I’ve always wanted to visit Darwin: at school in the 60’s we learnt about the terrifying bombings and loss of life during WWII, and I was horrified by the total devastation of Hurricane Tracy that flattened the town over Christmas 1974. But Darwin is a thriving centre of commerce, art and industry and Suzi and I spent a few days there, seeing all the sights and enjoying shopping.
We checked into our “camp ground” – stunning tropical gardens, cool swimming pool and bar then headed out to see the town….first up, we dropped into Australian Bush Traders, an indigenous owned art gallery & café in the downtown core. Stunning artworks and decorative pieces – wish I could have taken everything! Thanks to Ruby and Jeff for showing us around and making our purchase decisions even harder. Oh, by the way, their are happy to ship things overseas so take a look at their website: https://aboriginalbushtraders.com/ and tell them I sent you!
We strolled down the main shopping precinct, dropping in on more galleries and a fab bookstore. We walked the back alleys to find the most exciting street art ever!
Time for a quick nap after such a full day of shopping and exhausting humidity & heat. Eduardo kept me company while I snoozed.
Suzi and I enjoyed a delightful sunset dinner cruise, departing from the famed Stokes Hall Wharf.
How delightful….our tour guide had a wealth of information on the history of Darwin from the early settlers through WWII and the big hurricane of ’74. He pointed out all the important buildings and points of interest that Suzi and I visited the next day from the land. But it was all about the sunset….
Sailing back into port, we were greeted by a fantastic light show from the big Ferris wheel (I went up earlier but it was too slow and the seats were surrounded by plastic curtains so no great photo opps…urgh!)
Next day, we drove around the various beaches east of town and found all sorts of bays and stretches of sand. But remember, Darwin is home to saltwater crocs, sea snakes and sharks so no bathing for us…not even paddling!!
In the evening, we hit the famous Mindil Market overlooking the main beach and joined thousands of people watching the sunset.
The market is famous for its food trucks as well as trinkets and indigenous art. We had fun deciding what were were gonna eat but I was a little wary of the “giant octopus balls”…LOL
Time to bid farewell to Darwin and head south west to Broome, a town that’s been on my “bucket list” since childhood. Broome was and is the pearling capital of Australia and the s.w. Pacific region. So many legends of famous pearling luggers (boats) that plied the seas around the N.W. of Western Australia. Plus it’s recently been the location for a number of award-winning tv shows featuring our favourite actor, Aaron Pedersen, who starred in The Circuit and Mystery Road II shot in and around town. It’s rumoured he even lives there now. So bags are packed, Eduardo is excited to board the plane so off we go….
