hi, me and a friend will be in darwin from 12-18 september and are hoping that people can give suggestions on what we can do whilst we are there.

We are both fairly active and healthy, we are doing a 5 week tour with connections travel, and it ends in darwin, so we have a few days to kill before we fly back to the UK after the tour has ended.
we are staying at the mirabeema resort, however due to the tour we will have already have visited lichfield national park (one day there)kakadu, katherine gorge,nitmiluk national park etc, so will probably wanting to stay relativly local to darwin,

have people got suggestions of what we can do? i have heard of the mindl markets and the deck chair cinema, will they be open this time of year? as both sound like they will be good, also is also what are the beaches/bars like in the area, are there many museums/places of interest etc that people would recommend (we are also both animal lovers so if there is anything that would incoroporate that we would definatly be interested

also, what is the weather like that time of year? i assume it is shorts and t-shirt weather (considering we are brits, what may feel cold to aussies is probably warm to us)

any suggestions would be appreicated

Weather will be glorious! Try the NT Wildlife Park, really well done and easy to spend a whole day there. I wanted togo back the next day! The NT Museum is excellent with a range of displays of cultural material, history and nature. Good bird watching in the Botanic gardens and the poo ponds. The markets are a must.
Enjoying yourself should not be difficult, leaving on a jet plane might be.

For the benefit of a southerner, what's a poo pond?

There are zillions of things to do. The question is ... what interests you?

If you google "Darwin", or do a search on the Forum, you'll find lots to start you off.

There's a "hop on/hop off" bus that takes in the Cultural Centre, Museum & Art Gallery & a number of other interesting places. You can book it from your hotel & it's very inexpensive.

Darwin's in the tropics ..September's our Spring .... yes it will be warm.

Darwin is a wonderful city, so interesting and with such ethnic diversity. It's unique. In September, the weather should be dry. It should also be very sunny so bring a broad brimmed hat for walking around as it can get hot. I was there around that time before and it was pretty hot, hotter than it was the previous time I was there in May.
I agree--don't miss the Northern Territory Museum and Art Gallery--it's easy to get to by bus. Terrific aboriginal art exhibit as well as some good exhibits about Cyclone Tracy and natural history. It also has a pretty cafe that overlooks the Timor Sea--beautiful.
Darwin has great food--thanks to its proximity to the sea, which guarantees a wide selection of seafood, and also thanks to its large Asian population--many Indonesians, Filipinos, Thais. But you can also find good Greek and Italian food. Native traditional ingredients, otherwise known as "bush tucker," also make it onto menus.
You might take a look at this link:
http://walkabout.com.au/locations/NT...ml#Restaurants
I enjoyed having dinner at Stokes Hill Wharf one night, very lively.
If you feel like shopping, there's Smith Street Mall, a pedestrian mall. Darwin is one of the best places to buy Aboriginal art, art galleries abound and the quality is high.
If you art very interested in aboriginal culture, you might consider visiting the Tiwi Islands--you can do a one-day tour of Bathurst Island. The Tiwi carvings and textiles are wonderful, and prices much lower than in town and you might even meet the artist! Though if you have only two days you might want to just explore the city and its surroundings as there is plenty to see. Anyhow, if you are interested, here's a link:
http://www.aussieadventure.com.au/titours/TIB1.html
Here's a link to the Mindil market:
http://www.mindil.com.au/pages/Mindil_Beach-FAQs.htm

If you like animals, the NT Wildlife Park is a must--very well done. Next door is Berry Springs and you could go over there for a swim (no admission charge).
Definitely go to the NT Museum, but if you are interested in aviation, there is also an excellent aviation museum.
A fun activity (not just for kids) is hand-feeding the fish at Aquascene.
Finally, we enjoyed eating at Tim's Surf and Turf located on a side street near the GPO.

Neil_Oz
Sorry, a "poo pond" is a sewage works effluent pond. Bird watchers tend to hang around them rather like flies to the raw stuff

Thanks, Saltuarius ... now the penny has dropped.

thanks for the suggestions and the web links, they are very helpful and i appreciate the assistance

been looking into the suggestions you have made they sound really good now, almost too much to choose form LOL!