The two must-do day trips from Australia’s smallest, wildest capital

When I last visited Australia’s wildest capital city, the rains arrived right on cue. It was November 1 and Darwin hadn’t seen storms in almost six months but, as if to baptise the wet season’s official start, heavy clouds rolled in and prepared to throw it down. As I drove out of town to frolic at Litchfield National Park, I tuned into the radio: locals were jubilant about the downpour.

Some Top Enders love the wet season because it’s quieter, thanks to skittish tourists keeping their distance. Visitors who have braved it, though, know there’s not too much to worry about: the clouds build up, the deluge is often short, sometimes there are rainbows and afterwards the city feels refreshed and re-energised.

Marketers, though, struggle with how to sell “the wet” (which also comes with a chance of cyclones). It’s been called “tropical summer” and the “green season”. This year, they’re trying another slogan: “best-kept season”. I don’t let the rains in my rearview mirror bother me as I keep zooming (thanks to the Territory’s exhilarating highway speed limit of 130km/h) towards Litchfield, 120 kilometres from Darwin.

I have Florence Falls in my sights. I’m not sure why I’ve brought goggles to swim in the waterhole but I’m glad I did. Ducking below the surface, it’s like I’m in a well-stocked aquarium, spotting native freshwater fish such as sooty grunters and northern purple-spotted gudgeons. Eventually, I haul out of the water to bask like a lizard on a rock. Nearby Buley Rockhole is another fun place to splash about, chat with others and find respite from the humidity.

Somehow hours pass and although the park’s 1400 square kilometres of water-scoured sandstone country is home to other sights – cascades, jump-ups and rock formations such as the alluringly named “Lost City” – I have time only for a quick squiz at the towering termite mounds before returning to Darwin with an appetite.

You might not think Darwin – also Australia’s smallest capital – can cut it as a foodie city but spice-lovers know better. Its unofficial dish is laksa (during October’s International Laksa Festival, there’s every variation on the theme including laksa ice-cream, which is tastier than it sounds).

It’s de rigueur on Saturday mornings, for instance, to queue at Mary’s Laksa at Parap Village Markets; a laksa stop is also mandatory at the twice-weekly Mindil Beach Sunset Market. An outpost of Melbourne’s Salted Egg that recently opened on the vibey Darwin Waterfront offers a haute spin – a dry laksa showcasing chargrilled king prawns.

Otherwise, take in one of those famous Darwin sunsets while tucking into macadamia-crusted barramundi at the waterfront fine-diner Pee Wee’s at the Point or blow the froth off a cold one at Darwin Services Club, which took over the iconic Old Admiralty House site on The Esplanade late last year.

Darwin’s also an arty place – colour-splashed with almost 170 murals – but one of the best art experiences during the dry season is a 2.5-hour ferry ride away in the Tiwi Islands.

The Tiwi by Design tour around Bathurst Island’s Wurrumiyanga township includes a welcome ceremony, an introduction to Tiwi life and a stroll around the historic mission precinct (including the traditional timber church that starred in the 2019 rom-com, Top End Wedding).

A life-size bronze sculpture of the Tiwi hunter who captured the first Japanese prisoner of war on Australian soil is a poignant reminder of the islanders’ important contributions during World War II.

At the Tiwi Design art centre, which traces its beginnings to 1968 when two locals took up wood-block printing and then screen-printing, there are artworks to browse and buy. Those on the tour can also try their hand at screen-printing a design onto a tea towel or T-shirt. With a nod to the Territory’s rich birdlife, I choose a stylised sandpiper, add a wild mix of paint colours and squeegee my Tiwi souvenir into existence.

THE DETAILS

TOUR
A one-day pass to visit Litchfield National Park costs $10 adult/$5 child/$25 family (two adults and up to four children). Apply online before arriving, see nt.gov.au
The all-day Tiwi by Design tour (April to September), costs from $469 an adult, see sealink.com.au

The writer was a guest of Tourism NT. See northernterritory.com