When you enter the Northern Territory (NT), the colour red is what strikes you first. The soil, the landscape and the famed Uluru Rock are all in hues of red.

The 'Red Heart' of Australia is the least populated area, with just 1% of all Australians - a mere 190,000- living on 20% of the Australian landmass. Full of meteorite craters, canyons and lost valleys, this territory, this untamed land, home to 38,000 aborigines, is the heart of the real Australia. Its capital, Darwin, though, is far from a backward outback town and is probably the most cosmopolitan city in Australia. If you didn’t go to the NT, then you really haven't seen Australia. NT isn't classified as a state, and though it is now an independent territory, many of its internal affairs are still looked after by the Federal Government in Canberra. A motion for statehood was narrowly defeated in 1998.