Posted by: laine in Untagged on Jan 18, 2010
An outdoor museum called Pitchi Richi was the final stop on my list of Alice attractions. Agricultural equipment and water tanks from Australia's colonization were preserved on the lawns.
Magnificent flowers burgeoned before the house, the most spectacular of which was the Stuart's Desert Pea. The vine bloomed an elongated flower like a split, red pea pod with a large black swelling at the middle.
The highlight of the day was a demonstration of boomerang and spear throwing, bullwhip cracking and didgeridoo playing by a man named Billy. He dug damper fresh from the pit oven and sawed off the dirt and burned bits. The sweet, thick slices of bread perfectly set off the tang of melted butter.
When the water boiled he threw a handful or two of loose tea into the billy, or metal bucket. After a few minutes, a sharp rap on the side of the bucket sank most of the tea leaves.
"Some old jackaroos," Billy mused, speaking of Aussie ranch hands, "swear you can clear the leaves by swinging the billy over your head. 'Course, none of them jackaroos would show me, exactly, and I never did have a mind to douse myself with boiling water."