No Other Town Like Alice Springs
Newcastle Herald
Friday April 27, 2001
VISITORS to Alice Springs will find plenty of attractions in the town and its outlying areas.
Situated in the heart of Central Australia, it offers modern facilities such as a casino, restaurants and quality accommodation, while maintaining the special character inherited from the unique and ancient landscape that surrounds it.
Available modes of transport offers a variety of ways to enjoy the scenery: there's the Ghan train, hot-air balloons, camel rides and a range of rental vehicles from limousines to 4WDs.
Attractions in or close to Alice Springs include the School of the Air where visitors can listen to live broadcasts of classes; the Araluen Centre for Arts and Entertainment which offers a fascinating cultural and historical tour, and the Mecca Date Garden, Australia's oldest date orchard and an example of a working date farm.
For those who want to get in touch with the land and its indigenous people, there are such special features as the Diarama Dreamtime Caves which portray three-dimensional scenes of the Aboriginal Dreamtime.
Also well worth a visit is the Alice Springs Telegraph Station Historical Reserve, the site of the first settlement in Alice Springs, 3km north of the town.
At the Alice Springs Desert Park, about 8km west of Alice Springs, modern technology introduces visitors to the secrets of an ancient environment.
Visitors are advised to start their desert journey at the park's Exhibition Centre, where a spectacular 20-minute film covers four and a half billion years of desert evolution.
Professional guides are on hand to enhance visitors' knowledge of the Australian desert.
Accommodation in the Alice Springs region includes an excellent range of comfortable and stylish bed and breakfast options, from quality farmstay properties to town-based establishments.
Some of the B&Bs within easy reach of the central business district include Hilltop, Orangewood and Nthaba Cottage, all of which belong to the Northern Territory Bed and Breakfast Council.
Among the rural members are the historic Bond Springs station and the Ooraminna Bush Cabins, which both offer the opportunity to sample life on a working outback station while enjoying gourmet meals and quality hospitality.
For information about the full range of B&B options in the Territory ring Lynne Peterkin at Orangewood on 08 8952 4114 or visit the Northern Territory Bed and Breakfast website at www.bed-and-breakfast.au.com.
Front cover artwork by Natalie V. Herico
© 2001 Newcastle Herald
