Hotels in the Northern Territory

From a 2-week March ’06 trip to AUSTRALIA, here are some of the hotels I stayed at in the Northern Territory. (Also see the September and January articles)

• Back in Alice Springs, I had reservations at the Best Western Elkira Motel (65 Bath St., Alice Springs, N.T. 0870, Australia; phone [08] 8952 1222, fax 8953 1370 or visit http://elkira.bestwestern.com.au). The room cost Aus$108 (US$80).

Alice Springs has a compact central district centered around Todd Mall, a shopping street. There, I met Nick Le Souëf, owner of the Lightning Ridge Opal Mines stores at 75 Todd Mall (www.opals.net.au). He was an interesting and informative gentleman, and his shop has an excellent inventory of gems on display and for sale — by far, the best in town.

I later walked to the top of Anzac Hill for a complete panorama of the Alice Springs area.

• That evening I enjoyed a special treat at Overlanders Steakhouse (72 Hartley St., Alice Springs; phone +61 8 8952 2159 or visit www.overlanders.com.au). I sampled kangaroo for the first time.

I selected the kangaroo fillet, served with a wild plum sauce, plus a garden salad and a bottle of 2001 Epiphany Cabernet Merlot. The bill came to Aus$64 (US$48) with tip. I would highly recommend this excellent steakhouse, which also features main courses of crocodile, camel, emu and barramundi.

In most areas on the Stuart Highway, outside the cities and towns there is no speed limit. I drove between 110 and 120 kilometers per hour (68-75 mph). This part of Australia is filled with termite mounds. They are so numerous that the landscape looks like one continuous chaotic D-Day cemetery in France.

• I stopped for lunch, joined by a number of “road trains,” extended tractor-trailers that pull three or more trailers, at the Ti Tree Roadhouse (Stuart Highway, Ti Tree, N.T. 0872; phone [08] 8956 9741).

I went on and soon reached the Devil’s Marbles Conservation Reserve, 10 kilometers north of Wauchope. The “marbles” are rock formations, which Aboriginal legend claims are eggs laid by the Rainbow Serpent during the Dreamtime. The flies were especially bad at the marbles, so I wasn’t inclined to stay.

• I stopped for the night in Tennant Creek at the Safari Lodge Motel (12 Davidson St., Tennant Creek, N.T. 0860; phone [08] 8962 2207, fax 3188 or e-mail safari@swtch.com.au), at Aus$75 (US$56). Dinner was a takeout anchovy pizza from Rocky’s Pizza, Aus$10 (US$7).

The roadhouses are about 100 kilometers apart on the Stuart Highway, but it is prudent to fill up your gas tank when you can. It is also prudent to carry a good supply of drinking water, just in case of an emergency.

There are many floodways on the Stuart Highway and they all have depth gauges. I encountered a floodway across the highway with 0.2 meters of running water. The area had been receiving a lot of rain, but this was my only encounter on the trip with water actually flowing across the highway.

I later asked a local how deep the water could be for me to safely cross in my Toyota Corolla. He looked at my light and low Toyota and said that he wouldn’t cross swift water any deeper than 0.3 meters in such a car. This was knowledge that I’m glad I didn’t need.

• I arrived in Katherine and checked into the Katherine Motel (3 Giles St., Katherine, N.T. 0851; phone [08] 8972 1622 or fax 3213 or visit www.katherinemotel.com), at Aus$75. The motel has a lovely little restaurant, and dinner was quite good — fettuccine al salmon, green salad and white wine for Aus$44 (US$33) with tip.

• In Darwin, capital of the Northern Territory, I had reservations at the Best Western Top End Motel (corner of Mitchell and Daly streets, Darwin, 0801; phone [08] 8981 6511 or fax 8941 1253. All Best Western reservations can also be made by calling 800/780-7234 or visiting www.bestwestern.com), at Aus$91 (US$68) per night.

Darwin is hot and humid due to its close proximity to the equator. I went for a walk to explore the city and found it filled with restaurants, bar-and-grills, pubs and backpackers’ facilities. It’s a party town.

• I found an Italian restaurant, Giuseppe’s (64 Smith St., Darwin; phone [08] 8941 3110) and enjoyed spaghetti putanesca, green salad and red wine for Aus$41 including tip.

The next morning I returned my rental car to the Hertz office, having driven a total of 2,531 kilometers. I was extremely pleased with the car and the service provided by Hertz for this rental.

• I had dinner at the Ducks Nuts Bar & Grill (76 Mitchell St., Darwin; phone [08] 8942 2122 or visit www.ducksnuts.com.au). A T-bone steak, mashed potatoes and salad plus Cabernet Merlot was Aus$43.50 with gratuities.

I checked out of the motel on Saturday morning. Since my flight didn’t leave Darwin until half past midnight the next morning, the motel provided me with a key to the guest lounge. I placed my luggage in the lounge, which had comfortable chairs where I could read while waiting. The lounge even had a full bathroom and shower for my use. I was free to come and go as I pleased, and I was the only one using it. This was an unexpected convenience and one that I’ve never seen provided free of charge anywhere else.

• I went to dinner at the Sirocco Restaurant, located in the lobby of the Holiday Inn Esplanade Darwin (The Esplanade, Darwin, 0801; phone [08] 8980 0800 or visit www.holiday-inn.com). I had osso buco, green salad and Lindeman’s Chardonnay for Aus$55 (US$41) including gratuities.

I had a reservation for the Airport Shuttle (Aus$9) and was picked up at the motel promptly at 10:40 p.m.

With e-tickets from the Expedia website, www.expedia.com, the one-way airfare to Sydney on Qantas was US$240. This was more than a hundred dollars less than what Qantas was offering on their own website for the exact same service.

ROGER HEWITT

San Jose, CA