ALICE SPRINGS Alice Springs owes its origins to the ‘very ambitious’ telegraph line that was erected in the 1860’s. Alice Springs was the halfway point of the project and was also the largest repeater junction. The Telegraph had to be manned, and from this small beginning the town was born. The settlement was optimistically named Alice Springs after the wife of the former Postmaster General of South Australia, Sir Charles Todd. The Todd River was named after Sir Charles. The site is known as Mparntwe to its original inhabitants, the Arrernte, who have lived in the Central Australian desert in and around what is now Alice Springs for thousands of years. Alice Springs has grown very rapidly in recent times and there is very little of the old “Alice’ that has survived; that said the growth for the most part is tasteful and welcoming. The Alice is also a town that experiences the climatic extremes, and can be both a cold and certainly very hot place. A European settlement was started ten years later with the construction of a repeater station on the Overland Telegraph Line, which linked Adelaide to Darwin and Great Britain. The OTL was completed in 1872. When visiting The Alice, a visit to Simpson’s Gap and Standley Chasm is a must. There also a number of memorials to the early pioneer are of the region. The Alice Springs War Memorial is located high on a hill that overlooks the town. There are a number of museums in The Alice. The Aboriginal and Arts is a must. There is no compunction to buy, but you will have the urge. The Gann Rail Museum is also a must visit. All of the churches are fifties and sixties buildings. The United Church though has significance. The Catholic is a nice modern representation. There are none of the ‘original’ pubs, but the Todd Hotel has lots of character. The traveller has completed a long road journey to get to Alice Springs, now have a few days break and enjoy the place.