The Top End of Australia

Right in the far north of the country, lies the capital city of the Northern Territory. Its location, close to Indonesia, makes it one of the most Asian towns in Australia. There are many Asian tourists here, and lots of Asian eateries.
There is a lack of major attractions in the town itself, but the laid-back atmosphere, and the tropical settings, makes it a good place to visit. There are plenty of restaurants and nightlife to keep you amused in the evenings.
But the major attractions lie out of the city, in the form of national parks. Litchfield can be done as a day trip from the city and boosts huge termite mounds, tropical scenery, and natural pools near beautiful waterfalls. The most famous national park is probably Kakadu, with beautiful tropical scenery, creeks, more waterfalls, crocodiles, and aboriginal heritage.

Quick Tips:

Book tours to the national parks in the hostel you are staying. They should be able to work out your wishes and translate them to a tour with acceptable prices. The hostels normally work independently from the tour companies, so they will not force you to use a tour that you don't really like.
There are plenty of live music bars in the city centre, and plenty of places with Asian or Western cuisine, so you won't get bored very easily during the evening.

Best Way To Get Around:

As long as you stay in the city centre, keep on walking. The hostel/hotel you are staying in will most probably be located in the centre anyway—the Darwin nightlife is never far away.
To get further away, there are buses going all directions and to the international airport as well. If you want to visit one of the national parks, you can either, rent a car or a camper van or go with an organized tour. Last, but not least, from the harbour and from the marina you can take boat trips, like on Port Darwin bay.

A short walk away from the city centre there is this excellent budget hostel. For 1 night in a four-bed dorm you pay around A$17. It is located between banana and palm trees. There is a small swimming pool on-site, where it is good to cool down and relax from the humid tropical heat. There is Internet access and washing machines. The rooms are inside a small building that is cool inside. The friendly staff can book tours to all-natural highlights around Darwin and bus or plane tickets to other Australian destinations.

Litchfield is a gorgeous national park, not too far from Darwin. There are waterfalls tumbling down high sandstone cliffs, amazing termite mounds, great rock formations, crystal clear pools, and much more. After the park entrance near Batchelor, the first features that will strike you are the enormous termite mounds. Some of them, housing billions of the tiny insects, reach above 5m (15 feet). You can also see the magnetic termite mounds, called this because the mounds all point in the north-south direction. These smart animals probably build their mounds in this direction to get the most out of the sun's warmth.

If you drive further, you will get to the part with plenty of water. There are very nice waterfalls, like the Florence Falls. There are several beautiful resting spots in this area where you can have a picnic. There are also enough opportunities to get a swim in one of the water holes or creeks.

You can come here with a tour from Darwin, but we rented a car recommended by the staff of our hostel for one day (A$60) . You should bring your own food and drink, as there are no shops inside the park. You can get everything you need in Batchelor, the small gateway town to the park. When we were back on the road to Darwin, we stopped in Batchelor to get a drink and ended up getting back late in the evening.

Florence Falls is not far from the entrance to Litchfield N.P. at Batchelor, and can easily be reached by car. It consists of two waterfalls flowing next to each other, both entering a lake with cool water. The lake is a very good place to swim and cool down from the tropical temperatures. You can walk to the top of the waterfalls, where you will have a nice view on the surrounding areas. It's great to have a picnic on the edge of the lake.

There is another gorgeous national park next to Litchfield, in the Darwin area... the famous Kakadu National Park. The park is listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site. It's a unique combination of natural and cultural features. There are waterfalls and natural pools, creeks, rain forest, and aboriginal heritage. Depending on the season however, roads can become impassable due to heavy rainfall, and pools can be off-limits due to the danger of crocodiles. We were there during the end of March, which is at the end of the wet season. We were unlucky because there was so much rain in so many places, and the famous JimJim Falls were not reachable for us. We found a good alternative with the jumping-croc cruise on the Adelaide River. They feed the huge saltwater crocodiles with large chunks of meat, which creates great photo opportunities.

Kakadu is great for hikes. There are plenty of billabongs and pools along the way to take a dip in the fresh water. But beware of the crocs! An important aboriginal landmark is the Nourlangie Rock. It's quite a climb to get to the rock, but the reward is outstanding. There's a great view on the Kakadu scenery, and there are many aboriginal paintings on the rock face depicting people and animals in a distinct way. We came to Kakadu on a 3-day camping tour from Darwin. We paid about A$350, I think. It was a great experience, but not cheap. We travelled with a group of around eight people, a few of them were not the loveliest, in a 4WD van with one of the craziest guides I've ever seen. Whenever he saw some movement in the shrubbery he would run out of the car, and he always came back with a prize. This would be a snake, or some kind of lizard... whatever he felt like bringing us. Sleeping we did in big open tents with the whole group. Food was included and prepared by our guide. One time we had great hamburgers, and another time he even prepared barbecued kangaroo steak, a typical Aussie delight.

Darwin is located right at a bay called Port Darwin. The city stretches all the way to the Beagle Gulf, which is part of the Timor Sea. Right across Port Darwin, a 15-minute ferry ride will bring you to Mandorah. This is a splendid area to go for a hike, or to even just hold a picnic. It's very quiet here because most people who take the ferry continue right away to their destination. Close to where the ferry stops in Mandorah, there is a small cafe where you can have some light snacks and refreshments. There is a decent beach here as well. If you want to see the real gem of Mandorah, you should take a small unpaved road from the back of the cafe leading towards a magnificent sandy beach, but it's not easy to find. We were lucky to find it by accident. It was on this path that we also met our first, and last, kangaroo in the wild. If you go back to the city, you can also take the bus, which offers you some fine views across Port Darwin.