Darwin, Australia

Our noontime arrival in Darwin, Australia was pretty bland in terms of scenery – not much of a skyline to view, the tide was out & it was very warm. Because of low tides, the dockworkers on the pier had a bit of a challenge securing the gangplank but it only put us a few minutes behind schedule for the day. We originally planned to hire a cab for the day but instead, there was a Hop-on/Hop-off bus at the cruise terminal and only wanted $70 for the day. As this was our first visit to Darwin, we really wanted to see the entire city & surrounding countryside and the shore excursions offered by the ship were too narrow in focus. We had great, very informative tour guides on every bus and were able to circle the city twice (with several ‘hopping-off ‘points), returning to the ship at 6:30pm.

We were impressed. Now having visited most all major cities, Darwin is arguably Australia's most cosmopolitan city, boasting a population made up of people from more than 60 nationalities and 70 different ethnic backgrounds. The city's multicultural mix is particularly highlighted by its many exciting ethnic cultural festivals and weekly food and craft markets. Darwin's traditional owners, the Larrakia people, are prominent and active members of the community, and many still adhere closely to their traditional beliefs and customs. With a population of about 230,000, Darwin is a city comprising a range of industries, however Government employees make up around 60% of the workforce. Darwin has evolved from its days as an incredibly laid back frontier town and while it still retains its relaxed charm, it has become a highly sophisticated city. We were surprised to find that it has accommodations, eateries, clubs, pubs, museums and other amenities that are at least equal to, and often better than, what you'll find in the southern cities. I guess I missed this in history class, but Darwin was decimated back in 1942 following an attack by the Japanese. Apparently, after Pearl Harbor was bombed, the Japanese assaulted the city with 188 warplanes. Then in 1974, Cyclone Tracey leveled the town with sustained winds of 150 mph lasting 3+ hours. Very few structures escaped the wrath of the storm and our tour guide said more than 70 residents lost their lives. He also said that more than 30,000 folks were airlifted out.

In business and industry circles, Darwin is described as Australia's gateway with South East Asia. It's closer to the Indonesian capital of Jakarta than it is to Canberra and is about the same flying time from Singapore and Manila as it is from Sydney and Melbourne. The city is the main service center for a wide range of industries headed by mining, offshore oil and gas production, pastoralism, tourism and tropical horticulture. The Port of Darwin is also the main outlet for Australia's live cattle export trade into South East Asia, though there were no such ships in port during our brief stay. We DID see an oil storage facility built by ConocoPhillips in 2003, my former employer. 

Darwin has a youthful population with an average age of 33 years (compared to the national average of around 37 years) assisted to a large extent by the military presence and the fact that many people opt to retire elsewhere. There are only two seasons – wet & dry – but always quite warm. During our visit yesterday, the temp was only 85 but the humidity reached 88%. It was quite repressive.

The city has many miles of wide, unpolluted beaches, including the Casuarina Beach and well renowned Mindil Beach, home of the Mindil Beach markets. Darwin City Council has designated an area of Casuarina Beach as a free beach which has offered a designated nudist beach area since 1976. That said, swimming in the sea during the months of October–May are avoided due to the presence of deadly box jellyfish, known locally as stingers. Box jellyfish often have bodies the size of your thumbnail but their tentacles can reach 20’ in length. Once stung, death occurs in minutes. Equally, saltwater crocodiles are very common in all waterways surrounding the city and are even occasionally found swimming in Darwin Harbor and on local beaches. While we spotted a few ‘stingers’, we didn’t see any crocs…nor did we see any nude sunbathers…NOT that I would have looked!

We learned that Darwin is essentially a multicultural secular city; however, Christianity has the most adherents with about 56,000 followers. The largest denominations of Christianity are Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism, and Greek Orthodox. Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus and Jews account for roughly 3% of the population. About 23% profess no religion.

Darwin and its suburbs spread in an approximately triangular shape, with the older southwestern suburbs—and the city itself—forming one corner, the newer northern suburbs in another, and the eastern suburbs, progressing towards Palmerston, forming the third. The older part of the city is separated from the newer northern suburbs by Darwin International Airport and Royal Australian Air Force Base. Palmerston is a satellite city12 miles south that was established in the 1980s and is one of the fastest growing municipalities in Australia. The rural areas of Darwin including Howard Springs, Humpty Doo and Berry Springs are experiencing strong growth.

Darwin's central business district is bounded by Daly Street in the northwest, McMinn Street in the northeast, Mitchell Street on the southwest and Bennett Street on the southeast. The CBD has been the focus of a number of major projects, including the billion dollar redevelopment of the Stokes Hill wharf waterfront area including a convention center with seating for 1,500 and approximately 43,000 sq. ft. of exhibition space. The development will also include hotels, residential apartments and public space.

The most expensive residential areas stand along the coast in suburbs such as Larrakeyah and Brinkin, despite the slight risk these low-lying regions face during cyclones and higher tides. The inner northern suburbs of Millner and Coconut Grove and the eastern suburb of Karama are home to lower-income households, although low-income ‘Territory Housing’ units are scattered throughout the metropolitan area. We found the entire metro area to be very clean & well-maintained…and of course the people, absolutely wonderful!

As mentioned, we were back at the ship by 6:30. An Aussie BBQ was scheduled on the Lido deck from 5:30 – 8:30, so we showered and headed upstairs. Typically, whenever Holland America holds a special event such as this, it’s accomplished in grand style but we were very disappointed with this one. The Lido was thick with BBQ smoke and it was extremely hot & overcrowded. There were long lines in the buffet and no tables available. We instead went out back for the sailaway & enjoyed a few drinks, returning to the BBQ buffet around 7:45. The meat was rubbery, the baked beans were bland & the rice was crunchy – probably the worst meal in our many years with Holland America. Granted…it was late, but if you’re running an event like this, food quality should be optimal from start to finish. They compensated with an awesome selection of fresh-baked desserts…so I filled a plate with Red Velvet Cake, German Chocolate Cake, and a local sweet known as a Lamington. Cheryl passed, so I felt obligated to clean the plate…which I did!

Some miscellaneous notes: 

The Internet has been very poor the past several days and in fact, was completely turned off for several hours at one point. No public explanation offered. We stopped at a McDonald’s in Darwin where I attempted to post our stops in Bali & Komodo but their system was barely functioning due to so many people from the ship attempting to do the same thing. Cheryl was able to login to Facebook briefly on her iPad, but given the number of photos I normally post, my laptop just sat and spun. We gave up after a few minutes and returned to the tour bus.

The ship was infected with a GI illness about 2 weeks ago. We went several days with all self-service areas of foodservice shut down, or I should say, manned by galley employees. If you wanted something as simple as salt & pepper, you had to ask for it. The restrictions were lifted a few days ago but when we went up for breakfast this morning, everything was locked-down again. We’ve experienced these temporary shut-downs on past cruises and completely support the actions taken by Holland America. Cheryl and I are fine…in fact, not so much as a head cold thus far. We carry sanitizer everywhere we go and although it’s a bit smelly, we use it frequently. Folks just don’t wash their hands like they should or practice good hygiene. Hopefully, things will return to normal soon.

Our next stop is Port Douglas, Australia – a little north of Cairns (pronounced Cans). It’s about 1,200 miles from our current location and will take 3 days/nights to get there. We’ve been to both cities in the past, so on this trip we’re going to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef. Once the ship docks, we’ll be getting on a high-speed catamaran for the 90-minute trip out to the reef. They say it’s one of the most beautiful underwater experiences on earth, with literally thousands of fish & coral reefs. Cheryl has a pretty good underwater camera, so we’ll hopefully have some nice pics to share with you in a few days. That said, I’m not much of a ‘snorkeler’ – in fact, pretty poor. Cheryl does well and really enjoys it. We’ll be out there for 5 hours and in all honesty, I’m a little apprehensive because of the threat of sharks…Great White Sharks…because as I understand from watching many documentaries, that’s where they prey on small fish. Hopefully, they won’t be present…and hopefully (if they are), they won’t look at the small fish as appetizers and me as the main course! They’ve advised everyone to snorkel in pairs so I won’t be leaving Cheryl’s side…but if I see anything larger than me with big teeth & a white complexion, I’m outta there…and she better follow me!