Frommer's Australia from $50 a Day 13th Edition - To Parent Directory

DARWIN 401
CITY LAYOUT The heart of the city is the Smith Street pedestrian mall.
One street over is the lively Mitchell Street Tourist Precinct, full of backpacker
lodges, cheap eateries, and souvenir stores. Two streets past that is the harborfront
Esplanade. In the Old Wharf precinct, near town, are a couple of tourist
attractions, a jetty popular with local fishermen, and a working dock. Cullen
Bay Marina is a “millionaire’s row” of restaurants, cafes, and expensive boats; it’s
about a 25-minute walk northwest of town. A couple of kilometers northwest of
the town center is Fannie Bay, where you’ll find the Botanic Gardens, sailing
club, golf course, museum and art gallery, and casino.
GETTING AROUND For car and 4WD rentals, call Avis (& 08/8981 9922),
Budget (& 08/8981 9800), EuropCar (& 08/8941 0300), Hertz (& 08/8941
0944), or Thrifty (& 08/8924 0000).
Darwinbus (& 08/8924 7666) is the local bus company. Its 1-day Tourcard
allows unlimited travel on the network until midnight for A$5 (US$3.25) for
adults, A$2.50 (US$1.60) for kids 5 to 14. The city terminus is on Harry Chan
Avenue (behind the Commonwealth Bank and Qantas buildings). Get timetables
there, or from the Tourism Top End visitor center (see “Visitor Information”
above).
The Tour Tub bus (& 08/8985 6322) does a loop of most city attractions
and major hotels between 9am and 4pm daily. Hop on and off as you like all
day for A$25 (US$16) for adults, A$15 (US$9.75) for children ages 4 to 12. It
departs the Knuckey Street end of Smith Street Mall, opposite Woolworths. The
Territory Shuttle (& 08/8928 1155) is a minibus service that picks you up and
drops you off anywhere in the Darwin area—hotels, attractions, shops, the
wharf precincts, the ’burbs, and so on. It will come by as promptly as it can
when you call, or you can pre-book it. It runs daily, usually 24 hours Wednesday
through Saturday. The fares are low; a trip within the downtown area or out
as far as the MGM Grand casino and Mindil Beach Sunset Markets will set you
back just A$2.50 (US$1.60) per person.
Darwin Day Tours (& 1800/811 633 in Australia, or 08/8924 1111) has a
range of sightseeing tours.
Call Darwin Radio Taxis (& 131 008) for a cab. Taxi stands are at the
Knuckey Street and Bennett Street ends of Smith Street Mall.
WHAT TO SEE & DO: CITY STROLLS, WORLD WAR II HISTORY,
FISHING & MORE
Darwin’s ample parks, stunning harbor, and tropical clime make it a lovely city for
strolling during the Dry. The Darwin Region Tourism Association (see “Visitor
Information” above) has free maps of a Historical Stroll which takes you to 17
points of interest around town; the Esplanade makes a pleasantly short and shady
saunter; and the Darwin Botanic Gardens (& 08/8981 1958), on Gardens Road
1.5 kilometers (1 mile) from town, has paths through palms, orchids, and lawns,
and an Aboriginal plant use trail. Entry is free daily. Take bus no. 4 or 6.
The long but pleasant 5km (3-mile) trail along Fannie Bay from the MGM
Grand hotel to the East Point Military Museum is worth doing. Keep a lookout
for the 2,000 wild wallabies on the east side of Alec Fong Lim Drive near the
museum.
Darwin has two wildlife parks worth visiting. At the Territory Wildlife Park
(& 08/8988 7200), 61km (38 miles) south of Darwin, you can take a free shuttle
or walk 6km (3.75 miles) of bush trails to see native Northern Territory
wildlife in 12 natural habitats, such as bats, bilbies, birds in a walk-through