We loved Alice Springs and could happily live here....... though summer may be a bit difficult! We stayed at the "Winter Sun" caravan park which was exactly what we needed as the mornings and evenings were freezing. Our days in Alice reminded me exactly of Jo'burg's clear, winter days. I was sort of thrown back to earlier days!
There is so much to see in Alice that we will need to come back. A well equipped 4 wheel drive is a must as many places that can be visited can only be accessed by 4 wheel drive and a bit more time than what we had.
We spent a day driving, and hiking, through the West MacDonnell ranges (about 250kms) savouring all the sights - gorges, ancient ranges, Aboriginal ochre pits and amazing views.
There are so many Aboriginal galleries that by the time we left Chris had had enough!! We spent a whole day at the cultural centre which had galleries that were breathtaking. We also spent time walking through the aviation museum that had all sorts of interesting exhibits - John Flynn's RFDS plane that he used, an old DC3 and others. Unfortunately we didn't get to visit the RFDS as we were a little too late.
Watching the wrist control of a young Aboriginal girl painting at the Todd mall was amazing. We keep noticing that the Aboriginal people that are around don't talk to, or smile at "White" people at all. It must be cultural - very unlike the laughing and smiling of the Africans. Some locals said that there can be "trouble" around the town but everything we saw seemed to be quiet and peaceful. The whole town seemed so neat, clean and tidy. I also just managed to catch The Ghan as it was stopped at the station. (It travels between Adelaide and Darwin.)
The one thing we were sad about was that we weren't going to be in Alice for the Finke desert race. We have seen the constant arrival of bikes and cars from all over the place.
We'll have to come again another time.
