If someone told you that there are more art galleries in Darwin than there are pubs, would you believe them? You’d be best to, because this little-known tidbit of trivia is indeed factual. And it’s surprises like this that makes Darwin, and the Top End, a place that is not at all what it first seems.
Only four hours from either Singapore or Sydney, Darwin has found itself a unique identity in recent years, and the city is now growing up. Its youthful population of about 100,000 hails from a mishmash of 40 different cultures, with the average age of its locals being 30 years old. It finely balances out a lifestyle where you can get into a pub in a pair of thongs, but wouldn’t be caught dead in tracksuit pants while strolling down Darwin’s lively main street which cosmopolitan cafes, galleries and the city’s nightlife call home.
As we enter the second half of 2007, it’s clear the Top End is really rolling up its sleeves and getting its teeth into the C&I market. And with 2900 accommodation rooms across Darwin, and more to come, the new Darwin Convention Centre coming onboard, a number of operators and attractions now tapping into the market, and the continued efforts from the Northern Territory Convention Bureau (NTCB) of bringing business to the region, the Top End is emerging as a force to be reckoned with. And when push comes to shove, the truth is the Top End isn’t hard work – a serious bonus for conference planners who abhor red tape and useless operators. In fact, the hardest part about the Top End is deciding whether you want to sleep with your air-conditioner on or off. Everything else is easy.
It’s not difficult to find distinctive venues to hold conferences and events in the Northern Territory’s Top End, because in all honesty, most sites and locations are quite simply “beyond the ballroom”.
What’s more, the Top End sees very little, if any, rain for about six months of the year, meaning any number of the region’s outdoor spots can easily be transformed into impressive alfresco function spaces, without the need to bring on a truckload of bad weather contingency plans. And if you’re still not convinced that you can rely on the weather, most of the unique venues in and around Darwin will offer the flexibility of both indoor and outdoor facilities.
One great example is the Northern Territory Museum and Art Gallery, Cornucopia Café. Located on Bullocky Point in picturesque Fannie Bay, overlooking tropical gardens and the ocean, this venue offers a top combination of food, the outdoors and art. Delegates can enjoy a cocktail as they walk through the museum’s exhibits, viewing Aboriginal culture and art and the Cyclone Tracey exhibit. The venue’s fully-licensed Cornucopia Café can seat up to 100 inside and 120 outside on the fully-covered terrace. However, to get the best views of the pinks and bright oranges of the sky as the sun sets over the water, a function on the lawns is the way to go, seating 600 banquet-style.
Another great indoor-outdoor option is the Darwin Turf Club. This racecourse with its manicured grounds and function facilities has been around for 50 years – but you wouldn’t know it to look at it. The course has been redeveloped during the last 25 years, and all of the existing facilities are no older than 15 years. Designed with automobiles in mind, its wide entrance off the main road allows buses to come and go without congestion, and there’s ample parking for around 650 cars. A temporary marquee with toilet facilities has been set up on the club’s lawns, catering for up to 1000, and there are plans in place to install a larger permanent structure by July 2008. The venue also offers six indoor function rooms.
Speaking of views, if you want to wow delegates with one of the best vistas the Top End has to offer, the Windows on the Wetlands Visitor Centre will not let you down. Located about 60 kilometres from Darwin, this two-storey venue is perched on one of the highest points on the Adelaide River floodplains, making for amazing views of the surrounding wetlands from the venue’s top floor. The landscape changes with the season – the land is flooded for six months of the year, and brown and baked-dry for the rest. For sunset cocktails or a breakfast function at sunrise, the venue’s function room can cater for 100.
For champagne by the planes, or a themed banquet for 450, you can’t go past the largest single-span building in the Northern Territory, the Aviation Heritage Centre. With a floor area of 3600 square metres, the venue’s hangar provides a great space for functions or a guided tour of the aircraft on display, including the B-52 Bomber that dominates the other exhibits. The venue is adjoined by 6500 square metres of hardstand, which can be covered in marquees to extend the hanger for an additional 2000 guests.
It seems like everywhere you look in the Top End at the moment, there’s a new hotel or function venue sprouting up from the soil. In February this year, the NTCB announced that at least six new hotels and resorts would open or commence development in the region within the following 12 months, including the 26-level Saville Pandanas in the CBD, the Dugong Beach Resort and Escape Sportsfishing Lodge, and Bamurra Plains located en-route to Kakadu National Park.
The Top End’s existing selection of accommodation with conference facilities includes a number of quality properties, four of which are situated side-by-side along Darwin’s esplanade – Holiday Inn Darwin, Holiday Inn Esplanade Darwin, Novotel Atrium Darwin and Saville Park Suites. Each of these hotels overlooks Darwin Harbour, offering views of both the water and the city.
Holiday Inn Esplanade Darwin has some of the most varied conference facilities in the city, with five meeting rooms of different size, each with broadband internet and wireless capabilities. The largest room is the Arafura Ballroom, which can cater for up to 800 cocktail-style. The hotel is also fortunate to adjoin the Darwin Entertainment Centre, which offers a playhouse seating up to 1050 delegates and a quaint and intimate studio theatre which can hold up to 290 – great for a focused seminar or cocktails accompanied by an onstage jazz band.
Next-door, the Novotel Atrium Darwin prides itself on its two naturally-lit function rooms – one which has its own full service bar facilities and opens out onto the hotel’s pool terrace, and the other which has access to a garden terrace and the tropically-landscaped atrium, ideal for break-outs. These rooms cater for 100 and 150 cocktail-style respectively. The hotel also offers its deluxe suites as 10-person meeting facilities for more intimate occasions.
Around the corner, set in the thick of things on Mitchell Street, is the Crowne Plaza Darwin which has something for everyone when it comes to its meeting facilities. Its ballroom on the second floor can hold up to 360 theatre-style.
No matter the season, dry or wet, you’re sure to find plenty of water to play in – or should that be play on? The tropical Top End’s freshwater and saltwater spots come with the small hazard of being nabbed by a crocodile or stung by a jellyfish, which means activities in the water are not necessarily recommended. However, there are bucketfuls of things to do atop the Top Ends’ harbours and waterways which will still provide the same thrill.
One such option is a leisurely cruise along a river teeming with crocs onboard the Spectacular Jumping Crocodile Cruise. Located about an hour out of Darwin, the company operates two cruise boats to give groups the opportunity to get up-close and personal with crocodiles in the wild – which is rare as crocodiles often go unseen, hiding under the trees in the shade or buried in the mud. Commentary is provided on the tour, and includes information on how to survive a stay in the Territory.
If you’re after an activity that’s more hands on, the Top End has a throng of prime spots for fishing, including Darwin Harbour where golden snappers, jewfish and other great fighting fish can be found. Darwin Reef ‘n’ Wrecks Fishing Charters, can offer exhilarating Half day harbour fishing, Sunset & Night fishing, a 2 Day live-aboard Bluewater Fishing Adventure and also have a licensed fishing office to book and arrange barramundi fishing jaunts and a range of other fishing tours in Darwin. Darwin Reef ‘n’ Wrecks can cater for Conference, Incentive & team building programs large or small, and can even offer the individual whilst on there meeting or event a fishing experience of a lifetime.
Situated south of Darwin on the Daly River, Prestige Inland and Coastal Fishing Charters, operates barramundi fishing charters on the Daly River. Groups can experience the thrill of catching a hard fighting fish, plus see large saltwater and freshwater crocodiles in the wild. They also offer a range of other experiences including mud crabbing on Darwin Harbour, bluewater sportfishing, hunting safaris and camping adventures for groups.
For further interaction with water-based creatures, plus a look at some of the Top End’s land-based flora and fauna, the Territory Wildlife Park is a great venue for both incentives and functions. Nestled in 400 hectares of natural bushland and only a 45-minute drive south of Darwin, the park showcases and encourages interaction with a snapshot of northern Australia’s wildlife in their natural habitats. There is a four-kilometre road inside the park that loops around all of its exhibits, and delegates can get around on one of two free shuttle trains that run every 20 minutes carrying 80 passengers each. The park has a range of spaces for functions, including the largest freshwater aquarium in Australia which holds 30 banquet-style, the goose lagoon for 30 cocktail-style, and the outdoor lawns and undercover area where 500 can be set up for dinner. There’s also an outdoor amphitheatre for 350 pax in tiered-seating.
Pulling along bags packed to the brim with swimming costumes and sunscreen, a small group of six arrived in Darwin for a famil of the Top End in March. Most of us had never set foot in the Territory’s capital city before, and those who had made a visit had done so at least half a decade ago. So expectations of the days to come were mixed – yet no one seemed overly thrilled at the prospect of what Darwin might have to offer. But this soon changed.
A meet and greet with our exuberant bus driver, Paul from Grand Touring Coaches, and the famil was officially underway. Travelling around in comfortable, air-conditioned minibuses made getting from A to B a seamless experience – and was particularly appreciated when we were taken out of Darwin by Top End Escapes on the second day to explore the bushland beyond the city.
The famil itinerary did well to integrate fun and business without too many late nights or early mornings. Even the site inspections of the Top End’s great range of accommodation and function venues were turned into cocktail functions or team-building games to keep the momentum of the famil going the whole time. In fact, it seemed that everywhere we went we were greeted with a superb offering of nibbles, snacks, lunches, dinners and drinks – good old “Darwin hospitality” at its best! It became a running joke among the group that we feared going hungry – when really we were at risk of exploding from all the amazing cuisine we had the opportunity to sample.
On the first day we enjoyed an indulgent three course lunch (the first of many) at Novotel Atrium Darwin, sitting among the lush green plants of the indoor courtyard at the centre of the hotel, where we scooped up morsels of local grub including crocodile, kangaroo and barramundi. Then we snacked on yummy ice-creams while visiting the site where the Darwin Convention Centre will stand once completed in 2008. At the nearby Darwin Turf Club we were treated to a scrumptious afternoon tea in one of the venue’s function rooms overlooking the green-as-green racecourse. We all had one too many hand-made pastries, courtesy of the club’s executive chef, while sipping some cheeky bubbly. Afterwards, we dined at the funky and chic Char Restaurant, enjoying a selection of the chef’s signature steak range and mouth-wasting desserts.
The following day, we had morning tea at Windows on the Wetlands overlooking the floodplains, then carried on to the Territory Wildlife Park where we again got familiar with some of the Top End’s creatures, and had lunch in the park’s aquarium, chowing down local dragonfruit while peering at stingrays and clownfish. Next we met local event management company Eventuate at the Australian Aviation Heritage Museum where we enjoyed cocktails by the impressive aircraft displays. And to end the day, the Hotel InterContinental Group and the Darwin Entertainment Centre hosted a progressive dinner, encompassing cocktail-sipping while site inspecting, canapés on the balcony of one of the Holiday Inn Esplanade’s largest suites and dinner in the hotel’s adjacent Darwin Entertainment Centre, including its new and spacious outdoor terrace, finishing off with a chocolate-overdose dessert platter at the Crown Plaza Darwin. We all but rolled ourselves back to our rooms that night.
The next day we rose early for our much-anticipated fishing excursion with Darwin Reef ‘n’ Wrecks Fishing Charters. Some people in the group had never gone fishing before, so it was an exciting (and loud) moment when the first fish of the morning was caught. That particular fish (a golden snapper) was destined for our tummies that evening, as we were off for some Southeast Asian cuisine at Hanuman Restaurant where owner Jimmy Shu would cook us up a storm. The fishing trip was followed by some amazing dishes at an ideal off-site venue, Pee Wees on the Point, and later in the evening we enjoyed canapés by the sea at the Darwin Sailing Club. On our final morning, we enjoyed a lovely breakfast including freshly-made juices from Eventfully Yours at the Aboriginal Fine Arts Gallery.
In between the eating and drinking, we managed to squeeze in some fantastic activities, including barramundi feeding at the Territory Wildlife Park, a tour of the Museum and Art Gallery of NT where we ummed and ahhed over enchanting Aboriginal artworks, and a visit to the Parap Village Markets where we indulged in some retail therapy. Getting up-close and personal with the beady eyes and big teeth of several crocodiles, while onboard the Spectacular Jumping Crocodile Cruise, was certainly a thrill. With a supposed 65,000 to 80,000 crocodiles lurking around the area, we were practically surrounded by what looked like floating logs on the river. The prehistoric creatures got a lot of attention from our cameras!
In fact, we almost didn’t get a chance to see the crocs, as recent rains and flooding had seen the closure of the roads out to the river – the main road was only opened the night before we headed out! There were sections of the highway where the tar had washed off the road, and the floorplains either side of the road were covered in water. But this made for some great wildlife spotting, as the pooling water attracted gaggles of magpie geese.
The biggest challenge for most was resisting peeling down to our swimmers and taking a dip in the beautiful blue waters in and around Darwin – unless we were happy to have a crocodile or jellyfish get a hold of us, we were told to avoid dangling our body parts in the water.
Possibly the best surprise was seeing the ladies from local event management company Eventuate dressing up in flight attendant uniforms to greet us – it was such a fantastic touch!
The famil was arranged by NTCB (a business unit of Tourism NT) who offers free, local advice on venues, pre- and post-conference tours, social suggestions and accommodation.
Already attracting a handful of large events to the city, the unfinished Darwin Convention Centre (artist’s impression above) is posed to boost not only the state of the local C&I market, but also the overall economy of the Northern Territory once it is opened in mid-2008.
Currently under construction, the purpose-built centre took its first booking earlier in the year, and has since confirmed a number of bookings for various events and conferences looking to take delegates to Darwin from July 2008 onwards. Among these events will be the recently-secured Local Government Managers Australia National Congress and Business Expo, which will bring 500 delegates to Darwin, and the Australian Population Association 14th Biennial Conference (2008), which will bring 400 delegates. These two events, booked for 2009, are expected to generate more than $1 million for the Darwin economy. The Darwin Convention Centre team and NTCB are currently negotiating on major events with the potential to inject a further $20 million into the Territory economy.
Once completed, the sizeable centre will feature a 1500 plenary tiered seating hall and 4000 square metres of exhibition space. The construction of the centre is part of a $1 billion project initiated by the Northern Territory Government, The Waterfront Project, which will see the redevelopment of Darwin’s wharf area, located only minutes from the CBD. The redevelopment involves the transformation of some 25 hectares of waterfront land into a lifestyle precinct which will feature two new hotels with a total of 311 rooms, a 1.2 metre wave pool, drawcard retailers, restaurants and a beach area.
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