Surrounded
by rock mountains and immersed in a barren landscape with strong and warm
colors, Alice Springs is found in the center of the Australian continent. The
percentage of aboriginal population is very high, in the center, indeed, there
are numerous art ateliers where you can buy splendid aboriginal paintings and
shops that sell objects of craftsmanship and art of the old inhabitants of this
areas.
Capital of
the Northern Territory, it is the main commercial center of this region
situated on the northern peak, the Top End, of the 5th continent. In
1883 the first stable settlement was founded and took the name of Charles
Darwin. Almost completely destroyed in 1974 by the cyclone Tracy, it was later
reconstructed and became a working center. The “historical” nineteenth-century
buildings like the Lyons Cottage, the Admiraly House, the Governament House,
the Old Town All, the Old Court House and the Victoria Hotel are
worth-visiting. Other interesting places are the botanic gardens and the
Northern Territory Museum of Arts and Sciences, that hosts various aboriginal
art galleries and archeological finds.
The
Australia’s symbol par excellence is Uluru (Ayers Rock). This mysterious sand
monolith, situated at 500 km south-west of Alice Springs, is 350 m tall and 7.5
km large. It is not a rock, but the peak of a pebble conglomeration, the bottom
of what 600 millions of years ago was a lake. For the Aborigines, the rock is
“the dreams sacred place”, and all around it there are parietal paintings. it
is interesting to observe how the rock changes color according to the light and
the time. A unique show is offered at sunset where the rock has different
coloration and shades. At the border of Uluru there are the Kata Tjuta (Olgas
Mounts), spectacular sedimentary rock structures with their strange and typical
shape.
At about 3
hours east of Darwin. Here, in the largest Australian national park, you can
see desolate scarps, rainforest and natural galleries of aboriginal parietal
art dating back to 50.000 years ago. You can get to know the aboriginal culture
of the native population that has always lived here, the Bininj/Mungguy. You
can also observe the big flocks of migratory birds that fly over the humid
areas where there are delicate water lilies, the prehistorical crocodiles, the
roaring waterfalls and the sparkling natural pools.