big day out

Up very early this morning to hop on the bus for a tour around Darwin's experiences during World War 2 which may surprise many.

On the 19th of February, 1942 at 09.58 188 Japanese planes, launched from the same fleet of aircraft carriers and led by the same admiral that had bombed Pearl Harbour two weeks earlier, bombed Darwin. Singapore had 'fallen' days earlier and Darwin was the next 'front line' in Asia.
A priest on Mission Island sent a telegraph message to say a fleet of planes had flown over and were heading towards Darwin...and sad to say, the message was ignored as HQ believed them to be American Kittyhawks!
251 people were identified as dying on that first day though, as is the case today, there was a large itinerant population and numbers have been estimated as quite possibly 1000.
The Top End's involvement in the war continued with bombings and attacks until the end of 1943.

And so back to town and the Chinese temple, the site of which dates back to 1887. Also damaged during the February bombings, the temple was restored and reopened in 1959.

Phew!!
Coffee needed and this is Java Spice a VERY NOT Top End typical spot where soup of the day may be advertised as beer!!
Very cool, great coffee (sampled a chai latte) and raspberry angel cake along with filled rolls that would feed a small army.
And when you sit down, a plate with iced water AND a cool towel to dab that fevered brow arrives in an instant.
(Just a quick ps. When I arrived, the place was heaving and this was taken when folks left and a few minutes later it was heaving again!!)