Alice Springs

Alice Springs was founded as a telegraph repeater station in 1872, halfway along the Overland Telegraph Line that connected Adelaide to Darwin and on to the rest of the world via undersea cable. The original Telegraph Station, four kilometres north of town, is preserved as a historic site and is the actual location of the spring that gave the town its name. The Arrernte name for the area is Mparntwe, meaning 'the place of the river crossing'.

The town today has around 25,000 people and is the launchpad for almost all trips into the Red Centre. The Alice Springs Desert Park is the best introduction to the ecology and wildlife of central Australia, and the Royal Flying Doctor Service base offers tours of the operation that has provided emergency medical services to the outback since 1928. The School of the Air, a primary school that broadcasts lessons by radio and internet to remote stations across an area larger than Western Europe, also runs visitor tours.

The surrounding West MacDonnell Ranges (Tjoritja) include some of the most spectacular gorges in central Australia: Standley Chasm, Ellery Creek, Ormiston Gorge, Glen Helen, and the Larapinta Trail (a 223 kilometre walking track that follows the spine of the range west from Alice Springs to Mount Sonder).

Uluru, Kata Tjuta and Kings Canyon are all 4 to 6 hours drive south. Direct flights connect Alice Springs to Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Darwin.