Alice Springs

Alice Springs - The heart of Central Australia is comprised of cavernous gorges, boundless desert landscapes, remote Aboriginal communities and a charming pioneering history.

Alice Springs was established by the early explorers and remains as the centre of activity in this region. From the early 1900s, the vast desert of Central Australia was explored for its promise of rubies and gold. Today, north of Alice Springs is an adventure travel destination where visitors can still fossick for gems and explore the Australian desert while trekking, camping or four-wheel driving.

Year round blue skies, stunning landscapes and a vibrant, diverse community - that's Alice Springs! Only a two hour flight from most Australian cities, Alice Springs is a must see destination renowned for its unique identity and rich cultural heritage.

North-west of Alice Springs, along the Tanami Track and south of Alice Springs in the Simpson Desert, the art styles and stories of the Aboriginal people give meaning to the surrounding landscape. The most well-known natural highlights of Alice Springs are the East and West MacDonnell Ranges that straddle Alice and run for 223 kilometres.

The modern town of Alice Springs has both western and Aboriginal influences. The town's focal point, the Todd Mall, hosts a number of Aboriginal art galleries and community events. Alice Springs' desert lifestyle has inspired several unique and interesting events such as the Camel Cup, the Henley-on-Todd Regatta and the Beanie Festival.

The town of Alice Springs straddles the usually dry Todd River on the northern side of the MacDonnell Ranges. The region where Alice Springs is located is known as Central Australia, or the Red Centre, and is an arid environment consisting of several different deserts.

In Alice Springs, temperatures can vary by up to 28°C and rainfall can vary quite dramatically from year to year. In summer, the average maximum temperature is in the high 30s, where as in winter the average minimum temperature can be 7.5C. The annual average rainfall is 279.2 mm, but in 2001 741 mm fell and in 2002 only 198 mm fell.

Alice Springs Attractions

Alice Springs Desert Park
Entry Fees
Apply A must see for every visitor to Alice. In the space of just a few hours, you can discover many of the secrets of the Central Australian deserts at the Alice Springs Desert Park.

Alice Springs Golf Club
Entry Fees
Apply The Alice Springs Golf Club is one of the finest desert golf courses in the world. The manicured greens contrast vividly with the surrounding desert and MacDonnell Ranges.

Alice Springs Reptile Centre Entry
Fees Apply
The Alice Springs Reptile Centre is the largest reptile display in the Northern Territory.

Alice Springs School of the Air
Entry Fees
Apply History, Lifestyle, Innovation – Immerse yourself in the distinctive history of Alice Springs School of the Air that dates back to 1951. Gain an insight to the lifestyles of its students.

Alice Springs Telegraph Station
Entry Fees
Apply The township of Alice Springs obtained its name from the waterhole at this historic Telegraph Station.

Alice Springs Turf Club
Entry Fees
Apply Visit the Alice Springs Turf Club, located at Pioneer Park Alice Springs.

Anzac Hill
Free
The most visited landmark in Alice Springs, Anzac Hill is the ideal spot for an overview of the town.

Central Australian Aviation Museum
Entry Fees Apply
The Central Australian Aviation Museum is located on Memorial Avenue, Alice Springs, on the western edge of the north-south runway of the original aerodrome.

Lasseters Hotel Casino
Free Entry
Nestled at the foot of the spectacular West MacDonnell Ranges, Lasseters Hotel Casino is the centre of excitement in Alice Springs. You can enjoy great entertainment, dining and gaming.

Museum of Central Australia
Entry Fees Apply
The Museum of Central Australia, in the Araluen Cultural Precinct, acts as an interpretive centre for Central Australia’s natural history.

National Road Transport Hall of Fame
Entry Fees Apply
The National Road Transport Hall Of Fame is a museum that is unique to most other road transport museums throughout the world in that it has taken a lateral approach to the restoration of its world.

Old Ghan Heritage Railway and Museum
Entry Fees Apply
Relive the history of the Old Ghan and the pioneering past as you wander through the Old Ghan Train Museum and take a s stroll through the old train and carriages.

Old Timers Traeger Museum
Entry Fees Apply
Old Timers Traeger Museum, in Alice Springs, houses a collection of photographs and paraphernalia from the early days of white settlement in Central Australia.

Olive Pink Botanic Garden
Free Entry
The Olive Pink Botanic Garden lies adjacent to the Todd River not far from the centre of Alice Springs.

Royal Flying Doctor Service
Entry Fees Apply
The Royal Flying Doctor Service is an Australian icon and a world first.

Sounds of Starlight Theatre
Entry Fees Apply
Experience the pulse of Australia. The Didgeridoo Show Outback has earned a reputation as one of Central Australia’s most memorable live shows.

Stuart Town Cemetery
Free - Visiting Entry
The Stuart Town cemetery is a fascinating and sobering reminder of early hardships in Central Australia. Located in Alice Springs, the Cemetery was the town’s first, dating from 1889.

Stuart Town Gaol (Jail)
Entry Fees Apply
The construction of the Stuart Town Gaol (Jail) and associated police station, located in Alice Springs, was commenced in 1907 and closure in 1938.

The Residency
Entry Fees Apply
Since its construction in 1928, The Residency, situated on the corner of Parsons and Hartley Streets, Alice Springs, has become a tangible symbol of the brief independence and Vice Regal power Central Australia

The Overlanders Steakhouse
The Overlanders Steakhouse, located in Alice Springs, was established in 1971 to honour the men and women of Australia who ventured into its great outback country.

The Alice Springs Desert Park

The Alice Springs Desert Park was created to educate visitors on the many facets of the surrounding desert environment. The arid climate botanic garden, Olive Pink Botanic Garden is a short distance from the town centre. They were named after anthropologist, naturalist and artist Olive Pink, who lived in the town for almost 30 years and died in 1975. She was well known locally and referred to by all as Miss Pink. The Alice Springs Reptile Centre is located in the town centre.

Alice Springs Telegraph Station

Alice Springs has many historic buildings, such as the Overland Telegraph Station, Adelaide House, the Old Courthouse and Residency and the Hartley Street School.

Today the town is an important tourist hub and service centre for the surrounding area. It is a well-appointed town for its size with several large hotels, a world class convention centre and a good range of visitor attractions, restaurants and other services.

The MacDonnell Ranges - East MacDonnell Ranges and West MacDonnell Ranges

The MacDonnell Ranges run east and west of Alice Springs and contain a number of hiking trails and swimming holes such as Ormiston Gorge, Ormiston Gorge Creek, Red Bank Gorge and Glen Helen Gorge.

The Simpson Desert - Day trips from Alice Springs

The Simpson Desert, southeast of Alice Springs is one of Australia's great wilderness areas containing giant red sand dunes and interesting rock formations such as Chambers Pillar and Rainbow Valley.

Larapinta Trail - West MacDonnell Ranges

The 223 km long Larapinta Trail follows the West MacDonnell Ranges and is considered among the world's great walking experiences.

Footnote Text Courtesy Of: http://wikitravel.org/
Footnote Photographs Courtesy Of: NTTC - Northern Territory Tourism Commission

Alice Springs Airport

Shuttle Bus
The Alice Springs Airport Shuttle service operates transfers to and from Alice Springs hotels, motels and private residences. Transfers from the airport to Alice Springs city can be booked and paid for on arrival, just look for the "Alice Springs Airport Shuttle” bus which is parked at the eastern and western end of the drop-off zone in front of the terminal. The driver remains with the bus and tickets can be purchased from the driver at the mobile ticket stand Transfers from Alice Springs to the airport can be booked by calling 08 8959 0310 or visiting www.buslink.com.au.

Taxis
Taxis are available directly outside Alice Springs Airport Terminal, and you can expect to pay approximately $32 for a one way trip to the central business district.
Taxis: +61 8 8953 3322 Territory Taxis
Taxis: +61 8 8952 1877 Alice Springs Taxis
Private Hire: +61 8 8952 3700
Alice Springs Private Hire Cars

http://www.alicespringsairport.com.au/
Parking at Alice Springs Airport - Link to official site

Lockers
located at the Oversize Baggage Check opposite to the Airport Management Centre. Cost is $5 for first item per day and additional items $2 per day.

Items Misplaced
For items left in the Terminal Building and Car Park please call 8951 1211.
For items left on the aircraft or baggage carousel please contact the relevant airline.
http://www.alicespringsairport.com.au - terminal map @ official site

Hours
Alice Springs Airport is operational from 7 am – 5 pm, 7 days a week.

Alice Springs Convention Centre

The Alice Springs Convention Centre, with an abundance of natural light and spectacular views of the MacDonnell Ranges, is a modern and fresh alternative for conferences and incentives. The Centre boasts state of the art facilities, professional friendly service and offers delegates the opportunity to experience the true essence of the outback. The Alice Springs Convention Centre offers a unique destination the true outback.

The high-technology business convention and exhibition centre – already host to national and international events – has pioneered a unique market since being opened in 2002 as the Territory’s first dedicated purpose-built convention centre.

The Alice Springs Convention Centre caters for groups ranging from meetings of 10 people through to conferences of 1,200 delegates and expositions involving up to 3,000 visitors.

The design is on a grid system for maximum versatility; the conference rooms can be rapidly reconfigured to cater for different events, exhibitions or workshops during a conference or to cater for smaller, more intimate gatherings.

Located adjacent to the Alice Springs Convention Centre is it’s sister property, Lasseters Hotel Casino with 140 rooms including 13 elegantly appointed suites. In-house hotel facilities are grouped around the swimming pool and leisure areas.

Also adjacent is the Alice Springs Golf Club with a fully grassed 18-hole golf course designed by Australian golfer, Peter Thomson.

Team building activities are available, with the most amazing choices of locations filled with vibrant colour coupled with ancient ranges and river beds as a natural backdrop.

Alice Springs Convention Centre
93 Barrett Drive Alice Springs Northern Territory 0870 Australia
Phone +61 8 8950 0200
Fax +61 8 8950 0300
Email info@aspcc.com.au
http://www.alicespringsconventioncentre.com.au/

History - Early European Settlers

In 1861-62, John McDouall Stuart led an expedition through Central Australia, to the west of what later became Alice Springs, thereby establishing a route from the south of the continent to the north.

A settlement came into existence as a result of the construction of a repeater station on the Overland Telegraph Line, which linked Adelaide to Darwin and Great Britain. The OTL was completed in 1872. It traced Stuart's route and opened up the interior for permanent settlement. It wasn't until alluvial gold was discovered at Arltunga, 100 km east of the present Alice Springs, in 1887 that any significant settlement occurred. Until the 1930s, however, the town was known as Stuart.

The telegraph station was sited near what was thought to be a permanent waterhole in the normally dry Todd River and was optimistically named Alice Springs after the wife of the former Postmaster General of South Australia, Sir Charles Todd.

The Todd River was named after Sir Charles himself. The original mode of transportation in the outback were camel trains, operated by immigrants from Pathan tribes in the North-West frontier of the then British India (present-day Pakistan) who were misnamed 'Afghan' Camellers. In 1929 the Palmerston and Pine Creek Railway was completed from Darwin as far as Birdum, while the Great Northern Railway had been completed in 1891 from Port Augusta as far as Oodnadatta, South Australia, 700 km south of Alice Springs.

The lines wouldn't meet until 2003. On February 4, 2004, the first passenger train arrived in Darwin from Adelaide.

During the 1960s it became an important defence location with the development of the U.S/Australian Pine Gap joint defence satellite monitoring base, home to about 700 workers from both countries, but by far the major industry in recent times is tourism.

Almost in the exact center of the continent, Alice Springs is some 1200 km from the nearest ocean and 1500 km from the nearest major cities, Darwin and Adelaide. Alice Springs is now the midpoint of the Adelaide-Darwin Railway.

During World War II, Alice Springs was a staging base, known as No. 9 Australian Staging Camp, and a depot base for the long four-day trip to Darwin.

The Australian Army also set up the 109th Australian General Hospital at Alice Springs. Seven mile aerodrome was also constructed by the Royal Australian Air Force.

History - Aboriginals

The "Springs" that gave the town its name.

The Arrernte Aboriginal people have made their home in the Central Australian desert in and around the site of the future Alice Springs for more than 50,000 years. The Aboriginal name for Alice Springs is Mparntwe.

Three major groups Western, Eastern and Central Arrernte people live in Central Australia, their traditional land including the area of Alice Springs and East/West MacDonnell Ranges. They are also referred to as Aranda, Arrarnta, Arunta, and other similar spellings. Their neighbours are the Southern Arrernte, Luritja, Anmatyerr, Alyawarr and Western Arrernte peoples. There are five dialects of the Arrernte language: South-eastern, Central, Northern, Eastern and North-eastern.

Arrernte country is rich with mountain ranges, waterholes, and gorges; as a result the Arrernte people set aside 'conservation areas' in which various species are protected.

According to the Arrernte traditional stories, in the desert surrounding Alice Springs, the landscape was shaped by caterpillars, wild dogs, travelling boys, two sisters, euros, and other ancestral figures.

Sand Drawing Aboriginal.

There are many sites of traditional importance in and around Alice Springs, such as Anthwerrke (Emily Gap), Akeyulerre (Billy Goat Hill), Ntaripe (Heavitree Gap), Atnelkentyarliweke (Anzac Hill), and Alhekulyele (Mt. Gillen).

There are roughly 1,800 speakers of Eastern and Central Arrernte, making it the largest spoken language in the Arandic family, and one of the largest speaking populations of any Australian language. It is taught in schools, heard in local media and local government.

Many Arrernte people also live in communities outside of Alice Springs and on outstations.

Aboriginal Desert Art Gallery
Free Entry
Aboriginal Desert Art Gallery is one of Australia's largest Aboriginal art galleries. Located in the Todd Mall, Alice Springs, the gallery was established in 1985.

Araluen Arts Centre
Entry Fees Apply
The Araluen Arts Centre is the focal point of Alice Springs' performing and visual arts scene, incorporating galleries and a theatre.

Iwantja Arts and Crafts
Free Entry
Iwantja Arts and Crafts offers authentic Aboriginal art and crafts. The gallery has a large display of items, including woven baskets, leather goods, Punu (wooden artefact) and paintings.

Papunya Tula Artists
Free Entry
Papunya Tula Artists, located in Alice Springs, are dedicated to the promotion and preservation of the Western Desert Culture and have a total of more than 100 contributing artists.

Titjikala Arts
Free Entry
Titjikala Arts is located in a small Aboriginal community, about 120 kilometres from Alice Springs.

Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Corporation
Free Entry
Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Association is a fully Aboriginal owned and governed art centre. The Warlukurlangu Art Centre is famous for its gloriously colourful acrylic paintings, fine limited-edition prints.

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