Aussie Dopers (or other travellers) – Let’s talk about Darwin

In My Humble Opinion
1

I have a big birthday coming up, and as part of this and, well, because I want to, my wife & I are taking close to four weeks away to travel around Australia, starting with a week in Darwin. We have all the other parts of the trip in place (nearly), but have left scoping out the northern part of the Northern Territory to last.

Firstly, what area is good to stay in the city? – I assume right downtown is best, maybe near Bicentennial Park, or is there some other place we should aim to base ourselves?

We’ll be out and about most of the time, hopefully to Litchfield or Kakadu Nat. parks, so my second question is: should we think about overnighting in these places (if possible?), or, say, Katherine, to see more and not burn so much time driving, or can they be seen satisfactorily as a day trip without too much hassle?

What are the ‘must sees’, in your opinion? Quirky, local stuff in Darwin and the big trips / walks / hikes / cycles / climbs in the area all welcome for consideration.

All input very welcome; thanks.

2

I was there 20 years ago so take this with a grain of salt, but Kakadu was a highlight for me when I visited. Katherine was pretty but I don’t remember anything that would make me recommend the extra driving. I spent 2 1/2 days in Kakadu and felt like I just scratched the surface, so I’d definitely recommend an overnight.

I’m sure the town of Darwin has changed enough that any of my suggestions would be woefully out of date.

3

It’s been 10 years or so since I lived there. Stay in the city, Darwin is quite small so there’s no need to be in any particular part but you’ll have immediate access to more stuff in the city. Anywhere along the esplanade is relatively picturesque and you can go for a morning walk along the walking paths there.

If this trip is soon, you’ll find Darwin to be moderately hot and very humid, generally in the low 30s every day with an overnight low in the mid to high 20s (about 77 - 90ºF), so a low temperature spread. Expect lots of thunderstorms. Humidity is around 80-90% at the moment.

Things to do:

  1. Litchfield was always a day trip for us but Kakadu would be good to stay overnight (I never did Kakadu). Don’t feed the goannas, you’ll just encourage them to annoy you, and definitely don’t cuddle them!

I don’t remember there being anything particularly interesting in Katherine other than thousands of cane toads, personally I wouldn’t go there at all but it’s about 3 hours driving so you could do it in a day but overnight would be more relaxed.

The Mindil Beach Markets are nice but they close for the wet season so unless you will be there after April they won’t be operating.

The Darwin Sailing Club and Ski Club are pleasant places for an evening drink, if you’re not averse to a bit of a backyard barbeque feel (plastic chairs and tables for instance.) I’m not sure how the sailing club works, I seem to recall that you had to sign in as a visitor but you didn’t have to be a member of any associated club. The Hanuman was always a favourite of ours for a nice asian meal. Check out Cullen Bay for some slightly more upmarket eating options or the Stokes Hill Wharf for what is essentially a water front food court.

There are plenty of walks in Litchfield and Kakadu, I’d recommend anything that terminates at a nice water hole as you’ll welcome any chance to escape the heat and humidity.

For short walks in town, try the East Point Reserve, you can also walk from Rapid Creek esplanade out to Casuarina Point via a bush track.

The Deck Chair Cinema has some stuff on over the wet season if you are interested in movies.

Other things to do include crocodile feeding, fish feeding on the Darwin Esplanade, parachuting, ferry to Mandorah, a sunset cruise on the harbour, and a fishing charter. I can’t think of much else though I’m sure there is plenty I’ve forgotten.

Water holes / lakes / and streams around Darwin will have crocodiles. Normally just fresh water crocs that you are unlikely to see and won’t bother you but sometimes in the wet the salt water crocs move inland from the sea as the waterways become passable for them. If there is any indication that a salt water croc is in the area, don’t swim, they are definitely dangerous. In the more popular swimming areas park staff will post signs if there is a known croc around, but be wary regardless (someone has to be the first to discover these salty visitors.)

Enjoy your trip!

4

We went to the NT for two weeks a few years ago. We hired a 4WD and camping equipment. Darwin is just a large town, though with several tourist attractions. My kids liked the crocodile place the best. I think downtown would be the best place to stay. It’s easy to get around if you have a car.

Litchfield is gorgeous, and an easy day trip. Kakadu is enormous, and a day trip would barely scratch the surface. We spent a week camping there. You could do Katherine (and, I assume, Katherine Gorge) as a day trip if you really wanted, if you don’t mind lots of driving, but spending a night there would be better, I think.

You can get plane/helicopter rides around Kakadu and Katherine Gorge. I haven’t done it, but people tend to rave about them.

Not a day trip from Darwin by any stretch, but Uluru and Kata Tjuta are really spectacular. We spent a day there, and I would have loved to spend longer.

5

Thanks guys, that’s a great help.

We’ll be arriving late March, so the rains/storms will no doubt still be around, so may influence our options somewhat.

Our second week is in the red centre- taking a camper from Alice to King’s Canyon and Uluru etc… And I think I’m all organised for that. We had originally planned to drive down to there from Darwin, but the distances are crazy! :wink: It’s still quite the drive from Alice to Uluru and back.

6

Yeah, I drove from Darwin to Adelaide once, it’s two days to Alice Springs / Uluru unless you want to spend like 16 hours driving in one go.

7

make sure you check out the Museum and Art Gallery at Bullocky Point, the Cyclone Tracy room is an experience (a very sobering experience to be sure), my dad used to be a tour operator in Darwin and he would take people there but never go into the room himself as it freaked him out after having experienced it live. The military museum at East Point is another must especially now that it has been majorly upgraded. I second the recommendation to check out the fish feeding at Aquascene. Litchfield is only an hour out of Darwin so it is an easy day trip, be aware that the waterholes can be dangerous so it might be wise to go with a tour company rather than by yourself. Kakadu I would do as an overnight as it is about 3 hours drive, do the Yellow Waters dawn or sunset cruise, check out the rock art at Nawulandja and Ubirr. Katherine is also 3 hours out of town but if you’re into gorgeous scenery then a gorge cruise would be worth it, particularly as the waters should be still fairly high as March is the tail end of the wet season. It will still be very humid and probably still raining in March so if you’re not used to high heat and high humidity it may knock you around a bit.

8

We took a couple day paddle trip up Katherine Gorge. It starts out bland (yes, cane toads) but gets great pretty quick and exponentially more speckie the further you go. Wish I could have kept going. I know you can hire a canoe, but might have to bring your own gear. Highly recommended.

9

Yes I had forgotten about the gorge, it is well worth it.

10

just had another thought - markets. Yes Mindil closes down over the wet season but Parap, Nightcliff, Rapid Creek and Coolalinga markets will all still be operating. Nightcliff is good if you want handicrafts and Parap is the best for food, particularly pawpaw salad and awesome laksas

11

Same here.
[ul]
[li] Go read Jeannie Gunn’s autobiographical account of the year 1902, We of the Never Never, then visit Elsey Station near Mataranka. The natural thermal pools near Mataranka were wonderful.[/li][li]Since you’re not driving to The Alice, you will miss Daly Waters and the historic pub. Daley Waters has an historic airfield. I affectionately call it Daly Waters International Airport. You have to visit it to understand why.[/li][/ul]
You said you are going The Alice as well. If you have time, consider:
[ul]
[li]Chambers Pillar. Don’t do it yourself. Take a 4WD tour.[/li][li]Rainbow Valley. Especially a late afternoon view. You know what I mean instantly if you’ve ever see The Flying Doctors TV program.[/li][li]South of Alice is Finke Gorge National Park. Don’t do it yourself. Take a 4WD tour. Take a tour there and go to Palm Valley.[/li][/ul]