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Some Top Enders love the wet season because it’s quieter, thanks to skittish tourists keeping their distance. Visitors who brave it, though, know there’s not much to worry about.
When I last visited Australia’s wildest capital city, the rains arrived right on cue. It was November 1 and Darwin hadn’t seen storms in almost six months but, as if to baptise the wet season’s official start, heavy clouds rolled in and prepared to throw it down.
As I drove out of town to frolic at Litchfield National Park, I tuned into the radio: locals were jubilant about the downpour. Some Top Enders love the wet season because it’s quieter, thanks to skittish tourists keeping their distance. Visitors who have braved it, though, know there’s not too much to worry about: the clouds build up, the deluge is often short, sometimes there are rainbows and afterwards the city feels refreshed and re-energised.
Marketers, though, struggle with how to sell “the wet” . It’s been called “tropical summer” and the “green season”. This year, they’re trying another slogan: “best-kept season”. I don’t let the rains in my rearview mirror bother me as I keep zooming towards Litchfield, 120 kilometres from Darwin.
I have Florence Falls in my sights. I’m not sure why I’ve brought goggles to swim in the waterhole but I’m glad I did. Ducking below the surface, it’s like I’m in a well-stocked aquarium, spotting native freshwater fish such as sooty grunters and northern purple-spotted gudgeons. Eventually, I haul out of the water to bask like a lizard on a rock.
Nearby Buley Rockhole is another fun place to splash about, chat with others and find respite from the humidity. Somehow hours pass and although the park’s 1400 square kilometres of water-scoured sandstone country is home to other sights – cascades, jump-ups and rock formations such as the alluringly named “Lost City” – I have time only for a quick squiz at the towering termite mounds before returning to Darwin with an appetite.
Get exclusive travel deals delivered straight to your inbox. You might not think Darwin – also Australia’s smallest capital – can cut it as a foodie city but spice-lovers know better. Its unofficial dish is laksa .
It’s de rigueur on Saturday mornings, for instance, to queue at Mary’s Laksa at Parap Village Markets; a laksa stop is also mandatory at the twice-weekly Mindil Beach Sunset Market. An outpost of Melbourne’s Salted Egg that recently opened on the vibey Darwin Waterfront offers a haute spin – a dry laksa showcasing chargrilled king prawns.
Otherwise, take in one of those famous Darwin sunsets while tucking into macadamia-crusted barramundi at the waterfront fine-diner Pee Wee’s at the Point or blow the froth off a cold one at Darwin Services Club, which took over the iconic Old Admiralty House site on The Esplanade late last year. Darwin’s also an arty place – colour-splashed with almost 170 murals – but one of the best art experiences during the dry season is a 2.5-hour ferry ride away in the Tiwi Islands.
The Tiwi by Design tour around Bathurst Island’s Wurrumiyanga township includes a welcome ceremony, an introduction to Tiwi life and a stroll around the historic mission precinct . Apply online before arriving, see
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