Tropical Darwin

​Darwin is the only major city on Australia’s northern coast. Though “major” is relative! With a population of only 148,000, this capital of the Northern Territory felt spacious and nonchalant compared to the big cities on the east coast. With its blend of a tropical climate, Asian and Aboriginal influences, and rugged outback character, it felt like a cultural anomaly shaped by geography. As my guidebook put it, Darwin is “closer to Bali than Bondi.”

​Visiting Darwin was my last major domestic trip within Australia, and my seventh capital city, completing the whole set. I decided to experience it through two different lenses. The first three nights, I stayed at a backpacker hostel to get a taste of the city center. The last two nights, I stayed with a Servas host in a quieter suburb to soak in the local life. In between, I went on a 5-day guided tour to the national parks. This blog post is just on the first part of my Darwin visit.

Arriving there just after midnight, I stepped off the plane and called an Uber. I was traveling light, with no checked bags, no laptop, and no clothing heavier than a running jacket. My driver was an immigrant from Melbourne with a hyper-relaxed demeanor who welcomed me aboard. I learned he was an accountant moonlighting as an Uber driver on weekends. He loved Darwin’s opportunities for professional advancement and lack of traffic.

He dropped me off on bustling Mitchell Street, party central on a Saturday night. Darwin has a reputation for its party scene, and well, here I was. The hostel entrance was squeezed in next to an Irish bar called Shenanigan’s and was directly opposite a zoo called Crocasaurus Cove. During the daytime, I could see into the crocodile tank from the hostel lobby. Welcome to Darwin, where you can party with the crocs!

​The hostel was named the Youth Shack, so my expectations were pretty low. It actually wasn’t too bad, with a pool, patio, strong AC, and a study room with computers. The most striking thing was the people. Even wearing shorts and a t-shirt, I felt overdressed. All of the men I encountered in the hallway were shirtless and had multiple tattoos.

​The three other people in my dorm were all “long termers,” staying at the Youth Shack while pursuing working holidays in manufacturing or farmwork, many in their second year in Australia. I gathered this trend extended to the rest of the hostel, as  there were piles of work boots in the hall, a prominent job desk in the lobby, and the many high-viz uniforms at breakfast. Far gone was the Queensland backpacker scene, with its fresh arrivals and gender balance.

​One of my roommates was an Irishman with a “slainte” tattoo behind his ear, who arrived on the same day as me. He interviewed for a job in concrete formwork and started right away. Another roommate was a muscular Italian with a buzz cut and several tattoos – a cursive “Made in Italy” and an AK-47 on his chest, a giant cross on his back. He had to change to a different room, and the original room was miraculously decluttered.

After a good night’s sleep, I set out for my first day of sightseeing. I restocked on snacks at the local Wooly’s, which had a nice-looking sushi selection for a chain store. The main pedestrian street was a bit dingy and virtually deserted, a sign that peak season was yet to come. I reached the edge of the CBD, where a bridge and an elevator took me down to the waterfront precinct. It was modern and polished. There were restaurants with lots of outdoor seating, an artificial wave pool, and a convention center. I continued walking out to the wharf, pacing myself as I was no longer in the protection of the shade.

The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) Museum had two separate exhibits, one covering the bombing of Darwin during WWII and another covering its namesake medical service.

Ten weeks after Pearl Harbor, the same Japanese fleet descended on the Darwin Harbor in a destructive set of attacks that sunk 11 vessels and killed 250 people. One vessel, the MV Neptuna, exploded while docked at Stokes Hill wharf where the museum is now located. The museum brought this cataclysmic scene to life in several ways. There were VR headsets that put you alongside soldiers on the wharf or a fighter jet pilot, a vibrating platform that mimicked the rumble of the bombs, and a hologram movie theater with detailed first-hand accounts.

One of the most striking stories was from an American navy captain who was in Darwin city when the Japanese bombed his ship, the William B. Preston. Despite losing key steering controls, the second in command managed to follow the captain’s emergency protocols, dodge bombs and other boats, and ultimately escaped the harbor. The captain tried to catch up with his boat, but ended up in the water, surrounded by oil fires and shrapnel. He climbed to safety, and after the attack, found he was left in charge of the US consulate.

The Flying Doctor part of the museum was similarly advanced. A hologram of John Flynn, the founder of the Flying Doctor Service, explained the progression in delivering healthcare to remote areas in Australia. Before modern technology, pedal-powered radios were used to call for help. Later, a simple numbered grid of the body was developed for communicating symptoms. Nowadays, the fleet travels 27 million kilometers every year, providing a variety of preventive and emergency services.
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The museum had a VR headset that allowed you to be inside the plane watching a nurse defibrillate a patient while communicating with the pilot about their arrival in Adelaide. There was also a retired plane you could enter – I hopped in the cockpit for fun. It was fascinating to think about treating patients on a moving plane as an extreme case for medical devices.

​On the walk back to the hostel, I admired some street art and stopped for a poke bowl at Fat Tuna. I picked out an interesting soda that I thought was local to Darwin, but the address on the label was a few blocks from my apartment in Carlton… oops!

​In the late afternoon, I walked to the Mindil Beach Sunset Market. There were lots of entertaining wares, from digeridoos to taxidermy cane toads. A booth selling cattle whips had a cordoned-off area where they would teach people how to use them.  There were Thai massage booths and a live folk band playing under the banner of Crocodile Country. I sampled a few types of beef jerky, and ultimately bought a pack from Bogan Biltong – “bogan” being an Aussie term for a rough person, and “biltong” being a South African style of jerky.

​Being an adventurous eater, I also took advantage of the Mindil Market’s incredible food selection. Dinner was a crocodile burger with mango and chili sauce, one of the better exotic meats out there. ​​Dessert was a red bean milkshake – yum!

Seeing a sunset from Mindil Beach is considered a quintessential Darwin experience, and naturally it was a bit crowded. The sunset that night was divine, with clouds stretching into the distance that reflected the changing colors. As the sun dipped into the Timor Sea, its enormous orange orb was eclipsed with the silhouettes of boats. The prettiest part was when the sky faded to violet, and the people by the water became silhouettes too.

​The next morning, I walked to Aquascene for the high tide fish feeding. Another one of Darwin’s long-standing tourist destinations, this was a unique chance to feed hordes of wild fish with… bread? The admission included access to tubs of sliced bread that we could break down and toss into the water or hand feed to the fish. After my basic breakfast, I was tempted to steal a bite too.

​The most common fish were the diamond-scaled mullet, which looked a bit like koi, and milkfish with pointy tailfins that frequently breached the water. Less common were the bat fish, with large flat bodies, and the mangrove jack, a red carnivorous fish with an underbite. The swarm was quite a sight! ​A guide narrated the whole experience, pointing out when the rarer types made an appearance, and handing out fish scraps so we could feed the carnivores.

There was a second, smaller feeding area with barramundi, archer fish, and a giant mud crab.  Fun fact, the archer fish can spit water and “shoot down” insects from below!

​Kids and adults alike were having a great time. Among the modest crowd were a pair of monks in orange robes. There was also a couple from Perth, who were visiting a relative in Darwin that worked as a professional crocodile wrangler. I ended up staying to the end of the 2-hour feeding session.

Afterwards, I had a working afternoon at the hostel’s study room, sorting out some flight issues. Once that was buttoned up, I headed across the street to meet the neighbors at Crocasaurus Cove.
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The main saltwater crocodile exhibits were enthralling. I couldn’t believe how enormous and indestructible they looked! They could swim through the water so gracefully, and effortlessly sink to the bottom. At the same time, their gnarly teeth and jagged dorsal spines made them genuinely frightening.

​The crocodile facts posted on the walls added to their intrigue. “Crocodile” comes from the Greek word “krokodeilos” meaning “pebble worm.” It’s estimated there are 140,000 saltwater crocs in Australia, with 60% in the Northern Territory. They can spend up to 3 hours underwater and have a special third eyelid. Crocs have a sixth sense – the ability to detect small pressure changes in the water, and therefore the direction of potential prey. They even have a special heart valve that doesn’t exist in any other animal, which redirects blood flow away from the lungs while diving.

​One of the famous attractions at Crocasaurus Cove is the “Cage of Death,” an immersive experience where brave souls in a transparent tube are lowered into the croc exhibit. I got to see this cage in action from a comfortable distance as an outside observer. The keepers lowered a piece of meat on a string so the croc would show off its hunting skills at point blank. Wendell the croc was a little slow to strike, but the clapperboard smack of his closing jaws still made a powerful sound. There was a similar “crocodile fishing” experience in the juvenile croc tank. It was a little too much like baiting a circus animal for my taste. In the rivers outside of Darwin, “jumping crocodile” cruises are unfortunately a popular tourist draw.

​Some of the other noteworthy crocs included Burt, who starred in Crocodile Dundee and is now over 80 years old. There was also a breeding pair named William and Kate, after the royal couple. They nuzzled underwater and looked extremely happy together.

​The Cove had more than just crocs – I attended a talk by the fish aquarium, which had freshwater whiprays and adorable pig-nosed turtles. There was also a talk in the reptile house, where I got to hold a Hosmer’s skink and a Children’s python. Note: this python is not recommended for children, but rather is named after a guy named Children. There were tons of beautiful snakes and goannas, including one that leaped onto a hanging lightbulb and pulled it down to the ground in a daring escape attempt.

That night, ​I watched the sunset from a smaller, more secluded beach that was closer to the hostel. I was looking forward to seeing my friend Morgan, the Welsh guy I met in the Grampians, as he was in Darwin too. Unfortunately, he flaked on me. I consoled myself with fresh Thai street noodles.

​So far, Darwin was hitting all the right notes – tasty food, intriguing history, amazing animals, and spectacular sunsets. Stay tuned for more Top End adventures.