Darwin

I’ve visited a lot of cities in my life and it’s true to say that I’m normally pretty happy to get out of them; a city is just another city. But as far as cities go, I really like Darwin. Maybe it’s because it’s small enough not to feel like a city. It’s lack of shopping plazas are a good thing in my book. – okay, its got one and perhaps a few more shops in the city center would be a good thing but there certainly is no shortage of things to do in Darwin if you are a tourist.

Attractions center around World War II, the bombing of Darwin harbour, crocodiles and fishing so if they don’t float your boat then perhaps best to skip Darwin and go straight to the beautiful national parks. Also, don’t expect deregulated shopping hours; Darwinians seem to take their evenings and weekends seriously, and that’s probably a good thing.

While there is a lot to do and see in Darwin, just like in other cities it comes at a cost. Accomodation, tours, sites and attractions are all expensive and it doesn’t take long for a family to run up a fairly hefty bill. That’s the sort of thing that normally sends me running; I just get sick of continuously handing over the plastic.

We spent 7 nights in Darwin and really enjoyed it. The Esplanade is as beautiful as it was over twenty years ago when I last visited, but many of the old buildings have been replaced with new apartments.

We visited the Parap Fresh Produce Market which was absolutely jammed packed with traders and full of beautiful fresh produce. It felt like we had been transported back to Japan or elsewhere in Asia and we bought the children Japanese pancake filled with panko (sweet red bean) and some sticky coconut balls. We came away with fresh mango, paw paw and guava, all treats that we would rarely buy at home. We very cheaply jammed our fridges full of enough salad vegetables to last us the week.

Mum came to visit us for a couple of weeks and we picked her up from the airport before going to Stokes Hill Wharf for a casual dinner. The navy were running some exercises and there were a number of warships visiting from other countries, so there was a lot of activity around. The vegetarian options were a bit thin (this has been our experience across the Territory to date) but luckily we found some great pad thai.

The next day we visited the RFDS Darwin Tourist Facility where they used amazing technology including VR (virtual reality) goggles and holographs to tell the story of the bombing of Darwin Harbour and also the establishment of the RFDS. In the afternoon we visited the Aviation Museum which housed an enormous B52 Bomber Darwin’s Pride and a lot of other interesting aviation memorabilia.

We got into the swing of tourism central and visited Crocosaurus Cove, where we watched people pay huge amounts of money to get into a cage within a croc enclosure to get an up close and personal look at a large croc. Crocs showing no interest in the caged humans were enticed closer with a measly piece of chicken meat. I found the whole experience slightly disturbing and was left wondering about the ethics of such an activity. However we did enjoy the reptile display and learnt a lot about pythons. The kids also got to hold a child’s python and a small salt water crocodile.

We swam at Berry Springs, coaxing Mum into the water as well. What a lovely relaxing way to spend a couple of hours. We drove out to Dudley Point where we saw some of the decommissioned military structures including the largest gun in the southern hemisphere, which ironically was not finished in time for use during WW2 and decommissioned with the assistance of the Japanese. We also visited the Mindil Beach Market where we spent too much money on clothes and other trinkets.

The exhibitions in the Northern Territory Museum and Art Gallery were well worth seeing and we enjoyed lunch at the cafe which overlooked the beach.

Bouquets to the local councils for putting in the fantastic free water parks for families, despite Chase going on so many water slides at Leanyer that he threw up (consequently shutting them down for a subsequent chlorination treatment)!

Drew and I shared a wonderful dinner at Pee Wee’s at the East Point Recreation Reserve, our first date night for five months (thanks for the baby sitting Mum). It was a great way to finish off our time in Darwin, open air dining looking straight out into the inky black bay. The Fifty Shades of Chocolate dessert was to die for. We elected to share it and save the potentially nasty death that could have resulted from such an indulgence.

In short, we enjoyed Darwin but reflected that the majority of its claim to fame centered around war, destruction (Cyclone Tracy) and crocodiles. Although there was still much we hadn’t seen, we were ready to head back to the countryside.

Next stop, Kakadu.