Darwin is the capital of Northern Territory and one of the most modern capitals in Australia.
There are a lot of restaurants, trendy cafes, casinos, a great nightlife and many beautiful beaches.
Darwin has everything a modern city requires, despite its small size, and a very laid back style compared to the some of the other capitals in Australia.
The Tropical Cyclone Tracy swept through Darwin back in 1974 and nearly flattened the whole city. Since then Darwin has been rebuilt to form its own identity, with a mix of tradition and it is now a modern city with a young population.
There are a lot of historical attractions in Darwin even after the 1974 cyclone visited, such as the Chinese Temple, which has been destroyed two times and then rebuilt, historical buildings like The Old Ruins, Brown’s Mart and the World War II Oil Storage Tunnels, which today is more like a museum, with hundreds of black and white photos depicting Darwin’s involvement.
Darwin also has many markets, each worthy of several visits. The best known is the Mindil Beach Markets, which attracts thousands of people every week. The market is held twice a week, Thursdays from 5 pm to 10 pm and Saturdays from 4 pm to 9 pm. The Mindil Beach Market closes down for the wet season, which starts November and end in April. There are also other markets in Darwin you can enjoy and which are open all year, like Parap Markets which are open every Saturday from 7.30 am to 1.30 am, Nightcliff Markets are open every Sunday from 8.00 am to 2.00 pm and Rapid Creek Markets are open every Sunday from 7 am to 1 pm.
Because of the weather, most tourist and backpackers prefer visiting Darwin during the dry season. The dry season starts in May and end in October, where the temperatures are more bearable, from the mid to high 20 degrees Celsius. During the summer, the temperatures can easily reach into mid 30 degrees Celsius, and get very wet with tropical humidity.
If you are in Darwin and want to discover the rainforests, waterfalls and crocodiles, a visit to Kakadu National Park and Litchfield National Park is a good idea.
Kakadu National Park is the best known National Park in the north as well as one of the largest. You can spend several days here without scratching the surface of what Kakadu National Park has to offer. Litchfield National Park, which is only 1 ½ hour drive from Darwin, has an amazing nature experience on a smaller scale, if you do not have much time, you should have a look at Litchfield National Park.
There are rarely saltwater crocodiles in both Kakadu and Litchfield National Park, the crocodiles are more commonly freshwater crocodiles, which are generally smaller and more peaceful, however they are still known for attack humans. So no matter what be careful.
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