Take the family to Central Australia and discover the TOP TEN kid-friendly things to do in Alice Springs!  In this guest post, Dominic Vivarini of Earth Sanctuary is your guide on this virtual

If you are on a holiday with the kids in Australia, then Alice Springs is a great place to enjoy your family vacation. Alice Springs offers many activities and places for kids so that they are never bored. Here are the Top 10 things to do in Alice Springs your kids will love.

Uluru (Ayers Rock)

Uluru (also known as Ayers Rock) is the largest monolith in the world located in the Red Centre desert about 450 km south-west of Alice Springs. It’s a sacred place for Aborigines and older kids can either climb to the top or go for a guided walk with an Aboriginal guide. The whole family can also enjoy the light show at sunset when the colour of the sky turns from crimson to gold. Many tour operators offer tours of Uluru and children under 16 are admitted free.

Alice Springs Desert Park

Alice Springs Desert Park is a ‘must see’ for everyone visiting Alice Springs. By visiting the Desert Park kids get to know many secrets of the Central Australia. The park is divided into 3 separate habitats – Desert Rivers, Sand Country and Woodland – each offering unique plants and wildlife to its visitors. Children will especially enjoy the Desert River habitat where they can get to walk among a herd of kangaroos. It only takes about 10 minutes to reach the Desert Park from the centre of Alice Springs and for children the admission charge is $12.50.

Alice Springs Reptile Centre

For kids who are brave enough, the Alice Springs Reptile Centre is a fun place to visit. The Reptile Centre is home to over 100 types of reptiles and each of them is displayed in the man-made creations of their natural habitat. In the park, visitors can see and handle pythons as well as feed lizards. However, the biggest attraction is Terry the saltwater crocodile!  The centre is open every day from 9:30am to 5pm.

The Kangaroo Sanctuary

If you want your kids to find out about kangaroos then a visit to the Kangaroo Sanctuary will be an eye-opener for everyone. It’s a baby kangaroo rescue centre established in 2005 by Chris Brolga Barnes, the star of the Kangaroo Dundee Series. The sanctuary offers guided

sunset tours for children and adults where you get to visit the 90 acre wildlife reserve and get to know everything about kangaroos.

Alice Springs School of the Air Visitor Centre

The Alice Springs School of the Air Visitor Centre, dubbed “The World’s Largest Classroom”, is an innovative education centre providing education to the children residing in the remote areas of Central Australia. The school takes classes with the help of radios and internet through which they are able to cover a vast area in Alice Springs. The visitor centre offers guided tours for tourists specialising in the history of this unique and innovative school.

Larapinta Trail

The Larapinta Trail is one of the newest and most exciting trails in Australia – and the world. It’s one the best places for hiking and trekking in Australia and many tour operators offer trail packages and adventure tours suitable for adults and kids alike.

The 223 kilometre trail is located at the back of the West MacDonnell Ranges and is segmented into 12 parts, where you can find around 600 species of rare plants. You can camp at night under the stars and most camp sites have picnic tables and tent sites along with free gas barbecues and a water supply.  Shorter walks are possible too!

Araluen Cultural Precinct

If you and your family want the total cultural experience of Central Australia then a visit to Araluen Cultural Precinct will be worth your while. The precinct is a combination of various museums and theatre. Among the museums, the Museum of Central Australia is the most famous among kids and gives visitors an insight into the various birds and animals found in the deserts of Alice Springs. Most notably, the museum offers an exhibition about the 120 million year history of crocodiles in Australia.

Frontier Camel Farm

Frontier Camel Farm is the perfect place for everything camel. Located in the south east of Alice Spring, the farm is a famous family tourist attraction. It offers camel rides, safaris and a museum of cameleering equipment, memorabilia and historical photographs. For a truly family experience, book a camel safari which offers a tour of the Date Gardens that includes breakfast and dinner.

Arltunga Historical Reserve

Arltunga, the first town of Central Australia to be born out of the alluvial gold rush is located about 110 km east of Alice Springs. The reserve also has a museum which gives you an insight on the mining industry of the old days. Shade shelters and barbecue facilities are also available along with public toilets which makes it a great place for family picnics.

Earth Sanctuary World Nature Centre

Situated in the beautiful Australian desert, just 15 minutes south of Alice Springs, Earth Sanctuary is an innovative eco-tourism destination. Earth Sanctuary offers award winning day and night tours of the outback for children and adults alike. The Earth’s Cool Tour is a tour especially designed for kids focusing on sustainability of earth’s resources. For a complete outback experience Earth Sanctuary also offers a “Spirit of the Outback” tour. It includes a guided tour of the sanctuary and a presentation on traditional Australian culture and astronomy followed by a 3 course gourmet dinner.

Thank you, Dominic and Earth Sanctuary! With all these things to do in Alice Springs, there’s NO excuse not to take the kids to Central Australia!

The post 10 Cool Places to take the Kids in Alice Springs appeared first on Australia by Red Nomad OZ.

Reflections at Glen Helen Gorge, Central Australia, Northern Territory

PS If you’re reading this on email, click on the post heading to view other contributions!

The post 1000 words about … Gorges! appeared first on Australia by Red Nomad OZ.

‘It’s just a short walk up the gorge starting over there,’ the kiosk attendant told the three fit young women in front of us, waving casually towards the trail head.

Then it was our turn. Pilchard produced his senior’s card.

‘The track is uneven and rocky, and there’s a couple of creek crossings so please take it easy and take your time,’ the kiosk attendant told us. He pointed to the trail head, thus missing the venomous look Pilchard shot him.

But the clock was ticking, so jostling passing a few straggling Grey Nomads and ignoring the attendant’s instruction, we raced up the track like people half our age, barely even pausing for photos of the magnificent cycad palms and other remnant vegetation from a previous, wetter age.

‘Late’ isn’t a concept normally associated with self-guided tours of gorges or other scenic marvels, but Standley Chasm, also known as Angkerle Atwatye to the local Indigenous people, is an exception.

Although spectacular at any time, the sun only enters the narrow gap between its sheer and towering walls around midday for about half an hour.

And that’s when those red rock walls GLOW!

About 20 minutes too late on our only previous visit eight years ago, I took a couple of photos. On time for our June 2012 visit, the tally was closer to 200!

Well, almost.

As we entered the chasm and in our haste to hog the best spot bring you these photos, we stepped around a man lying in an awkward position on the rocky floor.

But before you judge us as heartless and shallow, he was no out-of-condition senior in need of resuscitation but a cameraman filming a sequence with ‘Fred’ for Grey Nomad bible favourite Caravan and Motorhome on Tour magazine’s DVD insert!

Surrounded by a feeding frenzy of fans, Fred’s strategic position at the head of the chasm made it difficult to reach the best vantage points.

But I guess that’s why I was given elbows …

Privately owned and run by the Iwupataka Land Trust, Angkerle Atwatye is more commonly known as Standley Chasm, so named in honour of Ida Standley, Alice Springs’ first school teacher and first non-Aboriginal woman to see this amazing place.

Now it’s a popular stopping point for tourists at the start of their exploration of the magnificent West MacDonnell Ranges.

Out of Alice Springs in the middle of Australia’s Red Centre, the ranges spread both east AND west from ‘the Alice’, and Standley Chasm is just a taste of what to expect along the way.

I fear at one point I crossed the cameraman’s line of vision, so the Caravan and Motorhome on Tour DVD #178 MAY feature a red-head in a green T-shirt manically taking photos.

But if she looks fat, you’ll know the camera equipment was defective …

As we returned down the path, Pilchard plotting to challenge the young kiosk attendant to a race up the track, hordes of tourists continued to pour up the gorge to the chasm.

The urge to tell them they’d missed the best bit was ALMOST overwhelming.

But Fred was right. No one leaves Angkerle Atwatye without a smile on their face!

If you need more convincing that Standley Chasm, Alice Springs and Australia’s awesome Red Centre could be the start of a fabulous vacation, just check out the links below!

And if THEY don’t tempt you, nothing will!

Tempted?  There’s always a chance for last minute flights if you want to see the sights of Central Australia NOW!

• Standley Chasm
• MacDonnell Ranges
• Alice Springs
• Central Australia
• More Red Nomad OZ Adventures in Central Australia
• More Photos on FLICKR!

The post OZ Top Spot #13 – Standley Chasm, via Alice Springs, Northern Territory appeared first on Australia by Red Nomad OZ.

All roads lead to Alice Springs – as close as a fart in an outhouse to the centre of OZ!  It’s not the country’s official geographic centre – but go on!

Have a look at the map of Australia – how do you find the centre of THAT?!

But exact centre or not, no town defines OZ quite like Alice Springs – aka ‘The Alice’!

This town at the centre of Central Australia is a microcosm of Australia’s quintessence, and is therefore worthy to introduce my Aussie ABC – the archetypes of awesome, amazing Australia (some more great ‘A’ words in case you hadn’t noticed)!

While many Australian landscapes look completely unlike those in and around Alice Springs and Central Australia, I’ll bet that if someone says ‘Australia’ to you, images of this region are what you’ll more than likely first think of.

Especially the REDS of gorges, chasms, rocks, earth and sunsets …

… and the rugged Outback ranges …

… and the endless blue, Blue, BLUE (mostly) cloudless skies …

… and the distinctive Central  OZ desert landscapes that you’ll always recognise even without a caption!

HHHMMMmmm… perhaps that makes the whole area too much of a cliché?

Or maybe not.

Lets take an introductory tour to see what some of the Alice’s different aspects look like!

An oasis in the desert (courtesy of the Great Artesian Basin), see its unique natural wonders for yourself – regional birds and other fauna at the Alice Springs Desert Park, and local plants and wildflowers especially adapted to arid land life at the Olive Pink Botanic Gardens.

And of course you can’t miss the amazing landscape – it surrounds you wherever you go…

Descendants of the original indigenous inhabitants, Afghan cameleers and white settlers rub shoulders with grey nomads and tourists from all over the world – and the rich indigenous cultural heritage is showcased throughout the town and region.

The Alice Springs of Neville Shute’s classic novel ‘A Town Like Alice’ is almost a character in its own right. And since my first visit in the early noughties, I’ve been addicted to its eclectic mix of cultures, landscapes, flora and fauna – and it’s within cooee of even more unique Australiana (aka ‘oddities’)!

Head from Alice Springs in ANY direction and you’ll see what I mean. For example: Kata Tjuta (and of course Uluru) to the south west. ‘Dinky’ the singing, piano playing dingo at Stuarts Well to the south. Rainbow Valley to the south east. And of course, due north to the Devils Marbles and Wycliffe Well – self-proclaimed UFO capital of Australia.

You’ve just got to love a place that’s adapted so well to its harsh environment that the annual Henley-on-Todd regatta is cancelled if there IS water in the river! Or with restaurants that combine usually unrelated cuisine types!  It was in the Swiss/Indian restaurant (no longer operating) where a staff member once mistook me for a man – the dim light, perhaps?  Or should I just rethink that androgynous haircut …

And it’s possibly the only place in the country – if not the world! – where you can stay in the ‘G’day Mate’ caravan park!

Of course there’s WAAAAY more to Alice Springs than this – museums, parks, Indigenous heritage, lookouts, art, waterholes – so if you’re looking for the definitive exposé of this fascinating region, my Aussie ABC isn’t it.

But if it’s left you wanting more of the laid-back Central Australian vibe in and around (arguably) Australia’s most intriguing town, do it the easy way and let the My Adventure Store travel experts show you around!

Want MORE of my take on TOP Aussie Town Alice Springs and Central Australia?

• Stuarts Well
• Rainbow Valley
• Devils Marbles
• Ormiston Gorge
• Glen Helen Gorge
• Standley Chasm
• Central OZ Attractions – once you’re done with Uluru
• and MORE Aussie ABC!

The post Aussie ABC – A is for Alice Springs! appeared first on Australia by Red Nomad OZ.