The northern area， centered on the capital， Darwin， is tropical with rich vegetation and a varied coastline. Beyond Darwin， 251km (155 miles) east， is World Heritagelisted Kakadu National Park， which is part of the 12，600 sq km (4500 sq mile) area of Arnhem Land. It is an area of vast flood plains and rocky escarpmentsescarpment n.悬崖， 断崖， 绝壁， 陡斜坡 steeped in natural and cultural heritage. Aboriginal people have lived here for at least 40，000 years. Katherine township is 314km (195 miles) from Darwin and a further 30km (20 miles) northeast is Nitmiluk (Katherine Gorge) National Park with 13 gorges towering up to 60m (200ft) high.
The southern part of the Northern Territory is centered on the town of Alice Springs， which is almost at the geographical center of Australia and the starting point of many of the Red Center，s unique and natural wonders， including Uluru (Ayers Rock) and the UluruKata Tjuta National Park. Other notable features of the Red Center are King，s Canyon， Ross River， Trephina， Ormiston and Glen Helen Gorge， the Olgas near Uluru (Ayers Rock) and the Devil，s Marbles at Tennant Creek. There are also other parks and reserves with abundant bird and animal life.
Queensland
Twoandahalf times the size of Texas or seven times the size of the United Kingdom， Queensland， more than half of which lies above the Tropic of Capricorn， is known as the “Sunshine State”. Within its borders are the Great Barrier Reef， numerous resort islands， kilometers of golden sandy beaches， national park forests， vast plains， lush rainforests， forested mountains and extensiveextensive adj.广大的， 广阔的， 广泛的 wilderness areas.
South Australia
Except for the State capital of Adelaide， South Australia is sparsely inhabited - it is four times the area of the UK. It is the country，s driest State， a region of rocky plains and desert landscape broken by the fertile winegrowing areas， which include the Barossa Valley. South Australia stretchesstretch v.伸展， 伸长 n.一段时间， 一段路程， 伸展 upwards to the Northern Territory， and eastwards to Queensland， New South Wales and Victoria and westwards to Western Australia. The countryside ranges from the beach resorts of the Adelaide suburbs to the vast expanses of isolated， semidesert outback； from the craggycraggy adj.多峭壁的， 崎岖的 mountains of Flinders Ranges to the meandering Murray River. Offshore is the popular Kangaroo Island. Adelaide nestles in the foothills of Mount Lofty Ranges.
Tasmania
