Alice Springs

Alice Springs is situated in the centre of Australia. Because Australia is such a large country whenever my family goes on holiday, we have to travel a couple of days before we get to our destination. Most of my Aunties and Uncles live along the coast of Australia, so when we visit them it takes a long time to get there and a long time to get back. It is worth it because we are a long way from the beach in Alice Springs and my whole family love to go swimming in the ocean whenever we go to the coast for our holidays.

The area that we live in is desert and we have very hot summers and cold winters. I like the winters because that is the time of the year that most of the tourists arrive. Tourists come from all over the world to see Alice Springs and in particular Ayres Rock. Many of the best community organised activities happen in the winter including the Camel Cup, a big race meeting not for horses but camels, Henley on Todd, where boats race up and down the dry bed of the Todd River and the Bang Tail Muster, where colourful floats parade up the main street of the town.  The landscape around Alice Springs is very rugged, with many hills and dry river beds, which I can go exploring. Many of the native animals of Australia are found running free around Alice Springs including Kangaroos, emus, frill necked lizards and dingoes and I can see them when I go exploring. Although it is very dry in the ‘Alice’ when it does rain, it can be a real down pour. It can rain so hard that the dry Todd River can turn into a raging river and has at times flooded part of the town. When that happens all of the local children run out and play in the waters.

Alice Springs is a multi-cultural town with people from many different countries coming to live here.  Many of my friends come from countries far away including Italy, Greece, Vietnam and China. At school, we are taught different languages and some of the most popular are the Aboriginal languages from the groups of aborigines who live around Alice Springs. Living in Alice Springs, we have the opportunity to learn more about the culture of these people. In particular, we have been out collecting ‘bush tucker’ and learning how to do the ‘dot paintings’ which the people use to tell their stories. Many of the Tourists who visit Alice Springs love to go and see the traditional dances of the Aboriginal people. They paint themselves up and tell the stories of their past in the form of dances. After the corroboree, many of the tourists will try some of the local ‘bush tucker’ including Kangaroo, Whitchetty grub and bush honey ants. I have tried some of these foods and they are tasty.

I really love living in Alice Springs. There are always lots of exciting things going on and lots of things to do. Although it does get hot all the people have air conditioning to keep themselves cool, or we can go for a swim at the local swimming pool. People in Alice Springs are very friendly and really make tourists feel welcome. We have a lot of things to do and see in the ‘Centre’ and like to share it with people from other countries.

Emma (Age 13) Alice Springs - November 1993