A brief visit to Darwin, Australia

 March 19, 2026

We docked in Darwin at 6:00 p.m., right when our captain told us we would. It was hot and muggy but the sun was shining.  This evening the ship had a BBQ for us on the pool deck. It was a beautiful evening and the pool deck was festive with boating pennants flying, strung up lights sparkling and three ice sculptures on display. The buffet was fit for a king, or at the very least, for your intrepid travelers. There was roast pig, beef, chicken breast, and KANGAROO STEAKS. Also on the buffet were several different sliced melons, sushi, and a variety of salads. Tim tried the kangaroo and thought it tasted a lot like beef. We shared a table with two couples from England, both couples were delightful to talk with. Unfortunately, there were two bands that alternated entertaining us while we ate, that were so loud we had to shout to be heard. Once we were finished eating we all agreed we would love to enjoy another drink and continue the conversation but all agreed it was too much of a hassle to enjoy talking over the bands.  Later in the evening we ran into the cruise director and voiced our disappointment in the over amplification of the entertainers. The cruise director agreed it was too loud and had already expressed his concern to the bands. Since doing that he told us he had heard many complaints such as ours and would to addressing the situation further.

On Friday Tim awoke at 7:30 to the good news of a Spartan victory in the first round of the NCAA men's basketball tournament. After breakfast we took an historical tour of Darwin.  Darwin is an old/new city.  It was founded in 1869 but any significant architecture from that time was destroyed by multiple bombings by the Japanese during World War II. What was not destroyed by the Japanese was destroyed in 1974 by Cyclone Tracey, a deadly category 5 typhoon that made a direct hit on Darwin on Christmas Eve. Modern Darwin features the typical architecture of a thriving 21st century city. Ever since it's founding, mining, particular gold and uranium, has been a primary industry.  It is also a major shipping port for oil.  We can see at least two storage facilities from our balcony.  There is also a tourist site near our port that features tunnels built into the hill to store oil during WW II. Our first stop on our tour was East Pointe which is basically a scenic lookout for taking pictures of Darwin across the bay. Of more interest to us was seeing multiple groups of  wallaby's, a cousin of the kangaroos.  Before leaving on this trip we both agreed we hoped we would see kangaroos but, this was the closest we got other then the kangaroo steaks Tim had on the ships BBQ one night. The next stop was the Darwin Museum and Art Gallery. The Art Gallery was of little interest but there was an excellent exhibit featuring original film and interviews from Cyclone Tracey's destruction of Darwin in 1974. The Darwin Botanical Gardens was next. Neither of us was physically up to a long walk about the gardens, particularly given the fact it is autumn in Australia so flowers are pretty much done blooming. So Lynda found us a table in the cafe while Tim found a few flowers nearby in bloom to prove we were here. Our last stop was the Darwin Gaol (pronounce jail). This gaol was open from 1883 to 1979 when it was determined to be too inhumane for use. It was pretty grim. There was much discussion on the bus after the visit about gaol, or jail. Was it suppose to be a punishment or not. How cushy should it be? An answer was not agreed upon. At any rate, that was the end of the tour. We are back on board the Mariner and we leave tonight for Komodo Island just in time to miss a typhoon that hit the east coast of Austrialia just above Cairns today. It is predicted to go just south of Darwin on Monday so we are all good. Believe it or not, we have another at sea day tomorrow.

Go Green!