A 60-second guide to doing summer in Darwin right

BY ALLEY PASCOE

Experience summer from a different perspective in Darwin.

The storm rattles in like a freight train carrying sparks of lightning and rumbles of thunder. With it, comes the rain. Thick and heavy.

This is Darwin in the summer – better known as the wet season in these parts – and it’s an experience like no other, brimming with excitement and natural wonders.

Taste a Darwin summer at these restaurants and bars…

Sitting at the entrance to Stokes Hill Wharf overlooking the Darwin Waterfront is the city’s newest seaside bar, Dock One, ideal for a sunset jalapeño margarita.

Dock One is Darwin’s newest seaside bar.

In town, Flick’s has taken the shuttered Duck’s Nuts Vodka Bar venue on Mitchell Street and turned it into a tropical pavilion, serving up Top End treats including camp oven damper, crocodile bites and kangaroo tataki.

Drink and dine at Stokes Hill Wharf. (Image: Tourism NT/Matt Lambley)

Hit snooze at these Darwin stays…

To experience the wet in all its glory, you want to be overlooking the sea and incoming storms. As luck would have it, the accommodation options at Stay Your Way all have one thing in common: ocean views.

From the buzzy waterfront to luxe Cullen Bay and the holiday strip of the esplanade, the properties are in prime position to soak it all up.

Darwin’s summer to-do list

The most vibrant shade of green can exclusively be found at the George Brown Darwin Botanic Gardens, during the wet, on an early morning stroll through rainforest gully. You’ve never seen palms so lush or orchids so bright.

Empty city walls have been transformed with street art. (Image: Tourism NT/Jessica Nguyen)

When the heat turns up, retreat to the aircon of the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory or the shallows of the waterfront wave pool.

The Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory ignites Darwin’s art scene. (Image: Tourism NT/Shaana Mcnaught)

Our hot tip: Summer in the tropics is not for the faint-hearted. It’s an adventure, a tempest, an experience you’ll cherish.

You can’t swim at the beach (jellyfish!) or wade in the waterfalls (crocs!), but you can sip mimosas by the pool and slurp laksa from the markets. Darwin does summer different, in a good way.

Graze your way along the food stalls at Mindil Beach Sunset Market. (Image: Tourism NT/Sean Scott)