Darwin to Uluru (Ayres Rock)

[Yowie]

Hi all,
It is an unexpected afternoon off so:
Here it is the long promised account of my trip from Darwin to Uluru. First Installment anyway

I only got back in July ........
Flying to Darwin is an adventure in itself, thats not counting the atrocious train service and early morning start. Darwin is a long way away, 4 hours flight. Perth is the only other city in Australia that is further away.

Landing in Darwin is also an adventure (for plane nerds anyway) Since Darwin airport is co operated with the RAAF it is surrounded by fighter aircraft shelters and flying in they announced Pitch Black 2012 was starting soon. Pitch Black is one of Australias biggest Defense exercise. So lots of planes soon from all over Singapore USA, Indonesia to name a few. Soon ,sadly after days of seraching the sky it started after i left.

Real Crocodile Dundee country

Seriously this is the view driving out of the Airport. When you turn the corner you come out on a small city you are surprised not to be attacked by crocodiles.

Darwin has always had a bit of a frontier mentality. Its not the most remote city in Australia but it is unique (lots of tattoos, and flip flops(thongs to the civilized) attached to large bearded men).

The other thing in Darwin is that everything is almost new. Although settled for a while, it was bombed flat in WW2 (the only Australian city to be repeatedly bombed) and subsequently re-flattened on Christmas Day in 1974 by Cyclone Tracy.
Also it is currently going through a boom brought on by the Mining Boom, lots of constuction and Rental inflation.

For such a small city, what you do get is a lot of museums (The city I live in is probably 3 times the size of Darwin and has none) Darwin has three top quality museums.
The first one I visited was.....

Darwin Military Museum

During WW2 Darwin and surrounding areas was a major staging base for for the US and Australia, up to half a million troops were stationed around it. That must have been fun in a tent, Darwin only has too seasons: The Dry and The Wet. The dry season runs from late May too September, and The Wet the rest. I was there in the dry, it averaged around 27 - 30c. During the wet 35c +, 100% humidity and huge monsoonal storms about 2 oclock every afternoon. most houses do not have guttering becuase so much rain falls that they are useless.

Anyway back to the museum,it was awesome,. The interactive presentation about the bombing was great and outside a military enthusiasts wet dream...

Universal (Bren Carrier)

25pdr Field Gun

Australian Infantry weapons from the Brown Bess Musket to the Steyr

and for the MREInfo crowd

CR1M

It was a bit ratty, could do with a new version all the cans were rusted and the bags swelled up
All in all it was a really great museum, It is built on the site of some coastal defense guns that were emplaced to help repel a Japanese invasion. The problem is the site was only completed in 1946. One of the two 9.2 inch guns was fired thee time to test them and then both were scrapped and made into something more usefull (Australia a has a bit of a history with coastal defense platforms that are completely useless, but that is another story)

Replica 9.2 inch gun in concrete bunker.

This is a view from the beach out the front of the next museum. The Darwin and Northern Territory Natural History Museum, was even better than the Military Museum. The displays included a Pickled Box jelly fish, the most poisonous creature in the world. lots of stuffed local animals birds and reptiles, as well a a cyclone Tracy exhibition, that was topped off with a sound room that is blacked out. You get to listen too an original recording taken during the height of the storm. lets just say it is pretty freaky.

So this ends installment one. Next time more Darwin culture, the aviation museum and Crocasuarus Crocodile Park

Yowie

[Name_not_found]

Very cool and well written, thanks for sharing Yowie

Its disappointing that one ratty old ration display is all they have.

DId you see any crocs?

[rationtin440]

Great pics and info Yowie! If I'm not mistaken, the Science Fiction movie "The Quiet Earth" was filmed in or near Darwin since the story needed a relatively remote area for the top secret "Project Flashlight" facility.

[housil]

Thx for sharing the pic´s and impression from the other side og the earth!

[Bypah]

Awesome!
Good material that I can use with my World Geography students when we talk about Oz and Oceania....

[Yowie]

Finally another afternoon off,
lets start part two of the trip.
Thanks all for reading,

NNF, did see some crocs but only behind glass (more too come)
Rationtin, never seen the movie will have too look it up
and Bypah if you need anymore info for the kids or more photo's let me know. Darwin and the NT has had a very interesting history for its short life and has a real attachment to the US from WW2 to the deployment of Marines starting 2012.



Part 2
I spent a whole week in Darwin, exploring, catching up with family and friends. What was interesting was all of the historical sights. Right in the middle of the city is a ruined stone building, the original Town Hall. At first I thought it was bombed out in the war, but the plaque shows it was knocked over in Cyclone Tracy. The most poignant spot was this memorial out the front of the Parliament House......

4" Gun from Destroyer USS PEARY

The USS PEARY was sunk in 1941 during the bombing, contemporary reports her going down with all guns blazing.

The plaque says it all

Everywhere you go there is a sign for a historical WW2 sight (some seem to be just foxholes where some one watch for raiders) but some are very interesting and moving.

Three Armidale Class Patrol Boats Darwin Navy Base. These guys are getting a lot of work these days rescuing Illegal Immigrants. Its not our best policy but no Government for 30 years seems to know what too do.....

I may have mentioned once or twice that I am a plane nerd and Darwins Aircraft Museum Home too:

Darwins Pride

[Yowie]

The Aviation museum is home to 1 of only 2 B52's on display outside if the USA. The museum is really just an old hanger on the back end of Darwin Airport, but is a great museum. Clearly the BUFF dominates the hanger, no matter where you are it looms over you. There is a DVD display in one of the bomb bays and an old Ansett stairs truck where you can look into the cockpit. off to the side is a set of photos showing how the plane was fitted into the hanger (the tail had to be removed to fit and replaced inside).

The rest of the museum has a

CAC Sabre (Sabre body Rolls Royce AVON engine)

A

Cobra Gunship

and a

One of the few Mirages from the RAAF that did not fall out of the sky or slam into the side of a mountain. They were nicknamed 'Miracles' in the RAAF

Honestly this is plane nerds heaven. There is also a Spitfire, the fuselage of a B25 bomber and numerous other weird and wonderful flying machines (including an ultra light powered by a lawnmower engine. It look like it was built in a highschool classroom). Best of all you can walk all around them and touch them. They are not behind ropes or glass. Very very cool
That fills in the morning now for living Dinosaurs........

You guys may recognize this guy

He is a movie star. If you have seen the culturally classic movie 'Crocodile Dundee', he is the Croc who tries to drag Linda Kowslaski into the water (swimsuit scene) At 5.3 m he is very impressive even behind 4 inches of glass. looking through the glass I saw a lot of scratches. It looked like kids had scratched it with coins or such, till you looked closer and saw that the scratches were on the inside. (are you sure that it is thick enough). Interestingly a Croc can jump its own length out of the water if the water is deep enough (is that tank too deep).
Crocosaurus is in the centre of Darwin and is another awesome attraction. They hane five of the big boys plus a lot of babies and a great display of reptiles in a nocturnal room, snakes that will kill you with a look .

Jumping for a chicken

Lots of Baby salties

Again what a great experience. If you are brave enough you can get in a perspex tank and go under while it is feeding time and everyone who wants can feed the baby crocs with fishing line.
Well this end the jaunt in Darwin proper (I also attended morning tea at parliament house, the Australian Calisthenics championships (very boring ) and the NT Flight Centre annual Ball ( There is nothing so much fun as cute chicks in short skirts riding a mechanical Bull ))
Next time will be the start of the big drive

[Stef]

One of the few Mirages from the RAAF that did not fall out of the sky or slam into the side of a mountain. They were nicknamed 'Miracles' in the RAAF

Wow, I've seen Mirages flying over my head since I'm a kid and I've never seen any falling into my garden. Did the RAAF changer the original engine with one of those from a lawnmower or did the "fuel" used by the pilots was "too rich"?

[Yowie]

Hi Stef. Our Mirages were III's. In the early eighties we had quite a few crash (prob getting to the end of their life), including two flying into a mountain in Malaysia.

Crashed around 50 km's from Darwin (outside the main hangar of museum)

[Stef]

oops ....a French Mirage 2000 has just crashed this morning near Luxeuil air base (East of the country)

You bring the bad eye man!

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