in Alice before we moved here.  With all the rain over the last few years this town is amazingly green for a desert.
Once the rain cleared out it was time to get out and enjoy the cooler temps and meet up with new friends.  Saturday I took the boys to the town pool, the new indoor pool was perfect on a cloudy day.  We were lucky because this time they had both water slides going and there was almost no one there, made for a wonderful afternoon.
The markets at Todd Mall

On Sunday we went to the Todd Mall outdoor markets, they started again on every other Sunday, now that the weather is cooling off.  You find a mix of aboriginal art, craft items, fresh produce and food.  We have been twice now and it is the same vendors each time, I think the crowds come out just to run into people they know and eat the food.  I actually love going because there is a cafĂ© on the mall called Soma and they have the best hazelnut latte in town (life without my Keurig has not been easy!).  One of the booths we like is lazy susans made out of fabric, wood and resin – JD and I both really like them and we will get one as soon as we can agree on a fabric, hard to believe we are having difficulty agreeing.  This week we were also looking at didgeridoos, there is a store on the mall that has hand painted ones and the shop owner also offers free lessons – I think we will sign JD up. 
Anzac Memorial

If you can see the gap in the center of the pic, we live just to the left of it.
We decided to head up to Anzac Hill when we left the markets; we had visited here on our first day in town but had not been back since.  I got some great shots of the town from there.  Found this blurb on the web about it: The most visited landmark in Alice Springs, Anzac Hill is the ideal spot for an overview of the town. The lookout affords a panoramic view of Alice Springs and the beautiful East and West MacDonnell Ranges. The Anzac Hill Memorial was unveiled on Anzac Day 25 April 1934 and was originally dedicated to all those members of the armed services who had paid the supreme sacrifice during World War I. Today the hill has now become a memorial to all those who have served in the defence of their country during all wars in which Australia has participated.

Another view from Anzac Hill

My wine of the week is Tim Adams, The Fergus – we tried the 2007 but have only been able to find the 2008 since – delicious!