Gold Coast Bulletin journalist gets swept up in the magic of the Northern Territory
THE Northern Territory is a land of contrasting beauty – from the red centre to the lush tropics, it makes for the ultimate Aussie road trip.
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EACH night Mother Nature puts on a show in the heart of Australia – and everybody is invited. It’s two hours before the sun is due to set over Uluru, but tourists have already staked out their positions: a group of European girls are taking selfies, a young Aussie couple decked out in khakis and Akubras sit on an esky and the Brits are moving their arms like windscreen wipers as they swat flies.
When the curtains are drawn and the rock takes centrestage, the viewing deck falls silent as the sun begins its final descent.
Surrounded by the blood-and-ochre palette of the desert, the monolith spectacularly changes colour from rusty red to chocolate, mulberry, pink, purple then glowing orange.
Nothing can prepare you for the immensity, grandeur and glamour of this Australian icon.
If you have ever been to Europe, you’ll know that Aussies are everywhere (usually yelling for directions in very poor Italian or French); when it comes to overseas travel, we can’t get enough.
But one of the best holiday destinations is in our own backyard — I’m even prepared to laud the Northern Territory – Alice Springs via Uluru to Darwin – the ultimate Aussie road trip. Yep, it’s that good.
Alice Springs is the gateway to the Red Centre, but The Rock, located in Uluru Kata-Tjuta National Park, is about 335 kilometres southwest of the outback town (a six-hour drive). The first stop on the Outback road trip is Kings Canyon, a massive gorge featuring a collection of sandstone formations, rocky domes and honeycombed cliffs.
About 215,000 people visit the canyon each year, half as many as Uluru, making it the ideal spot for keen hikers to sidestep the tourist hordes. The 6km Rim Walk begins with a 500-almost-vertical-step climb before flattening out as you reach the plateau.
The walk skirts the edge of the escarpment allowing you to peer over the edge into the shadowy depths of the gorge before descending into the green oasis of the Garden of Eden, which has a permanent waterhole.
For an authentic overnight outback experience, you can’t go past the luxe tents at Kings Creek Station. For $950 you will be treated to a secluded tent, fitted out with quality linens, a private bathroom and delicious in-room dining options, all set on a vast desert backdrop.
In true outback style, there’s no reception, which leaves you all the more time to stargaze the desert skies while toasting marshmallows by your private fire.
As you hit the road in pursuit of Uluru, it’s just a 3.5 hour drive to Yulara. Less than 1500 people live in the isolated town at any one time, but there’s an airport, post office, bank, supermarket and multiple bars and restaurants.
If you’re visiting this year, you can catch Bruce Munro’s otherworldly Field of Light Uluru installation.
It features 50,000 frosted-glass bulbs with interconnected stems planted into the outback’s red earth and covering 49,000 square metres.
The illuminated tendrils change colour and light up the night as far as the eye can see.
For the budget traveller, Yulara offers a campsite and lodge-style accommodation and for those after a little outback opulence, Longitude 131 is the kind of hotel (or should I say, tent) you put on your bucket list. It even has the royal tick of approval from Will and Kate.
Think you hate camping? Think again. Longitude 131 could convince even the most dedicated five-star dweller to spend the night under canvas.
But don’t be fooled, this “tent” is actually a deluxe suite decked out in earthy tones with canopy ceilings and floor-to-ceiling views of the monolith at the foot of your bed. The stay will set you back up to $2400 per night but expect champagne on arrival followed by a three-course lunch (offerings include kangaroo carpaccio, Murray River cod, Angus steaks, Moreton Bay bugs, scallops and king prawn linguine), an in-suite bar and a luxury rain shower. If you can drag yourself away from the comforts of your canopy, it’s time to explore the Red Centre. I’m visiting one week after the twice-in-a-century floods that made international headlines, so it looks a lot greener than usual.
But don’t be fooled, the red dirt follows you home in your suitcase no matter the season.
From the moment you see Uluru, every cliché you’ve heard about Australia’s spiritual heart rings true.
The humbling site in the dusty desert, sacred to the Anangu people, is home to a host of experiences. You can go at sunrise – and again at sunset – walk the base and see it from the air on a 15 minute Professional Helicopter Services flight for $150.
It also remains legal to scale the rock, which has sparked a nationwide debate: to climb or not to climb. One of the first things to confront visitors arriving at the base of Uluru is a climbing rope that scars the side of the rock and disappears over the top. The second is a sign that reads, “We, the traditional Anangu owners have this to say: Uluru is sacred in our culture, a place of great knowledge. Under our traditional law climbing is not permitted.” A local tour guide tells me overseas visitors often respect this request, but it’s common for Australians to have a “my country, my rock” attitude.
As you head north towards the tropics, there’s only one road that runs through the centre of Australia – it’s the Stuart Highway or no way. Much of the drive overlooks vast, uninhabited land and to say the stopovers
are quirky is an understatement (the UFO capital of Australia and the Pink Panther pub are just a couple).
Even the service stations get in on the fun: the quirkiest housed a saltwater crocodile, an albino buffalo and four pigs out back, while pokie machines and a bar were tucked inside next to the confectionary aisle. Only in the Northern Territory.
A Stuart Highway must-do is the oldest pub in the state (opened 1938) — the Daly Waters Pub.
It’s in the middle of “whoop whoop”, yes, that’s what their official website says, but the food is hearty, delicious and won’t hurt your hip pocket. I was surprised to discover the Daly Waters Airfield was Australia’s first international airfield, servicing QANTAS flights from the 1920s and used during World War II in combat operations against the Japanese. The airport was a busy hub until commercial operation ended in 1970. Today, the population of the town is less than 50.
After lunch, it’s a short drive to Elsey National Park, where you can take a dip in the crystal clear waters of the Mataranka Thermal Pools. There’s nothing more relaxing than floating in the dappled light under the paperbark and palm forest, and it delivers an even better shot for Insta than Burleigh Hill.
Enroute to Darwin, you can’t miss Kakadu National Park (it’s more than half the size of Switzerland so you actually can’t miss it).
But expect the total opposite of the Red Centre: think expansive savanna woodlands, rugged sandstone escarpments, myriad billabongs and rivers that swell into vast freshwater flood plains.
To appreciate its vast scale, take a scenic flight above the sacred escarpments and mammoth waterfalls. After all, you’re safer in the air than in the water at Kakadu where the saltwater croc population is 10,000-strong.
The Northern Territory capital may lack hipster coffee joints and an obsession with acai bowls, but Darwin does seafood like it’s nobody’s business. The Oyster Bar at Darwin Waterfront serves up a fine fare with views to match.
Oysters are shucked fresh every morning and served chilled or grilled with additions like shallots and red wine vinegar and basil and pine nut pesto. There’s even mojito and martini oysters on the menu.
When your belly is full, come face-to-face with an 800kg croc in the cage of death at Crocosaurus Cove. For $120 you’ll spend 15 minutes with the killer reptile, separated only by a few inches of plastic. Just a few minutes in and it’s clear why you sign a waiver warning of cardiac arrest and hyperventilation.
EAT
Daly Waters Pub, 16 Stuart St, Daly Waters, dalywaterspub.com
Oyster Bar, 19 Kitchener Dr, Darwin City, oysterbar.com.au
STAY
Kings Creek Station, Off Lasseter Highway, Kings Canyon, kingscreekstation.com.au
Longitude 131, Yulara Drive, Yulara, longitude131.com.au
PLAY
Professional Helicopter Services, Uluru, phs.com.au
Crocosaurus Cove, 58 Mitchell St, Darwin City, crocosauruscove.com
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