Day 7: Darwin City Sights

I was booked on a tour of Darwin this morning, so I made my way to the lobby where the coach was waiting. Normally I prefer to do things on my own, but Darwin and the Top End isn’t as easy to get around, especially without a vehicle. Plus, it’s also nice to get some commentary as well.

We made our way around the CBD, and down to the waterfront. Our guide, Anthony, explained that Darwin has quite a young population, which explained the many tall apartment blocks and backpacker hostels. Lots of people I encountered working were from Ireland, Scotland, England, etc, so there’s quite a transient workforce.

Our first stop was the Darwin Aviation Museum, located on the south side of the airport. The main attraction here is a retired B-52 gifted by the United States Air Force. The entire hangar was purpose built to fit the giant bomber.

Outside the museum was something of an aircraft graveyard, with several planes placed about in various states of disrepair.

Back in the coach, we made our way along East Point Road. There were many expensive houses along here which had a great view over Fannie Bay.

We made a stop at East Point, which had an excellent view of Darwin across the bay.

We then made our way to the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. Of particular interest was the exhibit on Cyclone Tracy. On Christmas Eve, 1974, Cyclone Tracy came through and absolutely devastated Darwin.

Having been rebuilt only 30 years earlier after the bombing of 1942, another rebuilding effort was required. 71 people were killed, and over 70% of Darwin’s buildings were destroyed. Many residents evacuated, never to return again.

Another exhibit featured Sweetheart the crocodile. Despite the name, Sweetheart was a male crocodile known for attacking boats around Darwin in the 1970s. In 1979, Sweetheart was caught with the intention of moving him elsewhere, but drowned while sedated. After death, he was taxidermied and moved to the museum.

After visiting the museum, we stopped by the Darwin Botanical Gardens. It was a nice oasis within the city, and the trees provided some shade from the oppressive heat. I wandered along a boardwalk which took me up to a community garden.

The tour ended around 13:00 and I was dropped back off at my hotel. I decided to spend the afternoon at the pool, which was quite refreshing.

I put on my sunglasses, only to have one of the lenses fall out. The rim had cracked, so I had another objective for the afternoon. I would need to pick up some new sunglasses as I’d be heading out to Kakadu the next day and wouldn’t have any stores around.

I made my way downtown and found a clothing shop on Mitchell Street. I picked up two pairs since there was a sale on, and when I went to the cashier, she told me they were listed at $1! The price tag showed $20, so I was happy for the 95% off. I probably should’ve picked up a couple more given my propensity to break sunglasses on holidays.

I had an early morning so I made my way back to bed for a nice rest.

Today by the numbers

Steps taken: 7,576

Daily high: 35

Museums visited: 2

Sunglasses broken: 1