Port of Call: Darwin, Australia

After five days of smooth cruising up the east coast of Australia from Sydney, the Dawn Princess World Cruise arrived at it’s first port of call, Darwin  Australia (map), to be greeted by a sprinkling of rain, even though it’s the dry season.

But this didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of passengers keen to get out on the streets on Darwin to shop, wander, and explore.

A compact city perched on a high cliff surrounding the harbour, Darwin offers easy access to cruise passengers. You can reach the city center by foot, bus, or taxi within minutes of leaving the ship.

And while Darwin is best known as the jump off point for the spectacular Kakadu National Park (map), the city itself offers plenty of interesting, historic, and natural attractions for those not interesting in the shore excursions further a field. In fact, a quick straw poll I conducted indicated that most passengers were bypassing organized shore excursions and just heading off on their own.

Many planned on shopping, picking up necessities such as toothpaste and laundry powder, even pillows, and of course, the requisite souvenir or two.

Others planned on heading out to the Museum & Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (map). With it‘s fascinating collection of indigenous art and interesting exhibits highlighting Darwin’s dramatic history (bombed by the Japanese during WWII and flatten by Cyclone Tracy in 1974), the museum is well worth a visit. Plus it‘s the home of Sweetheart, the Northern Territory’s icon crocodile that gain notoriety in the 1970’s by attacking a number of aluminum dinghies at a popular Darwin fishing spot. Caught, and accidentally drowned in 1979, Sweetheart has now taken up pride of place in the museum.

But after spending the morning shopping, I ran out of time to visit the Museum & Art Gallery, so instead decided to try something much closer to the wharf – the old World War II Oil Storage Tunnels at Stokes Hill, just a couple of hundred yards from where the Dawn Princess was docked.

Given that I’m not keen on tunnels, caves, or any enclosed spaces, this was something of a nerve-wracking event. But sometimes you just have to ‘feel the fear and do it anyway’. And I’m sure glad I did.

The tunnels were built following the bombing of the fuel oil storage tanks on Darwin’s waterfront on Stokes Hill by the Japanese on 19 February 1942. Determined to protect Darwin’s supply of fuel and oil from any further bombardment by the Japanese, the Australian government had ordered the Civil Construction Corps to build some underground storage tunnels.

As a result, a large area underneath Darwin has been transformed into an amazing series of tunnels, which of course are no longer in use.  Most of the tunnels are closed to the public, but tunnels 5 and 6, located alongside Kitchener Drive on the waterfront, has been restored.

After listening to an informative overview of the tunnels from Tony, the enthusiastic tour guide on duty, I followed the others into the tunnels. But they also highlighted my own fears of enclosed spaces. While others lingered at each stop, I must admit I focused on my breathing and the lights at the end of tunnel than the actual tunnel. But along the way, I did manage to check out the fascinating photographic display featuring the men and women who served to protect Australia during WWII.

(Photo Credit: Liz Lewis)