Six of the best stops along the Stuart Highway, Northern Territory

Adelaide River's infamous jumping crocodile cruise.Credit: SHAANA McNAUGHT

ADELAIDE RIVER

It's 1500 kilometres from Darwin to Alice Springs and, with a long drive ahead, you'll be tempted to whiz through Adelaide River township, 114 kilometres south of Darwin. Don't, though. The leafy, bird-chirping oasis amid red earth has a short but dense history that provides a heritage 1889 railway station and wooden bridge, and a small but immaculately maintained and moving WWII cemetery. Most of all, kids will love taking the Adelaide River's infamous jumping crocodile cruise to see crocs rearing from the water to snap their jaws around chunks of buffalo meat. See northernterritory.com

NITMILUK NATIONAL PARK

Credit: Tourism NT

While rust-red Nitmiluk (Katherine) Gorge is a key attraction of the Stuart Highway and shouldn't be missed, the huge national park is pockmarked by Jawoyn cultural sites and shattered by a dozen other gorges haunted by freshwater crocodiles. Termite mounds create pointillist palettes in orange and red, and finches and parrots flit in the woodland. Turn off before Katherine to visit Leliyn (Edith) Falls, a lovely place for a swim in the upper or lower pools, surrounded by paperbark and pandanus. Hike the nine-kilometre return track to Sweetwater Pool and you're rewarded with a more secluded dip. See nt.gov.au/parks

MATARANKA

. Credit: Tourism NT

Just over an hour south of Katherine, cattle town Mataranka itself won't distract you for long, unless you're after Indigenous art. Thermal pools Bitter Springs and Mataranka Springs are the reason to stop here before landscapes get flatter, emptier and more oppressive: you can wallow in balmy, gin-clear turquoise water surrounded by eruptions of greenery. You can also visit Elsey Station, made famous in the 1908 novel We of the Never Never, and try your luck at barramundi fishing in the Roper River; you'll find several popular fishing spots along John Hauser Drive. See nt.gov.au/parks

DALY WATERS PUB

This is a classic outback pub: unpretentious, quirky, and a sociable hub in which to encounter fellow travellers and eccentric bush characters. Its decor most famously consists of abandoned bras of every hue and size, but a browse around the walls also entertains you with hats, singlets, number plates and business cards. The frigid on-tap beer is the perfect antidote to Northern Territory heat and dust, and you can fill up on fresh damper, kangaroo fillets and crocodile sliders. Nightly beef-and-barra barbecues are held during the dry season. In the wet, croaking frogs will drive you mad. See dalywaterspub.com

TENNANT CREEK

. Credit: Tourism NT

A flat landscape, raw red earth, tin buildings and shoals of utes welcome you to Tennant Creek, but there's more to this dusty town than meets the eye. It was the site of Australia's last gold rush – an underground tour at Battery Hill Mining Centre provides the tale – and also has an 1872 telegraph station. The Warumungu people were here long before that, though. Nyinkka Nyunyu Art and Culture Centre explains their story and has a striking gallery of Indigenous art. You can also take in performances of contemporary Indigenous music at the Winanjjikari Music Centre. See northernterritory.com

KARLU KARLU

Credit: Tourism NT

Grand gorges and, outside Alice Springs, craggy ranges provide outsized Stuart Highway scenery. Karlu Karlu (or Devil's Marbles) near Wauchope might be small scale, but nowhere is more atmospheric. Exfoliated chunks of granite sit like giant eggs in the landscape, some precariously balanced and others split in half. Sunrise or sunset is the choice moment to admire their colour, as finches dart between the spindly bloodwood trees and goannas slither. Take time to get beyond the short, obvious walking track and you'll get a feel for why this has been a site of spiritual significance for thousands of years. See nt.gov.au/parks

The writer travelled at his own expense.