Sunday March 8th, 2026 Queen Anne, Darwin, Australia
- Neil Wylie
- Feb 17
- 2 min read
Unfortunately, not much to report today…
Our last visit to Darwin was memorable for all of the wrong reasons; the temperature barely dropped below 100F with very high humidity, and we had a terrible shore excursion – we also thought the town was stuck in a 1970’s time warp. So for this visit we seriously contemplated staying on the ship, especially since there had been very heavy rains over the last few days and there were reports of flooding in some areas, and saltwater crocodiles prowling the streets; rain was also forecast for today.
Australia has very severe restrictions on what goods can be brought into the country, especially food items, and we had been made to sign declarations promising to abide by the rules. However the management of the ship insisted on broadcasting the standard Australian warning about breaking the import rules about every 15 minutes, and so by about 11AM we couldn’t take it anymore. The rain had eased off, and the temperature was only around 80F, so we decided to take the port shuttle bus into the downtown area.
The main street in Darwin was much as we remembered it from 3 years ago; the nice pharmacy was still in the same location, and we stocked up on some essentials. Many of the shops were closed as it was Sunday, we hoped to find a good coffee shop but the one we visited last time was not there. A quick Google search led us to Rays Café and Patisserie and what a find it was. Sandra and I ordered the same thing, and both agreed that it was the best avocado toast we’d ever tasted. If fact it looked so good and we were so hungry that it was basically demolished before I had a chance to take any pictures – luckily, I found a few online.
On the way back to the bus we stopped at the Tommy Bahama store, it had moved across the street since our last visit and was much upgraded. I felt a bit guilty to walk out with new shoes and shorts when Sandra couldn’t find anything she liked, but only for a minute or two. We also picked up some small gifts at the trinket shop.
So that was it really, I could have just written: took the bus, had lunch did some shopping and came back. No sign of crocodiles anywhere on the streets.
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