Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaleditions.com/i/111460
drivetime Darwin The rhythms of as Michelle Hespe discovers, our northern capital is a city with its roots firmly planted in the country. Y ou can't go to Darwin and not make friends. Whether you're buying groceries, wandering around a market, ordering a beer or sitting down to dinner, everyone takes the time to ask you how you are. "Howzit goin'?" And then, lo and behold, they actually wait, smiling, for your response, as they do in the country. And then they actually listen. That's my first impression of Darwin. On par with anywhere in the Top End (if it's not the dead of winter), it's hot when I arrive. I step off the plane and practically break into a sweat just putting my thongs on. But as soon as I adjust to the steady heat I begin to notice the slower pace that is non-existent in other Australian cities (with the exception of lovely Adelaide). It's the heat. And the laid-back, friendly people. Why would you hurry when you'll end up being the only one with sweat marks on your top? No-one else around you is hurrying, so you can't get anything done any more quickly than you'd like to, anyway. So you just kind of fall into the rhythm – the beautifully relaxing rhythm of Darwin. Darwin from the air Understanding where you are in relation to the land around you is all very well on a map, but seeing a place from the air fills in the gaps, and there's no better way to see Darwin from the air than by chopper. I take a ride with Airborne Solutions on its 'Darwin Cyclone' tour. Taking off from the swamps barely 15 minutes out of Darwin, all three passengers keep their eyes peeled for saltwater crocodiles lurking close to town, but the creatures evade our sweeping gazes, and before long we're gliding above the city, gazing down at its impressive waterfront precinct. The Toga Group is behind the waterfront development that has literally transformed the way 20