Publication:Sea Talk Winter 2007/Escape to the Top End for a top posting
By LSPH Helen Frank and CMDR Stu Wheeler
Want to escape the rat race? Then maybe you should consider a posting to HMAS Coonawarra in Darwin.
Darwin is a booming city with a population approaching 100,000. In fact, in terms of people, it’s not much bigger than Rockingham. Although the city is compact, it is has been designed for shopping and entertainment.
The surrounding leafy suburbs, which boast some excellent Defence married quarters, are all within a short drive from the Base.
No matter where you live, whether in town, the suburbs, or the nearby city of Palmerston, Darwin is a 20 minute city.: peak hour traffic runs for 20 minutes; it takes 20 minutes to travel from one side of town to the other, and it takes 20 minutes to leave!
With almost 10 percent of Darwin’s population in Defence, the city also has the most youthful population in Australia.
Its warm, tropical environment creates a laid back atmosphere, where people can take the time to relax and enjoy the vibrant tropical sunsets, the colourful weekend and evening markets, and fish the harbour for a barramundi. Being almost eight times the size of Sydney Harbour, there’s no shortage of places in Darwin Harbour to escape and fish your very own creek or estuary.
Darwin lies a mere 12 degrees below the Equator, which means there are two seasons - the wet and the dry.
The wet is hot and wet and the dry is hot and dry, and there’s not much in between. The wet season begins in October and brings weather conditions that are unlike most places in Australia. After a few weeks of ‘the build-up’, usually in November and December, the heavens open and it rains like you can’t believe.
During the months of December through March, Darwin experiences some serious rain, together with the most highly charged electrical storms. It’s no wonder Darwin records the most lightning strikes in Australia.
Imagine telling the family ‘down south’ that last month you had Sydney’s annual rainfall! Although the days (and nights) are humid and the temperature hovers around 30 degrees all the time, the dramatic storms, the spectacular lightning and thunder makes the wet an exciting time. As Darwin’s water supply overflows (again), it’s hard to believe the rest of Australia is in a crippling drought.
Within days of the last rain, the onset of the dry season is very quick. The humidity plummets, evening temperatures drop by 10 degrees and the cool south-east trade winds blow all day and into the night.
The dry officially starts in May and is the time when every one travels north. A steady procession of caravans, campers, backpackers and overseas tourists descend on Darwin, swelling the population with visitors. It’s no wonder really because the Dry season weather is simply ‘tropical paradise’. You can plan a BBQ years in advance, knowing it will be perfect weather!! The famous Mindil Beach night markets, the colourful Saturday morning Parap markets and the many outdoor restaurants, clubs and street bars are brimming with live music, great Asian and local food and ice cold beer. The most multicultural city in Australia truly comes alive in the dry and really ‘goes off’ at night.
HMAS Coonawarra is located within the Larrakeyah Defence Precinct, only two kilometres from Darwin city centre. As the fleet support base for 10 new Armidale class patrol boats and two heavy landing craft, Coonawarra has prime location, overlooking Darwin Harbour. The base has it all - terrific sunrises and sunsets, a front row seat for thunderstorms, the sea-breeze and great fishing off our very own breakwater.
Coonawarra is an operational base that provides various capabilities to our Naval fleet. Our job is to support ships and the people who crew them and with Operation Resolute in full swing, there isn’t much time to do anything else.
Darwin is the gateway to our northern neighbours, and the logistic hub from where the Navy conducts border protection operations.
Coonawarra also plays host to major RAN and multi-national exercises and operations involving around 80 visiting Australian and foreign major warships annually.
About 550 Navy personnel are based in Darwin, with about half this number posted to seagoing units, like the Armidale patrol boats. Other personnel are posted to HMAS Coonawarra, either as base support staff (PTI, NPC, WTR, BM, CK, SN, STD, MED, DEN, PHOT) or to a lodger unit of Coonawarra, such as the Navy Patrol Boat Group (FEG), the Fleet Support Unit (ex-FIMA Darwin), the Port Services organsiation, the Navy Training Unit, FISSO-North or to Shoal Bay Receiving Station.
A number of sailors posted to the Top End find themselves wanting to return to the cooler, less remote bases in the south. Leading Seaman Cook Corbin Dingle, from Attack 5, is on his second posting to Darwin. “I love the laid back lifestyle and the camping and fishing,” he said.. “I also prefer small boats to major fleet units.” LSCK Dingle also said that the remote locality leave travel entitlement was a great scheme and a bonus for living in Darwin, as this allowed his family to enjoy two fully paid holidays each year.
So, with another chilly winter just about on us, what are you waiting for?
Call your career manager today about a posting that may be the most fulfilling and exciting challenge in your career. As they say, you’ll never know if you never go.
