My maternal grandmother was a twin born in Dundee, Scotland. As young women, she and her sister worked in a fishmonger’s there. Then many years later, my nephew, Callum, studied music production at Dundee University. Here we are in Australia and my son, Kyran, worked for a while at Dundee in the Northern Territory. So, for me, Dundee was a must see while we were in the Darwin area. Dundee is just over an hour’s easy drive from Darwin. Kyran had worked at the Lodge, in the bar and on their charter boat and has good memories of that time.

I aassumed Dundee was named for the Scottish city but apparently it was after the film ‘Crocodile Dundee’! Nevertheless, I liked what I saw as we drove in. All that is really there is the beach, the Lodge and a caravan park. From the look of the large blocks and weekender style of homes around, I would guess the locals are people who enjoy the quiet life and fishing or go to Dundee for weekends away from the city.

We had a look around and wandered into the Lodge for an early lunch which was nice.

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From Dundee Beach we headed for Crab Claw Island Resort. We had heard it was worth a look and it certainly was. Although it looks like you are on an island and it feels like you are on an island, it isn’t in fact an island at all. There is a lovely camping area as well as fabulous family accommodation on stilts overlooking the water. The restaurant and bar, also on stilts, is also set on the beach with an outdoor pool underneath. The atmosphere is incredibly relaxed and this is somewhere we would certainly recommend to stay. We had a drink at the bar and chatted to the barman who hails from Bristol. As we were chatting, Kyran rang me – he was born in Bristol. (This whole trip has been one of ‘what a small world’ coincidences).

It just happened that while we were there, three helicopters flew in and landed on the beach in front of us. Apparently they do helicopter pub crawls and it’s very popular (and quite expensive I believe).

It certainly was a lovely day out and I would recommend anyone visiting Darwin to pop out for a look or to camp at either Dundee or Crab Claw Island Resort.