Something so different

The Top End and Central Australia have powered the fantasies of travellers from around the world and the Northern Territory is equally popular with conference groups.
The very essence of the outback and all its mysteries are engendered by images of Uluru
and the intense mystical attraction of the region.

Follow this link to >> conference & convention venues in the Northern Territory.

There are several must-sees in the Northern Territory and most are separated by vast distances. The most compelling would be Uluru, Kakadu National Park, Alice Springs, and Darwin - the capital of the Northern Territory. Darwin and Alice Springs are more than 1500 kilometres apart with just a few towns and settlements in-between. Travel, it goes without saying, is best accomplished by air.

Darwin was largely destroyed by Cyclone Tracy in 1974 and the city that now greets visitors is a far cry from its previous incarnation. As one of Australia's last frontiers, Darwin's rugged and remote reputation still determine its character and the quintessential Territorian experience can be found enjoying a cold beer while watching the sun set or strolling the night markets at Mindil Beach.

Kakadu National Park measures some 1.3 million hectares and is jointly managed by its traditional Aboriginal owners and the Commonwealth organisation, Environment Australia. The area has quite rightly been awarded World Heritage listing. It consists of five sub-regions including floodplains that provide home to the park's vast wildlife.

Alice Springs is in the very heart of the Red Centre and is a good staging point for visits to Uluru. The second largest town in the Northern Territory, it is a modern and cosmopolitan centre arranged around the Todd River, which was founded in 1871 by surveyors building the Overland Telegraph.

Aside from the often-dry Todd River, there's much to see and do in Alice Springs. Just outside town is the 31,000-hectare Simpsons Gap National Park and Standley Chasm.

There's little that prepares visitors for their first sight of Uluru. Rising 348 metres above the surrounding plains, more than three kilometres long and two kilometres wide, Uluru changes colours depending on the time of day. This is due to light refraction off the red iron oxide that coats the monolith. Created as a national park in 1950, it was handed back to its traditional owners in 1985.

The quirkiness and charm of the Northern Territory lends itself to conference events and activities. A Jailhouse Rock night at Darwin's Fannie Bay Gaol, fishing for barramundi on the isolated Adelaide River, cocktails with crocodiles at the Territory Wildlife Park, Harley-Davidson tours around Uluru, or teambuilding activities at a genuine outback cattle station. The choices are almost endless and each provides experiences that can only be had in the Northern Territory.