Day 50 Darwin

8 July

The targets for today were the Art Gallery and Museum and the Defence of Darwin Experience at the military museum at East Point.

We tackled the Art Gallery in the morning.  We were particularly interested in looking at the Cyclone Tracy exhibit.  We were very impressed with the high quality of the exhibit.  It really brought home to us the terror that the residents of Darwin experienced on that Christmas Day and the awful stress they suffered in the days immediately following.

We then drove into the city for some lunch and to visit the Visitor Centre.  We enjoyed a picnic lunch on the lush lawns of the Esplanade overlooking the harbour.  We love the many public parks and gardens that adorn Darwin and the shaded benches and picnic tables with which they are equipped.

We went to the Visitor Centre to book a couple of tours.  Next week we are going to visit Litchfield National Park.  A day or so later we will make a trip to Bathurst and Melville Islands to learn something of Tiwi indigenous culture.

We finished the afternoon at the Defence of Darwin Experience.  This is a very well produced audio visual presentation describing the first of the WWII air raids on Darwin.  It takes place in a very informative museum setting.  I don't think we Australians know enough about these air raids, not just on Darwin, but on many other centres on both the east and west coasts of tropical Australia and this excellent exhibit goes a long way to remedying that oversight.

Now I have a confession to make.  I committed the most serious sin a travel photographer can make.  I didn't take a spare camera battery with me.  I could't believe it when I tried to turn the camera  on at the Art Gallery and discovered that it was as dead as a doornail. It was a mistake that I don't think I will make again in a hurry.  But in the meantime, sorry, no photos.