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

DARWIN 403
Tips Where Can I Swim?
Crocodiles and stingers render Darwin’s lovely turquoise seas a no-swim
zone year-round. Locals sunbathe on Casuarina Beach, and swim within
view of the sea in Lake Alexander on Alec Fong Lim Drive in East Point
Reserve. It’s that, or hit the hotel pool!
Military or aircraft buffs should not miss the Australian Aviation Heritage
Centre, 557 Stuart Hwy., Winnellie (& 08/8947 2145). A B-52 bomber on
loan from the United States is the prized exhibit, but the center also boasts a
B-25 Mitchell bomber, Mirage and Sabre fighter jets, Japanese Zero fighter
wreckage, and displays on World War II and Vietnam. It is open daily 9am to
5pm (closed Christmas and Good Friday). Admission is A$11 (US$7.15) for
adults, A$8 (US$5.20) for seniors and students, A$6 (US$3.90) for children 6
to 12, and A$28 (US$18) for a family. Guided tours are at 10am, 2 and 4pm.
It is 10 minutes from town; take the no. 5 or 8 bus. Empty World War II oil
storage tunnels (& 08/8985 6333), on Kitchener Drive in the Wharf precinct,
house a collection of black-and-white photographs of the war in Darwin, each
lit up in the dark. It’s a simple but haunting attraction worth a visit. Admission
is A$4.50 (US$2.90) per person. The tunnels are closed December 10 to
December 27. They open daily from 9am to 5pm May through September;
October through April, hours are Tuesday through Friday from 10am to 2pm,
weekends and holidays from 10am to 4pm.
On the Esplanade stands a monument to the destroyer U.S.S. Robert E.
Peary, which went down in Darwin Harbour taking 88 lives.
For an insight into Darwin’s pearling industry, visit the Australian Pearling
Exhibition (& 08/8999 6573) on Kitchener Drive near the Wharf Precinct. It
has displays following the industry from the days of the lugger and hard-hat diving
to modern farming and culture techniques. It’s open from 10am to 5pm
daily, except Good Friday, Christmas, Boxing Day, and New Year’s Day. Tickets
cost A$6.60 (US$4.30) adults, A$3.30 (US$2.15) children ages 3 to 10, and
A$17 (US$11) family of five. And if you’ve got an evening free, get out on the
harbor with Darwin Pearl Lugger Cruises (& 08/8942 3131). For A$46
(US$30) adults (half price for kids), you can spend about 3 hours aboard the
lugger Kim, built in 1953 and now restored to take up to 30 guests on sunset
cruises, which leave Cullen Bay Marina daily at 5:15pm. They even throw in a
free glass of bubbly and some nibbles, and you can buy more drinks.
The Top End’s vast wetlands and warm oceans are close to fishing heaven. The
big prey is barramundi. Loads of charter boats conduct jaunts from a morning
to up to 10 days in the rivers and wetlands around Darwin, Kakadu National
Park, and remote Arnhemland. The same company that runs Darwin’s Tour Tub
bus also runs the Northern Territory Fishing Office (& 08/8985 6333; www.
ntfishingoffice.com.au), a booking agent for a number of fishing charter boats
offering barramundi day trips and extended wetland safaris, reef fishing, light
tackle sportfishing, fly-fishing, and estuary fishing. A day’s barra fishing on wetlands
near Darwin will cost you around A$250 (US$163) per person; for an
extended barra safari, budget about A$420 (US$273) per person per day. If you
simply want to cast a line in Darwin Harbour for trevally, queenfish, and barra,
they will take you out for A$75 (US$49) per person for a half day, or A$135
(US$88) per person for a full day. They also rent skipper-yourself fishing boats