Alice Springs: The Town in the Heart of Australia

The quintessential Outback town that is Alice Springs lies in the Red Centre of Australia along the north-south train route of the Ghan. It is close to Uluru at the World Heritage-inscribed Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park and so the Alice, as the town is called by us Aussies, is often considered a way station to the natural wonders of Australia's Red Centre.

But it is, of course, a destination in its own right because of its distinctively Outback character and its own particular attractions.

The traditional home of the Arrente Aboriginal people, Alice Springs lies in a cleft of the MacDonnell Ranges where the Todd River had washed out the edges of the mountains. The river has mostly dried up and the Alice Springs Regatta is held on the dry river bed.

Alice Springs was founded in the 1870s when a telegraph station was built near a water hole of the dry Todd River.

• The Town They Call Alice
• Uluru: Australia's Rock Monolith
• Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park: World Heritage Site
• The Ghan: From Adelaide to Darwin

Photo: Old Alice Springs telegraph station near the Todd River © Australian Tourist Commission