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Population: 70,250
Country: Australia
Time Zone: GMT/UTC plus 9.5 hours
Telephone Area Code: 08
It took a long time to decide on Darwin as the site for the region's centre, and even after the city was established growth was slow and troubled. Early attempts to settle the Top End were mainly due to British fears that the French or Dutch might get a foothold in Australia. Between 1824 and 1829 Fort Dundas on Melville Island and Fort Wellington on the Cobourg Peninsula, 200km (124mi) north-east of Darwin, were settled and then abandoned.
In 1845 the explorer Leichardt reached Port Essington overland from Brisbane, arousing prologned interest in teh Top End. The region came under the control of South Australia in 1863, and more ambitious development plans were made. A settlement was established in 1864 at Escape Cliffs on the mouth of the Adelaide River, not too far from Darwin's present location, but this was abandoned in 1866. Present-day Darwin was finally founded in 1869. The harbour had been discovered back in 1839 by John Lort Stokes aboard the Beagle, who named it Port Darwin after former shipmate, Charles Darwin.
The process of white settlement in the Northern Territory was just as troubled and violent as elsewhere in Australia, with Aboriginal groups vainly trying to resist the takeover of land on which their way of life depended.
Darwin's growth was accelerated by the discovery of gold at Pine Creek, about 200km (124mi) south, in 1871. But once the gold fever had run its course Darwin's development slowed down, due to the harsh, unpredictable climate (including occasional cyclones) and poor communications with other Australian cities. By the early 20th century, most of the Aboriginal people who had inhabited the land which had become Darwin were confined to government reserves or Christian missions, or were living on cattle stations working as stockmen or domestic help.
WWII put Darwin permanently on the map when the town became an important base for Allied action against the Japanese in the Pacific. The road south to the railhead at Alice Springs was surfaced, finally putting the city in direct contact with the rest of the country. Darwin was attacked 64 times during the war and 243 people lost their lives; it was the only place in Australia to suffer prolonged attack.
Modern Darwin has an important role as the front door to Australia's northern region and as a centre for administration and mining. The port facilities have recently had a major upgrade, and there's even talk of the railway line to Alice Springs being completed.
Ask any Territorian when the best time to Darwin is and invariably they'll say the wet season (October to March). Everything is green, there's no dust, barramundi fishing is at its best, prices drop, there are spectacular electrical storms and all the tourists have gone home. The tourists have gone home for a reason - the humidity is often unbearable, roads are impassable, swimming in the ocean is impossible, and cyclones are something of a worry. Late wet, early dry is probably the best season, as the rains taper off and the humidity drops. Whichever season you arrive in, the temperature will most likely be between 30 and 33°C (86 to 91°F). If street parades are your thing, make your way here in August for the Festival of Darwin and the Beer Can Regatta.
Darwin is in the far north of the Northern Territory, west of Arnhem Land. Darwin's centre is a fairly compact area at the end of a peninsula. Most of what you'll want in central Darwin is within two or three blocks of the main shopping centre, Smith St mall. The suburbs spread a good 12 to 15km (7 to 9mi) to the north and east.
Darwin's airport is 6km (4mi) north of the town centre. The transit centre, where buses arrive and depart, is in the centre of town.
Accommodation in Darwin includes hostels, guesthouses, motels, holiday flats, and a clutch of up-market hotels, mostly clustered along the beach. The city's many caravan parks are all several km out of town. Darwin's proximity to Asia is signalled by the large number of Asian eateries - there are plenty of these, as well as lots of takeaway spots, around Smith St mall. Asian-style markets, such as the one held at Mindil Beach on Thursday nights during the dry season, are the best places to find cheap eats.
Indo-Pacific Marine & Australian Pearling Exhibition
This excellent aquarium displays living coral ecosystems and an array of exotic creatures associated with coral, such as sea horses, clown fish and butterfly fish. Housed in the same building is the Pearling Exhibition, which deals with the history of the pearling industry and has informative audiovisual displays. The exhibitions are in the Wharf Precinct, once the city's ugly port facility, but now being redeveloped into a tourist drawcard.
A highlight of this bright, well-presented museum at Fannie Bay is its collection of Aboriginal art. It's particularly strong on carvings
and bark paintings from Arnhem Land, Bathurst and Melville islands. There's also a good collection of artefacts from the
Pacific and South-East Asia, including Indonesian ikat (woven cloth), gamelan instruments and a sea gypsies' prahu
(floating home) from Sabah, Malaysia.
This spit of undeveloped bushland north of Fannie Bay is good to visit in the late afternoon when the wallabies come
out to feed. A cool breeze usually springs up as you watch the sun set across the bay. There's also a salt-water,
jellyfish-free lake where swimming is possible all year round.
Darwin has plenty of beaches but you'd be wise to keep out of the water during the wet season because of the deadly
box jellyfish. Popular beaches include Mindil and Vestey's. In north Darwin there's a stinger net protecting part of
Nightcliff Beach. A stretch of the 7km (4mi) Casuarina Beach further east is officially designated for nudies.
People begin arriving at Mindil Beach market from 5.30 pm on Thursday and Sunday nights during the dry season. They bring tables,
chairs, rugs, grog and kids and settle under the coconut palms to watch the sunset and decide which of the tantalising
food-stall aromas has the greatest allure. Thai, Sri Lankan, Indian, Chinese, Malaysian, Greek and Portuguese meals and
snacks are all available. There are also cake stalls, fruit-salad bars, handicraft stalls, and sometimes entertainment in the
form of a band or street theatre.
Howard Springs
This crocodile-free swimming hole is a very pleasant spot, surrounded by forest. It's about 35km (22mi) east of the city and makes a great break from the heat, but it can get uncomfortably crowded at weekends. Nevertheless, it's a pleasant spot for an excursion; there are short walking tracks and lots of bird life. You can see all sorts of fish and turtles, and tame wallabies graze around the springs.
Darwin Crocodile Farm
The Darwin Crocodile Farm, 40km (25mi) south of the city, has around 7000 saltwater and freshwater crocodiles. When a croc is taken out of one of the Territory's waterways, this is usually where it ends up. But don't imagine they're here out of human charity - this is a farm, not a rest home, and around 2000 of the beasts are killed each year for their skins and meat (you can find croc steaks and burgers on menus all over Darwin). Get here in the early afternoon for feeding time, if you can. If you don't have your own car, there are plenty of day tours to the farm running from Darwin.
Litchfield National Park
It's a way out of town, but this 650 sq km national park is well worth a visit. The park, 140km (87mi) south of Darwin, encompasses much of the Tabletop Range, a wide sandstone plateau surrounded by cliffs. Four waterfalls, which drop off the edge of this plateau, and their surrounding rainforest patches are the park's main attractions. The swimming holes at the bottom of these waterfalls are beautiful spots for a dip. You can camp at the park, and there are cruises of the Reynolds River system which runs through the park. You can either take your own car to Litchfield, or go on an organised tour from Darwin.
 Activities
Fishing for barramundi, a freshwater and saltwater perch that often grows over a metre long, is a popular pastime in Darwin. Sunset cruises of the harbour run most evenings. There are also boat trips at Adelaide River Crossing to see crocodiles jumping out of the water and grabbing pieces of meat held on the end of poles. There is bungee jumping on weekends at Wharf Precinct, and a parachute club at Batchelor, 85km south of Darwin. Darwin is a good place to organise bushwalking or 4WD drive tours of the Top End, Kakadu or the Kimberley.
There are beach parties and rock concerts on May Day, more to celebrate the absence of box jellyfish and the start of swimming season than to pay tribute to International Labour Day. The Royal Darwin Show is held in July. Darwin's legendary thirst for beer is celebrated at the Beer Can Regatta in August, when a series of boat races are held for craft constructed entirely of beer cans. Other August festivities include the Rodeo and Mud Crab Tying Competition, and the Darwin Cup horse race.
Darwin's airport services both international and domestic routes. Lots of flights run between Darwin and Bali, as well as to other spots in South-East Asia. You can also fly to Darwin from all other states in Australia, although you might end up going via Alice Springs, Brisbane or Adelaide.
You can reach Darwin by bus on three routes - the Western Australian route from Broome, Derby, Port Hedland and Kununurra; the Queensland route through Mt Isa to Threeways and up the Track; or straight up the Track from Alice Springs.
The airport is only 6km (4mi) from town and is serviced by a shuttle bus - a taxi from the airport to the city will cost you about $US12. Darwin has a fairly good city bus service, but it's only in full swing from Monday to Friday, and it shuts down entirely on Sunday. The Tour Tub is a private bus which does a shuttle of Darwin's major places of interest. There is an extensive network of bicycle tracks; bikes can be rented or borrowed from many of the backpackers' hostels.
- Far Country, by Alan Powell, is a very readable history of the Northern Territory, while The Front Door, by Douglas Lockwood, is a history of the city from 1869 to 1969.
- For a general look at Aboriginal culture, try Geoffrey Blainey's award-winning Triumph of the Nomads. Allan Bailie's Songman is a fictional account of an Aboriginal boy growing up in Arnhem Land (near Darwin) before white settlement. The Camp at Wallaby Cross, by Basil Sansom, looks at the lives of Darwin's Aboriginal 'fringe dwellers'.
- War buffs will probably get a kick out of Douglas Lockwood's Australia's Pearl Harbour: Darwin 1942.
- Peter Goldsworthy's excellent, semi-autobiographical novel, Maestro is set in Darwin and does a fine job of capturing the city's slow-moving, humid atmosphere.
 Lonely Planet Guides
 Travellers' Reports
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Facts at a Glance
History
When to Go
Orientation
Attractions
Off the Beaten Track
Events
Getting There & Away
Getting Around
Recommended Reading
On-line Info
