Alice Springs Main Street
Located over 1500km from Darwin and over 1600km from Adelaide, Alice Springs is an urban oasis in the heart of the Australian continent.
The city was, at the beginning, in 1872, a simple telegraph station on the route linking the south to the extreme north and thus to Asia and Europe.
Often considered as a simple place of passage by visitors, The Alice, as the Australians call it, nevertheless deserves a few days of visit.
The atmosphere is pleasant in Alice Springs, relaxing before tackling the sites of Uluru and Katja Tjuta in the south or the Mac Donnell Mountains.
Attractions include the working base of the Royal Flying Doctors or the School of the Air, a school whose students are sometimes thousands of miles away and where teachers teach by radio.
The cultural center, a few minutes from the city center offers museums and exhibitions: you will glean information on Aboriginal history, nature and culture and can also visit an excellent aviation museum.
Alice Springs Landscape
Our suggested activity: Alice Springs Highlights Half-Day Tour
For nature lovers, we can recommend a visit to the Olive Pink Botanical Garden and especially the fabulous Desert Park, a few kilometers from the city in a magical landscape. The fauna and flora of this arid region of Australia are presented in an exciting and didactic way.
For reptile lovers, the Reptile Center is very interesting: not only will you be given all the advice in the event of a snakebite, but you can also get (very) close to a python or a lizard.
For the active, it is possible to try riding camels (introduced in the 19th century to facilitate the exploration of central Australia), balloon flights or long walks or bike rides in the landscapes. sumptuous surrounding the city.
Be careful, the summers are very hot and you should always bring plenty of water.
Telegraph station
The most beautiful and easiest of the hikes is the 5km round trip from the center which leads to the old telegraph station, lovingly renovated, and where the spring which gives part of its name to the city is located.
The station remained in service until 1932.
You will follow the Todd River, almost always dry, but where a regatta still takes place at the end of September… with bottomless boats propelled by the leg strength of desert “navigators”.
Australian Aborigines and didgeridoo
In Alice Springs, the main street, Todd Street, is full of Aboriginal arts and crafts shops: prefer stores providing certificates of authenticity.
If you want to buy a didgeridoo, wait until you are in Darwin, where the quality is often better and the prices lower.
For quality information on Aboriginal culture, given by members of the Arrente community (pronounced "Aranda") around Alice Springs, contact the Aboriginal Australia Art and Culture Center which organizes initiation days or half-days to Aboriginal culture.
Gateway to the Red Centre, in the heart of Australia, Alice Springs is a stopover not to be missed, between history and modernity.
Useful information
The city's official tourist site
Aboriginal Tourism
V.M. Schoelzke © Azureva.com
