Ever have one of those days that seem ordinary and then thru some twist of fate turn into magical moment? We had one of those last Saturday.
Dave started a new position last week that makes him a day worker (M-F 7:30 to 4). We’ve both happy to not have our lives revolve around his swing shift schedule and spent our first leisurely Saturday, running a few errands and hanging around the house together. We had tickets that night for a benefit concert that night featuring two big name Australian country music singers. I wasn’t familiar with Troy Cassar-Daley, but have become a fan of Sara Storer and was excited by the chance to see her in concert.
The concert was held at the Alice Springs Show grounds (fair grounds) which are nestled against the West McDonald range (mini mountains). Fortunately we’d opted for the general admission seating which put us on a lush green (they have a center pivot) infield near the stage with the range in the background reflecting an amazing sunset. The only thing wrong with the evening was that I forgot my camera!
We picked our perfect spot and headed over to the Scout (the boys and girl scouts merged in Australia) for a dinner and ordered up 2 scotch fillets – loaded. Those sandwiches could be an entire blog entry by themselves. It’s a shame there aren’t pictures, so I’ll do my best to describe this gourmet delight. First of all you have to pronounce the cut of meat correctly. Australia isn’t much for snobby French words – they say “fill-it” (I guess they also think French is a silly pretentious language). To appreciate the sandwich you need to realize that a scotch fillet is ribeye. Aussies’ don’t really have special buns for various types of sandwiches. True to form they are quite utilitarian in their bread. Burger and hotdogs are served on white bread. Burgers are eaten between two pieces and dogs laid kitty-corners with the bread folded around then. They don’t have the age old American problem of 10 hot dogs and 12 buns per package!
OK – back to the sandwich. So you have a grilled ribeye on white bread loaded with a fried egg, Canadian bacon and a whole bunch of greasy fried onions. Dave called it a gut bomb and I’d have to agree. It’s no wonder they serve those babies at outdoor events. Several hundred people eating those in the same enclosed space might result in air quality problems.
The music from the headliners was excellent as well as regional artist Warren H Williams. Each delivered their own brand of Australian country music in a spectacular setting. As the sun set and star soon lit up the night sky of the outback. The lack of cloud cover gives us the bluest of day time sky’s. The clear dry air and lack of light pollution give outback nights black velvet sky’s sprinkled with stars that sparkle like diamonds. And that’s where we sat in our lawn chairs snuggled under a blanket listening to music that’s more like old fashion western ballads then much of what American country artists are producing today. It was a magic evening that took me to a different time and place. It made me feel at home, back to a place where the cool soft grass cushions your feet and barefoot children ran and tumbled and played until they fell asleep on blankets spread on the ground. Where you bought food from the food stand because it was for a good cause not caring what it would do to your cholesterol. We listened to songs about strong people and a beautiful country and felt like we’d all come there to enjoy each other’s company. That night summed up everything I love about this place.
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