Alice Springs Travel Guide
Alice Springs embodies the hardy outback of the Northern Territory's Red Centre, and is a travel hub for sights and hikes in the region, such as Uluru (formerly known as Ayers Rock), Kata Tjuta (formerly known as the Olgas) and Kings Canyon. Since the start of the tourist boom in the early eighties, the population has substantially grown to about 24,000. Water is a scarce commodity in the region, and so restrictions are common.
In 1862, John McDouall Stuart led an expedition into Central Australia and the area where Alice Springs is located. Until the 1930s, however, the town was known as Stuart. The Overland Telegraph Line linking Adelaide to Darwin and Great Britain 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 Alice Springs, in 1887 that any significant settlement occurred.
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 and 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. 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.
Indigenous history
Alice Springs Desert Park, Sand Drawing Aboriginal The Arrernte Aboriginal people have made their home in the Central Australian desert in and around 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. 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.
Safety Tip!
As with all things in the remote desert, some care should be taken in planning to go out of town. A few of the trips listed are 4WD only and should only be undertaken by experienced 4WD drivers, with propper supplies and equipment. There are a number of tour companies available to help with this. Things to remember:
Either go with a local guide (best) or ensure someone checks over your itinerary & gear. This is a harsh enviroment!
You'll need a lot more water than you might think, and you may need extra fuel.
It's ilegal to drive with uncovered firewood on your roof, so if you store it up there put a tarp over it and secure it tightly.
When bushwalking, wear long pants and closed-toe shoes; Alice has a few snakes.
Make sure someone knows you're going out and when to expect you back.
Beware of fire! Make sure your campfire is under controll at all times, and put it out completely before you leave. Do not throw your cigarette out the window in this area, for your own safety.
Alice Springs Attractions
Desert Wildlife Park located outside of town is truly memorable in its examples of local flora and fauna. They give a number of interesting lectures, such as aboriginal use of local plants for food. The nocturnal exhibit is excellent, a very low-light building with ofset day and night schedule to induce the nocturnal critters to come out durring the day so people can see them. The best time to go to the park is early morning, before it gets hot; you can spend a full day walking the trails, going to the birds of prey exhibition where they fly the local areial predators overhead, and getting the bushfoods and medicine tour.
Reptile Centre. Examples of the local reptiles and one NT croc specially imported, on display by the guy the locals call when something with fangs is in the kitchen.
Olive Pink Botanical Garden - A desert botanical garden. Doesn't bloom much, but if you happen to get here after a rain, it's a really nice spot. Bring your sunscreen. There's a biography at Dymock's on the life of the lady it's named after, Olive Pink.
Adelaide House - the first stone building in Alice, located on the Todd Mall and well worth a visit if only for the absolutely amazing early air-conditioning system. Really cool display of old communications technology, like the bike-powered communications radio. Run by a couple old women who serve tea - an excellent place to have a sit-down. Nice and quiet.
Old Timer's Museum - located at the Old Timer's Place, off the main road into town from the airport before you get to the Gap. Really cool history of the outback, with a big collection of amazing stuff from the first white folks to hop a camel for the middle of nowhere. Definitely worth a visit.
Pioneer Women's Hall of Fame - devoted to the women who picked up stakes, hauled a whole house in a wagon out to the hottest, most dangerous place they could find, plunked themselves down where you couldn't see another house for a thousand miles in any dorection and said"This looks like a nice spot to live." Amazing stories.
Alice Springs Telegraph Station -a little history, a little food, a little tea, a big old place to walk around. Good place for a picnic.
Old Courthouse and Residency
Hartley Street School
Royal Flying Doctor Service with School of the Air - a museum and cafe. Famous!
Aviation Museum - a number of older planes, showing the history of aviation in a town which relies on it to survive.
Alice Show - the annual festival with shopping, fair ground rides, animal displays, fireworks, art and crafts, races and performances.
Bass in the Dust - music festival
Henley On Todd - river sand race poking fun at the British tradition of boat racing
Camel Cup - Camel race day
Beanie Festival - knitting festival including mostly beanie hats knit from every conceivable material in every conceivable pattern, all for sale. Also afternoon teas and art displays and music.
Finke Desert Race - motorcycles or 4wd buggies racing over the Finke river track.
Alice Masters Games - sports cup for people of all ages, showing the lifelong commitment to sport on the part of many athletes.
Alice Springs Activities
Stargazing - Alice Springs is located in the middle of the largest land area without lights on earth, so the view of the Milky Way is unmatched unless you're on a dark boat in the middle of the ocean. Anyone from the city stoping on the road just out of town at night and tipping their head back is likely to fall over from the sheer shock of all those stars. Astronomy is popular in town; there's even a cafe devoted to stargazing: the Milky Way Cafe.
Outback Ballooning - Take a balloon ride and see the sunrise, have a champagne breakfast in the middle of the desert. Alice Springs has ideal weather for ballooning and the tour operators run almost every day of the year.
Golf Course - For the incurable golfer, the golf course is rated one of the best desert golf courses . There are a whole lot of golfers here so I guess it must be good. There's also a clubhouse with drinks & snacks.
Lassiter's Casino - If you like to gamble.
Pioneer Park Races - the local racetrack with pretty much guaranteed lovely weather.
Totem Theatre - Not open to the public unless a play is on - the little local theatre, herritage listed building put up during World War 2 to entertain the troops after they retreated from Darwin because of the Japanese bombing. Small local theatre groups put on productions on a semi-regular basis; ask at Dymock's if there are any tickets. Theatre on a showstring budget!
Araluen Arts & Cultural Centre - An amazing local art museum, with works by Namatjira and other local artists. Regular traveling art shows, plays, and film festivals. The front desk will know what events are ongoing - there's always something ongoing.
Saturday Morning Lawn Sailing - Friday's Centralian Advocate will have a listing of lawn sales in the back; getting a group together with a car and a map and driving around town at 6:30 am on a Saturday morning equipped with coffee, cash and a big trunk to put your stuff in while watching the sun rise is a real pleasure.
Quads & Motorcycles - Some tour groups do quading through the spinifex, and Harley rides through remote Central Australia - lovely day trips.
Camel Rides - Ride a camel to breakfast or dinner
Horseback riding - Some local groups offer horseback riding tour of the local bush, to scenic lookout points, for all skill levels.
Helicopter Flights - Helicopter flights around all sorts of local attractions, from seeing town from the air to along the mountains to the gaps and gorges.
Hiking - The Larapinta Trail is a long distance walking trail that runs 223 kilometres through the West MacDonnell National Park. Other than that, there are several day-hikes in adn around Alice Springs, with varying levels of difficulty.
Cycle hire - You can hire a bycicle and tour around town the healthy way. Just remember your water!
Alice Springs Accommodation
Hostels:
Pioneer YHA, (08) 8952 8855 is convenient located near Todd St in a former cinema. Clean, has a pool but no aircon in the rooms.
Aboriginal Hostels, 18 Renner St, (08) 8952 7815; (08) 8953 0422; (Fax: (08) 8952 6332).
Alice Lodge Backpackers, 4 Mueller St, (08) 8953 1975; (Fax: (08) 8953 0804).
Toddy's Accommodation Resort, 41 Gap Rd, (08) 8952 1322.
Melanka Lodge Motel, 94 Todd Street, (08) 8952 2233. Has a reputation due to attached bar.
Elkes Outbackpackers, 39 Gap Rd, (08) 8952 8422 or 1-800-633-354 (fax (08) 8952 8143).
Annie's Place.
Hotels:
Alice Springs Resort, (08) 8951 4545 (Fax: (08) 8953 0995).
Crowne Plaza, (08) 8950 8000 (Fax: (08) 8952 3822).
Alice Motor Inn, 25-27 Undoolya Rd, (08) 8952 2322 (Fax: (08) 8953 2309).
The Mercure Oasis, 10 Gap Rd, (08) 8952 1444 (Fax: (08) 8952 3776).
Red Centre Resort, (08) 8956 0984 (Fax: (08) 8952 8300)
Novotel Outback Alice Springs, 46 Stephens Rd, (08) 8952 6100 (Fax: (08) 8952 1988). Name change note for reference purposes: The Novatel used to be the Outback, which used to be the Vista; it still gets called the Vista by some. It has a nice quiet location and a really good view of the ranges.
All Seasons Diplomat Alice Springs, Hartley Street, (08) 8952 8977 (08) 8953 0225 - Fax
Desert Palms Resort, 74 Barrett Drive, (08) 8952 5977 (08) 8953 4176 - Fax.
Alice's Secret Traveller Inn, 6 Khalick Street, (08) 8952 8686 (Fax: (08) 8953 7660).
Desert Rose Inn, 15 Railway Trace, (08) 8952 1411 (Fax:(08) 8952 3232).
Best Western Elkira Court Motel, 65 Bath Street, (08) 8952 1222 (Fax: (08) 8953 1370).
Wauchope Hotel, (08) 8964 1963.
Long Stay:
Alice Tourist Apartments Alice Springs, NT 0870Australia(08) 8952 2788(08) 8953 2950 - Fax
B&B's:
Ossie's Homestead, 18 Warburton Street, (08) 8952 2308 (Fax: (08) 8952 2211).
Nthaba Cottage B & B, 83 Cromwell Drive, (08) 8952 9003 (Fax: (08) 8953 3295).
The Gallery Bed & Breakfast, 16 Range Cres, (08) 8953 3514 (Fax: (08) 8953 3113).
Alice Springs Dining | Nightlife
In spite of its small size, Alice has a good and varied restaurant scene.
Fast food
The usual. Subway, MacDonald's, KFC, Red Rooster, Pizza Hut, Hungry Jack's, Long John Silver's, Noodle Box and loads of little cafeteria style places serving everything from crepes to Chinese to sandwiches in the malls - the Yeperenia and Alice Plaza.
For good pies, try Wicked Kneads.
Drinks and light meals, cafe style:
The Jolly Swagman is located down a little alley on the Todd Mall, and serves nice pasties, muffins, teas and coffees
The Tea Shrine is located outside the main entrance to the Yepperene Mall, and serves a large variety of teas both hot and cold, and some light asian-style vegetarian meals. The Korean iced tea is really, really nice.
Town and Country is located on the Todd Mall, and serves light meals. They used to be "The Outback" something or other, and before that for the longest time they were "Alice's Restaurant".
Sit-down meals
On the Todd Mall:
Oscar's is located near the movie theatre, and has an ever-changing fusion cuisine medeteranian menu and a nice wine list.
Red Sea is located on the corner near the center of town, across from the Yeperenie parking lot. Nice basic black and white atmosphere, good wines, fine dining.
QC is on the Todd Mall and is fairly new - posh nosh sort of place. Pricey.
Sportie's has a long history in Alice; it used to be the little casual place owned by and attached to the only 5-star place in town, Puccini's. But Puccini's closed and transfered some of their menu to Sportie's, so as rough and tumble as they look, their food is amazing.
The Thai Room is down an alley off the Todd Mall. It has homestyle Thai food, from paw paw salad to beef salad to the best Tom Yum ever and pad Thai. Excellent food, not too pricey, and if you ask for it spicy they will accommodate you.
Bar Doppio's is down the same alley as the Thai Room, and has a good selection of vegetarian, gluten-free, and other specialty foods. Very good food, tree-hugger atmosphere gives it charm. Look for the alley with the plants.
The Lane has tapas and wood-oven pizza, and some lovely pizza it is. Also some very good wine. They do sushi for lunch...
Red Ochre Grill is attached to one of the hotels on the Todd Mall, and serves an ever-changing menu of various local things. Spotty record, food quality depends on chef that day.
Other locations around town:
Bojangles - better known as Bo's - has really nice food, somewhere behind all the dancing drunk people. Good meals ranging from Mango Roo salad to steak and salmon.
Overlander's is the classic outback steak restaurant. Excellent beef, but they do nice chicken and salmon too; home of the "Drover's Blowout" where you try a little camel, beef, emu, croc, etc. And they have the most amazing wine cellar, but you have to be a member - so see if you can make friends with someone who has a key. Anyone here knows where this place is. They do the "Tourist Humiliation Routine" for tours, where you sing old-fashioned Outback songs accompanied by quasi-obscene gestures. Quite funny for both the tour and the locals. If you don't want to participate, sit up front by the door.
Keller's has Swiss and Indian cuisine, an original combination, but works well. Tiny little place located under the hotel at the roundabout on the corner of the Yeperene mall and the parking lot.
Hanuman, in the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Indian and Thai and it's yummy but expensive. Nice place, good wine.
Casa Nostra, off the end of the Todd Mall. Has truly excellent pizza; they have the old-fashioned pizza bar atmosphere, with dark wood panneling and cold beer.
Casa Linga, across the river from the movie theatre. Excellent fresh pizza and some lovely pasta. More of a romantic atmosphere, old-style Italian. Nice wine.
Malathi's is the indian place attached to the Irish pub Sean's. They have excellent indian food, and the hottent Beef Vindaloo you ever tasted.
Bluegrass Serves a wild variety of food, ever-changing menus. The building is heritage listed. Service is generally pretty slow on a weekend but the food quality ranges from decent to absolutely outstanding.
Ainsley's, in the Novatel hotel on the side of town that's on the edge of the MacDonnel ranges. It has an excellent view and good quality food, and decent wine.
Alice has just gone "dry" - there is no drinking in public, all drinking must be done on private premises or in a bar or restaurant.
Todd Mall is the main street (partly pedestrian only). You will find a couple of options here to get a drink. Starting at the end near the movie theatre, The Todd Tavern has a bar meant for working blokes and a restaurant with good pub grub. They do quiz night there. QC is a posh nosh place with a bar, Town & Country and Sporties both have bars and serious addictions to sport of all sort.
Apart of the Todd, almost all the hotels have bars.
Almost all the bars that aren't in hotels have live music some time or another - check the Advocate (local newspaper) for the "Gig Guide" to see what's playing where.
Non-Bar drinking: There are a number of liquor stores in town - Northside Foodland, Cole's, Woolie's and a few others. These have a decent selection of beer, wine and hard stuff. If you're looking for port or sweet wines like that you're out of luck until after 6 pm due to alcohol restrictions.
The Casino - Lassiter's - has a couple bars, including one devoted to *not* gambling called Limerick's. Often live music, Fish n Chips on Wednesdays. Nice place - real wood, dance floor, good beer.
Bojangles. Probably the most popular joint for a beer. Every night people coming or leaving for a tour have some fun here. At the weekend it can get a little bit rowdy. There's a live webcast of the place online, and the local radio station bracdcasts live from Bo's most nights. (The DJ, Daniel, is a hottie. Good marketing!)
Off the mall a bit you have the Firkin & Hound, what the locals think an English pub ought to be - good pub grub, good atmosphere.
Sean's, across from K-Mart. A tiny Irish pub. They serve some pub grub -mostly Irish stew and chips - and often have good live music. They're attached to Malathi's, the indian curry place, notorious in town for the hottest beef vindaloo you ever did try.
Malenka's Party Bar, at Malenka's backpacker's hostel. The only "club" in town. To find it, locate KFC, cross the street and head down the road toward Heavitree gap. It's on the right - hard to miss at night. Quite noisy, young crowd, smells like drunk people.
Alice Springs Shopping
Alice Springs Markets, Todd Mall, 08 8952 9299. Fresh food, jewellery, books, clothing, art, hand-made crafts and other neat merchandise. A market that takes place along the Todd Mall in the center of town, with local vendors setting up stalls along the mall.
Alice Springs Transportation
Getting around the town is quite easy, as many locations are within walking distance. Many visitors choose to rent a car so that they can easily reach all the famous attractions in and around Alice Springs. Taxis, buses, coaches and minivans are also available.
Alice Springs Gateways
By plane:
There is an airport in Alice Springs. Currently only Qantas has connecting flights to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Cairns and Perth. There is a flying shuttle to Uluru but Uluru has an airport (Yulara) too, so if you're just flying in to see the rock, you don't have to stop off at Alice. (Although you should!)
By train
The Ghan is as infamous as the Orient Express, a long train ride over a large land area, and got even longer in 2004 with an extension right through to Darwin. Don't expect complete luxury on the Ghan, however. The rolling stock is rather dated, and while adequate, it was purchased used, and has not been highly refurbished. The scenery is nice though.
By car
Safety Tip! Take care on outback roads! It's a very, very long drive from Alice Springs to anywhere else.
Don't drive tired, make sure you take breaks.
Bring loads of water.
The fuel stops are infrequent, so if you see one, stop - even if you think you have plenty of fuel left.
Camels and cattle can be found on the roads or beside the road ready to wander out in front of you at any time, wedgetailed eagles are likely to be found sitting on the roads durring the day eating carrion, and roos are likely to be on the roads or beside them after sundown and all night.
If you hit a roo, camel or cattle, you could die - they're rough on vehicles. If you hit a wedgie you should feel bad - they're slow to breed and rare to see. So be careful! In sum, drive to survive. Besides, you'll want to take a picture, right? It's a gorgeous drive in places.
The Stuart Highway from Adelaide is well-maintained and goes right through Coober Pedy, an underground city famous also for being the opal capital of the world (and therefore well worth stopping off for a visit on the way). It continues through Tennant Creek and Katherine all the way up to Darwin.
Information on this page has been extracted from http://wikitravel.org/en/Alice_Springs and is based on work by Anne, David, czechbj@uwec.edu, Ian Sergeant, Tim Sandell and Todd VerBeek, Wikitravel user(s) Tensaibuta and WindHorse, Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel and others.
