Page 204 - Mit dem Wohnwagen durch Australien 2

It soon became evident, that the little gray rodents had found another entry way into the caravan. We found this out
the hard way when we wanted to open a fresh bag of bread and found a large whole smack through the middle. This
time we really meant business. Enough is enough. We stocked up with some paste which was advertised as more
alluring to the little furry house guests than peanut butter. Sure enough this worked a treat. Finally we found, that the
little buggers came in via the very small slits for the venting of the fridge. At long last, we had our caravan for
ourselves again. Bliss!

ONE TALE ABOUT ULURU AND THE MALA PEOPLE IS KNOWN AND HERE IT IS.
The Mala people and the Devil dog
When Aborigines hold their ceremonies and you are invited, you must attend. Nobody can leave or interrupt the
ceremony until it is finished, this can last days or week.

Once upon a time the Mala people have started their ceremony with dances and singing and were in full swing,
when two men from the northwest came and invited them to their own ceremony. The Mala people regretfully had to
decline, because they could not leave before the ceremony had ended. On the other hand, when such an invitation
was extended, it was mandatory to attend. The two messengers from the north went home and their people were
miffed. They decided to punish the Mala people and sent the devil-dog. In the Mala camp, everybody was in a
festive mode, only the Kingfisher woman saw a huge black cloud rolling in. She tried to warn the Mala people but
they did not want to listen. The cloud came nearer and nearer, the grasses bent low and the devil dog changed its
appearance to an Eagle and came with undiminished force towards the Mala Camp. He changed back to his dog
form and crashed into the cave wall where the ceremony was held. You can still see a huge imprint of a dogs paw
at its wall. The devil dog killed the first two Mala men and chased the rest of the people out of the camp. The Mala
people fled southwards and got help from another tribe in order to get rid of the devil dog.

THE ALICE
Time for us to go north to the Alice. This is the last corner of Australia which we have not yet explored. This
legendary town lies right in the middle of Australia on the mostly dry Todd River and is guarded by the Macdonnel
Ranges. The rivers in this area are called upside down rivers, because they are mostly dry on top, but deep underneath
the water flows unseen by us, but well known by the Aborigines. The Todd River is home to the annual Henley on
Todd Regatta. It is one of the highlights of the hottest town in Australia’s red centre. It is held in winter and everybody
gets their boats ready weeks in advance. The only thing which can cancel the regatta is water in the river. Since the
Todd River is dry most of the year, certainly in winter, the many boats are not powered by oars or wind. The skipper
and his crew, from first officer down to the lowest deckhand have to power their craft with their feet; A big hoot. As
a gigantic finale three ferocious looking, large battle boats enter the dry, dusty river bed. Each manned and womanned
by motley crew and powered by some strong 4x4 vehicle underneath. It was all out war between the Navy, the
Vikings and the Pirates. With a lot of booms, dust clouds, water guns, flour balloons and panache, the three boats
gave their all. After a ten minute battle the Vikings emerged as the winners of this epic sea battle.

The Henley on Todd is another of the great quirky Outback Festivals in the Northern Territories. Darwin has its
annual Ice Hockey match on Cable Beach. The whole club meets at the beach complete with sticks and Puck. The
referee then decides on the playability and thickness of the Ice by letting the Puck drop upon the surface. If the Puck
sinks, which it is prone to do with an air temperature of30 C in winter, the game is called off as it has unfortunately
been done so every year since inception of the club. Then the teams repair happily to the pub for their well earned
beer.

Alice Springs has plenty of activities on offer. We browse through some galleries with excellent Aborigine Painting,
traditional and contemporary. We find one which has three more pictures of Teresa Ross Naparula on offer, the
artist from whom we already own a picture. Her style is traditional and beautifully worked out. We cannot resist and
buy another one. The prices on the labels are rather steep, but with a bit of bargaining we can get it for less than half
the price, which makes it a very good buy. In the evening we go to a didgeridoo show of one of the best didg players.
Good stories, good music fantastic sounds out of a termite hollowed out piece of wood. The pioneer women’s hall
of fame and the desert park are very special highlights and give a deep insight into the life in the red desert.

We spent a number of days in the MacDonnel Ranges exploring their many beautiful gorges and driving to the most
amazingAboriginal rock carvings in Roma and N’dhala gorge as well as the beautiful and tranquil Palm grove where
Palms have survived since the time of the Dinosaurs. But these treasures needed to be earned the hard way. The