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Hello, I'll be travelling for a month with my grown up girl and my WS (still reconciling) I'm doing my own research too of course, then it occured to me that perhaps some of you may be knowledgeable about the Northern territory, and have some thoughts you might share.

Booney,

I might be able to provide some advice, I lived in Alice Springs for 7 years. Some of my advice is going to be predicated on the vehicle you are going to be driving, as the most spectacular parts of the NT need serious 4WD. If you are staying on bitumen for the most part there are still a lot of things to see and do, but that's what everyone else is doing.

The big attraction of course is Uluru, formerly Ayers Rock. Biggest monolith on the planet and absolutely beautiful. They have closed the climb, so that's out now but it's still impressive. Nearby is also a rock feature called Kata Juta (sp?), but was called the Olga's when I was there. Really cool hiking through rock formations. There is a resort there but it's fairly touristy. There also King's Canyon a few hours north of the Ayer's resort that is pretty cool to visit. What strikes you the most is the lack of safety regulations - just usually a sign warning you how many people died falling off a cliff taking a selfie.

Alice Springs itself is a cool little town, but from what I understand the crime there has gotten worse in the CBD the past few years. They've cut back on when you can buy take out alcohol and other restrictions. I won't get into the reasons but be aware of that. The casino, horsetrack, and other venues there are still worth seeing. And some of the best true outback restaurants in Australia.

If you go west from Alice, there is Ross River Homestead. Really great working ranch with cabins where you can do whip cracking, horse riding, make damper, and they had a decent pub back in the day. going east is Glen Helen Homestead, which is another great road trip along the Macdonnel Ranges. There are some gorges and waterholes that are accessible on the drive there. The homestead has tourist accommodations and a pub as well. Up the road North from Alice is Barrow Creek, which is just a pub. But a good place to drop in and say hi to the publican and meet fellow travelers. If Les Pilton is still the publican, tell him I said hi.

Going further north up the Stuart Highway (all of these suggestions are on paved roads) you'll get to Tennant Creek, which is pretty avoidable. Then the town of Katherine, and next Darwin itself. In between there are some places to visit such as Kakadu National Park, some waterholes and campgrounds around hot springs. I'd have to look them up because it's been over 20 years since we lived there. Darwin is a cool town, but depending on the time of year miserably humid. And don't even think about the beaches - half the year it's box jellyfish and the other half it's crocs. Or most of the time it's crocs.

Let me know if you'll have 4WD as there are some pretty cool places that you can camp at. Hope this helps!

Hello Tred,

Thanks so much for responding. Very sweet of you. I didn't really take on the humongous size of Australia when I sent the post, despite having visited there three times already (Perth,Albany,Cairns, Sydney, Brisbane)

Northern Territory is six times the size of the UK. Hard to get my head round that one! Yes we are going to get a 4WD.
We have flights booked to Singapore only so far. The plan at the moment is to fly to Perth then Exmouth, do some reef stuff there, and there'll be whale sharks which I've never seen. Hire a car for a week and drive on normal roads to Broome, then hire a 4WD campervan for two weeks and drive the Grib River road, exploring as we go, maybe Kakadu and Litchfield, then ending up at Darwin for a few days...and that'll be a month!
I'll quietly confess I didn't know the actual shape of the Northern Territory, I thought it went all the way to Broome. Funny sometimes what you don't know until you know it......I'll bet most of us on here can relate to that one!
We've been busy with other things, crazy how time passes, and now focussing on Australia more. I'll read some books and see whats between Exmouth and Broome, and Broome itself. Uluru and Alice Springs are just too far now from the route we're settling on, and we only have a month. If you see this and have any suggestions or advice for our route, please do say. In any case, thanks again for responding. People are so nice on here.

On another point, I wanted to know who I was talking to and I read some of your posts, and they were comforting. I'm four years past DDay, and not a day goes by when I don't think about it. I thought we were the dream team etc, but we weren't. Anyway, I read that 11 yrs on, you still think about it every day, I mean it crosses your mind at least.. and yet you can say you're happy now and reconciled. It's good for me to hear that. Every morning when I wake it's my first thought. My XWS and I get along so well, always have. I am still up and down every week, hurts badly but passes much more quickly. I like to think I'm on a similar trajectory as you, and the pain of it will be so much less, one of these days. It'll be my 60th birthday when we're in Darwin. We sail. We have a Magnum 21 Trimaran at home, not bringing it haha, though don't know how we can fit sailing into the trip.

Booney,

Gotcha. You are going to be mainly in WA then cross over into the NT. Gibbs River road is a blast - we did it in our Cruiser. Can be challenging in the wet season, at times impassable. Wyndjana Gorge is near that route, has an enormous amount of cockatoos and parrots. Just north of Broome is Derby - huge tide changes. Tunnel Creek is really cool - a trek through waist deep water with fresh water crocs that ends in a nice waterfall and swim area. There is a ton to do and see up that way, pretty remote but spectacular. You'll have a great time!

Tred, thank you!

Just seeing all you say makes me all smiley with excitement and anticipation! I'll take note of where/what you've mentioned and make sure I add it to my reading and plans. Thanks again.