Darwin

Darwin

Croc at Crocodylus Park

I was looking forward to relaxing while in Darwin and it didn't disappoint. I stayed for a week at the Peninsular Apartment Hotel on the edge of the centre square in Smith Street and spent a couple of those days doing absolutely nothing. 

Darwin is a very modern city and is beautiful. If it wasn't for the heat and humidity, I could easily live there. Everyone says you adapt to suit, and once you've lived there for a while, apparently no one leaves. That doesn't surprise me. It's a great place. I arrived near the end of the wet season, however, the monsoonal wet still brought rain and fantastic lightening storms late in most afternoons.

I couldn't visit Darwin without visiting Crocodylus Park in Berrimah. I'd been here before and nothing much had changed, although I'd never get sick of seeing a croc! I took the opportunity to hold another croc, this time a little larger and again, fortunately, its jaws were taped shut.

Scotty and Me, Lucy is taking the photo

While in Darwin I caught up with an old mate from Adelaide, Scotty. He's been in Darwin for the past 6 years and loves it here. He and his girlfriend, Lucy, own a house out near Crocodylus Park. We all hooked up a couple of times during the week, first at the pub, then dinner at a magnificent restaurant and drinks at nearby club the first night. A couple of days later, they invited me to a friends place in Casuarina for a BBQ tea. It was fantastic to meet their Top End mates and I loved catching up with Scotty again. It had been about 10 years since we all met up in Adelaide.

I also caught up with Dad for lunch one day at the marina. He's come to the Territory to do a little fishing for a couple of months. They are travelling with a caravan and boat and find all the rivers with huge barramundi and very large crocs. The Cullen Bay marina was terrific and twice I had lunch on the deck outside 'The Boatshed'. Barramundi was on the menu and was fantastic. I've included a picture of the view across the marina toward the city. It's quite a sight.

Darwin Marina at Cullen Bay

Spent a while one afternoon at the East Point Military Museum to learn more about how WWII reached Darwin in 1942. The museum is housed in the original concrete command post used by the army during WWII to plan the strategy for the defence of the Top End. It displayed a fascinating array of weapons, photographs and equipment used. The outside exhibit showed a variety of guns, vehicles and aviation. I also walked across the expansive lawns of the East Point fortress, looking at a number of bunkers, two meter thick concrete gun emplacements and look out towers protected by only a sheet of corrugated iron. The Japanese commenced air operation over the Northern Territory in late 1941, flying reconnaissance missions over Darwin and the region. On the 19th of February, 1942, the Japanese Navy attached Darwin with 188 carrier borne aircraft in a morning raid. 243 people, civilians and servicemen were killed, eight ships sunk and 23 aircraft were destroyed. This was the commencement of a total of 64 recorded raids over the Territory, 46 of these against Darwin.

Jumping Croc on Adelaide River

On the way out of Darwin I stopped off at the original and famous Adelaide River Jumping Crocodile Cruise. There were only about 10 of us on board so we took out the much smaller (and closer to the water!) Pathfinder boat, rather than the Adelaide River Queen. The Pathfinder is an open boat that takes you up close and personal to the jumping crocs. I had been on a cruise on this river about 10 years ago, so I knew what to expect. I wasn't disappointed. The photos show just how close you get. If you were game, or perhaps stupid, you could easily touch them. No way! Hands inside the edge of the boat at all times!

View from Pathfinder on Adelaide River