Lived here during 1994-5 — 3 years ago
I loved living in the Alice. I worked at the hospital and lived on their grounds. It is a great base to travel from. You don’t need a car in the township itself – the climate is perfect for biking and walking.
Don’t go walking around the Todd River by yourself especially at night. Its actually quite dangerous as you may be accosted by a violent drunk. Remember that traditional spearings, injuries from nullanullas etc are seen in the local emergency department.
I love the Western Macs and it was not unheard of to organise eating out for dinner at Glen Helen [about 1 hours drive out] and then staying overnight. Ormiston Gorge and the Pound walk are a favourite. In the Eastern Macs I love Ruby Gap. You need to use a 4WD and be able to drive over rocks for this one which is always fun. Or picnic dinners at Rainbow Valley at sunset.
One thing that is not in the usual tourist literature is gliding which is just outside town on the northern side. It is done using a winch for takeoff which is a really novel experience and it is fantastic being in the air in the silence sharing the thermals with the wedgetailed eagles.
If you are into geocaching [www.geocaching.com] check out the local caches. Great way of getting a really fantastic view of the place.
Re backpacker accomodation, I recommend Melanka Lodge for being a good place to party cheaply and not to stay. And my experience of their Uluru/Olgas tour means I can’t recommend them -I couldn’t fault the location but the particular tour I went on took some dodgy and potentially dangerous practices with a lack of waterbottles etc.
