Darwin – 2 to 21 September 2010

We like Darwin and were glad to be back there.

Tricia had to go to the US and John spent his time cleaning the van, riding bikes and reading.  The early storms meant that most people had left, and the normally full park was relatively deserted.  Fortunately  friends we had met while travelling, Emma and Rob were here so he had some company.

After Tricia came back we had a lovely day visiting the Rapid Creek and Nightcliff markets. Rapid Creek has lots of fresh vegetables and fruit. Nightcliff is more of a brunch spot.

We had brunch at the Box Jellyfish Cafe on Nightcliff beach. This is a trailer cafe run by Matthew a former aboriginal footballer who John had met on his bike rides when we stayed in Darwin the year before.

It has good coffee and is reputed to have the best bacon and egg sandwiches in Darwin. One can sit and watch dogs and their owners brave the crocodiles and swim on the beach.

From there we went to the Darwin Museum. This has a small collection but it is very well curated.
The exhibition comprises an excellent selection of Aboriginal Paintings, from the Hermannsburg School onwards.
There is a section on Cyclone Tracy, which demolished Darwin on Christmas Eve 1974.
There is a section on the evolutionary history of Crocodilians.
There is a short film on catching Sweetheart a 5.1 meter crocodile who took to attacking boats. As he was dangerous a team from the Territory Parks and Wildlife Commission caught him with a view to relocating him at a crocodile farm as a breeding crocodile but he died shortly thereafter, was stuffed and is now resides in the museum. The name Sweetheart comes from his former residence, Sweets Billabong on the Finiss River.
There is also a collection of unusual Boats from the Pacific Rim. Occasionally boats get blown off course and end up in Australia, or they bring a group of refugees colloquially known as boat people. Some of them are quite unique and have been bought by the museum and are being restored.

From the Museum we went to see the National Trust Collection of houses by architect Beni Burnett. Born in Mongolia and living as an adult in Tientsin and Singapore Burnett had an intuitive understanding of what was needed in a house in the tropics. There are four houses left at Myilly Point and we could see through the K house, also known as the Burnett house. Walls of louvers and casement windows meant that the house was very cool even without air conditioning. He also understood that one did not want too much thermal mass exposed to radiant heat. His house designs were graceful, original and very livable. Burnett was a Government Architect and his houses were designed for upper level public servants.

The next day we visited Fanny Bay Gaol. Fanny Bay Gaol was opened in 1883. From the outset this Gaol was thought to be badly positioned so not much money was spent on it and in 1979 prisoners were transferred to other locations. It was handed over to the Government and then housed Vietnamese Boat People in the children’s section for a while after which it was designated a historic site.