Alice Springs: Latitude: 23S; Longitude:133E
What a great way to see the world – through the bottom of a swimming pool. I’m no Olympic swimmer, just your average lap lane customer, but I’m starting to think that this is not a bad way to remember some of the places I’ve travelled to. A rather limited view of the world you might say, but urban wisdom tells me that you remember moments not days. I reckon that moment when you plunge into the water of a 25/50 metre council pool is one of those pretty memorable moments – it helped me remember Dunedin, New Zealand – 28C in the water, and 18C outside the water. Also creepy mist and steam rising out of the water in a somewhat primal way. It took me hours to chip the icicles off my bathing cap.
Some people trawl the shops and stock up on baseball caps and t-shirts when they travel. Me, I pay my five or so dollars, inelegantly crawl into my bathers – swimmers or togs, depending on which state of Australia you’re from – and head for the chlorine. I’ve become one of those non-tumble-turning-few-times-a-week-gals, who crave fully irrigated nostrils, and a scenic view of the long black line – lap, after lap, after lap. An odd hobby, but a strangely attractive prospect after a long day frozen to the screen of a computer.
I highly recommend the Aquatic Centre at Alice Springs. Now there’s a plunge or two to remember. Under the perfect blue skies of the desert it is fantastic. Little competition for space, no water aerobics class in action sending a tsunami from one side of the pool to the other- well at least not while I was there. What more could you ask? I know, a dip in one of the waterholes out beyond Alice, in the West MacDonnell Ranges. Ellery Creek Big-Hole, Ormiston Gorge, Redback or Glen Helen Gorge. But watch out – not for crocs this time, for hyperthermia. Those natural pools are deep and freakishly cold. But, they definitely could be added to ‘The Pool List’, for their free-range possibilities, rather than their conformity.
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