Darwin: From Down town to boomtown

By GRAHAM SIMMONS

Since East Timor (Timor Lorosae) gained its independence, everyone from United Nations peacekeepers to local entrepreneurs wants a piece of the action, making Darwin a boomtown gateway.

The city now proudly stands on its own merits - a model tropical metropolis, totally rebuilt since the disastrous Cyclone Tracy of 1974.

At Darwin wharf, the awesome wave-piercer catamaran Dili Express is moored awaiting her return trip to Timor Lorosae. When loaded with up to 900 passengers plus cargo, the ship flies across the Timor Strait at up to 45 knots, making the Darwin-Dili run in just 12 hours.

On a one-way trip she will use 140,000 litres of fuel, and enough cooling water to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool in two seconds flat.

The Darwin waterfront will also be transformed over the next 10 years, with marinas and a giant recreation complex gracing the shoreline.

Darwin is an exceptional place. Here Asia meets Aboriginal Australia. Indeed, the Tiwi people of Bathurst Island (just offshore from Darwin) have looked to Asia for thousands of years. The Makassans of Sulawesi in Indonesia established trading contacts with the Tiwi islanders at least several hundred years ago, and introduced three innovations that are still a part of daily Tiwi life: the steel axe, the dugout canoe and playing cards (by comparison, Darwin's glitzy new casino seems something of an afterthought).

Flashback to January 6, 1971. I first had the privilege of experiencing Darwin in a drunken stupor, through the bottom of a beer glass, on an epic round-Australia pub crawl.

The only landmarks sticking in the mind are the views from the Fannie Bay pub, the Parap beer-garden, and the Club Bar of the Darwin Hotel. Darwin at that time was a rough, hard-drinking swill-trough of a city, with the world's highest per capita consumption of beer.

It's now the end of 1972. Like Darwin itself, I've changed. Darwin has become a key staging-post on the overland "hippie trail" from Australia to Europe. In Mitchell St, the Larrakeyah Lodge is full to overflowing with proto-backpackers, and the streets of the city are fragrant with hibiscus and marijuana.

Then came Cyclone Tracy. From being just about blown away in 1974 (like yours truly), Darwin has risen from the ruins, and now stands proudly on its own feet - a city that needs neither drink nor drugs to give it an identity.

Darwin is evolving so fast that a whole new laid-back lifestyle is being carved out.

At Mindil Beach, the last night market for the season is in full swing. Thursdays in the dry season, up to 12,000 people a night come here to dine from streetstalls on the finest Asian cuisine. At the Laotian stall, you can feast on poe-pia, laksa soup or squid satay. Down the way, the air is filled with the spicy aromas of bakmi goreng, soto sayur and sate ayam, from Indonesia. Or savour the subtle Sri Lankan curries, or the thirst-quenching Filipino fruit shakes.

Craftspeople, too, flock to these markets. Tiwi Island carvings, crocodile-skin hats, and silver jewellery are just a few of the offerings.

Di Whittaker, a local potter, has been selling her wares here for nine years. "The market season is great," she says. "But come November to March, we live on nothing but bread."

As a fragrant breeze blows over the beach-front, carrying scents of frangipani and camphor and pepper-tree leaves, Terry the sculptor is packing up for the season. One of his prize creations, Terry Dactyl, rears its primordial head above the sand, as if to say that, come what may, it will be back again next year.

Friday morning, Darwin is abuzz, despite the 150 per cent humidity just before the onset of "the wet." You can just about grab handfuls of air and wring the moisture out.

In Smith St Mall, Indonesians, Timorese, Melville Islanders and a dozen other races stroll casually along the pavement.

Darwin is a city where people stop to talk to each other. When it's time to go, you've forgotten that it's time to go. You can sit under the bougainvilleas at Cafe Lemaine, or sit and sip a dose of "Salvatore's Extraordinary Coffee" - or get lost in the narrow alleyways between "The Galleria" and "The Gallery."

But the finest hangout in Darwin is the new Cullen Bay Marina, a lavish redevelopment of what was formerly mere swampland. The bay has been dredged and enlarged to make room for hundreds of yachts and ocean cruisers, while some excellent cafes and restaurants grace the waterfront. There could be few greater pleasures than to sit under the stars at Yots Cafe, dining on the freshest seafood while a gentle breeze wafts across Cullen Bay. Or gross out at Tim's extraordinary seafood buffet, opposite the marina.

In a park just north of Smith St Mall, Christ Church Anglican Cathedral is a simple yet silently moving structure, built to commemorate Cyclone Tracy. Built around one of the few stone walls left standing in the city after the cyclone, this church breathes history. From one perspective, the cyclone was a "breath" of fresh air, clearing away old stereotypes while allowing a new image of Darwin to image.

On the track down to the Wharf Precinct, you pass the entrance to the Second World War oil tunnels, where supplies of petroleum were stored against the threat of Japanese bombing raids.

Outside the tunnels, caretaker Colin is relaxing under an umbrella, with a book in hand. His job is to collect the $4 entrance fee from visitors to the tunnels. "We get a few here in the peak season," he says, "but otherwise things are pretty quiet."

Down at Stokes Hill Wharf, Steve is part-owner of the Tram Eatery. He's been in Darwin 15 years, and likes the laid-back lifestyle - though he admits that it's sometimes a little too laid-back. "I didn't realise there was a cruise ship coming in tomorrow," he says. "I'd better open up shop."

If you weren't aware that Darwin is part of the Sultanate of Brunei, take a look at the new Parliament House, a monumental structure built to last a thousand legislatures.

You won't be bankrupted by a twilight stroll down to the esplanade. This is where seemingly the whole city congregates, to take in the glorious sunsets across Darwin Harbour. Meanwhile, skipper Ian Lloyd expertly steers the Spirit of Darwin across the placid waters of the harbour.

As the Spirit tacks and turns, the dying sun's rays cast a golden hue around her sails.

"I won't be doing this run much longer," says Lloyd, who has sailed in both the Sydney-Hobart and Darwin-Ambon yacht races.

"As soon as I've made enough money from running these cruises, I'll be sailing off into the wide blue yonder."

After dark, the Mitchell St tourist precinct rages. Where Larrakeyah Lodge once groaned in the heat, the new fully-airconditioned Melaleuca Backpackers' Resort offers three-star comforts. Hundreds of "canvas tortoises" (backpackers) from England, Sweden, Japan, Germany and the Netherlands stroll the street.

Shenanigan's Irish pub and Rorke's pub offer late-night entertainment, with crowds so packed in that you never know whose beer it is that you're drinking from. Or if you're a high-roller take a trip out to the casino at Mindil Beach, where the pokies are ready to grab your spare cash 24 hours a day.

As a user-friendly city, Darwin has few peers anywhere on Earth. Here's a town that is determined to show the world that it can stand proud. And if the thousands who move here every year are any guide, Darwin has succeeded beyond its wildest ambitions.

CASENOTES:


Getting there: Air New Zealand flies regularly to Darwin, via Brisbane or Sydney, in a code-share arrangement with Ansett.

Getting around: The Tour Tub bus tours 10 of Darwin's major attractions, with hourly services from 9am to 4pm. Cost is $A16 for a day ticket. Tel (00618)8981 5233, fax (00618)8981 8228.

Where to stay: For modern, relaxing and friendly ambience, you can't go past the Darwin Central Hotel, cnr SMith and Knuckey Sts, opposite Smith St Mall. Award-winning design under Irish architect-manager Dennis Croker, plus the top-notch Waterhole restaurant. Tel (00618)8944 9000.

Mirabeena Tourist Resort, 64 Cavanagh St, tel (00618)8946 0143, fax 8981 5116, a garden-court budget alternative.

Backpackers will enjoy the atmosphere of Mitchell St. Melaleuca Backpakcers Restort, tel (00618)8952 4744, offers beds in share rooms from $12 to $16, singles $30 a night.