Darwin

The old phrase goes somehow like this: "In Sydney, they ask you what business you're in. In Melbourne, they ask you which university you studied. In Darwin, they ask you which pub do you go to."

I came to Darwin with prejudices. I thought the place would be a real boring dump and I only use it as a base for a trip to the Kakadu National Park. I flew here from Cairns and I loved it from the first moment.

Most British holiday-makers happily stayed on the East coast, travellers decreased in numbers and increased in diversity. People generally don't come to Darwin to spend enormous amount of money which reduced the number of tourist traps and made the atmosphere more relaxed and friendly. I stopped meeting these "active & successful" young men who have a private pilot license, do diving, surfing, sailing, rock climbing, bungee jumping and horse riding all at the same time, play squash with their bosses twice a week (always win, unless they pitch for a bonus) travelled "the World" (meaning the English speaking countries) and haven't reached the age of 28 yet. Darwin is not yet a place they can show off with.

Darwin is the north-most Australian town and is also the capital of the Northern Territory. It was founded in 1869 and (yes) it was named after the evolutionist Charles Darwin. Twice in its history, the town was totally destroyed by a cyclone and built up again; the last cyclone was called Tracy and arrived on the Christmas Day of 1974. People say that locals took this as a chance to build "brighter and smarter Darwin", a town they could be proud of - and Darwin seems to have been built with a certain architectural taste (which - with all respect - is quite rare in Australia).

Darwin nowadays is extremely ethnically diverse with some 50 ethnic groups represented; the Major of Darwin is actually born Chinese. The general consensus seems to be that you can consider yourself a Territorian if you've stuck the climate and the remoteness for at least five years. Many people live here just for a year or two which, together with the flow of backpackers passing through, makes Darwin feels like a place of constant move.

The old FLUFF was waiting for its owner on Mitchel Street and I took this photo on my way to the omnipresent Woolworths.