Very many thanks. Now we are getting somewhere! I am sure that is the solution and ‘south’ has nothing to do with it. I did not realise that Alice was in the NT.

Robi, thanks. That seems to be the consensus, and I agree it is probably the most convincing answer.

Peedee. I suppose we just must disagree. The clue was not difficult to solve because Alice (Springs) is well known from the novel and film as an Australian town. But it is, I think, extremely vague. My disquiet relates to the following combined points:
1. ‘Coming under’ at least implies motion which is not the best sort of idiom for describing a geographical location.
2. As I said ‘the foregoing’ might in theory refer to Darwin or Darwin plus the other towns or even just the other towns.
3. The clue seems to be an extreme case of one where the answer is obvious but how it relates to the surface is a real conundrum. Orlando’s clue for ‘rheas’ on Friday was superficially a bit like this but made very exact sense when scrutinised closely.

AndyB@32 – I know just what you mean about the phrase ‘Tea Gardens’, brings an air of peace and contentment – a place where nothing realy bad could ever happen. I immediately thought of John Betjemin on solving this one.