Darwin, Australia 2/21/18

Last stop in Australia.

Arrival in Darwin, Australia  6:00 AM 2/21/18

Sunrise in Darwin, Australia  2/21/18

Wallabies

More wallabies

Sunrise, Darwin Harbor.

Cyclone Tracy in 1974 blew down the Anglican Church except for the entry.

When the Anglican Church was rebuilt, they incorporated the original entry. 

Government building called the "Wedding Cake".

Departing Darwin in the afternoon.  

Darwin Harbor tug boat. 

Lighthouse on point leaving Darwin Harbor.  

Darwin is the cultural hub of the continent’s northernmost region, the Top End.  It is the largest city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory state.  Find a rich and lively arts and culture scene.  MAGNT = Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory has an excellent collection of art and artifacts that reflect the region and its indigenous people.  The temperature here is generally ten degrees Celsius warmer than Cairns.  It is the rainy season and they recently had 1.5 meters of rain.  There are two seasons in Darwin, the wet season and the dry season. 

Our included  Darwin City Tour was  four hours.  Darwin is a modern tropical capital with an intimate feel, set on a harbor twice the size of Sydney’s.  The tide can change eight meters.  S  The dock area water is controlled by locks.  See Christ Church Cathedral, a stunning octagonal church of pointed arches.  Travel along the esplanade to view the Government House which is the oldest European Building in the Northern Territory and home to its administrator.  The Old Admiralty House was once a government office and is now a restaurant.  From Lookout Point at East Point Reserve, we saw sweeping views of Australia’s Top End, the Timor Sea and Darwin Harbor.  Darwin is closer to Indonesia than it is to any Australian city.  Darwin has endured cyclones, earthquakes, bombing and invasion of white ants.  Darwin has been rebuilt four times.  Cyclone Tracy in 1974 destroyed 70% of the city.    Each year, a solar powered car race starts in Darwin and ends in Adelaide.  Competitors come from all over the world.  Darwin has an active motor sport complex including drag racing, a speed way, go carts, etc.  There is a deck chair theater, meaning you bring your chair and sit outside to watch a movie.

Classic red dirt areas/ outback.  Scenic mangroves.  Unspoiled remote beaches.  Quirky creatures.  More crocodiles than any where in the world.  This is not a beach day.  Freshies are fresh water crocs and more dangerous salties are saltwater crocodiles.   Think of this as the wild west of Australia.  Australians stopped hunting crocodiles in 1971 when there were only about 2000 left.  Now people can’t go near the water.  The Darwin Harbor has 20 permanent traps and take out 200 crocs each year.  In an attempt to control the population, people are taking the eggs from the nests.  About four people are eaten each year in Darwin.  Usually, two of them will be drunk Australians,

Gas is big in Darwin.  Japanese are building a $34 billion plant.  The people involved with the plant were negatively impacting the tourism industry because they were booking all the hotel rooms.  Developers built apartment buildings and then the Japanese provided employee housing.  As a result of this, 60% of available housing is empty.  Real estate is still very expensive with an average home costing $500,000.  Building is expensive because houses must meet a Category 5 cyclone standard and it is costly to bring materials here. 

The poplutation of Darwin, the capital of the Northern Territory, is about 140,000 with a total population of the entire Northern Territory at 240,000.  The fluid population that comes and goes includes defense force, seasonal workers, and indigenous people.  There are 112 women for every 100 men.  “The odds are good for women, but the goods are odd.”  

Darwin Airport is busiest at night as it does not have a curfew on flights.  The waterfront area has been developing for the last five years.  A convention center, wave pools, hotels, restaurants, and man-made lagoons are all happening.  The Chinese are building a 5 star resort with a casino.  Mangrove trees are good defense agains cyclones but are bad because of mosquitos.  Bay View an exclusive community was built among the mangroves and is dealing with mosquitos.   

FACEBOOK  Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia is closer to Indonesia than it is to any city in Australia.  The weather is tropical.  The tide can change eight meters, so the dock area water is controlled by locks.  Nature presents many challenges, such as cyclones, earthquakes and white ant invasions.  Darwin has been rebuilt four times.  Cyclone Tracy destroyed seventy percent of the city in 1974.  People can't go in the water because of the crocodiles.  Freshies are fresh water crocs and salties are saltwater crocodiles.  Salties are more dangerous and about four people are eaten each year in Darwin.  Darwin Harbor has twenty permanent traps and they remove 200 crocs each year.   Real estate is very expensive because all houses must meet a Category 5 cyclone standard.  The Chinese are building a five-star resort with a casino.  The waterfront area has been developing the last five years.  Darwin Airport is busiest at night as there is no curfew on flights. 

Today's picture is wallabies.  Wallabies are smaller than kangaroos.  They eat leaves and kangaroos eat grass.  Kangaroos have a dull coat and wallabies have a shiny coat.  Both are marsupials with large feet for jumping.   We drove around Darwin and saw the sights and we visited a museum which offered arts and artifacts for the region and its indigenous people.