Intrepid Best of Northern Territory (Twin Share Room)

Map

DAY 1: ALICE SPRINGS

Your trip begins in Alice Springs, Mparntwe to the Arrernte people, with a 6pm welcome meeting at the hotel. The town grew around the Overland Telegraph station, finished in 1872 beside a waterhole named for Alice Todd, wife of the man who built the line. After the meeting you drive out to Earth Sanctuary for an Outback barbecue as the sun sets over the East MacDonnell Ranges. Then an astronomer guides you around the southern sky. Far from city lights, the Milky Way stretches from one horizon to the other, and you can pick out the Southern Cross and the two Magellanic Clouds, neighbouring galaxies, before a turn at the sanctuary's deep-sky telescopes.

Overnight: Alice Springs

DAY 2: SIMPSONS GAP TO KINGS CANYON

Head west into Tjoritja (West MacDonnell Ranges National Park) to Simpsons Gap, where a creek has cut a narrow gap through a quartzite ridge. A First Nations guide walks you along the riverbed that marks the line between Eastern and Northern Arrernte country, and tells the story of Tjunba, the great perentie who protects the gorge. Watch the rocks for black-footed rock wallabies. Then it's about four and a half hours of driving, partly on the Stuart Highway, named for John McDouall Stuart who crossed the continent in 1862, to Watarrka National Park. Your leader takes you on the Kings Creek Walk along the canyon floor. After dinner you can see the Light Towers, a light and sound installation, for an extra cost.

Overnight: Kings Canyon

DAY 3: KINGS CANYON RIM, KATA TJUTA AND ULURU

An early start for the Kings Canyon Rim Walk, about 6 km and four hours. A steep first climb, known locally as Heart Attack Hill, brings you onto the plateau, where the canyon walls drop about 100 metres. You wind through the Lost City, a maze of weathered sandstone domes, and down to the Garden of Eden, a permanent waterhole shaded by palms and cycads. Then it's about five hours to Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. At Kata Tjuta, 36 domes whose tallest, Mount Olga, stands 546 metres above the plain, you walk into Walpa Gorge; walpa means windy in Pitjantjatjara. The day ends watching Uluru turn deep red at sunset.

Overnight: Yulara

DAY 4: ULURU SUNRISE TO ALICE SPRINGS

Be up before dawn to watch sunrise light up Uluru, which rises 348 metres above the plain. Then the 1 km Kuniya Walk leads to Mutitjulu Waterhole, one of the few places at the rock that holds water most of the year. Anangu tell how Kuniya, a woman python, fought the venomous snake Liru here, and the marks of their battle are still in the rock face. Traditional art sites line the track as your leader explains how Anangu are bound to this country. At the Uluru-Kata Tjuta Cultural Centre you learn more about Tjukurpa, the Anangu law and creation stories. After a stop at Yulara for anyone finishing there, you hit the highway just after lunch, about five hours back to Alice Springs, where you say goodbye to your leader and part of the group.

Overnight: Alice Springs

DAY 5: ALICE SPRINGS TO DARWIN

An included transfer takes you to Alice Springs Airport for the flight north to Darwin (booked separately), about two hours from red desert to tropical coast. Darwin is Gulumoerrgin to the Larrakia people. Transfer to the hotel and the afternoon is free. The Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory tells the story of Cyclone Tracy, which flattened most of the city on Christmas Day 1974, and the lagoon at the Darwin Waterfront is a netted swimming spot safe from crocodiles and stingers. Or, for an extra cost, visit the Larrakia Cultural Centre. At 6pm you meet your new leader and the travellers joining for the Top End.

Overnight: Darwin

DAY 6: LITCHFIELD NATIONAL PARK

Head south into Litchfield National Park, a couple of hours from Darwin on the sandstone Tabletop Range. First come the Magnetic Termite Mounds, thin grey slabs up to 2 metres tall, all lined up north to south so the midday sun only strikes their edges. Florence Falls drops in twin streams into a pool ringed with monsoon forest, and nearby Buley Rockhole is a chain of rock pools for a swim while your leader prepares a picnic lunch. From the Tolmer Falls lookout you see water fall into a gorge whose caves shelter rare ghost bats and orange horseshoe bats. Last is Wangi Falls, with a loop walk or a swim in the plunge pool, before the drive back to Darwin.

Overnight: Darwin

DAY 7: KAKADU, UBIRR AND THE EAST ALLIGATOR RIVER

East along the Arnhem Highway to Kakadu National Park, 20,000 square kilometres and World Heritage-listed for both its nature and its culture. First stop is Mamukala Wetlands (or Fog Dam on the way), where thousands of magpie geese gather late in the dry season. At Ubirr, a walk passes rock galleries painted over thousands of years, including X-ray style fish and turtles that show bones and organs, then climbs to a lookout over the Nadab floodplain. In the afternoon an Aboriginal guide takes you up the East Alligator River on the Guluyambi cruise. Explorer Phillip Parker King named it in 1820, mistaking the crocodiles for alligators. You can step ashore on the Arnhem Land side of the river. Dinner with the group is at your Kakadu accommodation.

Overnight: Kakadu National Park

DAY 8: BURRUNGKUY (NOURLANGIE) TO DARWIN

After breakfast you drive to Burrungkuy (Nourlangie), where Bininj people have sheltered and painted under the rock overhangs for thousands of years. The best-known figure is Namarrgon, the Lightning Man, who strikes the clouds with stone axes to make thunder. Short walks lead to the art, the shelters and a lookout. Next is a local cultural centre, where, if the timing works, you can join a weaving or damper-making class. Or, for an extra cost, take an Indigenous-owned cruise on Yellow Water Billabong, home to crocodiles, jabirus and sea eagles. After lunch it's the drive back to Darwin, arriving around 5:30pm.

Map

• Sunscreen
• Hat
• Water bottle
• Small backpack
• Warm clothing for cool evenings

• 7 nights in hotels, twin share
• 4 breakfasts, 3 lunches and 3 dinners
• Transport by private vehicle and boat, with a local leader
• Alice Springs hotel to airport transfer
• Earth Sanctuary barbecue dinner and stargazing
• Simpsons Gap guided Aboriginal cultural walk
• Kings Creek Walk and Kings Canyon Rim Walk
• Kata Tjuta Walpa Gorge walk
• Uluru sunset and sunrise viewing, Kuniya walk to Mutitjulu Waterhole and the Cultural Centre
• Litchfield: Wangi, Tolmer and Florence falls and the termite mounds
• Kakadu: Mamukala Wetlands, Ubirr rock art walk, Guluyambi cultural cruise and Burrungkuy (Nourlangie)

Not included

• Flight from Alice Springs to Darwin
• Kings Canyon Light Towers by night (optional, AUD30)
• Accommodation on the last night in Darwin (can be booked on request)

Preparing for the trip

Private tours and families

Booking the trip

Who travels with us

Cost and Fees

Whilst on tour