Australia's Northern Territory

AUSTRALIA’S NORTHERN TERRITORY

In the summer of 2012 I was lucky enough to experience a ‘Big Outback Adventure’ in Australia’s Northern Territory, with five lucky KISS FM listeners and their mates. Not forgetting our lovely presenter from KISS, Charlie Hedges and our Sales extraordinaire who helped set up this amazing trip, Dennis Farmer with the staff from the NT Tourism Board, Intrepid Travel and The Flight Centre. (Big thank you to them for making the trip possible!)

Yes, I was working, carrying film and photography kit for hours, and it was actually entering the ‘winter’ months in Australia. Potentially it could have been a chilly nightmare for me (Have you seen Outback Horror film ‘Wolf Creek’?!

BUT I can confirm the trip was red hot and full of fun and natural beauty which I will cherish for the rest of my days.

Ok, so there was no chance of jet lag smacking us on the face on arrival at the sub tropical city of Darwin. We stayed awake and visited Crocosaurus Cove in the heart of the city. We held baby crocodiles, Charlie was brave enough to plunged underwater with an 8 foot long croc in the notorious ‘Cage of Death’. My camera was out, waiting for a bloodbath. Luckily for Charlie and competition winner Caitlin, their perspex cage wasn’t rattled too much!

Our first proper Outback trip with Intrepid Travel was led by Ryan, a knowledgeable guide who took us to Kakadu National Park, which was 3 hours drive from the Darwin. We were schooled on Aboriginal history, art and culture, many of which dates back over 40,000 years in places.

I was so blown away by Ryan’s cultural stories about Aboriginal language and tribal laws such as The Payback, which involves a spear being thrust through your leg for misdemeanors. This is a law that still exists in Australian law today. For a less crude description read here…
http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/law/tribal-punishment-customary-law-payback.html

The next day we headed off to a Crocodile river cruise. We were on a boat with a view of jumping crocs, who were being fed/teased by very attractive girls with large slabs of red meat on industrial strength fishing rods. Sounds like a young man’s fantastical dream. At times it felt that way, especially in that baking heat.

We headed to Alice Springs and the Red Centre to visit Uluru which many know as Ayers Rock. Ayers Rock’s original indigenous title is in fact Uluru. Again I was impressed by modern Australia’s efforts to replace Aboriginal culture in society, including sacred sights like Uluru and Kata Tjuta.

I was surprised with the sheer size of Uluru. Usually when you see things or people in pictures or the telly, in real life they tend to be half the size! Nope, this concept didn’t make sense here on this hallowed ground. It was literally out of this world. The rock was Mars-like in texture.

Later that day we viewed a beautiful sunset at Uluru. Much of the trip was full of laughter, jokes and old Aussie songs on loop…

..however a moment of hush was upon us. We were all struck by the natural beauty of Uluru. In ten minutes we watched Uluru disappear into the darkness of the Outback from the vivid purples and reds in the sky. This is something that I will never forget.

Ok, I could write a proper essay here. I’m gonna stop and cut to the chase! Many of you are here to check out my video and photography from Australia’s Northern Territory. So here we go…

VIDEO: KISS FM UK – Big Outback Adventure in Australia’s Northern Territory