| Alice Springs Civic Centre (picture by klaus mayer) |  |
Alice Springs Civic Centre
Photographer Description of Alice Springs Civic Centre
Alice Springs Civic CentreAlice Springs Civic Centre - Further Information
Alice Springs is the third largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. The town straddles the usually dry Todd River on the northern side of the MacDonnell Ranges. The region where Alice Springs is located is known as Central Australia, or the Red Centre, and is an arid environment consisting of several different deserts.Popularly known as "the Alice" or simply "Alice", it has a population of approx 26,000. Averaging 576 metres above sea level, the town is nearly equidistant from Adelaide and Darwin, close to the geographic center of Australia.
The site is known as Mparntwe to its traditional inhabitants, the Arrernte, who have lived in the Central Australian desert in and around what is now Alice Springs for more than 50,000 years. North-west of Alice, along the Tanami Track and south of Alice Springs in the Simpson Desert, the art styles and stories of the Aboriginal people give meaning to the surrounding landscape.
In 1861-62, John McDougall Stuart led an expedition through Central Australia, to the west of what later became Alice Springs, thereby establishing a route from the south of the continent to the north.
A settlement came into existence as a result of the construction of a repeater station on the Overland Telegraph Line, which linked Adelaide to Darwin and Great Britain. 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. Until the 1930s, however, the town was known as Stuart. 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.
It wasn't until alluvial gold was discovered at Arltunga, 100 km east of Alice Springs, in 1887 that any significant settlement occurred.
Today there are many festivals and events for entertainment such as the Alice Springs Beanie Festival, Camel Cup, Henley-on-Todd Regatta and the Finke Desert Race. It should be noted though that Finke is some 400 kilometres south of Alice Springs in the Simpson Desert. Other leisure and entertainment activities include hiking in the nearby MacDonnell Ranges, driving the four-wheel drive tracks at Finke Gorge National Park, visiting the Royal Flying Doctor Service visitor centre, the Pioneer Women Hall of Fame, the School of the Air or visiting the many art galleries in Todd Mall.
The map shows the locations where panoramic pictures were taken of some of Alice Springs sights. The map, photographs, and information form a guide to some of the attractions of Alice Springs.
