Araluen Centre for
Arts and Entertainment - Alice Springs Cultural Precinct.
The lines wouldn't meet
until 2003. On February 4, 2004, the first passenger
train arrived in Darwin from Adelaide.
During the 1960s it became
an important defence location with the development of
the U.S/Australian Pine Gap joint defence satellite
monitoring base, home to about 700 workers from both
countries, but by far the major industry in recent times
is tourism.
Almost in the exact
center of the continent, Alice Springs is some 1200
km from the nearest ocean and 1500 km from the nearest
major cities, Darwin and Adelaide. Alice Springs is
now the midpoint of the Adelaide-Darwin Railway.
During World War II,
Alice Springs was a staging base, known as No. 9 Australian
Staging Camp, and a depot base for the long four-day
trip to Darwin.
The Australian Army also
set up the 109th Australian General Hospital at Alice
Springs. Seven mile aerodrome was also constructed by
the Royal Australian Air Force.
The "Springs" that
gave the town its name.
The Arrernte Aboriginal
people have made their home in the Central Australian
desert in and around the site of the future 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 Aranda, Arrarnta, Arunta, and
other similar spellings. Their neighbours are the Southern
Arrernte, Luritja, Anmatyerr, Alyawarr and Western Arrernte
peoples. There are five dialects of the Arrernte language:
South-eastern, Central, Northern, Eastern and North-eastern.
Arrernte country is rich
with mountain ranges, waterholes, and gorges; as a result
the Arrernte people set aside 'conservation areas' in
which various species are protected.
According to the Arrernte
traditional stories, in the desert surrounding Alice
Springs, the landscape was shaped by caterpillars, wild
dogs, travelling boys, two sisters, euros, and other
ancestral figures.
Alice Springs Desert
Park, Sand Drawing Aboriginal.
There are many sites
of traditional importance in and around Alice Springs,
such as Anthwerrke (Emily Gap), Akeyulerre (Billy Goat
Hill), Ntaripe (Heavitree Gap), Atnelkentyarliweke (Anzac
Hill), and Alhekulyele (Mt. Gillen).
There are roughly 1,800
speakers of Eastern and Central Arrernte, making it
the largest spoken language in the Arandic family, and
one of the largest speaking populations of any Australian
language. It is taught in schools, heard in local media
and local government.
Many Arrernte people
also live in communities outside of Alice Springs and
on outstations.
The modern town of Alice
Springs has both western and Aboriginal influences.
The town's focal point, the Todd Mall, hosts a number
of Aboriginal art galleries and community events. Alice
Springs' desert lifestyle has inspired several unique
and interesting events such as the Camel Cup, the Henley-on-Todd
Regatta and the Beanie Festival.
The town of Alice Springs
straddles the usually dry Todd River on the northern
side of the MacDonnell Ranges. The region where Alice
Springs is located is known as Central Australia, or
the Red Centre, and is an arid environment consisting
of several different deserts.
In Alice Springs, temperatures
can vary by up to 28°C and rainfall can vary quite dramatically
from year to year. In summer, the average maximum temperature
is in the high 30s, where as in winter the average minimum
temperature can be 7.5C.
The annual average rainfall
is 279.2 mm, but in 2001 741 mm fell and in 2002 only
198 mm fell.
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