NT FAST FACTS

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Category: Reviews and Editorials

1. The Northern Territory covers about one- sixth of the Australian continent. That’s 1.35 million square kilometres or about the combined area of France, Spain and Italy.
2. Four-fifths of the Territory lies within the tropics.
3. The bauxite deposits at Nhulunbuy are the third largest in Australia.
4. The Arltunga gold strike in 1887 (just east of Alice Springs) boosted the Territory’s population more than any other single event.
5. Tennant Creek was named after John Tennant, a Port Lincoln pastoralist who financially supported John McDouall Stuart on his ill-fated south-north explorations of Australia.
6. A quick quiz! When did Cyclone Tracy hit Darwin? (Answer below – don’t peek!)
7. If you want an extended holiday in the Territory, there are many types of casual work available. For example; cooking on a station, working in the hospitality industry, or being a WWOOFer (Willing Worker on Organic Farms) which is in exchange for food and accommodation.
8. Don’t forget the NT now has a 130km/h speed limit. It’s no longer unrestricted, so watch your speed!
9. Some 47 percent of NT’s forests are run by indigenous people.

10.  Darwin (named after naturalist Charles Darwin) is closer to Jakarta than Sydney and closer to Singapore than Melbourne.

Answer to point 6:

Christmas Day, 1974.