Fodor's Expert Review Araluen Cultural Precinct

The most distinctive building in this complex is the Museum of Central Australia (A$8 entry), which charts the evolution of the land and its inhabitants—human and animal—around central Australia. Exhibits include a skeleton of the 10½-foot-tall Dromornis stirtoni, the largest bird to walk on earth, which was found northeast of Alice. Also in the precinct are the Aviation Museum (free), Central Craft (free, prices for workshops vary), and Araluen Arts Centre, home to the Araluen Art Galleries and the Namatjira Gallery (A$8 entry), a collection of renowned Aboriginal landscapes, and the Yeperenye Scuplture—a 3-meter-high caterpillar that you can walk through, representing the sacred Dreamtime creator of the country around Alice Springs. The precinct is located 2.4 km (1½ miles) southwest of town, and is on most tourist bus itineraries. The on-site theater has regular screening and events.