Alice Springs (pop. 24,855) is a town in the Northern Territory of Australia. It lies about 810 miles (1,300 kilometers) south of Darwin and about 820 miles (1,320 kilometers) north of Adelaide. Alice Springs lies on the banks of the normally dry Todd River.
Alice Springs is the supply depot for cattle stations, mines, and Aboriginal settlements in the central area of Australia. The town is also a popular tourist resort. From the town, tourists travel to visit Uluru (also known as Ayers Rock), Mount Connor, and Mount Olga. With Alice Springs as a center, tourists can also visit the Devil’s Marbles near Tennant Creek, Simpson’s Gap, Standley Chasm, and Palm Valley. Tourist attractions in Alice Springs itself include the Bangtail Muster, a festival held annually in May, and the Henley-on-Todd Regatta, in which competitors carry bottomless boats in a race up the dry bed of the Todd River.
The author Nevil Shute made Alice Springs world famous when he published the novel A Town Like Alice (1949). This story was later made into a motion picture.
In 1860, the explorer John McDouall Stuart visited the geographical center of Australia. Alice Springs, laid out in 1888, was originally named Stuart after him. In 1933, the name was changed to honor Alice Todd. Her husband, Charles Heavitree Todd, completed the overland telegraph line from Port Augusta to Darwin in 1872. The Todd River bears his name.
See also Northern Territory.
