Trip in Australia: Northern Territory

img_8772The Northern Territory for me was a great find, as I did in Queensland, I decided to take advantage of Darwin to be able to visit the highlights of this region, but here it was even harder to be able to organize these little tours (read the post “Trip to Australia: reflections, ideas, and tips”) but in the end I was lucky because through an announcement on Gumtree I discovered that a German girl who was sleeping in my hostel wanted to see the same places I wanted and looked like me a travel companion , So we went along with the Litchfield National Park and the Kakadu National Park, to which an Italian friend, known in Cairns, found Darwin again!

As always, it is good to make new knowledge, but here even more than in Queensland, I have also tasted the true spirit of adventure, with maps, guides, ready to discover the outback of the Northern Territories. Litchfield and Kakadu are similar but at the same time different. The first, reachable in two hours by car from Darwin, is characterized by green forests, a series of waterfalls and natural pools where you can enjoy a fresh bath. And considering the arid territory, the orange / red earth and the really torrential climate that characterizes this region, it is fortunate to have a place just two hours away from the city (nothing for Australian distances) representing the only natural place where the inhabitants Of Darwin can bathe!

Inside the park is also possible to observe a rather singular landscape, a flat and arid landscape spotted with termites, pointed termite nests that in some cases reach unexpected altitudes.

The visit to the Kakadu was anticipated by the Jumping Crocodile Cruise to look closely at the huge crocodiles of the Adelaide River, the animals that more than any other is the protagonist in these territories!

Kakadu National Park is the second national park in the region, it is a heritage of humanity, and as soon as you visit it you will understand why. Unlike Litchfield the entrance is payment, you will have to head to the park offices (indicated on the map you will have or on the signage of the park) to buy a pass.

The journey to and within this park was wonderful: what is better to be on the red streets typical of the Australian outback and to find that there is a black, wild, running horse on the side of the road running alone? Or do you see a group of wallabies jumping at full speed?

The surface of this park is immense so it is not advisable to visit it during the day, but instead of spending one or two nights at the campsite. The park houses ancient Aboriginal paintings (rock art) that can be visited through an aboriginal path through the rocks, and it’s just walking along these ancient art paths that you will start climbing a hill and suddenly you will see a true landscape in front of your eyes Unexpected: a sort of prairie that remembers much of Africa, a landscape of intense green with water lurking across it, in sharp contrast to the aridity of the surrounding landscape. This is undoubtedly the most impressive and emotional image!

Camping inside the park is a little emotional experience, a few times in my life I saw such a spectacular starry sky, but here we are on the ground below, in the southern hemisphere of our magnificent world so what we see is The heavenly hemisphere, a spectacle you will remember for a long time!

Do not miss another nature show, sunrise on the yellow water, you will have to get up early, but it will be worth it because you will have the opportunity to admire the peace and the silence of this almost surreal place, a swamp from which rises a sort Fog that moves and sometimes it seems to wrap you.

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