Alice Springs

城市概覽

Founded as a telegraph station on the line across Australia, Alice Springs is 1500 km from the nearest major city, being Darwin to the north or Adelaide to the south. As a result, the people that inhabit the town are often quite ingenious when it comes to making things last! Don't expect a quaint rural village though: Alice Springs has more than its fair share of suburban strip malls with big box stores and fast food outlets. Also, due to this distance, you may find that some things can cost more than in the cities, such as fruit and veg, and some clothing (if you forgot to pack your singlet or jacket!). Over all, however, the town isn't too expensive when it comes to the necessary requirements and it is much cheaper than smaller outback towns, making it an ideal place to stock up before heading to more remote areas. Something else to remember is that hotels in Alice Springs are rated slightly differently than those in European or North American countries: hotels are rated on their facilities rather than the actual rooms. The reason for that is the distance that Alice Springs is from anywhere and the difficulties involved in getting building materials. Mind you, the star ratings reflect the quality of the establishment.

Language Most of the town's indigenous population speak the Eastern Arrernte language, often as their first language. For useful phrases, see the Eastern Arrernte phrasebook. Most locals speak English, however, although in small communities outside Alice Springs, Arrernte is mainly spoken.

History

Indigenous history

The Arrernte (pronounced Arrenda) Aboriginal people have made their home in the Central Australian desert in and around Alice Springs for more than 50,000 years. The Aboriginal name for Alice Springs is Mparntwe. Three major groups Western, Eastern and Central Arrernte people live in Central Australia, their traditional land including the area of Alice Springs and East/West MacDonnell Ranges. They are also referred to as A

如何抵達

By plane 1 Alice Springs Airport (ASP IATA). The airport doesn't have air bridges, so that passengers need to use stairs to get in/out of planes. Qantas has connecting flights from Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney. Virgin Australia has flights to Adelaide, Brisbane, and Darwin. Flights in summer cost can cost as little as $200 from major cities like Melbourne or Sydney.

By train The Ghan is a private all-sleeper tourist train covering the vast distance from Adelaide to Darwin stopping in Alice Springs. Very luxurious, but expect to pay a steep premium over even business class air fares.

By car Alice Springs is 17 hours drive from Darwin, and 18 hours drive from Adelaide. The Stuart Highway from Adelaide is well-maintained and goes right through Coober Pedy, an underground town famous also for being the opal capital of the world (and therefore well worth stopping off for a visit on the way). It continues through Tennant Creek and Katherine all the way up to Darwin. If you are driving on the main sealed routes from other Australian capital cities, you will likely not be driving on remote roads, and provided you do not take side trips, there will likely be passing traffic. It is worthwhile reading the safety tips for driving in Australia and always carrying water and ensuring you know the location and opening hours of your fuel and food stops. Mobile phone reception is limited to a few of the larger townships along the Stuart Highway, so be prepared to go for long distances without coverage. Read the rental car conditions carefully. Rental cars in Alice Springs may not offer unlimited free kilometres and do not cover you if you take your vehicle on unsealed roads. Rental cars rented outside of the Northern Territory may not be able to be driven into it. Driving after dark outside of the city limits may be prohibited. Rental companies in AC do not offer hand-controls for the handicapped. The official visitor information centre has a

當地交通

There are a couple of public bus lines bringing you around town. Other than that, you can get around by foot or bike, drive or take a taxi. Taxis can be scarce during peak hours. Uber is not available in Alice Springs as of August 2022. A taxi from the airport to the centre of town is around $45.

必看景點

Alice Springs has quite a few interesting things to see; one of them happens every night. If you don't get out of town and watch a sunset, even just sitting off the main highway, you've missed something special. Other than that:

Events

Alice Show. The annual festival with shopping, fair ground rides, animal displays, fireworks, art and crafts, races and performances. Henley On Todd Regatta. River sand race poking fun at the British tradition of boat racing, held on the third Saturday of August each year. The "race" is cancelled whenever the Todd River actually has water. Camel Cup, Blatherskite Park. Camel race day – a fun day out held in early July. Beanie Festival. Knitting festival including mostly 'beanie' hats knit from every conceivable material in every conceivable pattern, all for sale. Also afternoon teas and art displays and music. Finke Desert Race. Motorcycles or 4wd buggies racing over the Finke river track. Alice Masters Games. Sports cup for people of all ages. A week-long event held every 2nd year (even-numbered years). For a detailed and up-to-date calendar of events in Alice Springs, go to the Alice Springs Town Council website.

Nature

1 Reptile Centre. Examples of the local reptiles and one NT croc specially imported, on display by the guy the locals call when something with fangs is in the kitchen. Stargazing. Alice Springs is in the middle of the largest land area without lights on earth, so the view of the Milky Way is unmatched unless you're on a dark boat in the middle of the ocean. Anyone from the city stopping on the road just out of town at night and tipping their head back is likely to fall over from the sheer shock of all those stars. as a result astronomy is popular in town. (updated May 2015) 2 Alice Springs Desert Park, 871 Larapinta Drive (B6) (10km west of town). 7:30AM-6PM. Truly memorable in its examples of local flora and fauna. They give a number of interesting lectures, such as Aboriginal use of local plan

體驗活動

Adventure Pyndan Camel Tracks – Take a one-hour or half day journey aboard a "ship of the desert", through the scenic Ilparpa Valley, located in the famous MacDonnell Ranges. Owner and cameleer Marcus has been working with camels since 1982 and his camels are well trained. Pyndan Camel Tracks is the only camel-riding experience based out of Alice Springs, and he also offers a free shuttle service from most hotels and the Alice Springs Visitor Information Centre to help people get to his property. Outback Ballooning - Take a balloon ride and see the sunrise. Alice Springs has ideal weather for ballooning and the tour operators run almost every day of the year. Quads & Motorcycles - Some tour g