DESCRIPTION
Your tour begins as music from the 1940’s pipes through the sound system – and you are on your way!
Departing from the Darwin Visitor (Tourist) Information Centre you’ll commence your tour with a short trip around the Darwin city centre where you’ll learn about the buildings, statues and points of interest associated with Darwin’s establishment and early development. As you pass Government and Parliament Houses your tour will head down the esplanade alongside Darwin’s beautiful harbour and the narrative turns to Darwin’s involvement in WW2. You’ll pass sites associated with anti-aircraft batteries, Catalina flying boats, Army and Navy barracks and the sombre loss of many Australian and American servicemen and civilians. From there your first stop will be at a house where bullet holes of an attacking Japanese zero fighter are still in evidence. As we head north of the city you’ll be treated to stunning views of Mindil beach, Fannie Bay and the harbour entrance before stopping at the 1934 QANTAS hangar to learn about Darwin’s involvement in the early air races and the devastation wrought by Japanese airforces over Darwin during the war. Your tour will then head to East Point military precinct. As we pass through the tropical monsoon rainforest in the area, you might spot some of the abundant wildlife – wallabies, eagles, kites, snakes, magpie geese and dingoes that abound here. At East Point you have the opportunity to disembark at the Military Museum/Defence of Darwin Experience (entry fee additional), and be picked up by the subsequent tour an hour and a half later. At the museum you can involve yourself in the interactive displays – experience what it was like to be in Darwin during that first bombing raid!
As we head back via the north east of the city you’ll be treated to prime ministerial and presidential speeches, pass by oil storage tanks and tunnels, machine gun strafing marks, Stokes Hill and Fort Hill Wharves and Darwin Harbour – stopping to learn about the devastation of shipping in the harbour during the first Japanese raid. Returning to the Tourist Information Centre the narrative turns to post war Darwin the subsequent devastation by Cyclone Tracy in 1974 and Darwin in the modern era.
With small groups and a comfortable vehicle you can sit back, relax and enjoy the views and expert commentary by your professional tour guide.Tour vehicle seats a maximum of 18 people per tour. Attachment points for booster seats are fitted to some seats.
Tour Completion Times: 10am – finishes approximately 12:50pm; 11:30am – finishes approximately 2:20pm; 1:00pm finishes approximately 3:50pm. Tours include approximately an hour and a half at the Military museum/Defence of Darwin Experience
Seniors may be required to show their seniors cards prior to boarding
Children includes ages 4-12 years
