Currently Alice Springs is boarded up as in the local scholars have broken every window in town. Its as hot as hell during the day freezing cold at night desert. You dont want to live there hot and dusty If your a tourist on limited time air travel is how you get to Ayers Rock and you stay at the resort its still sh*t I have been there, plenty of better places in Australia to see unless you like desert and extreme events like the finke desert race or 4 wheel driving in the middle of now where where you wont see too many people and youll be in a crew you'll be right I do plan on going back to the national auto museum in Alice allowing a couple of days to see it all. If its still there and not destroyed hopefully Alice gets better in a few years. Alot of the towns you wont be stoping unless you need fuel. When you meet the locals they will try humbug you for cigarettes and money . Alot of central Australia is desert nothing take your own everything if you leave the main road..Some of the small towns dont even want to give you water if your not buying fuel. Everything you buy will cost twice to 3 times what they sell for in a majour city. If you worked on a mine that paid you lots of money would be the only reason to live their then fly in fly out is where most of the mine workers come from.