Round The World 2000

Australia

Alice Springs

We only had an overnight stop in Alice Springs and would have liked to have had longer to explore this famous historic town. In 1871 a repeater telegraph station was built between Darwin and Adelaide near a permanent water hole in the Todd River - named after Charles Todd, the Superintendent of Telegraphs in Adelaide. The nearby spring was named after his wife - Alice.

Alice Springs from Anzac Hill
Alice Springs from the top of Anzac Hill

Alice grew slowly. Even in the 1950's the population was only in the hundreds, and until WWII there was no proper road into the town. Now it's a busy town in the middle of nowhere with a population of 25,000. Services vital to a very widespread community are based here, such as the Flying Doctors and the School of the Air which uses radio to teach the children living in areas too remote for regular school. From Alice you can take scenic flights, balloon rides and even a camel trek.

The usually dry Todd River, is where the "Henley-on-Todd Regatta" which takes place every October. Teams of people run along the dry river bed in boats with the bottoms cut out - it's the biggest event of the year and draws thousands of spectators - unfortunately, we missed it!

Todd River

The Ships of the Desert rest on Todd River

The Todd River - not great for swimming!

The Royal Flying Doctor Service was founded by John Flynn in 1928, when it became feasible to use advances in aviation and radio technology to provide essential medical care for the far-flung population of the Outback.

Still based in Alice, there is an interesting museum here which is worth a visit.

Royal Flying Doctors Service Base

Anzac Hill

Anzac Hill is the site of the town's War Memorial. From here you get a great view of the town and surrounding area. Aboriginal people call it Untyeyetweleye.

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