Alice
Springs is a frontier capital,
right in the heart of the centre
of Australia. Since time immemorial,
Alice Springs and much of Central
Australia has been the homeland
of the Arrernte Aboriginal people.
Mparntwe (pronounced mbarn-twa)
is the Arrernte word for Alice
Springs and was created by the
actions of several ancestral
figures including the caterpillar
beings Ayepe-arenye, Ntyarlke
and Utnerrengatye, the MacDonnell
Ranges being but one of their
creations.
The
original Alice Spring is still
there - the permanent waterhole
that clinched the location of
the Overland Telegraph Station
in the 1870s and named after
the wife of Sir Charles Todd,
Postmaster General of South
Australia.
The
town offers the traveller a
vast number of attractions.
A good starting point is Anzac
Hill. This is not because it
has any special appeal. It simply
offers an excellent view of
Alice Springs and environs affording
a superb 360° panorama.