Darwin

Yesterday (that must have been Wednesday). It is easy to lose track of what day it is. We ventured back in to town today. It is about 18 km into the centre of Darwin, but an easy drive along Tiger Brennan Drive, a dual lane highway into the centre. (Tiger Brennan was the Mayor when Cyclone Tracy went through).  The Stuart Hwy leads into town as well. 

Our first stop for the day was back to Stokes Hill Wharf. The P &O cruise ship had docked along side the wharf.  The wharf can take 2 cruise ships at a time. About 120 cruise ships visit Darwin each year, although most are during the summer; not the best time to visit Darwin. It is humid enough at the moment (although very bearable)

Our visit to the wharf was to the RFDS and Bombing of Darwin exhibition. Fortunately, not too busy, despite the cruise ship visitors. Many would have headed out to Kakadu.  The exhibitions were great. A hologram presentation of both was so informative. A great insight into outback life and medical services (or lack of) and the development of the RFDS.  The highlight was the virtual reality display. On go the headphones/goggles for a 3D  “video”. A warning comes on for loud noise, motion sickness etc.  It was an amazing experience. This wharf was directly hit by a bomb on 19th Feb. 1942 (the first of about 100 raids on Darwin over an 18 month period). The video had you right in the middle of the bombing. You were looking all around for the next bit of action.  It must have been an incredible time for those there on the day. It was incredible just being in this “pretend experience”.  I knew Darwin had been attacked during WW 2, but I had no idea of the magnitude of the destruction. You learn new things everyday 

Highly recommend this exhibition for Darwin visitors. 

Next was a wander through the main drag of Darwin, Smith St. The mall was doing a little better than Hargreaves Mall.  A stop over at the brewery, Six tanks, for a cold  beer and cider.

 

Later in the day, we headed back to town, via the northern suburb of Lee Point to pick up John and Sheila (regulars to Darwin) to head to Mindil Beach Market, held every Thursday and Sunday during the winter. The market is very popular because of the beach sunset.   Parking was easy, thanks to John and Sheila’s disability parking permit!  It was a good quality market, lots of decent stalls. Heaps of food vans, a great selection to choose from. It was a market where you take your chairs and byo drinks and eat on the lawn, wander over the sand dune and watch the sun set. Very pleasant way to spend an evening. The sunset wasn’t so great as there had been a Smokey, haze all day. Glad we got a good view on Tuesday on our sunset cruise. Despite the haze, there were plenty of people there to watch the sunset.   It was quieter than usual though, maybe the Darwin Show took away some.

Today, we did the last of our Darwin touring. A visit to another Military museum.  It gave a different perspective. Lots of interviews/stories from ordinary people. The museum had a collection of items from ships sunken during the first bombing, and many from other wars.  It was like a mini War Memorial.  There were over 100 raids on Darwin and surrounds from 19th Feb. 1942 to Nov 1943. 

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A wall of memorial. 250+ serviceman died during the first raid, and several civilians. Fortunately, most civilians had been evacuated after Pearl Harbour bombing 7 months earlier. It was then realised that Darwin could be a realistic target by the Japanese. 

The ground weapons were installed to fend off a sea attack.  However, the attacks were from the air, so these were, essentially, useless. 

A drive on to Cullen Bay, the ferry terminal for Tiwi Island.  A marina has been made, with a canal lock entrance. Some well heeled folk live in this area!

More shopping done, stocking up for the next five days. A swim followed, before we packed up in readiness of our getaway tomorrow. Important things to be done.  Russell’s job. I get to do some food prep.  We can’t take any fresh fruit or vegetables into WA, so it was use a few things before Monday. 

 

Farewell from Darwin.  Off to Litchfield National Park tomorrow. May not have much internet for a few days.