Alice Springs

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We had our first long stop at Alice Springs, which is about halfway between Adelaide and Darwin.  We had been in the Alice Springs airport on our way from Ayres Rock to Adelaide, but we didn't see the town.  When we came through on the train we had a scheduled stop of several hours, so we signed up for a bus tour around town.  Nice place, but pretty isolated, and I sure wouldn't want to live there.   Alice is the nearest town to Ayres Rock, "only" three hundred miles away.  No wonder everything is pricey there, with such long shipping distances!   The Northern Territories is big and empty.  Our guide at Uluru told us that most people think NT stands for Northern Territories.  No so, he said.  It stands for Not Today.  Or maybe Next Truck.

Before any train lines or roads were built here, all supplies came by camel, driven by Afghans.  That's the origin of the name of our train, the Ghan.  At the Ayres Rock Resort, you can go on a camel ride if you want.  We didn't see any camels there, but here they are, patiently waiting for us at the Alice Springs railroad station.

This plane belonged to the Royal Flying Doctor Service.  This is an essential part of life here in the lonely center of Australia.  The doctors provide the fastest way to get emergency medical in this region.

This is the oldest cemetery in Alice Springs.  This is supposed to be the grave of a gold prospector named Lasseter, a very early figure in local history.  To learn more about him and the history of the region, click here.

An abandoned engine from the old original Ghan train.

We visited the highest hill in Alice Springs, and just outside the viewpoint there we saw these small kangaroos, the only ones we saw in Australia.

Here is a view of Alice from that hill, with another outcropping in the distance

Downtown Alice Springs

The station, the train, and memories of the past