Tours at Ayers Rock provide opportunities to walk and climb the Rock, or enjoy a "barbie" under the stars within its mighty presence. However, climbing the rock is not really encouraged by the local Aboriginal community.

Equally as impressive, but not as popular as Ayers Rock, is Mt Olga, or Kata Tjuta as it is known to the Aborigines, which is located 50 km away.

Don't Miss:

• The sounds of silence dinner, a feast of Australian cuisine amid the red sand dunes.

• Uluru or Kata Tjuta at sunset.

• Guided walks around the base of Ayers Rock.  Stop to explore the caves, art sites, wildlife and hear Aboriginal Dreamtime stories.

• Visits to the Maruku Arts & Crafts visitor information centres.

• Night sky show.  A tour of the southern night sky by a resident astronomer.

• Explore the region on the back of a Harley Davidson.

Alice Springs

Alice Springs has been a centre of activity in Australia for thousands of years.  It is a traditional outback town, and a frontier capital which really came into its own in the last century when the first overland telegraph station was built there.  You can, in fact, visit the Telegraph Station Historical Reserve where the original buildings and equipment have been fully restored.

Alice Springs is also home to the Royal Flying Doctor Service, and the School of the Air.  You can watch and listen as teachers conduct lessons by radio to children on outback stations or in isolated areas.

There are many Aboriginal art galleries and heritage museums in the area, and you can buy authentic Aboriginal arts and crafts.

 Close by are to be found the MacDonnell Ranges, which offer magnificent gaps, gorges, waterholes and striking scenery; Chambers Pillar, a distinctive and historical sandstone formation which towers over surrounding desert dunes; and Rainbow Valley and the Ewaninga Rock carvings, an amazing collection of Aboriginal rock engravings.

Local tours include one where you can participate in boomerang or spear throwing, taste bush food including Witchetty grubs, photograph a fully decorated Corroboree and mingle with the Walpiri people.  And don't miss the opportunity of taking a camel ride, or floating aloft in a hot air balloon as the sun rises.

Kakadu National Park

In recent years, millions have visited this park, made famous by Paul Hogan in the film Crocodile Dundee.  257 kms. east of Darwin, this has been home to the Aboriginal people and their culture for 40,000 years.  It contains 20,000 square kms. of magnificent escarpments, ancient Dreamtime rock art, dense greenery, and vast wetlands teeming with wildlife.  Its attractions include the Nourlangie Rock and Ubirr Rock Art Galleries, Yellow Waters Billabong, and the thundering Jim Jim and Twin waterfalls.  Cruises operate along the East Alligator River and Yellow Waters Lagoon.  Accommodation ranges from backpacking and camping to the luxury of the crocodile-shaped Gagudju Crocodile Hotel.

Darwin

Darwin, the capital of the Northern Territory, is a modern picturesque harbour city with a multi-cultural population of 75,000.  Its year-round warm weather and outdoor lifestyle make it a great place to enjoy harbour cruising, sailing, dining in the open air and visiting craft markets.  It is the perfect base for "Top End" touring.  Don't miss the Australian Pearling Exhibition, depicting the early days of pearling, "Aquascene", where you can hand-feed a large variety of fish, the Darwin Crocodile Farm, or the Darwin Botanic Gardens, a wonderland for nature lovers set in a beautifully landscaped site.  Within a two hour drive of the city is the Litchfield National Park, featuring 143 square kms. of sandstone escarpments, spring-fed streams, spectacular waterfalls, safe swimming holes, rainforest, varied wildlife and walking tracks.  And don't forget to visit Mindil Beach, where you can find open-air markets selling exotic cuisines, and where, in August, the annual world-famous Beer Can Regatta is held.