Alex Nelson
Contributions
Giant rock wallaby looms over Heavitree Gap!
Story and photos by Alex Nelson And now for something completely different … Fairly early on Sunday morning, following one of the most divisive town council election campaigns in the history of Alice Springs, I walked from my home in the Old Eastside along the east bank of the much-maligned Todd River, into the grounds of the Olive Pink Botanic Garden (where once I used to work) and up to the top of Meyers Hill. I was a man on a mission because there was a particular photograph I wa...Read more
If not a Notomys, what is it?
By Alex Nelson Can anyone identify the body of this little native rodent? I found it lying on a vehicle track at precisely 11 AM, Tuesday, 26 July, 2011, immediately realizing this specimen was quite unusual and possibly significant. This supposition has been underscored by the range of names suggested by local wildlife experts whom I’ve approached for its identification – these range from Kultarr (a marsupial), Long-haired Rat, Spinifex Hopping-mouse, or another species of Hopping-mouse in ...Read more
The Ghost of Araluen, part one.
By Alex Nelson On Wednesday, 27 July 2011, two seemingly unrelated events occurred that – to my mind, at least – illustrates perfectly the peculiarly interconnected and cyclical nature of history in our town. The first of these was the revelation that the cleared site for a major five-storey complex, formerly Melankas, had been placed online for sale. The second was the final decision of the NT Electoral Commission of the redistribution of electoral boundaries, which opted to retain the name...Read more
Rack off Racosperma, what about Wattleya?
As reported in The Age today, botanists from all around the world are meeting in Mebourne this week to decide once and for all whether we can legitimately refer to our beloved wattles as “acacias”. Alex Nelson enlightens us on the politics of plant names and proposes a solution to this vexing issue. It’s a lovely day, now watch someone come along and stuff it up. This well-worn sentiment applies equally to good ideas, like taxonomy – the practice of classifying plants and animals...Read more
Train versus trees: trees lose.
By Alex Nelson In the Ray Bradbury story Something Wicked This Way Comes, a sleepy mid-Western town is abuzz with excitement after the arrival at night of a circus train that sets up the Big Top and stays to entertain the townsfolk. But two intrepid boys discover the glitz and glamour of the carnival masks a malevolent and sinister purpose that, if left unchecked, will destroy the idyllic little town. Life sometimes imitates art, and an element of this story may apply to the...Read more
The songs of silence
By Alex Nelson Last Saturday night at about 10 pm I rode my bicycle along Colonel Rose Drive on my way back to town after a very pleasant dinner engagement at Petrick Road. At one point, roughly in the vicinity of the proposed suburb of Kilgariff, I stopped my bicycle by the roadside to just “take in” the realm of the darkness that enveloped me. There was no traffic, and the nearest artificial lights shone over the distance across the Butcher’s Paddock from the Alice Springs Airport. There...Read more
Those Fokkers were everywhere
The Battle of Bulldust – Fierce dogfight in the skies over Alice A first-hand account by on-the-ground reporter Alex Nelson The roar of high-powered piston engines over my rooftop on Wednesday afternoon last week alerted me a sneak air raid was in progress over our fair town. There was no air-raid siren warning us to take cover, somehow a formation of enemy fighters had avoided detection and were now fully intent on pressing forward with their dastardly attack. Upon racing outside I observe...Read more
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