Darwin and the Kimberley Places

Darwin

No other city in Australia defines its history by a single cataclysmic event. For the people of Darwin—including the vast majority who weren't here at the time—everything is dated as before or after 1974's Cyclone Tracy, which hit on Christmas Eve. It wasn't just the death toll (65 people) that left a lasting scar in the area; it was the immensity of the destruction. More than 70% of Darwin's homes were destroyed or suffered severe structural damage; all services—communications, power, and water—were cut off. The resulting food shortage, lack of water, and concerns about disease moved government officials to evacuate the city; some 25,600 were airlifted out and another 7,200 left by road.

It's a tribute to those who stayed and to those who have come to live here after Tracy that the rebuilt city now thrives as an administrative and commercial center for northern Australia. Old Darwin has been replaced by something of an edifice complex—such buildings as Parliament House and the Supreme Court all seem too grand for such a small city, especially one that prides itself on its relaxed, multicultural openness.

The seductiveness of contemporary Darwin lifestyles belies a Top End history of failed attempts dating back to European attempts to establish an enclave in a harsh, unyielding climate in 1824. The original 1869 settlement, called Palmerston, was built on a parcel of mangrove wetlands and scrub forest that had changed little in 15 million years. It was not until 1911, after it had already weathered the disastrous cyclones of 1878, 1882, and 1897, that the town was named after the scientist who had visited Australia's shores aboard the Beagle in 1839.

Today Darwin is the best place from which to explore Australia's Top End, with its wonders of Kakadu and the Kimberley region.