Alice Springs
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Alice Springs the city at the red centre of Australia the hottest, driest, flattest continent on earth.
We are located 1500km from Darwin and 1500km from Adelaide with very little in between except vast expanses of desert. However our desert is ALIVE and full of the most hardy life forms on the dry earth. Alice Springs has a fascinating human history going back tens of thousands of years but possibly and most likely more, some say 120,000 years. I am of course talking about the aboriginal peoples of Australia, the first white man to come to this arid environment was John McDoull Stuart in 1860-61. White Australians have only been settled in the area since around 1871-72 when the overland telegraph line was built from Adelaide to Darwin.
Today most people come to Alice Springs as part of their journey to Uluru formerly known as Ayers Rock, Uluru is of course the Aboriginal name and it has been known as Uluru officially since 2002 so lets update our nomenclature people! Some people don't realise that although Alice Springs is the closest town to Uluru it is still 450Km away, a comfortable 5-6 hour trip!
Alice is a thriving tourist town and has almost everything you need to have a good time and feel at home. Accommodation is never a problem, Tours are always available and the bars stay open late :)
Below are some things that we hope you find interesting and helpful to your trip.
Contents |
Useful Couchsurfing Information
We have a few possibilities for couchsurfing here in Alice Springs but you will have to get in early. We have far more requests than hosts at the moment and this is the reason why you have to be in early.
Many of our hosts are relatively new to CS and so the more complete your profile is the better the chances of finding a host. This is a bit of a problem for me as I usually wont even think about hosting someone with an incomplete or uninformative profile as I have plenty of requests. Your profile is the only way we can get an idea of who you are and if we have to choose between a CS'er who has a complete Vs an incomplete profile the choice is easy.
Climate
HOT WARM THEN HOT AGAIN!
I'm working on it OK
Uluru, Kata Tjuta and Watarrka
Three of the most amazing places you can visit in central Australia.
Uluru
Uluru, a lot can be said and has been said about this true wonder of the central deserts. Uluru is what 99% of people come here for and for good reason it has to be one of the most inspiring and long standing images of Australia that nearly tourist sees.
Kata Tjuta
Other big rocks beside the real big rock
Watarrka
what the hell is Watarrka?
Tours operators departing from Alice Springs
Wayoutback Desert Safaris offers small group (maximum 14 person) 4x4 only tours I work for them and I have to say we run unique tours.
Mulga Tours http://www.mulgas.com.au/mulgas/default.html
Rock Tours http://www.therocktour.com.au/
Adventure Tours http://www.adventuretours.com.au/uluru-ayers-rock-tour/
Discovery Eco Tours http://www.ecotours.com.au/
Activities around Alice
There is lots to see around Alice Springs but most people who come to Alice arrive the day before a tour and leave the day after so they never get to know what its like to live here. Alice can be a pretty crazy place when its full of tourists and at other times super chilled. Obviously going to Uluru is the main reason for coming to Alice Springs and its a good one, Alice is the major tourist base for Uluru as well as the other sights. However Alice has plenty of stuff to keep you on your toes.
Some Places that are worth your time
The West and East MacDonnell Ranges:
Alice sits right in the middle of the MacDonnell ranges and as you arrive by car, train or plane these mountains are hard to miss. Some of the oldest rocks on earth can be found in this Mountain range that is about 350 million years old, just for contrast the Himalayas are just 60 Million years old. There are also at a few secluded location fossils of the first multicellular organism on earth, Stromatolites are estimated to be up to 3.5 billion years old and over centuries these guys made all our oxygen.
There are many swimming holes full of cool deep water to explore as well as need I say it some truly amazing geological features and of course the Aboriginal people have a very deep understanding and bond to the area.
LINKS SOON
Desert Park
http://www.alicespringsdesertpark.com.au/
Reptile Centre
http://www.reptilecentre.com.au/
Olive Pink Botanical Gardens
Pioneer Women's Hall of Fame
http://www.pioneerwomen.com.au/
Alice Springs Telegraph Station
http://www.nt.gov.au/nreta/parks/find/astelegraphstation.html
Transport Hall of Fame
http://www.roadtransporthall.com/
Accommodation Bars & Cafes
Accommodation in Alice is easy to find and there are many to choose from
Backpackers Toddies Annies Malenkas YHA Pioneer Haven
Single Rooms Toddies Malenkas Todd Tavern
More Up Market Desert Palms Crown Plaza Aurora
Bars... The NT has twice the rate of alchahol consumption than the rest of Australia!
Bojangles Annies Todd Tavern Rock Bar Town and Counry Sporties Sheans
Cafes
Car/Campervan Rents
Alice Camp and Drive Thrifty Hertz Britz Wickidcamper
Couchsurfing community
The Alice Springs CS group is young but active and any CS visitors should join the Alice Springs group if they are planning to stay in the area for any length of time.
We will fit this page out with a lot more detail in the coming couple of months - I promise!!
Here's some links for now - Welcome to The Red Centre!!
General information-
