Northern Territory Travel Guide

Northern Territory — Overview

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A colossal landscape, the Northern Territory comprises waterfalls and looming gorges, arid red desert and staggering outcrops. It perhaps most epitomizes the visitor's notion of the outback; it is Australia's Wild West, with adventure to be had on crocodile-spotting trips, safaris and wilderness 4-wheel drive tours.

Intriguing Darwin features much modern architecture as a result of the cyclone that devastated it in 1974, destroying over half the houses in the city. Today, it is attractively laid out and is one of the best places to experience multicultural Australia, especially given its indigenous population.

The Northern Territory has immense historical significance to the Aborigines that inhabit the state, representing nearly a quarter of its population. Much of the landscape is draped in dreamtime legend, and Aboriginal guides can take visitors bushwalking or ‘bush tucker' tasting.

Geography

A wilderness stretching roughly 1,670km (1,038 miles) from Darwin and Kakadu in the north to Uluru in the south and 1,000km (620 miles) east to west, the Northern Territory comprises nearly one-sixth of Australia; it is the country's Red Center that extends for miles.

The northern area is tropical with rich vegetation and a varied coastline. Beyond Darwin, 251km (155 miles) east, is World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park, which is part of the 12,600-sq-km (4,500-sq-mile) area of Arnhem Land - an area of vast flood plains and rocky escarpments steeped in natural and cultural heritage. Aboriginal people have lived here for at least 40,000 years. Katherine township is 314km (195 miles) from Darwin and a further 30km (20 miles) northeast is Nitmiluk (Katherine Gorge) National Park with 13 gorges towering up to 60m (200ft) high.

The southern part of the Northern Territory is centerd on the town of Alice Springs, which is almost at the geographical center of Australia and the starting point of many of the Red Center's unique and natural wonders, including Uluru (Ayers Rock).