Holiday Part 5: The End of the Line

Our final stop on this trip was Darwin. The first day was pretty quite and we just took a walk around town. Day two was more exciting. First we went to the East Point Military Museum and Reserve, which has a very extensive collection of weapons and wonderful displays regarding Australia and WWII. After our trip to this museum we took a tour around the city. The timing couldn't have been better, because as soon as we got on the bus the afternoon thunderstorm broke. While on the tour the guide discussed two events during the 19th century that levelled the city and helped shape the Darwin of today, the first being the Japanese bombings of WWII and the second being Cyclone Tracy in 1974.

On 19 February 1942, during the Pacific War, 242 Japanese warplanes attacked Darwin in two waves. It was the same fleet that had bombed Pearl Harbor, though a considerably larger number of bombs were dropped on Darwin. The attack killed at least 243 people and destroyed many public buildings. Eight allied ships were sunk in Darwin Harbour and 24 allied aircraft were destroyed. Between February 1942 and October 1943, the Japanese launched more than 60 air raids over Darwin.

Cyclone Tracy devastated the city in the early hours of Christmas Day 1974. The cyclone killed 64 people and injured thousands more. Many of those who died or were injured were struck by flying debris. Others perished in ships sunk in the harbour. More than 30,000 of the city's then 43,000 people were evacuated to cities and towns all over Australia immediately after the devastation of Tracy.

Darwin has now had to rebuild twice and I must say it's a lovely city with some really beautiful buildings. While on the tour we also passed some construction sites where great projects are underway that will make the city even better. While Darwin is aesthetically pleasing there isn't a whole lot to do. The tour took us around the city and to the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory that has a good exhibit about Cyclone Tracy and finally to the Darwin Botanical Garden where the flies chased us back on to the bus rather quickly.

Because the tour guide was so affable and very knowledgeable about Darwin and the surrounds we decided to join her the next day for a trip to Fogg Dam Nature Reserve, Windows on the Wetlands and the Jumping Crocodile Cruise. Darwin must have the most crocodiles (freshwater and saltwater) per capita than anywhere on earth, I think it's about 1 per person (making the number about 72,000). The Jumping Crocodile Cruise took us out on the Adelaide River, and when a crocodile was spotted one of the crew would tie a pork chop to a pole and hang it over the side of boat teasing the croc with the chop until it jumped up to eat it (see photo to the right). Scary and yet amazing at the same time.

The Saltwater Crocodile is the world's largest reptile. These amazing creatures are found on the northern coast of Australia and inland for up to 100 kms or more. The Saltwater Crocodile has been reported to grow to lengths of 7 metres, but the average size of a Saltwater Crocodile is 4 metres long. They reproduce in the wet season, with the female crocodile laying up to 60 eggs at a time. When the crocodiles are born, only a very small number of these survive in the wild and grow to be adult crocodiles (the temperature of the saltwater crocodile's egg will determine the sex of the new born crocodile.). The crocodile is now a protected species in Australia, however if human danger is a factor, the crocodile will be moved away from possible contact. Many years ago Australia used to export crocodile skin, this is now illegal.

Our last day in Darwin was spent at the Aviation Heritage Center walking around an amazing collection of aircraft, including a B-52. Besides having aircraft that date from the 1930s through today, the Center also has amazing displays about the Japanese bombing of Darwin and other military actions that involved the RAAF (Vietnam). The last tourist 'attraction' we went to was the Fannie Bay Gaol. As you might have guessed by now, we only got to see the outer wall because the museum was closed, making us 3-for-3 on this trip (not one jail was open).

So ends our holiday and we say good-bye to the rainy Top End and head for home.