EVEN the roadkill in Australia's Northern Territory takes your breath away.

There it was, lying by the roadside on our drive from Darwin towards Kakadu National Park, the blue and yellow carcass of a hooded parrot, which birdwatchers everywhere would give an arm and leg to behold, dead or alive.

Everywhere we turned, there was something to gape at - red-winged parrots, white-bellied sea eagles and blue-winged kookaburras that do not laugh. Sometimes, dingos, wallabies, even wild grumbys, ambled beside our car. Many times we braked and reversed to inspect, say, a frill-necked lizard hugging a tree or a giant 'cathedral' termite mound soaring over 4m tall.

It was hard not to let our jaws go slack at the dramatic 40,000-year-old sandstone escarpments, eerie canyons and rainforest ravines that lined the horizon - images ripped right out of National Geographic.

There are dreamy pandanus-fringed waterfalls cascading into lakes, such as Moline Rockhole, off the Kakadu Highway, which you can drive right up to for a cool afternoon swim. Occasionally, on a mountain top on the horizon, you spy the shifting, sun-baked silhouette of an aborigine heading home for the day.

After the rain, the fields come alive with a blaze of wild tropical flowers such as corcuma.

And, of course, the giant flies. Such constant companions are they in the Northern Territory, their (imaginary) buzzing in our ears continued even after we got home.

But such are the pressed down, shaken together, running over, almost sinfully excessive, natural endowments of the Northern Territory, home to World Heritage Site Kakadu National Park, the smaller but no less impressive Nitmiluk National Park and Ayers Rock. The area is a show-off moving feast of nature, most extravagant, at its most primal, luxuriant and flamboyant. Yet so easily accessible.

For example, a short half-hour climb up Gunwarddehwardde Look-out, 30km south of Bowali Visitor Centre in Kakadu National Park, rewards you with scenes of flood plains and billabongs right out of the movie Crocodile Dundee, which was shot there. Not to mention, the most stunning sunset you are likely to see.

If you are in search of mountain-top moments, peace and perspective, this weekend offers many opportunities to feel minuscule before mega Mother Nature.

There is also very little jostling, except with flies. There are only about 200,000 residents in the Northern Territory, Australia's most barren and unpopulated state.

Half of all human life here, known as Territorians, congregate in and around the capital of Darwin. A bit of a one-horse town, it only has one strip mall, one cinema, two supermarkets and a few coffee bars.

Although spartan, it is hard to dislike a capital where the official footwear is the slipper. The food is comfortingly Asian-infused, with Dili in Timor Leste nearly two hours away and Bali 2 1/2 hours away.

The people are also endearingly forthright - shopkeepers actually encourage you to 'buy a smaller pearl to go with your small ear'. Whoever heard of that?

There is also a hardy can-do stoicism, probably cultivated by 42 degree searing summers and folk's uncomplaining ability to live peaceably with so many maddening flies. In any case, you are not likely to tarry in Darwin longer than a day or two.

Tip: Before you head out, buy an A$8 (S$9.50) fly net. You will look less pretty in your pictures but it will save you desperately offering someone A$100 for theirs when you are swotting your way up a look-out one muggy afternoon. Pack insect repellent, a sun hat and your sense of childlike wonder.

What to see

• If you have always wanted to inspect the dental work of a crocodile as it leaps up on its hind legs, while tearing apart a steak, try a two-hour Jumping Crocodile Cruise Tour (tel: 8924-1124, www.darwindaytours.com, A$85 for adults and A$43 for children).

  About 60km from Darwin lies the Adelaide River, home to more than 1,600 crocodiles. Its claim to fame is that crocodiles - usually mired in mud under shady trees - hardly ever make an appearance. But since the cold-blooded creatures know the rumble of these glassed-up tour boats, they launch themselves from their hiding places to feed on meat slabs carefully lowered from the top deck, to squeals and camera flashes.

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• Take a two-hour flat-bottom boat ride through the gorgeous Katherine Gorge at Nitmiluk National Park, some 340km south-east of Darwin. Nitmiluk Tours (www.nitmiluktours.com.au, tel: 8972-1253) offers two-hour gorge safaris for A$43.50 for adults and A$17 for children. You can also canoe or explore the hiking trails on your own.

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• It is worth shelling out A$185 for an hour of aerial acrobatics on an eight-seater Kakadu Air Services plane (tel: 8979-2411, www.kakaduair.com.au), just to get an overview of the sheer scale of Kakadu National Park.

  The lift-off offers mesmerising views of winding rivers, flood plains, escarpments and wetlands. Suddenly, the plane lunges to one side, to unveil the cascading waterfalls, Twin Falls and Jim Jim Falls. It swoops lower as it circles the roaring falls, till passengers start clutching their barf bags.

Where to sleep

• Overlooking Darwin Harbour but with a back entrance to Mitchell Street, the award-winning four-star hotel, Saville Park Suites (88 The Esplanade, tel: 8943-4333) is a smart bet for families. Suites come with kitchen and laundry facilities, and start at A$260 a night.

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• A 2 1/2-hour drive from Darwin, the crocodile-shaped Gagudju Crocodile Holiday Inn (1 Flinders Street, Jabiru, tel: 8979-9000), which is co-owned by the area's aborigines, is a convenient base to explore Kakadu National Park.

  Enter through its jaw, then ascend its ribs. At night, the chocolates on your pillow are reptile-shaped. Its restaurant, Escarpment, serves Outback delicacies like buffalo, emu and crocodile meat. Rooms start at A$160 a night.

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• Katherine In Town Bed & Breakfast (11-13 Pearce Street, Katherine, tel: 8971-1005) is a cosy option to explore Katherine Gorge and Edith Falls. Bunk in with host Jan in her eclectically furnished home with Victorian-themed bedrooms. You are welcome to play pool, watch her DVDs or soak in her jacuzzi. And she does a mean bacon fry-up for breakfast. A double room costs A$160 a night.

Where to eat

• Spice meets style at Hanuman (28 Mitchell Street, tel: 8941-3500), a Thai, Nonya and Tandoori restaurant deemed to be Darwin's best. Try the lemongrass oysters (A$14) and roasted duck red curry with lychees, kaffir lime and sweet basil (A$21).

  There, its celebrity chef-owner Jimmy Shu has trained his staff to pronounce 'sambal' and offer it on request.

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• Buzz Cafe (The Slipway, Cullen Bay, tel: 8941-1141) is a veritable local institution. This bustling, modern Australian waterfront cafe is known for its 'loos with a view', and its generously proportioned lamb shanks (A$29.80) and char-grilled beef fillets (A$39.50).

  Wash it down with raspberry risotto for dessert (A$9.50) and a juicy mango daiquiri (A$13).

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• Join the locals who converge at Mindil Beach Sunset Market from 5.30pm on Thursday and Sunday nights with mats, beer and children to watch the sunset.

  When they get peckish, they wade through the pasar malam-style Thai, Sri Lankan, Malaysian, Greek and Portuguese foodstalls for satay octopus (A$3.50) or laksa (A$5.50).

  There is also tropical fruit, batik wraps, handmade soaps and Harley Davidson rides on sale, techno-didgeridoo performances and a cacophony of street artists.

Where to shop

• Not much to buy here, unless you are in the market for aboriginal art. Have a browse in Aboriginal Fine Arts Gallery, on the corner of Knuckey and Mitchell streets (tel: 8981-1315, www.aaia.com.au).

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• Some of the world's finest South Sea pearls can be found at Paspaley Pearls, in Bennett Street off The Mall (tel: 8982-5515, www.paspaleypearls.com).

  Coloured diamonds from the Argyle Diamond Mine in Kununurra are a big thing.

  Visit Creative Jewellers at 27 Smith Street, The Mall (tel: 8941-1233).

Getting there: Tiger Airways flies four times a week to Darwin International Airport. Fares start at $81.98 one way. This does not include taxes of $298 (return basis).