Asia Cruise 2012: Darwin

11^th March 2012

When we looked out from our balcony this morning just before 7am, we were already entering the Beagle Gulf, heading down the gulf to Darwin, having passed between Melville Island and the mainland earlier this morning.

We passed a Navy vessel at anchor near the entrance to the gulf and as we got closer to Darwin, the level of activity around the docks increased. We could see a large LNG carrier, at dock, on our starboard side and various work vessels making their way around the harbor. Soon we were greeted by a couple of tugs to escort us in to Fort Hill Wharf where we will dock.

Navy Vessel

Entering the Harbour

Fort Hill Wharf

Rotating around to face the bow out to sea before docking

With a little help from a tug

We approached the wharf standing out a fair distance from the wharf and with the help of the tugs and thrusters, turned the ship through 180 degrees, pointing our bow back out to sea before docking.

The tide is high 7.58 metres at 8.07am, so the gangway is put out to shore from deck 5. Before going ashore we are advised that during the passage of the day, it will be necessary to move the gangplank to enter the ship on deck 7 (low tide is at 2.10pm, 1.32 metres), and it will back on deck 5 for final boarding before 6pm.

We had a late breakfast band headed ashore around 9.30am, and decided to walk into town, walking around the waterfront past Government House and Parliament House. There has been a lot of development around the wharf precinct with nice (very well kept parks), shops and restaurants, and lots of apartment buildings.

Government House

Parliament House

We ended up in Smith Street Mall, the main shopping area, and if it weren’t for the visitors from the ship, it would have been almost empty.

Smith Street Mall

As we wandered around, we decided to keep walking in the direction of Cullen Bay, a very up market development around a large marina. Whilst we had originally planned to catch a bus, we ended up walking all of the way. Surprisingly, it was also dead, with only one or two of the many restaurants open (it is Sunday, as if that should make a difference). So, after a look around, we caught the bus back to town for lunch. In Darwin Seniors travel for free on the bus, which we thought was a very civilized idea.

Cullen Bay

Things had picked up a bit in town, but it was still pretty quiet, so we decided to catch a bus to see the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, renowned for its exhibit on cyclone Tracy. We had lunch at the Museum, and spent quite a bit of time going through the various exhibits and the art gallery. It is very well put together, and covers a great deal of the history of Darwin, aboriginal art, the cyclone Tracy exhibit was well worth seeing (including a sound room where a recording of the howling wind is played), and I was particularly impressed by the maritime section, where whole boats that contributed to the history of Darwin were on exhibit. There was a Pearling Lugger, various styles of Indonesian vessels that had sailed these waters for years , a boat that had bought out some Vietnamese Boat people, and even some outriggers from the South Pacific.

Museum and Art Gallery

After a well worthwhile visit, we decided we should make our way back to the boat. It was a bit of a walk back to the main road to catch the bus back to town, and the sky was looking threatening. Whilst we were sitting at the bus stop, waiting for our bus, a local pulled up in his car and asked us if we would like a lift into town, as the buses can be a bit unreliable. We gratefully accepted, he dropped us in the centre of town, leaving only a leisurely stroll back to the boat, this time along the main street instead of the waterfront. On our way we passed the remains of the town hall which had been demolished by cyclone Tracy.