Day 1: Exploring Alice Springs

Learn about Alice Springs by jumping on The Alice Wanderer, ‘a hop on hop off’ bus tour. You will learn facts like while Alice Springs was developed in 1871 as a telegraph repeater station between Adelaide and Darwin, it did not receive its name until 1933.

Alice Springs is made up of about 5 blocks and surrounded by the Todd River to the east, Anzac Hill to the north, Stuart Highway to the west and Stuart Terrace to the south. You can enjoy shopping on Todd Street while admiring the streets historical buildings.

Just off Todd Street is Gregory Terrace where you will find the tourist information centre and they will point you towards all that Alice Springs has to offer, such as Adelaide House and the John Flynn (founder of the Royal Flying Doctor Service) Museum. The tourist information centre is also where you can purchase various permits if you wish to travel through Aboriginal lands.

To find out more about the Arrente Aboriginal people who are local to the area, head to the Strehlow Research Centre where there is a huge vault in the centre, which contains many artefacts of Aboriginal importance, and although these cannot be viewed there are plenty of things to see in the museum.

I know the day is getting busy with all that Alice has to offer but don’t forget to visit the Araluen Arts Centre, where you can see some of the work by Albert Namatjira, as well as Panorama Guth which is home to various Aboriginal artefacts.

As the day begins to come to an end bypass Parsons Street to see the Old Courthouse, the Residence and the Stuart Town Gaol. Then make your way back to Alice Springs Resort for an early night in preparation for day 2 of your tour throughout Australia’s red centre.