24 June 2021 – drive Kings Canyon, NT to Alice Springs, NT -> 4hrs 50min, 473 km
24-28 June 2021 – Alice Springs Beanie Festival, NT
As mentioned at the beginning of this blog, the catalyst for this road trip was to attend the Alice Springs Beanie Festival (BF). Now the day has come when we begin our BF adventure. This is our first time at the BF so it’s a voyage of discovery.
Earlier this year, I made 12 beanies which were despatched from Bunbury, WA, in early May to arrive in AS by no later than 28 May 2021. Two beanies are exhibition pieces and are on display along with around 300 other exhibition beanies in the Araluen Arts Centre. The exhibition runs until 15 July 2021. My other beanies are for sale in Beanie Central. Beanie Central is something else, with over 6000 beanies up for sale over a 4 day period.
Handmade, wet felted beanie, needle felting, embroidery, merino wool
Handmade, wet felted beanie, nuno felting, needle felting, crocheted coral and starfish
Media: embroidery thread, cotton, sequins, jets, shells, silk, merino wool
The BF is largely “powered” by volunteers. Michael and I registered for volunteer shifts … we sold cakes, sold beanies, cooked sausages, greeted beanie purchasers, and assisted in the gallery at the Art Centre. We do love meeting and chatting to people so volunteering like this is great! It was crazy, fun, exciting, and exhausting.
Many BF attendees come decked out in their finest beanies, often the beanies are big, bold and quite incredible. There’s a great vibe at the BF. People are visibly exhilarated as they search for their perfect beanie.
During my shift on the cake stall, I looked up to see a lady wearing a hat that I had made – I admired her hat and explained that I was the maker of the hat. She was very complimentary. We exchanged Christian names, and I asked to take her photo and to tell her the backstory to the hat. One of the lady’s companions whispered to me that she was a designer. I then realised who she was and that I had only days earlier I listened to a Conversations podcast about her. Small world 😊
Happy 25th Anniversary ASBF! Well done to the Beanie Festival organisers, volunteers, and everyone else involved.
You have to have a good day wearing a strawberry on your head ;o)
In retrospect, I should have allowed more time in AS, as the BF took up the majority of our time here. We fitted in a quick visit to the Alice Springs Desert Park, and the Olive Pink Botanic Garden. Next time, as a minimum, will visit the East and West McDonnell ranges, and go back to the AS Desert Park.
27 June 2021 – whilst in Alice Springs we realised our plans would need to change…
Up until now, I’ve endeavoured to keep posts fairly short. Apologies in advance as this post (and also the next few posts) will be longer and wordier than previously as there is now a lot to explain.
This evening we made the decision to cut 11 days off the road trip. Darwin has gone into lockdown for two days and we were due to arrive in Darwin in 4 days time, and of course, the lockdown may be extended.
We will now turn left at Katherine instead of heading north, and make the border crossing back into Western Australia, near Kununurra. Sad to be missing out on Darwin and Kakadu. We hope to fly back up here later this year.
We have cancelled our accommodation in Darwin and Kakadu. Fortunately, this was easy to do, and providers were very understanding. All future accommodation and activities will now need to be adjusted accordingly.
Michael filled out the West Australian G2G (Good 2 Go) Pass paperwork this evening. Authorities quickly responded to our application, and we’re good to cross back into WA. Playing things by ear for a few days…
M&Vx