Northern Territory
The Northern Territory, much like WA, is all too often overlooked by travellers who fly into Sydney, stay there for nine months and then follow the well-worn path up the East Coast before going home. The NT is a unique and fascinating place, chockers with attractions and surprises, and really should be explored by anyone who sets foot in Australia. It also offers adventurous visitors the chance to work in a truly one-off place; employment opportunities include mango picking, hospitality and medical positions servicing remote Aboriginal communities.
The northern stretches of the NT experience two basic seasons; the Wet lasts roughly from October to March, and the Dry spans April to September. The best time to visit is in the dry, when conditions are beautiful, making it an ideal escape from the southern winter being experienced in other Aussie states. Probably the worst time is in the build up to the wet, October-December, when humidity can send people a bit mad, or ‘Troppo’ as it’s known, because they can’t sleep and the heat is so oppressive.
The capital, Darwin, is very backpacker-friendly, with hostels, internet cafes, booking centres, restaurants, pubs, clubs, shops and markets aplenty all on the main drag, Mitchell Street. It is closer, geographically, to Jakarta than it is Sydney or Canberra, and the city has a unusual atmosphere which blends Aussie and Asian influences. It has both a casual and tropical feel and the cityscape itself is surprisingly modern and urbane - visitors usually expect a bigger version of a dusty outback town, but Darwin is actually a very urbane metropolis. Amongst its attractions are the Mindel Beach Night Market and the museum, where you can re-live the horror of Cyclone Tracy, which nearly blew Darwin off the map on Christmas Day 1974.
Very high up on the NT things-to-see list are Kakadu and Litchfield National Parks, with their wonderful waterfalls, gorgeous gorges, beautiful billabongs, picturesque plains, seductive swimming holes and awesome Aboriginal rock art. There are many weird and wonderful animals in the parks too, so, when swimming, always remember to mind the snap - fresh and saltwater crocodiles hang out in NT waters and really aren’t that friendly, so never swim unless you are 100% sure there are no toothy tykes sharing the water with you.
There’ a strong and fascinating Aboriginal presence in the NT and the enormous area which is Arnhem Land is the biggest Aboriginal freehold in Australia. Arnhem is a vast and remote land, resplendent with spectacular escarpments, rock art, flood plains, beaches, mangrove wetlands, animals and plant life. Much of it is off-limit to travellers, although you can sometimes get permits to visit Oenpelli, Gurig National Park on the Cobourg Peninsula and the Grove Peninsula township of Nhulunbuy. Permits are needed for any road travel in the area, and can be obtained from the Northern Land Council Offices in Darwin or Jabiru, see Visiting Aboriginal Land for more. Permits can take a couple of weeks to be finalised, however, so most people opt to join organised tours of the area.
When heading south through the NT’s vast expanse of desert, take in a spectacular sunset at the Devil’s Marbles near Tennant Creek. From there it’s a half-day’s drive into Alice Springs where you can stop at the Tropic of Capricorn and Wycliffe Well, a notorious site for alien activity - bear in mind that people in the NT consume more beer per head than anywhere else in Australia.
Alice Springs - normally just called ‘the Alice’ - was originally a telegraph repeater station between Adelaide and Darwin. The town nowadays is fairly modern and a good size. An oasis amid the harsh outback, Alice is the perfect base to see some of Australia’s great wonders. Uluru (formerly known as Ayre’s Rock), the Olgas and King’s Canyon are icons of Oz and draw in thousands of visitors every year, for the very good reason that they are absolutely stunning. See the many colours of Uluru as the sun shifts over the course of the day. Remember, you can climb the rock, but the Aboriginal owners of the land really don’t like it and we should respect their wishes - imagine tourists coming to your country and clambering all over national treasures such as Stone Henge.
From the top of Alice’s Anzac Hill (called Untyeyetweleye by Aboriginal people) you can get some great views overlooking the town and the MacDonnell Ranges. The main shops can be found on Todd Street. Getting about is easy by foot and there is an Alice Wanderer bus that stops off at the major attractions around town. On Gregory Terrace you will find the tourist information centre where you can buy various permits if travelling through Aboriginal land. Between May and August Alice also hosts numerous events and festivals. Plenty of budget accommodation is situated around the central area.
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