Lasseters Casino
This part of Alice Springs felt like a world away from the town with a convention centre, luxury hotels and landscaped gardens.The Casino was the final destination for Priscilla, Queen of the Desert where the three drag queens performed a show.
The Olive Pink Botanic Garden
Miss Olive Pink sounds like a formidable woman. She was an anthropologist who moved to central Australia in the 1930s to study and advocate for the Warlpiri and Arrernte people. She was a pioneer in using native plants and created the gardens as a ‘soulfeeding antidote to the restless rush and materials of what modern living entails.’
The NT writers’ festival was taking place at the garden and I took the opportunity to listen to a talk while I was there by Tim Low, a biologist from Brisbane who is writing a book about rare plants in Central Australia.
The Ghan stopped for a few hours in Alice Springs on its way to Darwin from Adelaide. It’s a very long train and these passengers had a very long walk down the platform in the heat.
