Darwin is quite easy to drive around: the roads are wide, it has good signposting and apparently there is a road almost parallel to the Stuart Highway that goes through the industrial areas to keep trucks off the main road. So we feel quite confident in finding our way about.
We met a lovely lady in Nhulunbuy who was visiting from Darwin. She recommended we pop into the cafe at Parliament House when we were in the city. Today was the day. John drove us into Darwin with the idea of starting the day doing just that. We found a car park close by, which was also very reasonably priced, and walked the short distance to Parliament House next to the Supreme Court. The building is, I’m sure, the newest of the Parliaments in Australia. It is certainly very modern and looks comfortable in the Northern Territory heat.
I envisaged us having a quick look around then a coffee in the cafe but, in fact, we spent at least a couple of hours inside. It is a beautiful building inside and out, and we were free to wander around at our leisure. (They have tours as well). We even sat in the visitors’ gallery although there was nothing happening. There were portraits of previous speakers of the House and documents of interest on the walls. Inside the Library, there was a wonderful exhibition of indigenous crafts, and displays depicting important historic times in the NT, most notably the Stolen Generation, the bombing of Darwin by the Japanese in 1942 and Cyclone Tracy in 1974. I particularly liked reading the newspaper front pages that were on display.
We finally made our way through the small arts and crafts shop and then to the cafe. I had the best iced coffee I’ve ever tasted sitting outside looking over the fountain, the gardens and the sea. We were reluctant to leave.
But leave we did to visit the WW2 Secret Oil Storage Tunnels nearby. I can’t imagine how hard it must have been to dig these tunnels with very basic equipment and in the stifling Darwin heat. As far as I know, the tunnels were built to hide the oil during the war because the above ground storage tanks were a clear target for the Japanese. However the oil was never actually stored there as they weren’t finished in time. It was quite interesting looking through the tunnels and reading all about the impact the war had on Darwin.
The day was getting hotter so we thought we should drive out of the city to Cullen Bay where there is a lovely marina that reminds us very much of Mandurah. Vanessa had recommended a little bar on the water called Lola’s Pergola. So we had a cool drink there then a wander along by the water. It was a lovely way to finish our day out in Darwin.
Flannerys' Footprints 