Settling into Darwin with a young family

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Settling into a new city can be a scary. The fear of the unknown, not having a support system in place, then adding children to the equation can be difficult. Darwin is a very friendly, supportive and family orientated community. It has a casual and relaxed lifestyle which is different from any other Capital City in Australia.

If you’re a young family moving to the area be rest assured that you are not alone! There is a big influx of people that come to Darwin for work contracts or defence postings and some stay for a little while before moving on and others just fall in love with it and turn it into their long term homes.

The seasons play a big role in people’s decisions to stay or leave. This is all because Darwin has two seasons, the wet and the dry.

The Wet Season

The wet season is one of the reasons that families may choose not to stay in Darwin long term. With it brings an influx of monsoonal rains, high humidity and an outbreak of mozzies. This does lead to some amazing lightning storms, which are worth sticking around for!

You will find that families in the area choose to be inside dwellers during this time. The reason for this is with the humidity all you need to do is walk outside before needing to come back in and shower! During the wet season, locals will crank up the aircon and spend their days inside or leave the area and come back for the nicer weather.

The Dry Season

The Dry Season is what it’s all about. It is what brings people to the area and what pulls at their heart to stay. The dry brings a buzz of market and festival activities that are crammed into the most amazing three to six months of cooler dryer weather. If the weather was as gorgeous as this all the time Darwin would most likely be over populated!

This is the season that the locals can live outdoors. Fishing and camping excursions are common as are trips to as many waterfalls and safe swimming holes as they can.

In Darwin any water ways including the ocean can have crocodiles lurking, so be aware. Our oceans are also known for their box jelly fish which can be deadly. This is no reason to put you off, common sense and reading signs will keep you safe!

Entertaining will often mean barbecues. In fact the people of Darwin are known as barbecue addicts as they have them everywhere – On the foreshore, in backyards, at the park or wherever they can! It brings a festive vibe to the city and makes for a hive of social activities.

What can you do to meet people and settle into Darwin?

Darwin can be a very transient place due to the number of people arriving and leaving the area so it is important to set up a support network. As not a lot of people have family close by your friends will become your family.

A good tip is to immerse yourself in the culture. Get out as much as possible in the dry season. Attend local events and markets, chat to people and start networking. Don’t be afraid to accept that invitation to the Sunday afternoon barbeque. These new friends will soon become your support network and you will need to learn to rely on them.

Join a local playgroup or if you have bigger kids get them involved in sports and start chatting to the other local mums, you never know who may become that friend you connect with: Territorians are very friendly people! You can also check out our events section on this website for upcoming family friendly activities. This is especially important for when it comes to the wet season as it can be quite isolating.

Darwin is a beautiful place to raise a family and due to the young demographic you will not be alone. Let yourself fall in love and open your heart to Darwin.