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 | Darwin Warnings or Dangers | Tips 1 - 10 of 26 |  |
Popular Warnings or Dangers | Miscellaneous Warnings or Dangers Tips | All Tips (26)
 | |  |  | Swim with caution, not with …. | Tip Rating:    |  |  | |  |
In the Darwin area, you will find some lovely beaches. Although there’s no surf, the sand is white, the water just such an inviting translucent opalescent blue and you know it’s a perfect temperature. Care to dive in?
Don’t even consider it between October and May, because that is when the “box jellyfish” (sometimes called “sea stingers” or “sea wasps”) are prevalent: but the risk never disappears entirely, even in the “Dry”. These aren’t just the ‘bluebottles’ often encountered in more temperate parts of the world, these jellyfish come in several forms and are quite deadly. From accounts of those who survived, the pain is indescribable. Usually it is followed by a heart attack within minutes. Copious dousing of stings with vinegar helps, so it would be wise to have some handy at any time you swim in the ocean (and NT Health Dep’t suggests children never do).
Strangely enough the stingers don’t seem to keep the crocodiles away. You’ll read enough about the big ‘Salties’ in my pages to get the idea that they aren’t to be messed with. The beaches around Darwin itself are patrolled and checked for these beasts, but of course there’s nothing stopping others from just swimming in – and I’ve heard that hundreds are removed from Darwin harbour yearly! The risk from ‘Salties’ isn’t just confined to the ocean however, they also penetrate far inland in creeks and waterholes – the second sign was taken at the popular Berry Springs swimming area, which is closed for swimming in the ‘Wet’ due to crocodiles and opens in the ‘Dry’ only after it has been thoroughly checked by rangers.
So yes, you can swim in the sea at Darwin’s beaches, provided you do it in the “dry” months and take a large degree of care! Personally, I’d be looking for the hotel pool, or for somewhere such as Berry Springs which can be properly monitored and controlled.
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| | | | A few basic precautions | Tip Rating: | | | | |
The Port Victoria settlement failure, at least in part, followed the classical old “white man’s grave” story: malaria, tropical diseases, and simply collective despair and failure resulting from a lack of ability to cope with living in the tropics. It’s a very long time since Australia had any malaria problems, but other problems could easily arise if you aren’t careful.
Away from Darwin, you can expect to be assailed by swarms of voracious mosquitos if you are anywhere near the wetlands as the sun goes down. They don’t carry malaria, but they can carry other diseases and create significant allergy reactions, quite apart from being a nuisance. In these areas, be sure to have the most powerful mossie repellent you can find!
The mossies aren’t such a problem during the day, but in daytime two diffferent issues become relevant – neither a problem if you take simple precautions.
● In the short term, dehydration can develop very quickly because of the high temperatures: be sure to drink copious amounts of water – at least 8 glasses daily is recommended. Don’t wait until you feel thirsty, just drink lots regardless! And no, alcohol and coffee don’t necessarily count because they tend to be diuretics – so drink an equivalent amount of water in addition to them, ie a glass of water alongside your coffee.
● Use a good quality sunscreen (SP30+ rating) or cover up to minimise the risk of sunburn (which comes easily) and, as a longer term possibility, the risk of skin cancer. Northern Australia’s white communities have the world’s highest rates of skin cancer. It also helps to wear a hat with a brim!
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| | | | Don’t upset the Rangers! | Tip Rating: | | | | |
This ‘warning’ is so unlikely that it almost belongs in 'local customs'! Our host for the VT meeting was Zig (1+1) who has lived for many years in the Darwin area and who is himself a Park Ranger in the Kakadu National Park controlled by the Australian Government. So it’s fair to say that he looked more than slightly bemused when, as we arrived in our mini-bus for our catered picnic lunch at Berry Springs Nature Reserve, he found himself confronted by two Northern Territory Park Rangers!
They explained to us that some obscure law required a permit for catered lunches in their Nature Reserve! So Zig explained patiently that nobody had ever heard of this rule, there were no signs to indicate it existed, we weren’t proposing to sell food to the public, we were entirely a private group etc. Zig even pointed out that there were many other private groups having lunch there, the only difference was that they were preparing their own meals. Finally they relented and we were allowed to have our lunch on the proviso “as long as it doesn’t happen again”.
Isn’t a little power a marvellous thing! It would be churlish, I’m sure, were I to comment that some effort to clean and freshen the toilet/change rooms, which were the least savoury we saw on our entire trip, would be more useful to the community than this puffing about some obscure regulation! So I shan’t say that.
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