Darwin

I have been meaning to write about my work on the Darwin Harbour and about Darwin NT itself, but I've been struggling to find the time to sit down and think about this place that somewhat awkwardly holds onto the old, rough and insular, frontier Darwin while also sporting politicians in fashionable glasses and periodically making lurching attempts to connect with tropical Asia, global economies and the shiny trends that captivate other Australian capitols.


Above: In typically insouciant Territorian style, Darwinites - and their dogs - check out the remains of a small plane that has crash landed on a local beach, February 2009.

In the end, it's a small town - especially amongst the young professionals. It's your-boss-is-married-to-my-dentist town; an I-know-you-from-yoga town. When I took my job, it turned out that I already played soccer with two committee members. And despite its provincial side, within the Northern Territory (which is the size of Spain, France and Italy combined) Darwin is The City. Just with a population of barely over 120,000 people.

I think that Darwin in it's isolation and big fish/small pond politics can join the list of 'islands' where I've tended to work and live (e.g. Timor Leste, Saba, Old Chevak, Little Rhodie, etc).

Which brings me to the whole point of this post: I came across a great article written about Darwin in 2005 that captures Darwin far better than I could. It can be found here. Enjoy!