National Parks of Australia - Northern Territory

Australia: The Land Where Time Began

National Parks of Australia - Northern Territory

Red Centre

Away from the coast the air over most of Australia is very dry most of the time. The result of this is that the intense sunlight seems brighter and the sky is bluer than near the coast, and the colours of the rocks and soils, mostly rich reds, yellows, and rusty browns, and the muted green of the sparse vegetation appear brighter than in wetter areas. The result can be truly spectacular landscapes of rock formations or vast expanses of sand that stretches to the horizon in all directions, with nothing to obscure the view in any direction, framed by a metallic blue sky, and the colours often change as the sun moves across the sky

At night the sky seems crowded with many more stars than seen on the coast, and they appear closer, and many more meteorites are seen than on the coast. The dawn is also spectacular, the dome of sky above the rising sun changing colours through the gamut of the rainbow until the sun first appears over the horizon.

The northern parts of the arid regions come under the influence of the summer monsoon in the wet season. At this time it is common in some places to have a storm every afternoon during the wet season, usually preceded by a wall of dust topped by the storm clouds. In the treeless areas these storms, especially at night, put on a fantastic thunder and lightening show, some lightning flashes appearing to travel across the whole sky.