42 Things I Love About Australia’s Northern Territory

I originally was going to write about the 42 things I love about Australia, but even in list form the country is just too big. The more I thought about my time in Australia, the more I realized that many of my favorite activities, as well as some of the most memorable, all happened in the Northern Territory, so I decided to focus my attention just on the Outback. These are just a few of the things I love about Australia and the Northern Territory, what are some of yours?

1. Learning about the iconic Australian train journey at the Ghan Museum
2. Needing a translator for Aussie slang
3. Enjoying quiet luxury at the Kings Canyon Resort
4. Taking a helicopter ride high above Uluru and Kata Tjuta
5. Watching kangaroos hop majestically alongside the car like dolphins following a ship
6. Seeing a bilbie in the wild at the Alice Springs Desert Park
7. Trying to understand Australian Rules Football
8. Trying to understand the fascination with Australian Rules Football
9. Signs like this one
10. Sunset dinner with the evening sky as the main event
11. Great Australian sense of humor
12. Eating bush meat for the first time
13. Tim tams, lots of them
14. Learning about Uluru with the Anangu
15. Mastering the art of off-road driving in the Outback
16. Sleeping under a million stars
17. First dingo sighting that’s not in a zoo
18. Warm and friendly smile that only an Aussie can give
19. NOT climbing Uluru
20. Learning firsthand just how huge the country really is
21. Amazing ability to understate the potential deadliness of the outdoors
22. Open jaw wonder flying over Outback terrain for the first time
23. Getting to know the fun and quirky town of Alice Springs
24. Learning the finer points of driving a campervan
25. The McDonnell Ranges, one of the oldest mountain ranges in the world
26. Enjoying a picnic lunch with this as your entertainment:
27. Seeing Mt. Conner and being fooled that it’s actually Uluru
28. Lunch at a road house
29. Driving for hundreds of kilometers without passing a car
30. The deep, blood red dirt that is everywhere, even under your fingernails
31. Climbing the incredible Kings Canyon at dawn
32. A comfortable bed at the Ayers Rock Resort after hours of dusty driving
33. Uluru at Sunset
34. Uluru at Sunrise
35. Sounds of a didgeridoo echoing across the desert as the sun sets on the Olgas
36. Admiring one of a kind arts and crafts at the Walkatjara art centre
37. Strange sights at the road houses of the Northern Territory
38. Spinifex – after a while you start to enjoy seeing it
39. Witnessing the magic of Uluru for the first time from the road
40. Chancing upon cultural sites by accident like the Ochre Pits
41. Smooth paved thoroughfares after hours on rough, dirt roads
42. Understanding the importance of Uluru and the Tjukurpa for the first time