DURATION: 4 days
BEST FOR: Road trips, bizarre pubs, open landscapes
ROUTE: Katherine • Stuart Highway • Mataranka • Daly Waters • Tennant Creek • Karlu Karlu / Devils Marbles
WHY DO: Ride the empty freeway for a real sense of NT’s greatness, with a break for gold mines, hot springs, and cold beers along the way
Named after John McDouall Stuart, the tireless Scot who was the first to lead an expedition north from Australia’s south coast, the seemingly endless Stuart Highway crosses the whole country; From Katherine, the distance to Alice Springs is approximately 737 miles. Plowing the long, straight road is more varied than you might think. It’s flat, dry dingo territory – but there are several entertaining stops.
The first of these is Mataranka. This tiny town was the location of Jeannie Gunn’s classic 1908 novel We Of The Never Never and still has an old world flair – not to mention some hot springs that soothe limbs. Soak in the warm, minty blue waters of Elsey National Park to the east of the city before heading to Daly Waters. Once the location of Australia’s first international runway (Qantas used to refuel here), the highlight here today is the eccentric Daly Waters Pub. Decorated with bras left behind by previous customers – yes, really – it draws road trips in droves thanks to its nightly beef ‘n’ barra barbecue. There is camping on site.
Tennant Creek, a five-hour drive south past cattle ranches and sparse grasslands, is the next big stop. This wild-eyed city still has some great attractions to offer, most notably the Nyinkka Nyunyu Cultural Center and the Battery Hill Mining Center (in the 1930s the area was producing a million dollars worth of gold every day). As the highway winds further south to Alice Springs, stop to marvel at the vast fields of mega boulders known as the Devils Marbles – they are most photogenic at sunrise and sunset.
The Ghan at sunset, Northern Territory (Tourism NT)
Top train: THE GHAN
The Ghan, which runs between Adelaide and Darwin via Alice Springs, is one of the best rail routes in the world. Work on the route began in 1877 and did not end until 2004 – which tells you everything about the scope of the project. The service is named after the Afghan camel traders who traveled here in the 19th century. The entire north-south journey takes 54 hours.
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