Top End Attractions

The Top End of Australia is the north coast with the offshore islands of Melville and Bathurst, which along with large territories on the mainland (Arnhem Land, Cobourg Peninsula, Daly River) were given back to the Aborigines under the Aboriginal land rights legislation.

The charm of this region lies in its variety of landscape (flood plains, tropical rain forest, the Escarpment, eroded by rivers and waterfalls), its rich flora and fauna and, particularly in Kakadu National Park, the remains of ancient Aboriginal culture.

In spite of the destruction wrought by bombing and cyclones the central area of Darwin - the City - has preserved the regular rectangular layout devised by Surveyor-General George Goyder in 1869, similar to that of the other state capitals (except Sydney).