Darwin - Sunday 31st August

Darwin Car Kilometers: 174,772

Distance Travelled: 771km

Total Distance Travelled: 6521km

During a quick stop in Katherine's town centre to pick up some groceries, we are again enchanted by the music that can be heard up and down the main street - it's coming from speakers in most of the lampposts, and is a mix of Country-and-Western, religious stuff and popular music... a bit like Wolverhampton Council's spooky town Christmas decoration effort a few years back, but with better music and weather.The locals appear to be used to it, and are busy queuing up outside the town's several pubs waiting for them to open.

From speaking to people and reading signs and newspapers, we have gathered that there are strong restrictions on alcohol (or 'grog') here in the Northern Territories.Whilst we can't begin to understand the full extent of the social issues at work here, we discover that any of the indigenous population who are claiming benefits from the government don't receive their money directly.Instead, there is a voucher system that only allows them to spend their cash on specific things.Anyone wishing to drink alcohol in public, (including in a pub) must obtain a permit, and there is a housing estate near our campsite with a notice outside each house, proudly declaring it to be alcohol free.We are surprised that most white people we speak to bring the subject up quickly in casual conversation, most thinking that it's a rubbish idea - although none of them can suggest a better solution.Either way, the only sign we see of any problem on the surface is that the number of goon bags (the empty silver-plastic liners of cheap boxed wine), that we spot on the roadside seems to have gone up significantly.

Since we've got hours of driving ahead of us to engage in spirited debate (and knitting), and enough groceries to fill up the remaining square inches of space in the back of the car, we get back on the road and head for Darwin, capital of the Northern Territory.

In addition to the limping window, we manage to somehow break the cruise control on the way too... it's definitely time to book the car in for a once over once we get settled.

The outskirts of Darwin are similar to Perth, with four and six lane roads leading us past car lots and industrial areas.The traffic lights and multiple lanes are a bit of a novelty, our first since leaving Perth - we manage to remember how to negotiate them just in time.A breaking story on the news as we drive into town is that a man has crashed his car, killing his female passenger.He then escaped from the wreckage and stole one of the attending police cars, leading a police chase through Darwin before driving himself off the jetty and into the wharf... apparently this is the second time this has happened this week?!We pass a grim notice about the 'Deaths on NT roads this year' - the number is notched up from 47 to 48 later in the day.

We find a campsite about 20kms out of Darwin, hoping that it will be quiet and secure enough for us to set up in comfort for a few days, and set the tent up after a late lunch on a picnic bench near our pitch.What we hadn't counted on, however, was the temperature up here - not only was it 34-36 degrees for most of the day, but the humidity and lack of shade turned our tent into an oven from 7.30am until 6pm... Whilst this dashed any hopes of having a day lazing around in the tent reading, we soon discovered that a pub next to the campsite had deliciously cool air conditioning and cheap drinks, and once we'd found the book exchange in the site office, we were set.

We have booked the car in for both a service and a visit to the auto electrician - by now being used to the concept of having to visit several different places to get things fixed, rather than what we are used to at home of being able to just drop the car off at the garage to get everything that needs doing done in one go.The cruise control seems to have fixed itself, and the window motor just needs a bit of a clean and some graphite spray before it's right as rain - the service also goes smoothly, and Dave manages to get us an invite to the mechanic's shack the following weekend for a barbecue and some mud-crab hunting... much as we like the sound of the idea, we're still not fully used to the very generous Australian hospitality, and since we've only known the bloke for five minutes, and it's Aussie Father's Day on Sunday, we politely decline and leave the mechanic and his son to a Pom-free weekend.

We decide that it's time to carry out a preliminary exploration of Darwin city itself, and drive the 20kms into town. Our first stop is the post office, as Dave has some post waiting for him - a speeding ticket from his last week at work...

Darwin is on first impressions a bit reminiscent of the buildings and infrastructure of a small Wolverhampton, crossed with the people of Fremantle - some fancy bits, but mostly run down mid-70's architecture, with concrete at every turn; full of a multicultural mix of people from all over Australia and the world.The population is between 70,000 and 100,000, and there are enough students, backpackers, sailors and itinerant workers to keep the city fresh and growing.

After a wander around, we return to the campsite - firstly for an air-conditioned coke in the pub, and then to get down to the business of writing up some of our blogs on the laptop for uploading at the internet cafe in town.Although we keep fairly up to date with our journals, internet access is expensive on the road, and often doesn't have USB connections for us to upload our ramblings, meaning that we would have to sit and type each entry in the cafe... at an average cost of $8 per hour, we have decided to wait until we find somewhere a bit cheaper.Happily, Darwin has a Global Gossip internet cafe, which is $4 an hour - so we decide it's finally time for us to let everyone in on what we've been up to for the last month.

After spending several days typing the blogs in the evenings once the tent is cooler, we are ready to upload, and make our way back into town to the internet cafe.Five hours and twenty dollars later, we emerge, blinking, into the warm night air... we've managed to get our blogs up to date and also to upload photos for everywhere that we've been so far - whilst we apologise for the slightly hysterical photo comments that we were typing towards the end, we are glad to be done and dusted.

I text home to let mom and dad know that we're finally up to date, and it happens that they are having lunch with Dave's parents at the time.After a garbled phone conversation on the drive back to the campsite (a combination of speakerphone, us being brain-dead from all the computer time, and our parents being in a noisy pub), we climb into bed, exhausted.We've by now got used to the rustling outside our tent at night, which we had initially thought to be rats - after some night-time detective work, we realise that they are small lizards pottering about and find the noise comforting, falling into a dead sleep straight away.

Admin over, we decide that it's time to investigate Darwin properly - if nothing else, we're glad to be in the cool air-conditioning of the car. We start with the outskirts, parking up at a yacht club where it seems that everyone is busy arriving for a barbecue, and walk along the beach.The sand here is dark and has lots of rocky patches and crab holes, different to the white sands of the west coast that we miss already.

My personal highlight of the day is the use of an automatic toilet cubicle for the first time - I'm sure they have these in the UK, but I've never had the opportunity to use one before... maybe it will be good practice for our imminent trip to Japan.The door opens at the press of a button, and I am greeted with relaxing music and gentle verbal instructions on how to use the facilities, as well as a cheerful goodbye and automatic flush, tap and soap... brilliant.

We drive past an old Qantas hangar, and then walk around the pretty East Point Reserve until sunset, hoping to see wallabies, but instead spotting hundreds of trees growing happily in the sea, and what seems like thousands of fit and healthy joggers doing their post-work exercise into the sunset.

The following day, we decide to do the Lonely Planet's prescribed walking tour around the CBD.We start at the Smith Street Mall and walk around to the mint-blush painted Magistrate's offices, getting a bit lost in some building works whilst looking for the WWII Oil Storage Tunnels.The tunnels are cool in both senses of the word, and we are pleased to get out of the heat of the day for a while.An enthusiastic volunteer tells us the story of the tunnels, which were built to store oil safely during the war but were never used in the end, and we have a walk up and down them before carrying on to the esplanade park.It's still really hot and sticky, but we're near the end of the tour, walking on to the concrete cathedral - a notable feature being the portrait of an aboriginal Virgin Mary inside, and some religious statues that managed to survive being hit by shrapnel during the war, miraculously staying in one piece with just a few holes to show for it.

Darwin was an Allied front line base during World War II for action against the Japanese in the Pacific, and was the only Australian city to be bombed.Whilst the 64 bomb attacks did more damage to morale than the city's buildings, the huge Cyclone Tracy on Christmas Day in 1974 left only 400 of the town's 11,200 houses still standing, something we plan to learn more about in a visit to the state museum in a day or two.

Our walking tour finished, we retire to a pub called Wisdom, on the site of an old dentists, and guzzle down a huge bottle of tap water before nursing a couple of cokes and reading the paper until we're rehydrated enough to feel like any more walking about.

Thirst quenched and retail therapy juices flowing after the walk around town, we head over to the Mindil Beach sunset market.It's absolutely packed with tourists, and has hundreds of stalls hawking everything from crystals and aboriginal art to fisherman pants and cheap knockoffs from nearby Bali.We think that we'd have been really impressed by this if we hadn't spent so much time in Asia, where there are markets everywhere and for a fraction of the price; but aside from the extortionate prices it feels very same-same, and I don't even bother to buy an ice-cream, although we do enjoy the live music and holiday atmosphere once we find a less crowded spot.

On Friday, we decide to visit the local garden centre, next to the grisly NT road death sign, which has now risen to 49.Whilst we aren't exactly in the market for a new gazebo or a pot of petunias, what had caught our eye was the huge concrete and fibreglass dinosaurs, cows and crocodiles around the grounds... plus there is a tat shop next door, selling everything from life-sized pirates and Marilyn Monroes, to rusty roadsigns and fancy wooden cabinets, all presided over by a very noisy parrot.I experienced a financial crisis of conscience when I spotted a fantastic chair for sale at $400 - a huge leather and plastic swivel armchair in the shape of a big red apple - kitsch at its best... it would have cost a fortune to send home though, and our budget is tight enough as it is.I contented myself with a few spins around in it, while Dave relaxed on a giant plastic spoon and fork shaped stool, waiting for me to get over it.With hindsight, I'm sure I could have cut a deal with him, since he lingered over the lady-pirate for just a bit longer than he needed to...

Since we're in crocodile country, we decide to see some up close in captivity to learn a bit more about them before we encounter them in the wild.We pull up at Crocodylus Park; part zoo, part croc farm, and after a walk around the on-site croc museum, we join the twice-a-day feeding tour to see the beasts in action.There is a huge, murky green pool full of female crocodiles, with one male to keep them in line.They are being grown to maturity to breed for the farm, and we watch them being fed from an overhead zip line - they jump right out of the water to grab the food, and the snap when their jaw opens and closes is unfeasibly loud, and as incongruous as the sight of most of their bulk lifting up into the air.We also see some young males being fed, and then some bigger rescue crocs, none of whom are slow on the uptake.At the end of feeding time, we are given the opportunity to hold a baby saltwater croc - although it's only the size of a skinny cat and has his mouth taped up, he still has a good wriggle and you can feel his strength, but is also surprisingly warm and soft to the touch.That said, I'm still glad to pass the lively package onto Dave for his turn.

On our last day in Darwin, we decide to mop up the last sights around the town.Our first stop is Fannie Bay Gaol, an old disused prison.The cells are small and grim, but it feels light and breezy - probably not the experience of the inmates who would have been squished in with the doors locked.We drive on to the ski club for a drink and get chatting to a local couple who arrive bare-footed in a small boat, who we discuss the weather with.Whilst it's hot now, it will get more and more humid over the next month or two until the Wet comes, and with it plenty of monsoonal rains.At the moment it's the Dry, although the clouds have already started rolling in and out most days without producing any rain.The locals refer to these few weeks leading up to the Wet as the silly season, with many people feeling miserable and uncomfortable, and accompanied by a startlingly high suicide rate.We wonder why on earth people stick around, but apparently the combined attractions of the magnificent thunderstorms and relative peace from the disappearance of tourists once the rains start are enough to keep most people here.

The locals warn us that the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory isn't much cop, although we are pleasantly surprised - it turns out to be interesting and informative, with a good mix of general natural history displays, an indigenous artwork competition on show, a maritime gallery (non-air conditioned, so we don't spend long in there), a random exhibition about local nuns, some hands-on science stuff for kids, and a large display dedicated to Cyclone Tracy, which includes a dark room where you can hear a recording of the cyclone... pretty menacing.There is also a large stuffed crocodile called Sweetheart, who was accidentally killed when he was being removed from a fishing spot where he was making himself a mischief in 1979.

After the museum, we enjoy a walk around the botanical gardens, although we keep managing to get in the way of a wedding party and their photos - we eventually shake them off, and stroll around park until dusk.

We've both really enjoyed Darwin - both the friendly people and the sights and sounds here.We are amazed that the city has built itself back up so quickly and strongly after the devastating cyclone, and can't believe how comfortable people seem to be in the year-round high temperatures.It's time to move on though, next stop Kakadu National Park...