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Darwin. It’s a laid back place, mostly
friendly and people seem to have time to relax. We didn't see anyone in a big
rush all the time we were there, although the heat may have something to do
with that. Seriously warm, of course, mid 30's every day and then down to low
20's overnight.
Our
Darwin accommodation was only a short distance to the Darwin CBD and the
Casuarina Square Shopping Centre, the biggest mall in the Northern Territory.
We enjoyed the tropical landscaped gardens, swimming pool, spa and the Runway
Bar where we enjoyed a refreshing drink followed by some gourmet delights at
Essence Restaurant at the Darwin Airport Resort
Darwin itself a small city and is
situated on the coast of the Northern Territory. We drove down to the
waterfront and saw that it had been recently modernised over the last couple of
years. It was open with lots of expensive apartments, restaurants and cafes
with a wave pool for the families and open grassed areas for people to relax.
We finished walking around several stalls and made our way into the city
centre. Going past the governmental buildings there were several tourist signs
giving the history of various buildings and it was clear that the early years
of the city was hard and tough, especially with the weather as it is the
hottest part of Australia.
The city centre comprised of about 5
streets filled with shops. It was modern, clean and full of people for a Sunday
and we fell in love with the place. After a look at the various shops, we
headed off to the tunnels of Darwin. There is so much military history in the
area due to the coast line being so close to Japan and during the early part of
the 20th century the city was heavily armoured with weapons and manpower,
especially during the Second World War. Tunnels were built for fuel and
effectively they were fuel tanks. Now empty of fuel, tourists are allowed to
walk through these long underground tunnels and there are various pictures
going along the walls with information boards giving all information you could
ever ask about the tunnels. The place really wasn’t looked after and there
could have been more of an effort to give the place an updated look, however it
was interesting and it was something that we hadn’t seen before.
The next day we decided to go on a
‘jumping crocodile’ cruise. This involved a drive south of about an hour and a
bit into the semi outback going past smaller towns like Humpty Doo to Adelaide
River. The cruise was about 45 minutes long on a boat going along Adelaide
River with a Guy leaning over the top of the boat while holding what looked
like a broom handle with a hook on the end that had meat hanging off it. It was
explained that they had done the journey so often that they knew exactly where
the crocs were, and boy did they know where the big ones were. Once the
crocodile was located, they would tease it with the meat putting it in front of
their nose and then when the croc wanted the food in its mouth then the crew
would raise the meat in the air till the crocodile was using their body muscle
to lift them out of the water to get the meat, giving the effect of them
jumping. From where we were sitting in the boat, you could see at close hand
the crocs in their full glory, from their teeth, their bodies, the pure muscle
that they packed and how big they were. In the time we were out we saw plenty
of crocodiles but only 4 of them jumping.
From here we drove to Litchfield National
Park to Wangi Falls and had a salad lunch. A Salty had been spotted in the
waterfall pool so swimming had been prohibited but when we got there it had
been lifted. Didn’t stop us and we jumped in and played around the falls.
Second stop Buley Rock Hole. Kim went for
a dip but you couldn't really swim as there were too many people.
Third stop Florence Falls Plunge Pool
after a descent of 135 steps we had a nice swim. It was lovely and a little
crowed, but we still enjoyed it.
Final stop was Termite Mounds. We learnt
how Grass Termites build Cathedral Mounds and Tree Termites hollow out trees -
this is how didgeridoos are formed.
The next day we took a driving tour on
the Bombing of Darwin which was really interesting. A lot of people have no
idea the Japanese bombed Darwin during WWII. The Bombing of Darwin, also known
as the Battle of Darwin, on 19 February 1942 was both the first and the largest
single attack ever mounted by a foreign power on Australia. 242 Japanese
aircraft attacked ships in Darwin's Harbour, led by Mitsuo Fuchida who had led
the attack on Pearl Harbour, and the town's two airfields in an attempt to
prevent the Allies from using them as bases to respond to the invasions of
Timor and Java. The town was only lightly defended and the Japanese inflicted heavy
losses upon the Allied forces at little cost to themselves.
The urban areas of Darwin also suffered
some damage from the raids and there were a number of civilian casualties,
including the postmaster, his wife. The raids were the first and largest of
almost 100 air raids against Australia between 1942-43. We visited the key
sites and learnt about some of the people who lost their lives during the raids.
It also included a drive to the Military Museum, which is well worth a visit.
The Darwin Military Museum (DMM) was founded in the mid 1960s by Lieutenant
Colonel Jack Haydon and members of the Northern Territory branch of the Royal
Australian Artillery Association. The Association, throughout it's numerous
contacts, soon started accumulating war memorabilia from all over the
Territory, other parts of Australia and internationally. Since then, several
notable local collectors have also contributed greatly to the museum’s exhibits
including the newest The Defence of Darwin Experiance (DDE). Set in four acres
of tropical gardens by the sea, Darwin Military Museum and the Defence of
Darwin Experience are not just for the military enthusiast, but for every member
of the family.
Getting on the afternoon we headed to
Minidil Beach markets. The markets are an awesome location to browse local
handmade craft and to grab Darwin souvenirs.
Mindil Beach are the place in Darwin to
watch the sunset, and there is no better way to do it than to relax with a
delicious dinner in hand from one of the many food stalls. From Thai to
crocodile, there are so many culinary options you’ll be wishing you could visit
every week. As the sun dips into the Arafura Sea, food is the main attraction −
Thai, Sri Lankan, Indian, Chinese and Malaysian to Brazilian, Greek, Portuguese
and more. Colourful arts and crafts vendors peddle their wares - handmade
jewellery, natural remedies, artistic creations and unique fashion statements.
Shop till you drop, catch a fire show,
stop for a massage or be entertained by buskers, bands and talented performers
as you wind your way through the palm lined boulevards.
The next day we headed to Crocosaurus
Cove. One of the most surprising things about Crocosaurus Cove is its location.
You won’t find it out in the bush or hidden in the suburbs, but downtown, in
Darwin’s most lively entertainment precinct, Mitchell Street. In among the cool
bars and trendy eateries are some of the biggest and most dangerous crocs in
captivity. And they’ve been given monikers to suit their traits, like Chopper,
named after colourful underworld identity, Chopper Reid. The violent life of
this 790 kg beast has left him severely battle scarred and missing both front
feet. Or Houdini, who escaped from several croc traps before finally being
collared.
The big fellas who call Crocosaurus Cove
home are there because they’re injured, like Chopper, or they’ve become a
danger to livestock in the wild, or they’re less than sociable among their own
kind. Five and a half metre long Wendell ended up on Mitchell Street due to his
disagreeable attitude towards the ladies at Darwin Crocodile Farm. We arrived
in time for feeding. One way to truly appreciate the size of these monsters is
to see them next to a comparatively small human holding a short, meat-tipped
fishing pole. This is nerve tingling stuff and anyone contemplating a dip in a
Top End estuary should see the show.
In a flurry of splashing water and
snapping jaws a croc rushes forward for a quick snack before slowly retreating
to lay in wait just beneath the surface. You can also come face to face with
these giants on the safe side of their transparent enclosures. This is as close
as you can get to a croc without losing body parts. There are activities at
Croc Cove throughout the day and we were lucky enough to see a giant barramundi
being fed by a scuba diver in the Cove’s enormous freshwater aquarium, which is
also home to whiprays and sawfish.
Sawfish are odd creatures and it’s not
just the saw-like extension to their heads. Okay it’s mostly that, but they
also have peculiar human-like mouths that seemed to be coloured with just a
hint of pink lippy. The reptile house is home to the world’s largest collection
of Australian reptiles. Most of the animals are from the Top End, and include
deadly snakes, tiny lizards, goannas and even an albino python. A handler
wriggled a dead rat in front of the python’s nose and in a flash the snake had
coiled around its hapless victim. Over the next few minutes we saw a
rodent-sized lump slowly make its way towards the snake’s stomach. The
enclosures have been carefully designed to resemble each species’ natural
environment and it seems that happy reptiles are active reptiles. Nearly
everything was on the move.
Crocosaurus Cove is about as hands on as
an attraction housing some of the world’s deadliest creatures can be. There are
opportunities to hold a baby croc, stick your head in a transparent dome among
the hatchlings, and you can even fish for crocs with a hookless line, which Kim
did all. But the Cove’s most famous attraction is the Cage of Death. In singles
or pairs thrill seekers enter a perspex cage to be lowered into the lair of a
big croc. The price was not our cup of tea, so we passed.
A highlight another day was to feed the
fish at Aquascene where mullet, catfish, milkfish, bream and barramundi thrash
about at high tide eager to be fed handfuls of bread. Nestling in a lushly
wooded bay called Doctor’s Gully. Feeling those fish grabbing at the bread is a
very strange sensation and the shrieks of laughter from the many of children
there mingle, with informative commentary during feeding time. We were fascinated to see so much marine life
and the sense of whacky occasion this daily event evokes. The grounds are festooned with a weird and
wonderful collection of Asian statuary, inspired by discovering the find of a
small statue of the Taoist God Shou Lao in 1879, possibly left by the Chinese
settlers who landed here to mine the gold and silver.
The next day we woke a little bit tired,
so we decided to spend the day in the relaxed manner. We went to the Australian
Aviation Heritage Centre, the George Brown Darwin Botanic Gardens, Museum and
Art Gallery of the Northern Territory and, at the end of the day, to the safe
swimming beach at Darwin Waterfront. The enormous hangar housing the Heritage
Centre’s exhibits is almost completely filled with a Boeing B52. This 8-engine
behemoth, with its 56-metre wingspan, consumes a fair chunk of floor space and
towers above all the other aircraft and displays. But for such a monster it’s
remarkable how tiny the cockpit is. A retro Ansett ANA mobile stairway allows
visitors to climb to the cockpit window and peer into the pilots’ cramped
office. Inside the bomb bay there’s a theater showing a film outlining the
story of the plane’s arrival in Darwin.
The B52 is just the centerpiece among an
impressive collection of aircraft including a Mirage, a B25 Mitchell bomber, a
Huey helicopter, a replica Spitfire and the wreckage of a Japanese Zero,
brought down during the bombing of Darwin in World War 2.
In most places the local Botanical
Gardens have a special section for tropical plants, but in the Darwin Gardens
they’re pretty much everywhere. Only a short distance from the city centre,
this is a great place to stroll through a dense rainforest while still within
10 minutes of a latte. Cyclone Tracy all but destroyed the Gardens in 1974 but
thanks to the dedicated work of curator, George Brown, later mayor of Darwin,
they’re now better than ever. It is a good place to spend couple of hours in a
hot summer day. The Cyclone exhibit at the Museum shows Darwin before and
after, and serves as a chilling reminder of nature’s wild mood swings. Head
into a dark sound room and hear the cyclone’s fury, recorded by Father Ted
Collins in various locations around the city.
There’s much more to see here including
the indigenous art gallery with its clever Tjanpi grass Toyota, woven from
desert grass, the natural history exhibition and the preserved body of
Sweetheart, a ferocious 5.1 metre saltwater crocodile, responsible for a number
of attacks on boats in the ‘70s.
A relatively recent addition to Darwin is
the waterfront precinct with its modern accommodation, restaurants and cafes,
recreation lagoon and wave pool. We spent rest of the day in the wave pool and
then, after the dusk, had a dinner at one of the restaurants there.
After some lesser known highlight of a
day at the races a couple of city center markets and a nice night market in
Palmerston we headed back to Brisbane. We look forward to the trip back to the
Top End.
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| Nestled at the top of Australia’s Northern Territory, Darwin is a haven for those seeking a blend of adventure and relaxation in a tropical setting. Imagine yourself basking in the warmth of balmy nights, dining al fresco on delectable Asian-fusion cuisine, and mingling with the city’s colorful characters. Darwin’s rich tapestry of Aboriginal culture is proudly on display, with vibrant art adorning city galleries and streetscapes, inviting you to delve into an ancient heritage. Whether you’re cruising alongside formidable saltwater crocodiles, exploring the bustling waterfront precinct, or simply soaking in the laid-back atmosphere, Darwin promises a holiday experience that is as diverse as its landscape. |
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