Resort's 16mm Movies Prove Popular In Alice
Illawarra Mercury
Saturday January 13, 2001
IN this age of electronic whiz-bangery, instant videos and computer games and goodness knows what else, the Alice Springs Resort did what many would think a somewhat strange thing to help amuse guests.
It bought an old-fashioned 16mm movie projector and started screening 16mm versions of some of the classic flicks of yesteryear a couple of times a month.
It proved an instant hit among older guests surprised by this unexpected nostalgia kick, and younger ones intrigued with what blew away we wrinklies in days of yore.
A handful of guests turned up for the first screening a couple of years back, but now the resort's movie nights are not only a must for many guests, but also growing numbers of Alice Springs residents.
Audiences not only get the pool-side show under the spectacularly clear outback sky for free, but they also get free popcorn.
And, as most 16mm movies come on three reels, a couple of necessary intermissions mean there's convenient time for a drink or three between reels on a hot Centralian night.
Movie nights are held outdoors during summer - ``See the stars under the stars," as assistant general manager Geoff Howe puts it - and move indoors during winter when it can, surprisingly, get quite chilly in the inland.
Among classics shown to date have been Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines, Some Like It Hot, A Star is Born, A Patch of Blue, The Great Escape, The Birds, and the veteran to date, My Little Chicadee made in 1939.
The Alice Springs Resort, something of an oasis on the banks of the sometimes-flowing Todd River, is the largest in town. It has 144 rooms, swim-up pool bar, and indoor/outdoor dining.
Its guest desk can arrange tours to the Alice Springs Desert Park, School of the Air, the old Telegraph Station, Pioneer Women's Hall of Fame, Old Stuart Gaol, and other places of interest.
If you're not into resort-style staying, a place worth thinking about when in The Alice is Kathy's Place Bed & Breakfast, nestled cosily amid a shady garden inhabited by wild parrots, pigeons, galahs and budgies in a quiet suburban cul-de-sac.
It offers two guest rooms (one queen-size bed, the other two singles,) and has an in-ground pool, snooker table, and an interesting library stocked by hosts Kathy and Karl Fritz.
The large rooms have bottled mineral water and ``cookies" on arrival, and Kathy does wonderful start-the-day-well breakfasts of muesli, fresh fruit and juices, and bacon, eggs and toast that have had guests from the United States, England, Switzerland and around Australia singing her praises in the visitors book since opening a year ago.
There are tea and coffee making facilities around the clock.
Kathy and Karl decided to turn their three children's rooms into B&B accommodation when the kids grew up and moved out and they didn't have far to look for someone to do the make-over: Karl had just semi-retired from a lifetime in the building industry.
Now, between a few small building jobs, he potters around his flourishing vegetable garden (which he'll readily show off to guests) and raises chickens for the breakfast eggs.
Kathy is a former tour guide with the Royal Flying Doctor Service, so is well versed in helping with touring and sightseeing ... and for the ladies, shopping in The Alice.
For information about Alice Springs Resort or Kathy's Place B&B, freecall Central Australian Tourism on 1800645199.
© 2001 Illawarra Mercury
