Alice Springs, 1972-1976. Head nurse of ER and the Out Patient department at Alice Springs General Hospital.
In those days, gatherings of First Nation Australians lived on settlements surrounding a wide area of this outback town of some 13,000 people. Others camped in the dry Todd River bed; struggling to come to terms with their rapidly changing world. Seemingly on the fringes of white society, looking in, but not yet quite a part of it. Where did their rich tribal heritage fit in? I plan to return to find out.
It wasn’t all squalor and drinking, many of the Pinjinjajara men had horse breaking and stockmen skills that were in great demand on cattle stations. Artists flourished with their water colour paintings capturing the dramatic, ever changing shades of the outback.
Gorges, canyons and rock pools; exotic birds, lizards and the dreaded King Brown snake, all make up the adventure that is the Red Centre. I became a rock hound, finding gem quality amethyst, ruby red garnets and zircon. My time there was punctuated by Cyclone Tracy blowing away much of Darwin early on Christmas Day 1975. A wake up call for everyone that was!
From maggot therapy, snakes in the ‘dunny’ and trying to organise work rotas for interpreters who went ‘walk about’ at the drop of a hat were just some of the challenges – but I loved my time there.
Photographs by Hans Boessum,
renowned Alice Springs photographer
