Alice Springs Cultural Precinct • Araluen Cultural Precinct

• Cnr Larapinta Drv & Memorial Ave, ALICE SPRINGS NT 0870
• Ph: 08 8951 1120 •  • 
• Sometimes referred to as the ‘Araluen Cultural Precinct’, as the Araluen Arts Centre is one of the attractions, the ‘Alice Springs Cultural Precinct’ offers a number of fascinating attractions in the one unique location. A single entry fee provides an experience encompassing visual and performing arts, Aboriginal culture, heritage and natural history:

• Araluen Arts Centre

• Albert Namatjira Gallery

• Yeperenye Sculpture and the Sculpture Garden

• Museum of Central Australia

• Strehlow Research Centre

• Central Australian Aviation Museum

• The Connellan Hangar and the Kookaburra Memorial

• Territory Craft

• Memorial Cemetery

The site is culturally significant to Aboriginal people of the area. There are seven registered sacred sites and trees of significance on the Precinct which belong to the ‘Two Women Dreaming Track’.

All attractions are accessible by wheelchair. Lift and ramps connect all floors. There are accessible toilets and designated parking for holders of disabled parking permits.

Alice Springs Reptile Centre

• 9 Stuart Terrace (at the base of Billy Goat Hill
(opposite Royal Flying Doctor Service), ALICE SPRINGS NT 0870
• Ph: 08 8952 8900 • Fax: 08 8952 8700 • Web: www.reptilecentre.com.au
• Opened Daily 9:30 am to 5:00 pm — Talks daily at 11 am, 1 pm, 3:30 pm
• Images from Alice Springs Reptile Centre

• Hands on fun for everyone! Come and see thorny devils, frilled neck lizards, goannas, pythons, venomous snakes, taipans, and Terry the saltwater croc.

Check out some of our images from Alice Springs Reptile Centre.

Alice Springs Desert Park

• Larapinta Drive, ALICE SPRINGS NT 0870
• Ph: +61 8 8951 8788 • Fax: +61 8 8951 8720 •
• Web: www.alicespringsdesertpark.com.au
• Images from Alice Springs Desert Park

• The park introduces visitors to the incredible but subtle richness of Australia’s arid zone. Designed to move well beyond the boundaries of traditional zoos, botanic gardens and museums, the park has adopted a holistic “habitat-based and story driven” approach. Discover the desert in its entirety, the landscapes, animals and plants, and their traditional use and management by Aboriginal people.

Nestled in the foothills of the West MacDonnell Range, just ten minutes from the centre of town you will experience diverse and spectacular landscapes and learn about the adaptations of hundreds of species of desert flora and fauna. There are:

• Free-flying birds of prey display.

• Desert Rivers, Sand Country, and the Woodland habitats to explore.

• Close encounters with rare and elusive wildlife in the Nocturnal House.

• With a changing theatre presentation that could include ‘The Changing Heart’, where four and a half billion years of desert evolution will flash before you in a 20 minute cinematic journey, or ‘Wild Australasia’, where you learn about the surprising diversity of life within our arid habitats.

• Interactive interpretive exhibits.

Check out some of our images from Alice Springs Desert Park.

Alice Springs School of the Air

• Visitor Centre, 80 Head St, ALICE SPRINGS NT 0870 • Ph: 08 8951 6834 • 
• Open all year round - Opening hours:
   Mon-Sat 8.30 am to 4.30 pm / Sun & Public Holidays 1.30 pm to 4.30 pm
   (Closed Good Friday and Christmas until and including New Years Day)
   Last entry 4.00 pm – Entry fees apply
• The Alice Springs School of the Air Visitor Centre is a fascinating place to take visiting friends and family. It is an interpretive centre offering visitors from around the globe a virtual journey in “The World’s Largest Classroom”.

The visitor experience includes a film and guide presentation providing a narrative about the distinctive history which dates back to 1951. Also shared are stories about our student’s outback lifestyle… an inspiring insight to a uniquely Australian school. Discover the innovative techniques making it possible for children living in remote Central Australia to participate in school classes without having to travel vast distances every day. Have a chat to the guides, view live or recorded lessons, join in on a presentation and enjoy the displays. Take the opportunity to visit and be inspired by what has been and continues to be one of the most unusual methods of education in the world.

Have a chat to our guides, view lessons, join in on a full presentation and enjoy the
displays and our retail shop.

Alice Springs Telegraph Station Historical Reserve

• Located on the northern edge of town, the Alice Springs Telegraph Station Historical Reserve marks the original site of the first European settlement in the region and originally included the area now covered by the township of Alice Springs.

Alice Springs Turf Club

• ALICE SPRINGS NT 0870 • Ph: 08 8952 4977 • 
• 33 meetings a year, fortnightly or weekly
• Red Centre racing with thoroughbred action throughout the year. A day at the races in picturesque surrounds, idyllic backdrop and superb facilities.

Alice Springs RSL Club and War Museum

• Schwartz Crs, ALICE SPRINGS NT 0870
• Located near the base of ANZAC Hill, the RSL Club War Museum is acknowledged as having one of the most significant collections of war memorabilia in Australia, dating from circa 1854 to the Timor conflict. To see more information, images and ‘Alice Springs & District Roll of Honour’, click here.

ANZAC Hill • Untyeyetwelye

• This hill is a special place to the Aboriginals, its name means ‘Corkwood story’. The story is about a woman who avoids the company of men. The hill is also the site of the ANZAC Hill War Memorial. It is also a popular place for tourist to get a birds eye view of Alice Springs, the MacDonnell Ranges, Heavitree Gap and the surrounding region.

Araluen Arts Centre • Araluen Cultural Precinct

• 61 Larapinta Drv, ALICE SPRINGS NT 0870 • Ph: 08 8951 1120 • Fax: 08 8953 0259 •
• Part of the Alice Springs Cultural Precinct, and sometimes referred to as the Araluen Cultural Precinct, this is the focal point of Alice Springs performing and visual arts scene, incorporating galleries and a theatre.

• Galleries
  The galleries has a program of exhibitions with the focus on Aboriginal art from Central Australia and contemporary art by local and Australian artists.
  

• Theatre
  The annual theatre program includes performances by national touring companies and performers, as well as local productions.
  

• Albert Namatjira Gallery
  one of the galleries in the Araluen Arts Centre, displaying a rotating selection of paintings by Albert Namatjira, his descendants and contemporaries.
  

• Yeperenye Sculpture and the Sculpture Garden
  — The Yeperenye Sculpture is an collaborative public art work that celebrates the Yeperenye (Ayepe-arenye) caterpillar, which is the most important of the three caterpillars that are the creative ancestors of Alice Springs. The three meter high sculpture was developed by metal artist Dan Murphy, working with students from the Center for Appropriate Technology's ATWork program. There were mentoring based workshops with school children and local artists, developing one hundred community generated panels to decorate the caterpillar.
  
  — The Sculpture Garden is home to a 300 year old Corkwood Tree, around which the Araluen Arts Centre was designed. This tree, another one at the front of the building and Big Sister Hill are considered sacred by the Arrernte people. Public art located in the Sculpture Garden and the environs of Araluen include major works by prestigious Australian sculptors Joan Brassil - Time Mirages (1987) - inspired by the hand back of Uluru to it's traditional owners, and Trevor Weekes - The Split (1984) - depicting notable Central Australian landmark Standley Chasm.

CAAMA Visitor Centre - ‘Satellite Dreaming’

• Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association
• CAAMA Visitor Centre, 101 Todd St, ALICE SPRINGS NT 0870
• Freecall: 1800 008 443 • Mon-Fri 9 am - 5 pm / Sat 9 am - 1 pm
• The CAAMA Visitor Centre is a static and interactive display giving visitors a brief history of the birth of Indigenous Media in Australia. The CAAMA display tells the story of its humble beginnings and gives visitors a glimpse of the Aboriginal Media Association in operation and acknowledges the creative achievement of many Aboriginal people and communities over a vast geographical area.

Central Australian Aviation Museum/ The Connellan Hangar / Kookaburra Memorial

• Memorial Ave, ALICE SPRINGS NT 0871
• Ph: 08 8951 8412 (Aviation Museum) • Ph: 08 8951 5686 (Connellan Hangar)
• Part of the Alice Springs Cultural Precinct, the Aviation Museum is located in the original Connellan Airways Hangar and houses two early flying doctor planes among other historic aircraft and aviation memorabilia. There is also a Memorial dedicated to the memory of Keith Anderson and Bob Hitchcock who perished after the ‘Kookaburra’ made a forced landing in the Tanami Desert on the 10th April 1929 while on their way to search for Charles Kingsford Smith and Charles Ulm.

• John Flynn Memorial Church
• Adelaide House Museum
• School of the Air Visitor Centre
• Fred McKay Museum
• Royal Flying Doctor Service
• Old Timers Traeger Museum
• John Flynn’s Grave Historical Reserve

Historic Buildings

• The Telegraph Station (the original settlement), Adelaide House, Old Stuart Town Gaol, The Residency, The Historic Precinct and Anzac Hill all preserve some of the history of European settlement from the 1870’s.

• Adelaide House — part of The Flynn Trail (a self-guided heritage tour)

  • Todd Mall, ALICE SPRINGS NT 0870
  • Ph: +61 8 8952 1856 • Ph: +61 8 8953 1955 (Uniting Church of Alice Springs)
  • Open most weekdays 10 am - 4 pm / Saturday 10 am - 12 pm
  • As one of Alice Springs oldest surviving buildings and under the protection of the National Trust, Adelaide House is located in the heart of the Todd Mall, next to the John Flynn Memorial Church. The building was designed by Flynn in 1916-17, established as part of his ‘Mantle of Safety’ for the medical care of citizens of the Australia's Outback. Opened in 1926 as the first medical hostel in Alice Springs, the building is now a museum housing memorabilia of the Rev John Flynn (‘Flynn of the Inland’). The museum has a varied collection where you can learn Flynn’s story and the connection of the bush nursing hostel and the Traeger Pedal Radio, which brought health services to the vast outback. It also houses an innovative award winning cooling system.
  
  It has wheelchair access, tea/coffee, video presentation, brochures available in a number of languages.
  
  The NT Government Library Picture NT has some historical photos of Adelaide House.
  

• The Residency

  • Heritage Alice Springs Inc, Cnr Parsons & Hartley Sts (next to the Post Office), ALICE SPRINGS
  • Ph: 08 8953 6073 • Usually open Monday to Friday 10 am to 2 pm (hours may vary)
  • A beautiful restored historical house that was home to Government Representatives from 1927-1973. Operated by volunteers, entry is by a gold coin donation.

Kenworth Dealer Hall of Fame • Australia’s Henworth Truck Museum

• 2 Norris Bell Ave, ALICE SPRINGS NT 0870
• Ph: 08 8952 7161 (Museum) • Ph: 08 8953 2955 (Caretaker) •
• Open every day except Good Friday and Christmas Day
• The Kenworth Dealer Hall of Fame and Australia’s Henworth Truck Museum is part of the National Road Transport Hall of Fame. The Kenworth Dealer Hall of Fame encompasses around 11,000 sq ft of display space, devoted to the history of the Australian designed and built Kenworth, and the Dealer network that brings this product and back up support to customers across Australia.

Mbantua Gallery & Cultural Museum

• 71 Gregory Terrace, ALICE SPRINGS NT 0870 • Ph: 08 8952 5571 •
• The Cultural Museum, referred to as ‘The Jewel of Alice’ was officially opened on 30th October 2004, and is an extremely important aspect of the promotion of the Aboriginal culture of Australia. The entrance is located inside the front entrance to Mbantua Gallery.

The museum houses a vast collection of old and new landscape paintings, including Albert Namatjira, Gabriella Wallace and Wenten Rubuntja. There is a bush tucker display, a vast collection of traditionally used artifacts, and an exhibition room, showcasing a selection of permanent collection works.

Check out the museum online...

Memorial Cemetery

• Part of the Alice Springs Cultural Precinct, the Memorial Cemetery is the resting place of many of Central Australia's pioneers, including Eddie Connellan and his family (a row of white marble headstones), Aboriginal artist Albert Namatjira, Harold Bell Lasseter (who died trying to find a lost gold reef), Miss Olive Pink (anthropologist).

Museum of Central Australia

• Larapinta Drv, ALICE SPRINGS NT 0870 • Ph: 08 8951 1121
• Located at the Alice Springs Cultural Precinct, the Museum of Central Australia houses an extensive display relating to Central Australia. The exhibits and displays follow the evolution of the landscape and the fascinating creatures that inhabited it, from the unique fossils of extinct megafauna, minerals and meteorites, through to the current desert inhabitants.

From the big bang to the present day, meteorite fragments, fossils and interpretive displays detail the geological history of Central Australia. It is interesting to read the relationship between the geo-morphological explanation of the way this land was formed, alongside the traditional Arrernte interpretation (see Yeperenye Sculpture).

View the replica of an ancient waterhole with some its megafauna including a giant freshwater crocodile and the largest bird that ever lived, the giant bird Dromornis stirtoni and two diprotodontoids (who are a group of marsupials which are now extinct). These megafauna came from Alcoota, a remote and protected location some 200 km north-east of Alice Springs.

National Pioneer Women’s Hall of Fame

• Old Courthouse, 27 Hartley St, ALICE SPRINGS NT 0870
• Ph: 08 8952 9006 • Fax: 08 8952 9406 •
• Open daily 10 am to 5 pm — closed from mid December and throughout January
• Founded by Mrs Molly Clark of Old Andado Station in 1993, and is dedicated to preserving the place of women in history and their special contribution to Australia’s heritage.

The original courtroom now pays homage to the extraordinary courage and persistence of over one hundred ordinary women, past and present, who have been first in their professional field, throughout Australia.

The former magistrate’s chamber is dedicated to pioneering women of the Central Australian outback who helped develop the area from the 1870’s. Discover the fortitude, courage and ingenuity of these often forgotten women - the wives of missionaries, miners, telegraph stationmasters, governesses and kitchen maids.

See the displays of domestic artefacts, conventional “women’s work” including ingeniously homemade household items used on outback properties and samples of traditional craftwork. You can also support and become a member of the NPWHF, visit their website.

National Road Transport Hall of Fame

• 2 Norris Bell Ave, ALICE SPRINGS NT 0870
• Ph: 08 8952 7161 (Museum) • Ph: 08 8953 2955 (Caretaker) •
• Open every day except Good Friday and Christmas Day •
• For every visitor there’s a history lesson of how Australia’s tough terrain broke the best vehicles the world could throw at it; of how war at our doorstep brought mechanisation and development to this nation, and Central Australia in particular; and how a unique breed of road transport pioneer used improvisation, innovation, ingenuity, commonsense and sheer will to carve a road transport network from stark wilderness to give us an industry that has been the nucleus and backbone of Australia’s development. The National Road Transport Hall of Fame is located approximately 8 km from the centre of Alice Springs, midway between the airport and town centre.

Old Timers Traeger Museum

• Old Timers Aged Care Facility, Southern Gate, South Stuart Hwy, ALICE SPRINGS NT
• Opened daily from 2 pm - 4 pm April to October (open by appointment at other times)
• A centrepiece of the museum is the a replica of Flynn’s Dodge buckboard, a collection of pioneering equipment, historic photographs and documents, old mining and cameleering relics.

Olive Pink Botanic Garden

• Cnr Barrett Drv and Tuncks Rd, ALICE SPRINGS NT 0870
• Ph: 08 8952 2154 • Fax: 08 8953 5522 •  • Web: www.opbg.com.au
• Garden 10 am - 6 pm • Visitor Centre 10 am - 4 pm (Closed Christmas Day and Good Friday
• An Arid Zone Botanic Garden in the Northern Territory. Miss Olive Pink arrived in Central Australia in 1930, and lived with the Aboriginal people in the Tanami Desert. She studied the Arrernte and Walpiri people and was a great advocate of Aboriginal rights. Later she lived in Alice Springs and worked for the creation of this arid zone botanic garden.

Royal Flying Doctor Service Visitor and Café

• Stuart Tce, ALICE SPRINGS NT 0870
• Ph: 08 8952 1129 • Fax: 08 8953 0027
• Mon-Sat 9 am - 5 pm/Sun & Public Holiday 1 pm - 5 pm (Closed Christmas Day & New Years Day)
• Visit a working base that has been in operation since 1939 and learn more about this unique service. See how we provide routine medical services to outback isolated areas — towns, communities and homesteads, view an informative video and observe the coordination of “real time” medical evacuations, enjoy our interactive museum, purchase quality souvenirs, and relax in our café in one of the town’s finest heritage buildings. The Royal Flying Doctor Service is a non-profit organisation, with 100% of proceeds going towards replacement of medical equipment and aircraft.

Strehlow Research Centre

• Cnr Larapinta Drv and Memorial Ave, ALICE SPRINGS NT 0870
• Ph: 08 8951 1111 • Fax: 08 8951 1110 •
• The Strehlow Research Centre manages one of Australia's most important collections of film, sound, archival records and museum objects relating to Indigenous ceremonial life. The Strehlow Collection was accumulated by the late Professor T.G.H. Strehlow during a lifetime of anthroplogical research with the Aboriginal people of central Australia.

A display on the life and work of TGH Strehlow features in the Museum of Central Australia. Non-culturally sensitive material from the Collection is included in the display.

Wallaby Feeding at Heavitree Gap Outback Lodge

• Although Rock Wallabies are elusive creatures in the wild, they can sometimes be spotted at some of the popular tourist attractions such as Simpsons Gap, Palm Valley, Ormiston Gorge, and Standley Chasm. People are asked not to feed the wild animals.

If you are not fortunate to see Rock Wallabies, there is one place in Alice Springs, Heavitree Gap Outback Lodge where not only can you see them, but you can also get up close to them as they come down from the range to feed and drink. Special formulated feed is available at the lodge reception.

Finke Gorge National Park

• Located some 140 km south west of Alice Springs and 20 km south of Hermannsburg is the Finke Gorge National Park. Covering an area of 46,000 hectares, the park was proclaimed as a flora and fauna reserve in the 1920s, then as a National Park in 1978. The park has a myriad of gorges and gullies, which is home to a diverse range of rare and unique plant species. Most famous of the natural features and popular with many tour operators is Palm Valley, home to the Red Cabbage Palm, remnants of a tropical rainforest that covered this area 60 million years ago.

Illamurta Springs Conservation Reserve

• Has a permanent natural spring, with access by 4WD via the Finke River.

Larapinta Trail

• Officially opened in April 2002, will offer 13 sections of a 250 km walk through a fantastic region of the Outback.

Mount Connor

• A 700 million-year-old sand and rock mesa that lies in a straight line with Uluru and Kata Tjuta. There is a lookout just 11 km east of Curtin Springs that offers fantastic views.

Mount Ebenezer

• Stop off at the food and fuel stop on the Lasseter Highway (about 54 km from Erldunda), there is friendly service, accommodation, caravan and camping facilities. There is an InfoStand at the roadhouse.

Mount Zeil

• The Northern Territory’s highest peak at 1,531 metres. A great place to view the peak in comparison to others, is at the Mount Sonder Lookout.

Standley Chasm

• Iwupataka Land Trust
• Ph: 08 8956 7440 • Fax: 08 8956 7325 •
• Gates open 8 am to 6 pm (no entry after 5 pm)
— entry subject to a small fee

• Located 50 km by sealed road from Alice Springs, Standley Chasm has been gouged into touch sandstone by the floods that, over untold millions of years, have surged down a narrow tributary of the Finke River system. The result is a deep red cleft, with slopes on either side rising 80 metres above the floor. Regardless of the weather or time of day, the Chasm is at its most dramatic an hour either side of noon on a sunny day. It is at noon that the desert sun is perfectly aligned, drenching Standley Chasm in a shower of brilliant red light, the sheer walls glowing from the rflected sunlight to create a breath-taking display.

Standley Chasm is located in a private flora and fauna reserve owned by the Iwupataka Land Trust. All native plants and animals are protected. Do not pat the dingoes. To view more information and images, click here...

Tnorala Conservation Reserve

• 142 million years ago a comet crashed into the area, creating a huge crater. The formation is of great significance to the local Aboriginal custodians.

Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park

• Includes two of Australia’s most significant cultural landmarks, Uluru and Kata Tjuta, a must see for visitors to this region.

Watarrka National Park • Kings Canyon

• Located between Alice Springs and Uluru it offers 300 m sheer cliff faces, a geological ‘lost city’, and palm fringed waterholes.

West MacDonnell National Park

• As part of the incredible Larapinta Trail, this rugged landscape must see features include: Simpsons Gap, Ellery Creek Big Hole, Ormiston Gorge, Serpentine Gorge, Glen Helen Gorge, Redbank Gorge, Tnorala (Gosse Buff) Conservation Reserve, Ochre Pits and Namatjira’s Twin Ghost Gums.