Page 278 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Australia

276  THE NOR THERN TERRIT OR Y

Greater Darwin Military Museum. Nearby Fannie
Bay Gaol now houses an inter-
Many of Darwin’s best attractions are not in the city centre esting museum (free entry).
but located a short drive away. The Tour Tub, an open-sided
trolley bus that picks up from major hotels, does an hourly E Australian Aviation
circuit of tourist attractions, allowing visitors to hop on and Heritage Centre
557 Stuart Hwy, Winnellie. Tel (08)
off at will for a daily charge. Outside Darwin, alongside the 8947 2145. @ 5, 8. Open 9am–5pm
mango farms and cattle stations, there are some fine bush daily. Closed Good Fri, 25 Dec. & 7
and wetland areas which provide excellent opportunities ∑ darwinsairwar.com.au
for swimming, fishing and exploring. Along the Stuart Highway at
Winnellie, 6 km (4 miles) from the
city centre, Darwin’s Aviation
Centre displays a variety of
historic and wartime aircraft. Its
exhibits are dominated by a B-52
bomber, one of only two in the
world on display outside the US.
O Territory Wildlife Park
Cox Peninsula Rd, Berry Springs.
Tel (08) 8988 7200. Open 9am–
5pm daily. Closed 25 Dec.
& 7 - ∑ territorywildlife
Feeding the friendly fish at Aquascene in Doctor’s Gully park.com.au
Only 60 km (37 miles) from
 Aquascene Y George Brown Darwin Darwin is the town of Berry
28 Doctor’s Gully Rd, cnr of Daly St & Botanic Gardens Springs and the Territory Wildlife
The Esplanade. Tel (08) 8981 7837. Gardens Rd, Stuart Park. Tel (08) 8999 Park with its hundreds of unique
Open daily, with the tide. Closed 25 4418. Open daily. 7 limited. indigenous species, in natural
Dec. 7 ∑ aquascene.com.au Just north of town, the 42-ha surroundings. Nearby,
Ever since the 1950s, the fish (100-acre) Botanic Gardens, Berry Springs Nature Reserve
of Darwin Harbour have been established in the 1870s, boast has a series of deep pools,
coming in on the tides for a over 1,500 tropical species, fringed with vegetation, that
feed of stale bread in Doctor’s including 400 palm varieties make for great swimming.
Gully. At Aquascene’s fish- and wetland mangroves.
feeding sanctuary, visitors } Howard Springs
can feed hundreds of catfish, P Darwin Military Museum Nature Park
mullet and milkfish. Feeding and Fannie Bay Gaol Howard Springs Rd. Tel (08) 8983
times vary depending on tides. Alec Fong Lim Drive, East Point. 1001. Open daily. 7 limited.
Tel (08) 8981 9702. Open 9:30am– This nature park, 35 km (22 miles)
5pm daily. & 7 south of Darwin, has clear,
An attraction for all the family, freshwater spring-fed pools, filled
this pleasant harbourside with barramundi and turtles.
reserve contains an artificial It’s an ideal place to have a
lake that is ideal for swimming barbecue or a picnic in the shade
and the fascinating Darwin after a hot day of exploring.
Cyclone Tracy
Crowds of food lovers at the ever-popular Late Christmas Eve, 1974, a
Mindil Beach Sunset Market weather warning was issued that
Cyclone Tracy, gathering force off
= Mindil Beach the coast, had turned landward
Sunset Market and was heading for Darwin.
Mindil Beach. Tel (08) 8981 3454. Torrential rain pelted down and
Open late Apr–late Oct: 5–10pm Thu, winds reached a record 280 km/h
4–9pm Sun. 7 (175 mph) before the measuring
Thursday and Sunday nights machine broke. On Christmas Cyclone Tracy’s devastation
during the dry season are when morning, 66 people were dead,
thousands injured and 95 per cent of the buildings flattened. More than
Darwinians flock to Mindil Beach 30,000 residents were airlifted south in the biggest evacuation in
at dusk to enjoy some 60 outdoor Australia’s history. The city ruins were bulldozed and Darwin has been
food stalls, street theatre, live rebuilt, stronger and safer than before.
music and over 200 craft stalls.
For hotels and restaurants in this area see p489 and pp517–18