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Going outback? Visit a town like Alice

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published April 03, 2006

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She said, "I thought the middle of Australia was all desert."

He was concerned at her ignorance. "Oh my word," he said deliberately. "Alice is a bonza place."


- "A Town Like Alice"

- - -

To women of a certain age, "A Town Like Alice," Nevil Shute's lush tale of romance during World War II and postwar Australia, represents the ultimate in what today's lexicon would be called "chick lit." In a nod to modernity, however, it wasn't actually the book, which was written in 1950, but the 1981 BBC production shown in the United States on "Masterpiece Theatre," starring a very young and virile Bryan Brown, that set women's hearts a-fluttering.

My wife, for example, has read the book once, but she's seen the BBC production about a dozen times. Even I have to admit I've seen the production about three times and would probably watch it again if "Alice" ever came out on DVD.

So when I knew my wife and I were going to be in Australia again, I added a few days to our trip to include Alice Springs and the outback, then invited my cousin along, who I knew to be an "Alice" aficionado. To my wife and cousin, the trip to Alice Springs was akin to a pilgrimage. Not so much because Alice Springs would look anything like it did 50 years ago, but because it was the objectification of the book.

The irony is that "A Town Like Alice" was not really about Alice Springs. The first part of the book took place in Japanese-occupied Malaysia and the second part in the remote Queensland outback. But, the reference to Alice Springs through the Joe Harmon character represented all the romance, excitement and inherent beauty of the outback, or as Harmon says, it's a "bonza" town.

Although there is a whole generation of people who know Alice Springs only through the book or the television production, in the town itself, it's as if the tale had never been written. When I washed through Alice Springs a decade ago, I was hard-pressed to find a copy of the book. Today, about the only nod to the book is the town library, which is named after Nevil Shute. There's no marker, no sign on a building.

Alice Springs can be found almost at the exact geographic center of the country, and since the outback, an arid world, dominates at the center of the continent, Alice Springs can be considered the heart of the outback. Founded in 1872, Alice Springs was at the beginning two separate townships that bumped against the MacDonnell Ranges at a large gap in the mountainous wall. Today, Australians intent on an outback adventure often come into Alice Springs, staying at the many backpacker hotels. Foreign tourists fly into Alice Springs, using it as a gateway to the famous geographic sites of Uluru, Tata-Katya and Kings Canyon.

On my first visit, I mostly did the outdoor thing, hiking and rock climbing in the MacDonnells and swimming Ellery Creek Big Hole. On this trip, the weather turned nasty and for two days we were caught in a rare deluge. I'm not complaining because it forced me to focus on the sites within the town, many of which are dedicated to outback life.

Due to the vastness of the geography, populated areas are often remote and the cattle stations (ranches) are so large at hundreds of thousands of square miles, that basic needs are difficult to attain. If you were injured or ill, distances can easily prove fatal, so the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia was created almost 80 years and still exists today. Check out the small museum dedicated to this unique institution.

Children living in the outback face the problem of isolation and lack of educational facilities, so 50 years ago the School of the Air was created to solve that problem. Originally, lessons where broadcast over the radio waves, but with the Internet, this service has grown more modern. Again, there is a small museum dedicated to this uniquely Australian solution. You should make this visit as well.

Perhaps the most wonderful find in Alice Springs is a building called Panorama Guth.

Hank Guth was an exceptionally kitschy painter of Dutch origin who, like many before him, wandered into the outback and was attracted to its natural beauty and colors decided to stay. Guth is important for two reasons. Firstly, he was a collector of aboriginal artifacts and paintings done by the first generation of aboriginal artists.

More importantly for him and for us is that he created what is really the Sistine Chapel of the outback, a paint and natural elements panorama that is truly an astounding work of art. If it were located anywhere but in Alice Springs, the panorama would be world famous and an attraction for art lovers worldwide.

If the panorama were the only truly creative thing Guth did in his life, that would be enough, but in the 1940s an aborigine named Albert Namatjira took up the paintbrush. He was so successful, he fostered a school of aboriginal painters. Guth collected them all. Many of these pieces now hang in the Panorama Guth gallery.

Namatjira's "Twin Ghost Gums" was lost for decades, but Guth tracked it down, acquired it and it's hung in this gallery. A masterpiece of aboriginal art. And if you're reading this in some North American city, it's important to note that in Australia, works by aboriginal artists sell for seven digits.

I began this article by saying "A Town Like Alice" gets bare notice in Alice Springs, but that's not totally true. I sat down with the town's mayor, a savvy politician by the name of Fran Kilgariff, and she told me this story. At a population of 28,000, she thought Alice Springs should officially become a city. There was almost open rebellion by the populace, who demanded Alice Springs remain a town - just as the Nevil Shute book suggested. The proposal was shelved.

IF YOU GO

THE OUTBACK LOOP: From Alice Springs, it is a "relatively" short trip to the most famous outback national parks of Uluru-Kata Tjuta (deh.gov.au/parks/uluru) and Watarrka. I stress the word "relatively" because distances are so vast in the Australian outback. It's about 275 miles between Alice Springs and Uluru-Kata Tjuta, home of the immense red rock outcroppings also known as Ayre's Rock and The Olgas. There are numerous ways to make the trip and I utilized all, taking the bus from Alice Springs to Uluru-Kata Tjuta then rented a car and drove three hours to Watarrka before returning to Uluru and flying to Brisbane. Uluru remains one of the most amazing natural rock formations in the world. If you want to do some great hiking into a fabulous world of rock formations, natural pools and indigenous flora, take the sojourn to King's Canyon in Watarrka National Park.

TRANSPORTATION: I was staying in Brisbane, so to get to the outback I flew Qantas (qantas.com.au) into Alice Springs and then out of Yulara, which is the town on the outskirts of Uluru-Kata Tjuta. Numerous tour companies operate in Alice Springs and I used Tailormade Tours (tailormadetours.com.au) for Alice Springs, itself, and AAT Kings (aatkings.com) for the ride to Uluru-Tjuta. At Yulara, I rented a Hertz car for my drive to King's Canyon.

LODGING: My biggest surprise was the excellent accommodations to be found in the outback. In Alice Springs I stayed at Alice On Todd Serviced Apartments (aliceontodd.com); in Yulara, Emu Walk Apartments (voyages.com.au);and at Watarrka, Kings Canyon Resort.



Steve Bergsman is a freelance travel writer.

© Copley News Service
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published April 03, 2006

( 5 votes, average: 3.6 out of 5)
What do you think about this article? Rate it using the stars above and let us know what you think in the comments below.

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