Darwin – a small city in a huge territory

Usually people are rather strict about alcohol in Australia. Thanks to high tax rates the prices are extremely high, 24 cans of beer for 45 dollar for example. then you are not allowed to drink in the public and bars and restaurants have to be licensed to distribute alcohol and then you are still only allowed to drink in special “licensed areas”. So we were very surprised to see this very liberal rule in a park in Darwin. You are allowed to drink almost all times in the park! This is good news for barbeques but we did not really want to park our car there…

The beach at Darwin

At the Defense Of Darwin Museum you can visit the sites where Australian protected their important harbor from Japanese invasion. The conflict about Darwin is greatly omitted in German and American history about World War II but for the Australians was very important. The port was used to get supplies to the allies and therefore heavily fortified. When the Japanese conquered all of Malaysia and the British Empire was defeated in the Pacific war Australia could not count anymore upon protection from the British. So the only hope they had were the Americans and the new Australian troops. The Japanese did a huge bomb raid on Darwin and destroyed the whole city. They never invaded Australia because they were too busy fighting the Americans

Water fountains in the center mall of Darwin.

The old prison in Darwin. It was such a small city that the prison did not get replaced for decades even though it only had space for a few people. Here in Australia they call the prison Gaol

Crazy navigation on the way from Darwin to Alice Springs. There is really nothing on the way there, so you go straight for 1400 km. Then you turn left, don’t miss it!

Yes, they even have it in Australia, the Vietnamese beer. This is in the “Defence of Darwin Experience” though, so it is a reminder for the Vietnam war. We will soon get the chance to try the real beer in Vietnam