{"id":179160,"date":"2018-07-18T12:00:53","date_gmt":"2018-07-18T02:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.australiantraveller.com\/?p=179160"},"modified":"2023-02-20T12:12:34","modified_gmt":"2023-02-20T01:12:34","slug":"five-ways-to-know-youre-in-the-northern-territory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.australiantraveller.com\/nt\/darwin\/five-ways-to-know-youre-in-the-northern-territory\/","title":{"rendered":"Five signs you are definitely in the Northern Territory"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Northern Territory is the Australia the world thinks that we all live in\u2026 and don\u2019t. Everything\u2019s a whole lot different up here, and here\u2019s how you can tell that you\u2019ve arrived.<\/h5>\n\n

1. Everyone\u2019s got a croc story to share<\/h2>\n
\"\"

Jumping Crocodile<\/p><\/div>\n\n

It doesn\u2019t matter how pale or skinny the bloke next to you in the bar is; he\u2019s got a heck of a croc story to share, just you wait and see.<\/p>\n\n

Since 1986, Australians have been lapping up the global attention and affection unleashed by Crocodile Dundee<\/em>, before returning home to our apartments in the city where we hope to hell we don\u2019t see a spider (Australia is one of the most urbanised countries on the planet).<\/p>\n\n

But up here, Croc Dundee does exist; in fact, he\u2019s all around you\u2026 he\u2019s probably sitting in front of you right now. Get anyone talking who\u2019s been here longer than a dry season and you\u2019ll hear croc encounters that would leave Paul Hogan slack-jawed.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0No one wastes a sunset<\/h2>\n
\"Mindil

Mindil Markets in full swing. (Photo: Tourism NT)<\/p><\/div>\n

They\u2019ll tell you they don\u2019t have a sentimental bone in their bodies; but no time is more revered around Darwin than sunset.<\/p>\n\n

Forget the evening news or Family Feud;<\/em> each day at around six, Territorians pack out the beaches and foreshores to watch the sun dip into the Arafura Sea. The most famous viewpoint is at Darwin\u2019s iconic Mindil Beach Markets<\/a>, held every Thursday and Sunday evening during the dry season, where thousands congregate as live music plays.<\/p>\n\n

But if you\u2019d rather escape the crowds, head just round the corner to the Darwin Ski Club<\/a> or the Darwin Sailing Club<\/a>.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0You have to go a long way for your art<\/h2>\n
\"Yirrkala

Artist Barrupu Yunupingu, sister of Mandawuy Yunupingu, lead singer of Yothu Yindi, at Yirrkala works on her fire-inspired piece. (Photo: Quentin Long)<\/p><\/div>\n

If you thought lining up for the Louvre proved you\u2019re the arty type, you\u2019re going to have to try a lot harder in the Territory. The best art up here has been created by Indigenous Australians for over 50,000 years.<\/p>\n\n

Take a ferry from Darwin to Tiwi Design<\/a> on Bathurst Island and spend time with artists in this remote Indigenous community two hours\u2019 boating time north of Darwin.<\/p>\n\n

Watch locals paint, screen print and carve and join in special art workshops. Tours leave Darwin every Thursday and Friday from April to December.<\/p>\n\n

Or take a charter plane to Arnhem Land and see ancient art still visible on remote caves. Some of the best can be seen at Davidsons Arnhemland Safari Lodge<\/a>.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0It\u2019s hard to tell who\u2019s catching who when the fish are biting<\/h2>\n

The Northern Territory is home to some of the best open water, river and estuary fishing<\/a> on the planet.<\/p>\n\n

But there\u2019s something you need to know before you go; this kind of fishing doesn\u2019t come without its risks: nowhere in the world is fishing such a contact sport. No matter where you throw out a line, you can be sure there\u2019s something lurking that thinks you\u2019re probably just that bit tastier.<\/p>\n\n

There are few places to fish free from saltwater crocs, and the bull sharks jump clean out of the water in these parts.<\/p>\n\n

Watch out for blue-ringed octopus, too. Whether it\u2019s blue-water, estuary or even billabong fishing, it\u2019s best you keep your wits about you.<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0Lodges come complete with their own airstrip<\/h2>\n
\"Davidson's

The private landing strip at Davidson\u2019s (photo: Sean Fennessey).<\/p><\/div>\n

Commercial airlines aren\u2019t much good to you up here. Where you\u2019re going, you\u2019ll need to charter your own propeller plane.<\/p>\n\n

Unless you have the time for long, uncomfortable four-wheel-drives across hundreds of kilometres of unsealed bush roads, there\u2019s often no option but to take a charter flight<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

But that\u2019s a big part of the experience in the Territory; you\u2019ll land on isolated, red-dirt airstrips in the middle of nowhere, built just a few hundred metres from your lodge. All the best lodges up here come complete with airstrips.<\/p>\n

Northern Territory Fact or Fiction<\/h2>\n

On assignment in the Top End, AT\u2019s <\/em>Quentin Long heard a great number of things about Darwin he\u2019s still not sure about. Here\u2019s a collection of the best. If anyone knows anything to the contrary, please email us via\u00a0editor@australiantraveller.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n

    \n
  1. More bombs fell on Darwin in WWII than on Pearl Harbour (source: many and varied). By sheer number of bombing raids, this doesn\u2019t seem totally out of the question.<\/li>\n
  2. Darwinites drink more iced coffee than beer (source: Robert Marchan on Tour Tub). The \u201cbeer is God\u201d perception of the NT is legendary, but I didn\u2019t see that much of it personally \u2013 and a whooole lot of iced coffee.<\/li>\n
  3. There are more restaurants than pubs (source: learned local friend\u2019s friends). Yes, I\u2019d say this is true by the sheer weight of outlets vs pubs.<\/li>\n
  4. Inmates at Fannie Bay Gaol were freed during Tracy and the bombings (source: Tony on the Tub). The bombings? Yes, they were all pardoned by the government. For Tracy? It seems unlikely to set them out when indoors is best.<\/li>\n
  5. Larrakeyah is the site of a mass burial after Tracy, kept secret from the rest of Australia (source: various). It seems far fetched, but then again the official death toll of 66 for a town the size of Darwin seems a little thin.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The Territory is the UFO capital of Australia<\/h2>\n
    \"Wycliffe,

    Luckily we got the okay at the UFO capital at Wycliffe, NT.<\/p><\/div>\n

    The cynical among us may question why, if super-intelligent beings from another planet were to come to earth in order to check out what humans are up to, they\u2019d choose a tiny roadhouse in the middle of the desert as their main point of reference.<\/p>\n\n

    However, even the most ardent non-believer would have to admit that, over the years, a disturbingly high amount of UFO sightings have been reported from one little Northern Territory outpost on the Stuart Highway.<\/p>\n\n

    Whether this is due to people in the middle of nowhere tending to go a little stir crazy or the fact that pretty much the only thing to do out this way is drink copious amounts of alcohol is unclear. There has to be some explanation, however \u2013 UFO nuts have rated Wycliffe Well as the fifth biggest hotspot in the world.<\/p>\n\n

    To say that the owner of the local roadhouse has leapt on this gimmick with enthusiasm is a categorical understatement. Lew Farkas has turned his modest establishment into a hilariously garish holiday park.<\/p>\n\n

    Just in case you weren\u2019t aware that there might be a bit of extraterrestrial activity, Farkas has plastered his property with alien paraphernalia.<\/p>\n\n

    The walls are covered in UFO, planet and night sky murals, and there are big plastic green men all over the place. There\u2019s a decidedly manmade looking \u201cspaceship\u201d on what passes for a lawn, and cautionary road signs warn that potential UFO landings might present a slight hazard.<\/p>\n\n

    Whether it\u2019s genuinely where aliens are planning to take over the world from or a stroke of marketing genius, if you\u2019re taking on that long, lonely trip up the middle of Australia, Wycliffe Well\u2019s flying saucer shrine provides a welcome source of light relief.<\/p>\n\n

    Wycliffe Well is 375km north of Alice Springs and 135km south of Tennant Creek on the Stuart Highway in Central Australia. If for some reason you\u2019d like to spend a bit of time chilling out in the virtually attraction-free holiday park, you can book online<\/a> or call\u00a0 1800 222 195, (08) 8964 1966.<\/p>\n

    For more information on things to do in the NT, visit the official Northern Territory website at northernterritory.com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The Northern Territory is the Australia the world thinks that we all live in\u2026 and don\u2019t. Everything\u2019s a whole lot different up here, and here\u2019s how you can tell that you\u2019ve arrived. 1. Everyone\u2019s got a croc story to share It doesn\u2019t matter how pale or skinny the bloke next to you in the bar […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133,"featured_media":179164,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"article-deals.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_expiration-date-status":"","_expiration-date":0,"_expiration-date-type":"","_expiration-date-categories":[],"_expiration-date-options":[]},"categories":[880],"tags":[6322,4542,5713,5138,4748,4564],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFive ways to know you're in the Northern Territory<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Everyone like to joke that the Northern Territory is different to everywhere else, but it's actually true. 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