Top End Attractions

Pine Creek (pop. 390) is an interesting small settlement of gold-mining days with well-preserved and restored old buildings.Gold was found here in 1870 by men working on the Overland Telegraph Line, and it is still worked here by opencast methods. During the gold rush of the 1870s Chinese were brought in for the hard work in a hot climate, and Pine Creek became almost a Chinatown, with 1500 Chinese to only 100 whites. Anxiety about Chinese numerical preponderance led to legislation which banned further Chinese immigration from 1888. A railroad line from Darwin to Pine Creek was opened in 1889 but closed down in 1976.Pine Creek has shops, a police station, a filling station and a bank. Fishing, gold-fossicking and shooting trips are offered.A number of zinc-roofed prefabricated iron buildings have survived from the early 20th C - the railroad station, the Overland Telegraph repeater station and the Playford Club House. There are also some remains of the Chinese settlement.

59,700ha.The recently established Keep River National Park is an area of impressively weathered sandstone formations with a complicated geological structure (glacial and volcanic activity, marine sediments). Striking features in the landscape are the massive baobab trees. The old Auvergne Stock Route, a drove road to the Kimberley in West Australia, runs through the park 6km north of the Victoria Highway. There are Aboriginal rock paintings on the steep rock faces of the Keep River gorge.The state border with West Australia is also the western boundary of the National Park.

The Cobourg Peninsula is the second most northerly point on the Australian continent (after Cape York in Queensland). It lies within the territory of the Gurig, as the various Aboriginal clans in the area call themselves.

Bathurst and Melville Islands are separated from the mainland by the Clarence and Dundas Straits. Between the two islands is the narrow Apsley Strait.Melville Island is, after Tasmania, Australia's largest island. Both islands are Aboriginal territory and are inhabited by Tiwi tribes who had little contact with the mainland Aborigines until the end of the 19th C and have preserved their own distinctive culture and art. Tiwi means 'men'. The main center of these very progressive Aborigines is Nguiu (pop. 1200), at the southeastern tip of Bathurst Island.HistoryThe first Europeans in this area were the Dutch, who passed the islands on their way to Batavia. In 1824 Britain established a military post at Fort Dundas, near the present-day settlement of Pularumpi, to discourage French interest in the area, but the fort was abandoned only five years later. Indonesian fishermen had established contacts and trading relations with the Tiwi at an early stage. The Tiwi had steel axes and were therefore able to construct proper canoes, while the mainland Aborigines had only bark canoes. A Roman Catholic mission was established at Nguiu in 1911.The chief places in the north of Melville Island are Milikapiti and Pularumpi. Barra Base Lodge and Putjamirra are upmarket holiday centers.Organized tours to the holiday resorts run by the Tiwi, beautifully situated on the tropical sea, are an interesting introduction to the way of life and culture, the hunting and fishing of the Aborigines.

Gove Peninsula, one of the remotest parts of the Northern Territory, lies in the far northeast of Arnhem Aboriginal Land, very much off the tourist track. It can be reached only by all-terrain vehicles, and a permit is necessary for traveling in Aboriginal territory.The reward for the long and difficult journey lies in the wild coastal scenery, the beautiful empty beaches, the tropical vegetation and the excellent fishing in the rivers.

Mataranka (pop. 150), a supply point for local cattle stations and passing tourists. Near here is Elsey Station, the setting in 1902-03 of Jeannie Gunn's famous book We of the Never Never, which depicts life in the remote outback. Her husband, the station manager, died in 1903 and was buried in the Never Never cemetery, after which his widow returned to Melbourne and wrote her book, which became the subject of a film, shot here in 1981.

Adelaide River is a small settlement. The river Adelaide was discovered in 1839 by the Beagle expedition and named in honor of Queen Adelaide the Queen Mother.A military base was established at this strategic site during the Second World War and has left its mark in the form of the old arms depot on Snake Creek.

Daly River was named by John McDouall Stuart in 1862 after Dominic Daly, governor of South Australia 1862-8. It is popular with anglers and boating enthusiasts.The town of Daly River is a good base to explore the 60ha of Daly River Nature Park.

The red cliffs of Umbrawarra Gorge Nature Park feature a creek that runs through them. Swimming and walking trails alongside the creek allow visitors to explore the gorge. Trails alongside the gorge do not last long, to explore further visitors will have to swim and jump rocks.

23,000ha.The Wildman Reserve (named after Wildman Station) is an area of flood plains and waterholes round the Mary River.The most popular waterhole is Rock Hole (good fishing). Here water birds and crocodiles can be observed. Along the winding Mary River are monsoon rain forests and paperbark trees.

405ha.Berry Springs Nature Park attracts many visitors, particularly at weekends. Bathing in lakes supplied by springs and surrounded by beautiful tropical forest inhabited by large numbers of birds.

Fogg Dam is the supply and services center of the rural hinterland of Darwin. Access via asphalted all-weather road.

3107ha.Within the park are a number of ponds fed by hot springs. The most popular is the Hot Springs Lagoon.

The Victoria River roadhouse is beautifully situated at a crossing of the Victoria River, which is noted for its rugged sandstone gorges.