Northern Territory Trip

Making incredible memories in the NT

The Northern Territory camp was the most amazing experience, and I know that I will never forget the memories and life lessons that I was lucky enough to take away from the trip. We flew into Alice Springs and spent three days exploring and swimming in the most beautiful water holes and gorges. We were lucky enough to have a rainbow serpent around our necks, and a blue tongue lick our noses!

Next, we traveled out to Lilla, a remote indigenous community, and this was where I really felt like I connected with the country. Our tour guides Rael and Luke took us into the heart of Lilla, and just being able to sit in silence and take in the beautiful land around us was insane. While in Lilla we also learnt much more about the song lines and  Tjukurpa, which gave us a greater understanding of the significance and importance of the land and creation. Also a shout out to Lanesha one of the local indigenous kids at Lilla who managed to become best friends with everyone while we were there.

After Lilla, we moved on to Uluru and Kata Tjuta, which were both more amazing than I ever imagined. Being able to watch the sun setting on the rocks, and the starry night sky in our swags was something that a camera can't capture, so I will hold onto those memories forever.

I am so grateful to have been able to become closer friends with people I would have otherwise never talked to in school, and palya to the teachers for making this trip happen and supporting everyone the whole way.

Eve W-O

While I certainly wasn’t boarding the plane with many doubts about what was to come, nothing could have prepared me for the life changing experience that was the 2024 Northern Territory trip. The tour brought us on a deeply immersive eight day journey through the most spectacular, extraordinary part of Australia, and I don’t think I’ll ever forget it. 

During our time in Alice Springs, Lilla and Uluru, we were given so many opportunities to truly immerse ourselves in the magic of central Australia. Being welcomed onto country by the Indigenous elders of the area granted us access to many special stories and places. It was such an honour to learn the Tjukurrpa (Anangu word for creation) of the area and be trusted to visit their sacred sites, which included some of the most serene and beautiful waterholes, rock formations and wildlife this planet has to offer. Some of the best moments of the trip were when everyone sat in silence, listening to the sound of the water falling or looking out over breathtaking King’s Canyon, reflecting and taking in their surroundings. 

Even though everyday was packed with incredible walks, jokes, lessons and places, my favourite part of the trip was actually bedtime. We slept in swags for five of the seven nights - and despite my very comfy mattress at home, I have never had a better week’s sleep in my life than during this trip. Looking up at the stars, the moon and the milky way made me feel so at peace. Even better was that we visited the Alice Springs observatory on our first night, meaning I could spot the constellations that they had taught us every time the stars came out. Each time we were woken by the sound of our tour guide Rael playing the didgeridoo, I would immediately look forward the coming night when I could crawl back into my sleeping bag and stare into at the night sky for hours, watching shooting stars and being oh so cozy. 

Overall, my main takeaway from the experience is the importance of respect, patience and appreciation of our surroundings. The people of Lilla, our tour guides and the country itself taught me the value of slowing down and take in the moment. It’s so important to be aware of history, culture and their ongoing significance to the current day, and it’s such a privilege to be able to experience them firsthand. I’m so grateful I was given the opportunity to go on this trip and I can’t emphasise enough how much I recommend everybody take a trip to the red centre, to witness the beauty and magic of the region, people and tradition for themselves. 

Matilda R

The NT trip was phenomenal experience for everyone who went. We first met our tour guides Luke and Rael, who have so much passion for indigenous culture and teaching it. From them we learned so many stories and valuable lessons, as well as words such as 'palya' meaning many things including thanks and hello, and 'wala wala' meaning hurry up, which was very useful on long hikes. After the first day we were joined by the fan favourite tour guide, Banjo! (who was Lukes’s dog)  who would join all our bus rides and over the 8 days probably received enough pats to last a lifetime.

The first place we spent the night at was a caravan park in Alice springs. We did so many memorable here, such as hikes, swimming in Elery Creek waterhole, as well as a variety of shows such as a star show a bird show, and even a reptile show, where we learned all the ways we can be killed in the outback. After spending a whole day swimming in waterholes and admiring the beauty of Alice, on the third day we took a 5-hour bus ride to our next place to stay. We had the privilege of staying at Lilla. A remote indigenous community who welcomed us with a smoking ceremony. An elder there named Phillip took us on a walk, my personal highlight of the trip. There we learned about Lilla and the stories connecting it to Uluru and spent some time in silence admiring the waterhole it was named after. Lilla meaning 'sweet water', as all the tap water there comes from the waterhole and is naturally filtered, making it the best tasting water you'll find in Australia. Our first night falling asleep under the stars was absolutely breathtaking, you can really tell the difference in light pollution based on the brightness of the sky, which we got to fully appreciate after the star show we had seen teaching us all about the constellations.

 We ended the trip with 3 days at a campsite near Uluru. over the 3 days we completed the entire Mala walk around Uluru, taking our time to appreciate the unbelievably tall rock. We learned that Uluru is taller than the Eiffel tower, and that the part of Uluru we see is only 10% of Uluru, meaning the other 90% was beneath us.

Overall the trip to the Northern territory was an incredible experience which I’m sure anyone who went will never forget.

Alex W and Amelia G