Darwin, the capital of the Northern Territory. For us it was the first venture back into a big centre since we left Mackay. Spoiler alert – we were underwhelmed. It was nice enough, we got done what we needed (grocery shopping and other supplies), saw some sites and headed off. It felt like Cairns or Airlie Beach in a way, a big tourist town in need of some extra tourists. Its mojo was slightly off.
We had booked ourselves five nights in Darwin, we stayed in Palmerston after hearing that the airport flight paths made the Darwin caravan parks a little noisy. There was always going to be a day or two of down time and some exploration.
Military
Darwin is a hive of military activity and history. We wanted to do a little of it, but we know the girls are not yet old enough to really enjoy too much of that. The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) and Bombing of Darwin Museum was enough to fill that gap. It told the story of the life in Darwin under the threat of the Japanese and how critical Darwin was to the war effort. It’s a great museum and tells both stories beautifully. We left feeling for the people of Darwin during the period of the bombings and slightly outraged that the RFDS still relies upon donations in order to provide its vital services to Australians living in remote areas.
Waterfront Riding
We have always enjoyed exploring places on bikes. Darwin was our first opportunity to really explore in this way. We decided to ride from the waterfront precinct out to East Point. There is a dedicated shared path the whole route making it nice and easy to navigate and safe for the kids. The path is a good one, hugging the shoreline all the way to the end. It takes you along the Darwin beaches and cliffs, past some lookouts, the home of the Mindl Markets and Ski Club before taking to you around the circumference of East Point.
Besides being hot and sweaty, it was a great ride. East Point seemed to be a nice day use area, with a safe swimming lagoon, huge playground and plenty of space to relax and eat. There were some WWII relics to see as well as the magnificent ocean views. We decided to relax while the kids had some time in the playground before making the return trip. It was time to go when the sky clouded over, generating flashbacks to our ride in Hervey Bay.
Gardens, Art and Markets
We did of course do some other exploring and made the most of the free local attractions. We visited the botanic gardens, making use of their lovely shade in the heat and gave the kids an opportunity for them to find some dinosaurs, a dragon and huge crocodile.
Our airconditioned afternoon to the Art Gallery and Museum was time well spent. It was a chance to learn a little bit more about the other big disaster that hit Darwin, Cyclone Tracy and was also the home of Sweetheart the crocodile. It was also where we refilled our travellers karma, lending a hand to another travelling couple with a flat battery.
Despite being generally unswimmable due crocodiles, we did spend some time checking out Nightcliff and Lee Point. We left Darwin feeling uncertain. While we had certainly enjoyed our time there, it was a feeling of either “did we missing something?” or “was that it?”. I guess in the future if we return, we will figure it out.
Corroboree Billabong
The big ticket item for us was the sunset cruise at Corroboree Billabong. Many do this trip from Darwin, but we decided to stay at the roadhouse a short drive from the Billabong. It cut down our driving into Kakadu and meant we could see a few sites on our way into Kakadu the following day.
This tour was a great introduction to the wildlife of the billabongs in the top end of Australia. We saw plenty of crocodiles, both estuarine and freshwater and lots of birdlife.
