Darwin Defies Definition

​My final days in Darwin offered new perspectives on the region. They were also some of the most random days of my entire trip, with unexpected activities and characters. The whirlwind was largely orchestrated by my Servas host, Judy, who generously accepted me as a guest for two nights. I also visited the Tiwi Islands for a wonderful window into Aboriginal culture.

​Judy’s place was in a neighborhood that was originally built as housing for government officials who relocated to Darwin. It was the tropical version of the leafy suburbs, with palms and backyard pools, and had largely survived the 1974 cyclone. The typical Darwin house was two stories tall, with the main rooms on the second floor and the garage or laundry below. I initially thought this design was related to flooding, but it’s actually for catching the ocean breeze – similar to the Queenslander style homes in Brisbane. I stayed in a guest room on the lower level, where multiple fans were needed to survive the heat. At least my laundry dried quickly!

When I first arrived, Judy’s son was also there. He lived in a nearby town called Humpty Doo and had a part-time job running fishing charters. Today he had caught a “goldie” (golden snapper) or two, but otherwise the fish weren’t biting. On bountiful days, he might get a portion of the haul to bring home. He headed home to rest, as the fishing schedule was skewed early in the day. On the theme of fishing, the city council runs a lake fishing competition where people who catch one of 100 specially tagged barramundi can win vouchers for local businesses.

Judy had plans to see a movie at the Deckchair Cinema, which was celebrating its 30th anniversary. She had invited me in advance, but I wasn’t sure if my tour would drop me off in time, so I had declined. Tickets were now sold out, but she offered to drop me off at a Nepalese Festival happening by the waterfront. After 5 days of basic road trip meals, some fresh momos sounded pretty good.
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We carpooled with Judy’s friends, originally from the UK, who were also going to the movie. The car had bumper stickers of a Scottish flag and “Albo for PM.” The driver handed a physical copy of a British newspaper to the back seat, and the recipient grumbled over a front page article about Rishi Sunak. We encountered a Darwin-sized traffic jam by the waterfront. Apparently the worst it gets, but mild by the big city standard.

​The Nepalese Festival was in full swing. There was a mainstage with dancing and singing, a model of Mt. Everest, a tent with arts and crafts, and of course, a food courtyard. People were dressed in beautiful traditional clothing, like saris, vests, and Dhaka topi hats. I had a mango lassi and a round of fresh momos, assembled by a cooking crew in realtime. Since I had explored the waterfront on foot when I first arrived in Darwin, I knew there was an elevator to a bridge with views overlooking the whole extravaganza, which was a great place to soak in the scene.

I had several hours to kill, so I found a quiet patch of grass and sorted through Kakadu photos, until the sprinklers turned on and I had to abruptly relocate. As a consolation prize, I found some delicious gelato.
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The fireworks show at the end was worth the wait. The waterfront area was the perfect sized venue, and the dazzling colors were reflected in the manmade lagoon. The unobstructed views were a nice contrast to the tree cover during my last fireworks show, in Sydney’s botanical gardens on NYE.

On the drive back to Judy’s, we traveled along the lively Mitchell Street and passed by the Youth Shack, Crocasaurus Cove, and Shenanigan’s. Seeing the Darwin party scene from inside a car with a bunch of old ladies was a funny contrast from my initial experience staying in the middle of it.

That evening, I finally had a chance to chat with Judy and get to know her better. She came across as practical and strong-willed, possibly from her upbringing on a farm near Adelaide. Her career was in teaching; she had moved to Darwin around 40 years ago for a teaching job. Now in retirement, she stays involved with her local church group, volunteering at its Op Shop, and tutoring immigrants who are learning English. Like many Servas hosts, she had traveled extensively in Asia and Africa, and told stories about church mission trips to Cambodia. She was a generous host, but I could tell she was used to running the show. Many of her anecdotes involved triumphing over other people, whether it was errant schoolkids, police officers who mistakenly pulled her over, or tradies who tried to overcharge her for repairs. I had to admire her grit. The NT isn’t for the faint of heart.
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The next day, my only goal was checking out the MAGNT, a local museum and gallery. Judy didn’t think I would need much time there and offered to take me for a driving tour in the morning. It ended up lasting about 2 hours. I felt that suburban Darwin didn't merit such an extensive tour, but by the time I realized how far we had driven, it was too late. We stopped at her daughter in law's house, where Judy spent 15 minutes trying to fix the irrigation system, further prolonging the outing. We did make two stops that I enjoyed. One was at a local beach that was spacious and relaxed.

​Another was at the Rapid Creek Market, which specialized in Asian produce and food. I picked up a “paw paw” (papaya) salad for lunch, which was made to order with fresh ingredients and a giant mortar and pestle. Judy didn’t care for Asian food, and said she didn’t visit the market often, which made me a bit sad, as it was an excellent market.

​I finally made it to the MAGNT museum, much later than I was hoping. My visit was ultimately cut short by the closing time, but I thoroughly enjoyed browsing its extensive galleries. They spanned modern Australian art, local flora and fauna, Cyclone Tracy, Aboriginal culture, early 1900s settler history, and a huge open-air pavilion of boats and ships. Its best know exhibit was a taxidermy crocodile named Sweetheart, which became Darwin's unofficial ambassador at world conventions.

​The 1900s history was particularly interesting. The Northern Territory was originally part of South Australia, but eventually was handed back to the federal government in order to more rigorously invest in the NT’s development. In the early days, Chinese migrants outnumbered white migrants, but many were expelled when the White Australia policy was implemented nationwide. There was info about the pearling industry, where mother-of-pearl shells were cut into buttons to satisfy the international market before plastic buttons were widespread. I learned that Qantas is actually an acronym – Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services – which helped link Darwin to the rest of the world. ​The shipyard of boats was also neat, ranging from small canoes to large pearling ships and Vietnamese refugee ships.

It was a short walk from the museum to Mindil Beach, where I had a second round at the Sunset Market. I browsed souvenirs, had Chinese food for dinner, and watched the sunset. It was significantly more crowded than the previous week – a sign that peak season was imminent.

​At the market, I purchased a piece of artwork that caught my eye. I learned the artist was the shop owner’s brother! I also bought some gluten free cakes and brought them back to share with Judy, who I knew had a sweet tooth.

​Since Judy worked at an Op Shop (thrift store) she happened to have a collection of Lego that she was sorting through. When I mentioned my passion for Lego, she brought out the tubs and we attempted to piece together a complete set. It was fun hearing her life stories while rummaging through the familiar bricks. She recounted the hardships of farm life, like keeping food cold using a low tech refrigerator called a “Coolgardie Safe.” She had sadly lost a sister to cancer, at a time when the radiation treatments were too strong and caused collateral damage. She had a house in Adelaide, which she rented as an AirBNB while not there visiting her children. At the end of the evening, we decided the Lego sets were fine mixed together. She was planning to donate them to kids in Cambodia.

A day trip to the Tiwi Islands was my final outing. The tour went to Bathurst Island, one of the two large islands in the group. The other, which is less populated, is Melville Island – Australia’s 2nd largest island, between Tasmania and Kangaroo Island.
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It was a 2+ hour SeaLink ferry ride from Darwin, across the Beagle Gulf, and to the town of Wurrumiyanga on Bathurst Island. The sea was calm, and I sat outdoors on the second story to enjoy the breeze. A little light conversation with a lady from Melbourne and some Americans from Colorado helped pass the time.

When we arrived on the island, we were sorted into groups based on the version of the tour that we booked. Mine had a focus on Tiwi screen printing, though it had a lot of overlap with the regular itinerary.
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Our guide was a cheerful and charismatic local whose name was Vivian, but went by the nickname Baffi. He was dressed in a turquoise tank top with a rainbow sash, and was both playful and informative.

​We started with a traditional smoking ceremony. A group of 7 or 8 Tiwi men and women introduced themselves one-by-one, and our tour group did the same, including where we were from. I was the only non-Australian out of the dozen or so. Overall, the other guests were extremely inquisitive, both about Tiwi culture and about my own story. The tour was expensive (almost $300 USD) and had clearly filtered out everyone except the most die-hard cultural travelers.

The smoking ceremony is an important Aboriginal ritual performed many places in the country, and it was special to participate in one. Our hosts filled the fire pit with leaves and started the blaze with a lighter. Then, we all walked around the fire pit in a circle, absorbing the smoke as a symbolic cleansing, moving to the beat of wooden clapsticks. We took our seats, and the locals performed short dances that imitated the movements of different animals, like sharks, crocodiles, or brumbies (wild horses). Baffi explained that the real dances were significantly longer – this was just the TikTok version! I had a brief chat with one of the Tiwi men who had visited California and enjoyed it. By coincidence, this was the first Monday tour of the year, and the locals seemed especially energetic. I imagine by the end of the season, the ceremony would be a little more perfunctory. Lucky us!

​A light snack of coffee and damper bread with jam was served. Then Baffi led us on a walking tour through the town. He explained some of the traditional artifacts, like pukumani (burial poles) and tunga (bark baskets). Many of the art galleries in the big cities like Sydney and Canberra had pukumani on display; here I was in their place of origin! Baffi also explained the Kurlama yam ceremony, a 3-day event where the first yams of the season are ritually cooked. He told us some of the creation stories, like Murtankala forming the land and Purukuparli mourning his son, the origin of the pukumani funeral rituals. He also mentioned that Tiwi people avoid looking at comets and rainbows.

​On the walking tour, we made a quick visit to a museum that explained some other noteworthy Tiwi chapters. After the bombing of Darwin, a Japanese fighter pilot crash landed on Melville Island. The pilot was captured by a Tiwi man and turned over to the Australian military. Another room celebrated the Tiwi islanders' enthusiasm for Australian rules football. Despite being a small community of around 2,000 people, they have enough players for 8 club footy teams! Even the 90-year-old Catholic nun was driving around in a Sydney Swans electric wheelchair.

​The next stop on the tour was an old Catholic Church, built in 1941. The altar was decorated with beautiful Tiwi designs, though these were a more recent addition. The checkered history of the missionaries in the Tiwi Islands wasn’t directly addressed in the tour, but I gathered that some of the island’s churches hosted (and abused) the forcibly sent children of the Stolen Generation. At the same time, the missionaries introduced some of the textile printing techniques that helped turn the Tiwi Islands into an art destination. It’s hard to untangle these positive and negative influences.

The lunch that was included was surprisingly tasty and generous with portions. I chatted with some gregarious Aussies, who told stories about visiting Native American reservations in the US. Then it was time for the hands-on portion of the tour – a screen-printing workshop!
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We donned aprons, looked over the potential patterns, and brainstormed color schemes. We had a choice of making a tea towel or a t-shirt. The master artist, a fellow named Allan, showed us the technique for scraping the paint across the screen. I was indecisive about which pattern to use, and initially wanted to use the same pattern as another lady. The tour didn’t have enough time to clean and re-use the screens, so Allan found me a similar one in the back. Turns out he designed the pattern himself!

​The mixing of the paint was all done by Allan. I suggested three colors, but he did the hard work of blending them into a gradient and adjusting the balance by adding extra white paint. Then, with his guidance, I used the squeegee to apply the paint to the cloth. I was thrilled with the result.

The tour didn’t provide much information about the history of printing on the Tiwi Islands, but I did ask Baffi about how the patterns were made. The originals were hand carved, then transferred to the screen using lithography in a darkroom. Baffi pulled out an enormous screen the size of a front door, which was marvelous compared to the tiny rectangular screens for our tea towels.

Unfortunately, we were tight on time. After letting the prints dry in the sun as long as possible, Baffi ironed and packaged them up, and sent us to the ferry. I didn't even have time to look at the art shop.

​The ferry ride back to the mainland was also calm. I talked to a guy from Colorado again, learning the backstory behind their unusual itinerary which focused on Darwin and Canberra. They were from the US Air Force’s computer controls division and had received approval for a perspective-widening trip. While in Australia, they wanted to learn about First Nations culture and visit war monuments. The fellow I was talking with was the officer who organized the trip, and the others were his cadets. He was friendly and seemed to be appreciating the travel on a deep level. Once back home, he was going to be leaving active service and transitioning into university research. I couldn’t help but think: this is what our US military budget is paying for?

After 2 hours in the sun, I was feeling a bit roasted. As a nice gesture, the boat staff handed out freezer pops for everyone. I knew them as Otter Pops, but I think they’re called Zooper Doopers in Australia. One of the military cadets was nice and collected the empty pouches. At the ferry terminal, I noticed a funny looking bird called a masked lapwing, with triangular yellow wattles by its mouth.

Back at the house, I watched my last Darwin sunset. A possum walking across the neighbor’s roof made a cameo. The geckos and bats also emerged for the night.

Judy prepared chicken drumsticks and veggies for dinner, which were delicious. But it was the dessert that stole the show: vanilla ice cream with homemade mango puree. It wasn’t even mango season, but she had it stockpiled puree for the off-season. During the meal, she got a call from a friend needing tech support, and made an earnest effort to help, but eventually gave up. After hanging up, she grumbled about her friends not keeping up with technology. Goes to show that staying current is less about age and more about willpower.

I had a late flight, close to 1:00am. Since Judy was a night owl, she stayed up and drove me to the airport. She even sent me off with a jar of homemade lemon marmalade, from her tree in Adelaide. It was one of many examples of her hospitality, and another reason to be thankful! I got on the plane and braced for a return to the cold in Melbourne.

As you can see, Darwin was an eclectic blend of cultures and ways of life. From fireworks at a Nepalese festival, to a Tiwi Islander smoking ceremony, to sorting op shop Lego with Judy, each day was dynamic and kept me guessing. If novelty is the core of travel, then Darwin passed with flying colors.