We of the Never Never - arrival in Alice Springs

Todd Mall at Alice Springs
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There are places in the world where you have to pinch yourself that you are there...Alice Springs is one of those.

The city in the middle of the Australian Outback has some pretty memorable imagery - aborigines walking along Todd Mall, the sight of Centralia from the air - the Outback looking like the surface of Mars, the feel of hot air on my face , Utes driving up and down Larapinta Drive and didgeridoo music coming from the shops. The only minus is the flies - something they dont tell you in the brochures - which seem to seek out the moisture of your mouth and eyes on your face.

the colours of this forbidding land from 20,00 were simply gorgeous. It changed into various hues of red, mohaghany, light pink, bright yellow, russet red and whites, blacks and browns

Toddys Backpackers
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But, hell, I am in Alice Springs. ALICE BLOODY SPRINGS. A city famous for its remoteness. Darwin and the "Top End" are a thousand miles to the north, Adelaide is a thousand miles to the south and Perth and Sydney are three hours each by plane. Its the Timbuktu of Australia.  The sight of it from the air was amazing - the colours of this forbidding land from 20,00 were simply gorgeous. It changed into various hues of red, mohaghany, light pink, bright yellow, russet red and whites, blacks and browns. Occasionally way down below you could see a dried up riverbed wriggle across the furnace landscape but mainly it was unrelenting emptiness.

The harsh Outback
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Last night I checked out more bars down Oxford Street and the Chinatown on Sussex Street where I misordered and ended up with very dry chicken. But went back early and watched Richard Rove on TV I had to be up at 5.30am. I walked to Museum station and caught the train to the domestic airport. Sydney is good in this respect - both its air terminals are easily connected to the city and it is about $12 one way. The X-ray was thorough. The world has definitely changed if Alice Springs has security precautions.

The classic view of Ayers Rock
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The flight took three hours and the Outback looked like another planet. At 12.30pm I collected my backpack and there was a free courtesy bus to Toddy's Backpackers. What is Alice like? Cobalt blue skies contrasting with rocky arid mountains. Also very dry air - the kind that turns your skin to parchment after a few years. Toddys was an old motel converted into backpacker dorms. I had a single room and it really is just a place to leave your luggage while you go off on tours. I need to walk into town to change up money for WayOutBack when they pick me up tomorrow.

Alice at street level is hot and spacious. You pass aboriginals who nod you a g'day and one even asked me for directions proving that foreign tourists aren the only visitors to the "Alice". Its really crammed with didgeridoo shops, travel agents, supermarkets, backpacker hostels and aboriginal art galleries. Its a very pleasant place to wander. Alice Springs was Australia at its most exotic.

I wanted a bank and found the National Bank on Todd Mall and changed up some dollars. I found a mall nearby and the place was popular with aboriginals who lay down on the grass outside watching everyone. No tension just curiosity. They are memorbale to look at with often brightly coloured hair and garish clothes and are often seen wandering around Toddys using the launderette as there is an aborignal hospital next door.

I like Alice Springs. It has character. I'm gonna enjoy my single room and double bed something tells me it will seem like luxury in the next couple of days.