Have you ever read the famous novel “A Town Like Alice”? To grossly over-simplify the plot, an English woman in post-World War II Australia discovers that the pleasant quality of life in Alice Springs is an anomaly in the outback.
In other words, Alice Springs is a very nice town, but Tennant Creek and the rest of the towns in the outback suck.
That may not be exactly the point that author Nevil Shute was trying to make nor quite the way he would have worded it, but it’s close enough for this blog.
Alice Springs (or “The Alice” in local lingo) is surrounded by reddish rocky hills and as we drove into town Jamie said, “This reminds me of the drive into Sedona.” I was just about the say the same thing.
It has a bustling, tree-lined outdoor downtown mall with sidewalk cafes, restaurants, shopping, nice hotels, a multiplex theater, and even a casino and convention center. We’re staying in a beautiful Doubletree Hotel, which overlooks the local golf course, and our room doesn’t smell of disinfectant.
What more could you want in the outback?