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

DARWIN 407
WORTH A SPLURGE
Buzz Café MODERN AUSTRALIAN This smart, busy waterfront cafe
is as well known for its loo-with-a-view as it is for its terrific food and relaxed
atmosphere. The men’s bathroom just nudges out the women’s for interest
value—ladies, get a man to take you in there to see what I mean—everybody
does! The food is flavorsome East-meets-West fare like jungle curry of chicken
with snake beans and green peppercorns, or pan-fried barramundi on potato
mash in a lemon butter sauce; the lamb shanks are so huge almost no one can
finish them. Wash it down with a cocktail.
The Slipway, Cullen Bay Marina. & 08/8941 1141. Reservations recommended in the Dry. Main courses
A$17–A$30 (US$11–US$20). AE, DC, MC, V. Mon–Fri noon–2am; Sat–Sun 10:30am–2am (including brunch).
Bus: 4 or 6.
DARWIN AFTER DARK
If it’s Thursday, you are mad to be anywhere except the Mindil Beach Markets
(described earlier). Ditto if it’s Sunday evening and you’re not at the free Sunset
Jazz on the lawns at the MGM Grand Casino once a month from May to October.
A good spot to catch Darwin’s movie-set sunsets any night is the supercasual
Darwin Sailing Club, Atkins Drive on Fannie Bay (& 08/8981 1700).
Ask the manager to sign you in. A bistro serves affordable meals from noon to
2pm and from 6 to 9pm daily, and the bar is open from 10am until midnight,
and until 2am Friday and Saturday.
Lie back in a deck chair at the Deckchair Cinema (& 08/8981 0700; www.
deckchaircinema.com) to watch Aussie hits, foreign films, and cult classics
under the stars. Movies are screened at 7:30pm Wednesday through Sunday in
the Dry (Apr or May–Oct or Nov) with late sessions Friday and Saturday nights.
It is on the beachfront opposite Parliament House on the Esplanade. Tickets are
A$12 (US$7.80) adults, A$6 (US$3.90) children, and A$30 (US$20) family.
There’s also a bar!
Darwin Entertainment Centre, 93 Mitchell St. (& 08/8980 3366 administration,
or 08/8980 3333 box office) is the city’s main performing arts venue.
The gaming tables at the MGM Grand Casino, Gilruth Avenue, Mindil
Beach (& 08/8943 8888), are in play Sunday through Thursday from noon
until 4am, Friday and Saturday until 6am. Slot machines are in play 24 hours.
The dress regulation is neat, but casual.
PUBS, CLUBS & LIVE MUSIC
The cafes and restaurants of Cullen Bay Marina are a good place to be, day or night,
but especially for Dry Season sunsets. On most nights, Shenannigan’s Irish Pub,
69 Mitchell St. at Peel Street (& 08/8981 2100), has that wonderful mix of live
Irish music, dancing, blarney, and laughter called “craik,” oiled by ample Guinness.
When the U.S. Marines are in town, they head to Rorke’s Drift, 46 Mitchell St.
(& 08/8941 7171), an English-style pub and cafe, which offers karaoke on Wednesday
nights, “male entertainers” (read: strippers) on Thursdays (“ladies night”),
and live music most other nights. The stylish complex of pool bar, DJ, beer garden,
grill, sports bar, and upscale restaurant that is the Top End Hotel, Mitchell Street
at Daly Street (& 08/8981 6511), has something to suit just about everyone.
A SIDE TRIP TO LITCHFIELD NATIONAL PARK
120km (75 miles) S of Darwin
A 90-minute drive south of Darwin is a miniature Garden of Eden full of monsoonal
forests, waterfalls, rocky sandstone escarpments, natural swimming holes,