Sunday 1st July - Darwin

Territory Day

1st July is Territory Day, so lots of celebrations especially with fireworks.  Territorians are permitted to sell and buy fireworks only on the 1st July and are allowed to let them off between 6 and 11pm on that day only. Every year there are burns victims and bush fires as a result of inappropriate firework use and the debate rages on as to whether fireworks should be banned from amateur use.  Territory Day seems to kick off a month of festivities and the kids are on school holidays; all this explains why we had such a hard time booking a caravan site, the place is packed.

Spitfire - Aviation Museum, Darwin NT

We decided to make today museum day and started off at the WW II aviation museum, the centrepiece of which is a B52 bomber.  A Japanese Zero bomber is also on display along with a spitfire and a B25.   There is a huge airport in the centre of outer Darwin, a legacy of the war.  As well as being a commercial airport it houses this museum and an RAAF base. 

Next stop was the WWII museum at East Point.  East Point was strategic to defending Darwin and there are several gun emplacements there, but all the guns were sold as scrap metal to the Japanese straight after we had finished being at war with them!  The guns were never fired in wartime as the allied powers had assumed an attack would come from the sea, not the air and they were useless against planes.  The museum houses many tanks and other vehicles in various stages of restoration but probably the best part is the new interactive interpretive display.  Civilians were only evacuated from Darwin following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, until then the threat was not taken seriously.  When the bombing started in February 1942 Australia was totally unprepared.  In the end it seems the only reason the Japanese did not proceed with an invasion of mainland Australia is because they decided not to.

'Sweetheart' the stuffed crocodile at the Territory Museum, Darwin NT

Lastly we visited the excellent Territory Museum and Art Gallery, which was free!  The natural history section is superbly presented and so is the Cyclone Tracey exhibit.  This exhibit really demonstrates visually and with sound recordings of the storm just how devastating this event was.  You also get a sense of the spirit of the people in wanting to return and rebuild.

Sunset over Mindil Beach Darwin, NT

In the late afternoon we walked to the markets at Mindil Beach, bought fish and chips and settled in at the back of the beach for the Territory Day fireworks display.  Following another awesome sunset over the water [which are so good because of the atmospheric dust and smoke] we had a grandstand view of a fantastic 20 minute firework display put on by the NT government.  The fireworks were mounted on trailers at the tide line and on barges out to sea.  This was almost as good as the Sydney New Years Eve fireworks but without the crowds and the 3 hour trip to get home afterwards!