Northern Territory - Where to go/stay? What to do/see?

[Lily House]

Hi all,

Currently my hubby and I are planning our mid-year road trip around Australia - taking advantage of some Long Service Leave to realise one of our dreams.

We live in Melbourne, and our rough itinery is to head, via Mildura, to South Australia, up the outback to Alice Springs etc, up to Darwin, then across to the Queensland coast and back home (via the coast).

We will be travelling in the family car (so need to keep to decent roads, unless joining a short tour), and will have our two young daughters with us - then aged 3 and nearly 7. We have 3-4 months available.

So to all those who live in the Northern Territory, or who have travelled there, we would love some advice. What are the must see places to go to/things to do? Any suggestions for reasonable family accomodation (would prefer 2 bedroom, though not luxery accomodation as we want to return home without a massive debt).

We can't wait to experience so much of this wonderful country. Any ideas would be most appreciated.

Thanks

Lily

 

[Lily House]

I'm particularly after ideas for accomodation in central Aust - can anyone help?

Also - I have a vision of sleeping out under the stars, somewhere in the middle of the Outback. My hubby is worried that the girls will be devoured by snakes and scorpions (he gets a bit dramatic when it comes to his kids ). Also, we watched Wolf Creek recently which didn't help LOL. I suppose there must be organised tours that take groups out for overnight/weekend camps. If anyone has been on one, or can reccomend one, I'd love to hear about it.

Thanks
Lily

 

[Macca]

Hi Lily,

If you want to sleep out but hubby is not sure, why not try a well organised camping ground.

There are camps at Uluru and Kings Canyon, all the usual amenities, Kings Canyon would be a fair bit quieter than Uluru I would think as it is much smaller. KC would feel much closer to nature I guess.

(yes , I know, watch out for dingos )

 

[kero]

In Darwin, there's Kakadu. not sure about accommodation there though.

 

[duncan_m]

Make sure to do the Fish Feeding at Doctors Gully!

http://www.aquascene.com.au/

And if your hubby likes WW2 type things there's East Point which has huge Gun Turrets that overlook Darwin Harbour.

http://www.arounddarwin.com.au/darwin_museums.html

And there's an Aviation Museum near the old Airport that had a B52 Bomber last time I was there!

http://www.nachohat.org/top_end_2001/darwin_air.html

And spend at least one evening and do the Mindil Beach Markets..

http://www.mindil.com.au/

I second the recommendation for Litchfield Park..

And be sure to take a cruise down Katherine Gorge:

http://www.katherinegorge.com/

Dont spend too long in Darwin though, its a real hole.. I grew up there, hate it

 

[natmarie73]

Hi Lily,

I recently went on an organised safari with these guys: http://www.adventuretours.com.au/index.php/newtravel/nt/04_day_4wd_red_centre_safari/ which I found really good, but very basic camping in permanent tents. The itinery included pretty much everything you can expect to see in the red centre, but apart from this tour, my bf and I also made sure we saw the sights around Alice (Simpsons Gap, Standley Chasm) and there are heaps of other small waterhole gorges in the West McDonnels where you can camp quite safely. In addition, we also made sure we went to Rainbow Valley and saw Chamber's Pillar in the Simpson Desert - a great day tour with this guy http://www.outbackexperience.com.au/tour1.php although Emu Run tours also do this tour and a tour to the East McDonnel Ranges of which most is on sealed road except to the Arltunga minefields and beyond to a gorge I can't remember the name of, and is not on any tour (we hired a 4WD for the East Mac's).

As for accommodation, we stayed in the YHA, which does private rooms and might be suitable for families while we were in Alice. In my opinion, it is all very safe and if you go in winter (which I recommend) there probably won't be too many snakes/scorpions etc. If you want to do an organised tour, you will need to be there in the winter months, as they all pretty much shut down over summer as it is way too hot - even October was very hot during the days and in the summer months you would not be able to see as much due to the heat (for some attractions you need to walk a fair bit).

We only did the Ayers Rock/Alice Springs area, so can't tell you anything about the rest of it. Really enjoyed it though, but it can get very expensive due to the vast distances between attractions.

Cheers

P.S - I've just posted some pics taken during this safari on my blog if you are interested - I found when I got there it is totally different from what the tourist brochures show.

 

[our obsession]

Natmarie73

Love your photos, especially the contrasty dead tree, King's Canyon and Albert N-like pic-photo!, they are just beautiful, a dream to look at.

 

[natmarie73]

Thanks very much Our Obsession,

My photos certainly don't do the landscape any justice though - it was a fantastic place to visit - very dry and remote, but very beautiful and colourful as well.

 

[Lily House]

Thanks Guys and Girls, for your suggestions.

Maybe Darwin is more fun to visit than to live, Duncan? Thanks for suggestions for the whole family.

NatMarie - lovely photos. They just whet my appetite even more! I'll check out those tour organisers.

Thanks!!

Lily

 

[duncan_m]

Maybe Darwin is more fun to visit than to live, Duncan? Thanks for suggestions for the whole family.

Yes I'm sure you're right.. Its just the humidity, the dirtniess, the public drunkness, the expense of getting OUT of the place for a holiday, the huge cost of living, the alcohol mentality..

Maybe its changed a lot, I left 15 years ago.. Would love to hear your impressions of the place once you return so be sure to update this thread OK

 

[kero]

DISCLAIMER: I DON;T HOLD ANY PLATINUM INVESTMENT PRODUCTS.

http://www.platinum.com.au/images/nt.pdf

 

[Lily House]

Thanks Kero - you threw me there for a moment, investment funds in a travel thread LOL.
And yes Duncan, I'll check back in upon our return.

Thanks again,
Lily