Northern Territory
in Australia

The Top End operates on a scale and at a pace that takes some adjustment. Kakadu National Park alone covers nearly 20,000 square kilometres of floodplains, escarpments, and wetlands that hold Aboriginal rock art dating back 20,000 years alongside saltwater crocodiles that have not meaningfully updated their behaviour since the Cretaceous. Darwin is the gateway: a small, tropical, surprisingly cosmopolitan city that was bombed more times than Pearl Harbor in the Second World War and rebuilt with an informality that suits the climate. The Litchfield waterfalls, the Nitmiluk gorge carved through red sandstone by the Katherine River, and the Arnhem Land plateau, accessible only with a permit and a guide, form a landscape of extraordinary depth and cultural significance. Come in the dry season, listen to what the guides tell you, and resist the temptation to swim in anything that looks too inviting.