Fannie Bay Gaol in Darwin

I found this old post from Darwin that I guess I hadn't finished…

I can’t remember how we heard about the Fannie Bay Gaol while we were in Darwin, but we decided it would be good to go have a look.  Entry is by donation so it’s an affordable family attraction.  We thought it would be good for the kids to go inside the prison cells and learn a little about prison life.  This is probably one of those places that people who live in Darwin have never visited!


Isn’t the Northern Territory flag pretty?  The white flower has seven petals representing Australia’s six states plus one for the NT.


When you arrive the first building you see is the visitors’ building, where prisoners could meet with their visitors.  I wonder how old this sign is?


Then we were off to the minimum security section.  It was a series of large cells with see-through walls.  Inmates could see and hear each other.


There was an old toilet and sink in each cell.  You can just see the short privacy wall behind JitterBug (who has his prisoner face on).  The kids were very concerned about the lack of privacy.


You can see in this cell there were some old beds set up.  Some even had old mattresses filled with straw and we wondered what it would have been like to sleep on them.  Softer than the floor at least.  I caught one child laying on one as soon as my back was turned.  Just had to try it out.  I won’t say which one, but if you know them then you know who it was!


The infirmary building also held the gallows.  Two people were hung on these gallows, there were other hangings at the prison but they had all been done on temporary gallows erected for the occasion.  It was a bit spooky seeing the gallows and the trapdoor open beneath.  There was an information sign nearby that talked about what a job it had been digging out the ground for that trapdoor.  Australia has now abolished capital punishment, with the last execution taking place in 1967.


Next we found the ablution block.  Before they had this they would take the prisoners down to the sea for a wash.  The prison is very close to the coast.  Apparently someone escaped during one of these trips to the ocean, so a separate building on site was built.


Here they are having their showers!


Then we found the separate confinement building.  Not the same as solitary, there were two cells right next to each other and you could hear anything that went on outside.  It was meant for prisoners who might have been a harm to themselves or others.  It was hot the day we were there, it would have been unbearable in some of these prison cells.  LadyBug (5) enjoyed locking us in the cell, this was the view through the small window in the door.


JitterBug (8) was trying to bend down next to TurboBug (2) for a picture but TurboBug thought that meant he should bend down too.


There’s JitterBug’s prison face again.


It looks like they must have had their own outdoor yard, but the recreation area was right in front of this.  So I guess they could watch or hear what was going on but not participate.


The recreation area was just an open grassy area, but the sign says the guards used to play ball games with the prisoners.  Wouldn’t happen these days!


This was the muster area, I suppose the numbered squares were to line everyone up for a head count.


Then we were off to the maximum security building.  See the signs on the wall in the background?  Some of the cells had information about the history of the police in the Northern Territory.  The signs looked dated, it seems like they are trying to expand their exhibits.


Then we all took turns locking each other in.  Not all the cell doors closed properly, but many did.


Look how skinny these doors are!  Each cell had a solid door and a mesh door behind it.  Not really made of mesh, but wire like the picture above.


There were various displays of prisoner’s art and documents from the prison.  It was all very nicely done.


We made a quick stop in the children’s prison, they were of course kept separate from the adults.  I considered leaving some of mine behind, but in the end we let them out of their cells.  ;)


Next was the women’s prison.  The kids all wanted to know why this one had shade!  Who knows what it looked like when the prison was operational.


Us women were locked in for a short time.  It was interesting to see that the women had much more privacy for their showers.


The laundry building was blown away during Cyclone Tracy in 1974.  After hearing about some of the other damage during the cyclone, I’m amazed the prison didn’t suffer more damage.


This is right outside the gates.  See how close the ocean is? 


And that’s our history lesson for the day!

The Japanese Cemetery in Broome

We drove by the Japanese Cemetery a couple of times before we had the chance to stop in for a look.  It would be easy to think it’s all related to WWII but that’s not the case, it all has to do with Broome’s pearling history.  Many divers lost their lives here in Broome.

Many were killed due to cyclones as well.  In total there are 919 people buried here. 

The cemetery was so well arranged in perfect rows.  So many of the headstones are made from coloured rock that it gives the cemetery a uniform look.  There are darker, more modern looking headstones interspersed among the others.

It was a beautiful cemetery, so different from the green grass I’ve seen at so many.  The headstones were magnificent, I wish there had been translations available.

This was the obelisk mentioned in the sign at the entrance that is dedicated to those who lost their lives in the cyclone of 1908.  I have no idea how many names are on this monument but it looks to be numerous.  A quick search reveals there were two cyclones that year, with many ships (luggers) and lives lost.

We weren’t the only tourists stopping in that afternoon.  I can’t say that a cemetery is high on the list of places kids want to visit, but this one was memorable.  We exclaimed over all the gorgeous headstones and imagined the dangers of life as a pearl diver a hundred years ago.

Adelaide River War Cemetery

Somewhere I read that the war cemetery in Adelaide River is Australia’s only war cemetery.  I’m not sure if that’s accurate, it’s certainly not the only place that military are buried but maybe it’s the only one dedicated solely to the military?  Whether it is the only one or not, we knew this was one to visit.  The town’s population swelled after the initial bombing in Darwin during WWII as people fled the coast and many of the injured were brought here.

We stopped in the morning we left the town of Adelaide River to head south toward Katherine.  It was a hot, hot day so our visit had to be a quick one.

The lawn and gardens are impeccably maintained.  They were even working on them on that hot day we visited.  There’s a small informal museum outside the cemetery which tells the stories of many of the people buried here.  Altogether there are 434 war graves here.

It didn’t take long for the kids to find flowers to place on the headstones.  These beautiful white flowers are from the frangipani tree and are found all over the Top End.  The kids were collecting them off the ground and placing them on graves all over the cemetery.  I felt a little bad that someone would have to collect and remove them but I loved the sentiment from the kids all the same.  Every grave should have flowers, every life should be remembered.  They did the same at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, collecting poppies off the ground and placing them next to names on the wall.

‘His Duty Fearlessly and Nobly Done, Ever Remembered.’

‘Resting Where No Shadows Fall.’

‘Duty Nobly Done.’

I love this picture that LadyBug took.  This is the Memorial to the Missing which lists 292 names of servicemen and women lost to the north of Australia who have no known grave.

There is a civil section adjacent to the war cemetery.  Here you find the graves of the nine post office workers who were killed in the initial bombing of Darwin by Japan on 19 February 1942.  We’d learned of these deaths during our visit to Darwin, it’s mentioned often in war stories since they were civilians and all were killed together that day.

On the way out LadyBug happened to spy a cicada shell sticking to this post.  I don’t know how she could see it amongst all the coloured rocks. 

TurboBug insisted on putting it back where we found it and to my surprise it was still sticky enough to stay there.

On a lighter note, we also stopped into the local pub for a picture with Charlie, the water buffalo from the movie Crocodile Dundee.  Remember when Mick Dundee hypnotises him in the movie?  Charlie was a local celebrity and now stands proud in the local inn.  My kids haven’t seen the movie yet so were a little underwhelmed but they humoured us and enjoyed seeing how big he was. 

If they’d had a copy of the movie I might have purchased a copy, it’s one of those movies that you have to see if you live in Australia.  I remember going to see it in the theatre with my parents and absolutely loving it.  I just looked it up and next year will be the 30th anniversary of the movie, I’m sure it will be easy to find a copy then.  :)