Northern Territory

 

Most visitors to the Northern Territory go to Alice Springs and Uluru (Ayer's Rock) and some of the nearby sights such as Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) or King's Canyon. Perhaps they visit some of the other sights near Alice Springs, such as Glen Helen or Ross River. Some do Darwin and Kakadu, and perhaps Litchfield Park. A few get to Katherine Gorge.

But there's more to see than this, though for much of it you'll need a 4WD vehicle. (We're planning a trip to the northern part of the NT for later this year, so I'm collecting information sources. After the trip we'll report on what we thought about the places we went and things we did.)

The Northern Territory Visitors' Centre website has a good range of information as well as booking services http://www.northernterritory.com/.

For road condition reports in the Northern Territory, see: http://www.nt.gov.au/dtw/links/roadreport.shtml. This site's road coverage is incomplete (especially when compared to Queensland's detailed road conditions website). Here are some phone numbers you can use to check road reports in specific areas (we'll add other phone numbers as we find them):
Central Australia (recording): (08) 8952-7111
NT Emergency service: (08) 8952-3833
Tilmouth Well (08) 8956-8777
Rabbit Flat (08) 8956-8744
NT Road reports 1-800-246-199

For all the latest about Darwin (the capital city of NT): http://www.darwincity.net/ and http://www.ourdarwin.com. Darwin bus information is here.

For Alice Springs, see http://www.alicesprings.net.au/ and http://www.alicesprings.nt.gov.au/.

An Alice Springs annual event that's great fun is the Henley-on-Todd Regatta, held in September. For more information, see http://www.henleyontodd.com.au/.

Alice Springs Airport has its own website: http://www.aliceairport.com.au

No camping is permitted within the National Parks area of Uluru and Kata Tjuta (Ayers Rock and The Olgas). The only camping is permitted at the Ayers Rock Resort (which also has a range of hotel and motel rooms and different price levels, none of them really cheap). You should book in advance to make sure there is space. http://voyages.com.au/destinations/uluru/arr/

National Parks - NT Parks and Wildlife Commission, http://www.nt.gov.au/ipe/pwcnt/. Useful, informative site, but it helps to know what you're looking for.

Kakadu National Park site http://www.ea.gov.au/parks/kakadu/ has a wealth of information regarding the park itself, with a map and descriptions of how to get to sights and what's there.

Another good source of information on Kakadu is the Savannah Guides' site, http://www.savannah-guides.com.au/page2-13.html, which also has good descriptions of the geology, flora and fauna of the tropical savannah areas all across the top of Australia.

Other place names (look them up on Walkabout, http://walkabout.com.au/AtoZ/index.shtml, Travelmate, http://www.travelmate.com.au/, or the NT Parks and Wildlife Commission pages, http://www.nt.gov.au/ipe/paw/welcome.html): Barkly Homestead, Borroloola, Cape Crawford, Tennant Creek, Daly Waters, Katherine, Litchfield National Park, Adelaide River, Kakadu National Park, Gregory National Park, Kings Canyon, Hermannsburg, MacDonnell Ranges.

Katherine

Fishing the Northern Territory

I'll be tidying up this section asap!

Tours (there are many others):
TravelNorth - tours of the "top end" of the Northern Territory, including Kakadu, Nitmiluk, Litchfield Park, Mataranka, and much more. http://www.travelnorth.com.au/
Kakadu Dreams, http://www.kakadudreams.com.au/
http://www.katchkakadutours.com.au/
http://www.billycan.com.au/
Elkes Backpackers Tours, http://www.elkesbackpackers.com.au
Top End Explorer Tours operates out of Darwin, http://www.topendexplorertours.com/
Red Centre - tours and site in English and German, http://www.redcentre.com.au/
Uluru (Ayers Rock) - accommodation and tours, http://www.saharatours.com.au/

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