Bookable
An Apollonaut travel guide
A town in the ranges.
An introduction to Alice Springs, where the RFDS Alice Springs Tourist Facility stands on Stuart Terrace.
On this page
Read the town
Alice Springs straddles the usually dry Todd River on the northern side of the MacDonnell Ranges, about 1,500 kilometres from both Darwin and Adelaide. It grew around a telegraph station built in 1872, and until 1933 the town was officially called Stuart.
A guide can give context without turning a town into a backdrop. Notice how the ranges frame the town, and how the inland mission and the Flying Doctor left their buildings in its streets.
Flynn’s Alice Springs
John Flynn designed and built Adelaide House in 1926, and the John Flynn Memorial Church was opened by the Governor-General, Sir William Slim, on 6 May 1956.
Begin with a detail and ask who built it, who used it and how it has changed. A photograph alone cannot tell you that.
A Flying Doctor chapter
The RFDS Alice Springs Tourist Facility shows one side of the town: a radio base from 1939 that became part of the story of the outback.
Look at the meeting of the two: the 1930s building outside, and the hologram show and virtual reality that carry its story inside.
Make room for context
Pair this reading with the history of the base and the Journal. This is an introduction for visitors, not a claim that our team manages these places or represents the people who run them.
Read at the source
Sources & further reading
Links lead to the original publishers.
