Alice Springs to Birdsville

The one thing I was sure of before we left home was that we were headed to Alice Springs.  On our first night here I didn't understand why we were welcomed to Birdsville.  I now know that's the name given to our camp area.  You see, there's 'No-mans land' out one side, and 'The Ghan Area' and then there's 'Birdsville' to name just a few.

By day we are very much at Alice Springs and pretty much all of us here are 'Cleaners', we push brooms, wipe shelves or clean windows all around the place.  I was a little taken aback when Mr Kenworth noted to someone that Will and I were the best cleaners he'd ever had.  'What, me a cleaner? I'm a volunteer,' I thought, 'who just happens to be cleaning'.  I felt a little underestimated or undervalued I guess, but then I didn't like that I had judged cleaning to be less than other work I've previously done.  And my attitude gave me something to ponder as I wiped the fingerprints from the glass doors leading to the video room, where the same video repeats itself, all day, every day!!

I smiled as I saw 'One of the best cleaners he's ever had' slide under a truck that the Kenworth crew were unable to start due to the air not building up, head out to find a spanner and come back to get to work. All of a sudden the Kenworth roared into action, Kenworth blokes appeared running out from nowhere, with comments flying "Your hubby's a bloody hero", "10 out of 10 mate, shit hot" "He's done real well."  Lucky he's a good cleaner!

Around the camp fire at Birdsville you get to know just what a wealth of talent we are surrounded by.  There's Gail and Di, two nurses who would brighten your day just with their smile and humor, Vina who has sewn wedding dresses, has managed factory lines of machinists and who loved driving rally cars.  Now, due to two hip replacements she times the other thrill seeking drivers, one of whom is her son.  There's real characters like Whiskers who was one of the first drivers to use the road that goes up over Foster North and can regal stories of getting from Yarram to Meeniyan via Fish Creek on a 'borrowed' rail cart for a night at the pub.  He also told stories of a place nearby here where you can find the old rations the army used to put around, just in case.  It brought back a long forgotten memory of Dad and Ray bringing home similar items.  Although, whether they were disused or meant to feed a crew heading out for training that week, I can't quite remember.  There's also Dave who loves to hold the floor and tell a story.  But it was when he quietly mentioned that he's involved in organizing the charity event 'Hauling the Hume' that you got a glimpse of the real man.  I've seen a video of the old trucks going on as much of the original Hume Highway as possible and their entry fees etc are donated to charity, primarily children's charities I believe.  It brought a tear to my eye as I thought of another young boy, years ago, who, when illness was taking everything from him, could have a smile brought to his eyes by watching the trucks head through Benalla. I told Dave how I used to carry Daniel down to watch the trucks and I told him of the joy those trucks brought Daniel and myself.  Dave was pleased to hear the story.
I left home heading for Alice Springs, we are blessed to have ended up in Birdsville. 

The cleaner helping move one of the easy to start trucks.

Pete, our neighbor and a Kenworth man for 40 years happily lending a hand.