One of Australia’s best known country towns, Alice Springs was named after a telegraph official’s wife.
It is a town of 25,000 beside the dry Todd River, home of the famous Henley-on-Todd Regatta, held every August. The Henley-on-Todd is a dry-river competition where teams race through the deep coarse sand in a motley collection of bottomless yachts, bathtubs and other weird and wonderful ‘floats’.
Today, ‘The Alice’ is the centre of a booming tourism industry based on the strength that it is close to Uluru (Ayers Rock). It is, in fact, a 4.5-hour drive. But as far as 4.5-hour drives go, it’s a fairly quick and easy run due south along the Stuart and west along the Lasseter highways (all-sealed).
Alice Springs is a place of contrasts. Hip, even hipster, cafes are dotted throughout its centre, while looming large over the township are the majestic MacDonnell Ranges – one of the most peaceful, awe-inspiring and gentle landscapes our country has to offer.
You can fly to Alice Springs from all Australian capital cities – it’s around a three-hour flight from the east coast and around two hours from Darwin. You can also fly direct to Uluru (Ayers Rock) in around 45 minutes.
Alternatively, take a journey with an all-inclusive rail holiday upon The Ghan from Adelaide or Darwin to Alice Springs. Great Southern Railways operates the Ghan from Adelaide north to Alice Springs, then on to Darwin twice a week; return services from Darwin to Adelaide are also twice a week.
Alice Springs is more or less (give or take a few hundred kilometres) halfway along The Explorer’s Way, an epic trans-continental road trip from Adelaide to Darwin. For most of its 3000 or so kilometres, it follows the footsteps of John McDouall Stuart, who explored the land in preparation for the Overland Telegraph in 1862.
The sealed route in its entirety runs sea to sea, from Adelaide north to Darwin, and if you want to drive the whole thing – allowing a few stops to explore along the way – you’ll need at least two weeks.
Alice Springs is 1540km north of Adelaide and 1513km south of Darwin on the Stuart Highway.
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You’ll find plenty of choice when it comes to places to stay in Alice Springs.
Lasseters, next to the casino, is the most luxurious option, and the DoubleTree by Hilton Alice Springs, next door, is home to one of the town’s best restaurants, Hanuman’s (which also has an outpost in Darwin).
If you want to stay in the centre of town, the Diplomat Motel is a great choice, and for those on a budget try the Alice Springs YHA – it used to be an outdoor movie theatre before it was transformed into a hostel.
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There’s no better place than the Red Centre for bush tucker, native Australian food. Every September, the Alice Desert Festival offers the chance to sample the Red Centre’s indigenous ingredients, with part of the festival focusing on wild bush foods.
For a Westernised take on these, eat at Red Ochre Grill in Todd Mall, a restaurant that combines traditional outback-style grilled meats such as kangaroo, camel and crocodile, with bush tucker essentials including wild lime, quandong, Kurrajong flour, Illawarra plums and bush tomatoes.
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