Araluen Cultural Precinct
Take several hours to explore the many facets of this interesting grouping of attractions, all within walking distance of one another. The Museum of Central Australia mostly shows local fossils, natural history displays, and meteorites. Some impressive Aboriginal and contemporary Aussie art is on display at the Araluen Arts Centre (📞 08/8951 1122; www.araluenartscentre.nt.gov.au), the town’s performing-arts hub, which incorporates the Albert Namatjira Gallery, with works by this famous Aboriginal artist, as well as a display of the Papunya Community School Collection, a group of 14 paintings from the early 1970s. Check out the “Honey Ant Dreaming” stained-glass window in the foyer. Aviation buffs may want to browse the old radios, aircraft, and wreckage in the Central Australian Aviation Museum, which preserves the territory’s aerial history. You can buy stylish crafts, and sometimes catch artists at work, in the Central Craft gallery. You may also want to amble among the fabulous outdoor sculptures, including the 15 m (49-ft.) Yeperenye caterpillar, or among the gravestones in the cemetery, where “Afghani” camel herders (from what is now Pakistan) are buried facing Mecca.
Take several hours to explore the many facets of this interesting grouping of attractions, all within walking distance of one another. The Museum of Central Australia mostly shows local fossils, natural history displays, and meteorites. Some impressive Aboriginal and contemporary Aussie art is on display at the Araluen Arts Centre (📞 08/8951 1122; www.araluenartscentre.nt.gov.au), the town’s performing-arts hub, which incorporates the Albert Namatjira Gallery, with works by this famous Aboriginal artist, as well as a display of the Papunya Community School Collection, a group of 14 paintings from the early 1970s. Check out the “Honey Ant Dreaming” stained-glass window in the foyer. Aviation buffs may want to browse the old radios, aircraft, and wreckage in the Central Australian Aviation Museum, which preserves the territory’s aerial history. You can buy stylish crafts, and sometimes catch artists at work, in the Central Craft gallery. You may also want to amble among the fabulous outdoor sculptures, including the 15 m (49-ft.) Yeperenye caterpillar, or among the gravestones in the cemetery, where “Afghani” camel herders (from what is now Pakistan) are buried facing Mecca.
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