EAST POINT (Darwin)
Today we’re going to have a short excursion into one of Darwin’s historic areas, East Point.
The heavy gun emplacements at East Point.
East Point is significant for its World War II artefacts: the lookouts and the gun points. It’s also the location of Darwin’s Military Museum and its new Defence of Darwin Museum Experience.. Although not well publicised during the war, Darwin was subject to a major Japanese bombing raid on 19 February 1942. Australian Air Force and Army personnel were stationed up and down the Stuart Highway to counter-attack if an invasion took place although the bombing raid caught everyone largely unprepared.
If you’re a bird watcher you may also care to look out for the little crimson finches which can sometimes be seen flitting among the vegetation with their trademark “peep peep” call. If you’re lucky, and mighty alert, you might even spot a family of curlews among the bushes.
Looking rather like a deteriorating water tank, this is actually a gun position (interstice) near the BBQ area and playground.
Why not join the locals and follow up your history lesson with a barbie (BBQ) near the beach and an evening drink while admiring the setting sun? One of Darwin’s features is that it actually faces west (even though it’s at the north of the country), so you see sunsets over water…something to get used to if you’ve grown up or lived on the east coast. Sunset-watching is a soothing way to close the day and you get a different view of the Darwin skyline as well. There’s also a good playground and a man-made lake, free of crocs, where the ankle-biters can have some fun.
Why visit: Military history, natural environment, great views and sunsets.
FYI: There are a couple of maps on my A to Z planning post which will help you to pinpoint where today’s post is situated.
ELLIOTT
Elliott is a “whistle-stop” between the Devil’s Marbles and Daly Waters, a mere 800 or so kms from Darwin. Never a great place, frankly it’s now dodgy as… you really wouldn’t want to stop here overnight unless you had to, as far as I can tell it has no mitigating features. It’s a place to refuel, take a toilet break, grab a cold drink or an ice cream and set forth on the next leg of your journey. I remember transiting here once when I had to make a call about a job…they seriously thought I could get back to Darwin to talk to someone that same afternoon, within a couple of hours!!
Why visit: Refuel, refresh, facilities stop. (Trust me, you don’t need a photo of Elliott).
TODAY’S AUSSIE-ISMS
Esky: a portable cooler for keeping drinks and food cold while out camping or on a picnic (in NZ I believe it’s called a chilly bin)
Ear bash: talk constantly (talk the leg off an iron pot); go on and on about something
Elbow grease: muscle/hard work, put some elbow grease into it to clean something.
Eat the table/horse etc: so hungry you could eat a horse or a table or….
Ex-y: expensive, maybe beyond its worth
Tomorrow we’re not straying far from East Point as we’ll spend time looking at some world-famous aviation achievements in neighbouring Fannie Bay.
The dual alternative energy research facility at East Point.
Loving my tour and learning so much… and at last, a group of Aussie -isms, all of which I use or have used…
Glad you’re enjoying the tour…and that you found some Aussie-isms you relate to. I should probably have used C for Crass 🙂
The round gun position is a pillbox the others are anti aircraft positions. man would I love to look round them. Bit different to what I have seen over here.
I’m pleased you found them interesting Bill!
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Thanks for visiting Frizztext.
What a great blog. I love the photo’s and the way you have more than one E.
Thanks for visiting Magnumlady 🙂
Fellow Aussie stopping by to say hi from the A to Z Challenge. Nice to see you’re giving our international readers an Aussie education. The last photo is amazing, bloody brilliant even.top notch, even 🙂
Thanks Curtain Raiser -people seem to be enjoying the taste of Oz. Glad you liked the sunset…we do them well up here 🙂
Interesting and educational! I love how nature is reclaiming the area:))
Thanks Talya…it’s a very popular area for locals and there can be big family BBQs going on.
There is an East Point near here. Nothing as interesting as yours though. We also say “elbow grease” in the same way. I have stopped in some places on trips where the decision was made to just fuel up and keep moving. I now picture Elliot as the gas station in Shreveport, LA where we decided we weren’t too tired to drive on for awhile.
I love it Kristin! That captures it exactly -and now I can imagine Shreveport too 🙂 There’s another place over the WA border where Rach and I took one look and decided home, a few hundred kms away, could be achieved by dark provided we went like the clappers on the dirt road.
I’m enjoying your A to Z theme. Looking forward to the rest of the alphabet 🙂
Thanks Pete, glad you’re finding it itneresting 🙂
Thanks for sharing such an interesting bit of history. 🙂
Thanks C B 🙂
Darwin has been on my “to-visit” list for some time. Reading your blog is moving Australia up the “must visit” list! 😀
With your focus on evolution surely Darwin would have to be on the list Charlie 😉 I hope that the posts give you further temptation to make it over here.
I was very interested to read this post (and see the excellent photos) because last year we had some Australians visit us in England to see where their relatives had died in WWII. I am doing the A to Z challenge as well at lynnerevettebutler.com
hi Lynne, Thanks for visiting…’m glad you found the post interesting. I’ll pop over and have a look at yours too 😉
The sunset is beautiful! Over water, with nothing to obscure it, you get the full effect.
Faye at Destination: Fiction
Yes, our over-water sunsets are a Darwin feature 🙂
Love the comment about Elliot – is it really bad? – Actually just done a Google and can see that I am likely to never visit (ignore the geography issue) with temperatures typically well above my preferred 23C (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elliott,_Northern_Territory). Also spotted a few pictures. Point taken!
You know you can trust me Julie -Elliot has got worse not better in my opinion. Like I said, petrol, drinks/ice block and toilets and zoom. Surely you would go beyond 23C or you’d never be able to see the Territory at all which would be a terrible shame….just not Elliot.