At the regard of Northern Territory, people will most probably illustrate their imagination with a rugged and bright red desert and at the center of it sits the Uluru, Australia's famous icon, which is a giant stone monolith. Perhaps, many visitors' memorable experience is at the red desert participating in outback activities such as camping out in the desert, going on a camel safari, or climbing the Uluru. However, Northern Territory is not made up of red and orange alone but is also wrapped in cool shades of greens and blues. The northern part of the territory is made up of superb tropical rainforests, waterfalls, and magnificent rock formations. It is this extreme color variation that makes Northern Territory a heavenly domain for adventure.

The capital Darwin at the north coast is a multicultural and colorful city with more than 50 ethic groups comprising of Greeks, Italians, East Timorese, Indonesians, Thais, Filipinos, and the town's original mix of Aborigines and those of Anglo-Celtic stock. Near the center of Australia and about 1,500km south of Darwin is Alice Springs, a town named after the Alice Springs permanent waterhole. The town now receives around 400,000 tourists a year.

Major highlights of Northern Territory include the city Darwin and the Kakadu National Park, whereas the Red Centre include Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, the spectacular sandstone gorge Kings Canyon, and the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.

The Red Centre

The Red Centre is by far the most favored of all regions in Northern Territory. It contains some of the finest natural scenery in the world, much of it dating back to about 800 million years ago. Due to an inland sea that covered central Australia at that time, sediments were laid down and thus formed the basis of some of the region's best-known topographical appearances. Among them, the popular ones include Uluru, or formerly known as Ayers Rock, the domes of Kata Tjuta or the Olgas, the giant boulders of the Devil's Marbles, and the majestic MacDonnell Ranges.

It is widely believed that the Aborigines have lived in this region for more than 30,000 years ago and their ancient tradition of rock painting is one of many tribal rituals still practiced.

Top of Page