Destination Profile - Darwin, Northern Territory
A classic tropical sea port and the capital of the Northern Territory, Darwin is located between Beagle Gulf and Port Darwin and situated on Fannie Bay, Darwin is a thriving centre of over 110 000 people.
Port Darwin was discovered by Lieutenant John Lort Stokes and named by Captain J.C. Wickham when, travelling in the HMS Beagle, they passed the harbour area in 1839. Wickham named the area after Charles Darwin who had once sailed in the HMS Beagle. In 1869 it was renamed Palmerston but in 1911 it reverted to Darwin.
In 1870 the first pole at the northern end of the Overland Telegraph was placed in the ground. Two years later Government House, a remarkably beautiful old seven-gabled house which overlooks Darwin Harbour, was built. It was pulled down and rebuilt in the 1880s and that building, known as the 'House of Seven Gables', still stands today. The town/city has been seriously damaged by cyclones three times and during World War II it was bombed over 60 times.
The story of the disaster which was Cyclone Tracy is one which is widely known in Australia. At the time, Christmas Day, 1974, it received massive media coverage. It was, quite simply, Australia's worst natural disaster. At 3 am the anemometer at Darwin Airport recorded winds of 217 km/h before it stopped working; winds of up to 250 km/h were estimated to have hit the city; total damage exceeded $1000 million and 65 people were killed; about 26 000 people had to be evaluated and over 1000 people needed medical attention; 16 people were lost at sea, their bodies never recovered; the ABC radio station, 8DR, was off the air for 34 hours; over 90 per cent of all buildings in the city were seriously damaged.
This destination is part of the Flyaway Faraway Kimberley Style Australian Adventure.
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