Cavenagh & Knuckey

The block at the intersection of Cavenagh Street and Knuckey Street has some characterful emporiums. Emporia. I've picked a few for this post, but there are plenty more for a sequel.

Cavenagh Street runs the length of the CBD and is one of the main roads in town. Darwin was surveyed in 1869; streets were named in honour of prominent citizens at the time. Prominent colonial citizens, of course. Cavenagh Street was named for Wentworth Cavenagh-Mainwaring (indeed), an MP and Commissioner for Lands. Richard Randall Knuckey was a surveyor. Self-interest, yes? (The first white child was born in Darwin in 1869, too. Baby Walter Gardiner had a street named after him. But that's not part of this story.)

What would Darwin be without the fishing? This scaly dude, who appears to be checking out Ken with a baleful eye, is part of the shop frontage of Fishing & Outdoor World.

Fishing & Outdoor World stocks a bewildering range of fishing rods, fishing paraphenalia and fishing shirts. Before I came north, I didn’t understand that a ‘fishing shirt’ was a thing, in the same way as a footy jumper or a running vest is a thing. Fishing shirts often have collars, are almost always long-sleeved and the fabric is sun- and wind-resistant. The fabric is quite thick, which strikes me as odd, but I assume the shirt's key function is to stop the fisho from being fried by the sun and blasted by the wind out on the water. The designs are endearingly terrible, in my view.

Most of what the store stocks is a mystery to me, but I do like prodding the slippery rubbery fish lures. And I have bought a reversible sun hat in this store, which I like a lot.

Moving north-west along Cavenagh Street, the NT General Store (Army & Navy surplus store) is a treasure trove. Slogan: You can’t go bush without seeing us first. For those grammarians among us, ‘go bush’ is perfectly acceptable Australian English. No pesky prepositions needed, like ‘go into the bush’ or ‘head out to the bush’. Just — go bush, mate.

The array of army disposals is another linguistic delight. The store stocks ammo boxes, bivvies and hoochies, and yowie suits amongst other essentials. Apparently Australian Army snipers are nicknamed 'yowies' for their resemblance to the Yowie, a mythical being similar to the Yeti/Bigfoot said to live in the Australian bush. And there are yet more fishing shirts. We've bought swimming goggles for Ken and a coffee plunger at this store, purchases which seem shamefully tame in this context.

Directly across Cavenagh Street from the NT General Store, the Air Raid Arcade is a narrow arcade (very Melbourne!) that in previous years displayed photographs of Darwin after the Japanese bombing raid in 1941. Hence, Air Raid Arcade. Now it’s being spruced up into a trendy little assemblage of hipperies including a vintage record store, games arcade, art space and two bars. I took these photos early one morning before the stores opened.

Did you notice the public piano? Here's the end of one impromptu performance. Sorry, best I could do for now.

There are two small bars in the Air Raid Arcade, one at either end. The bar on the Cavenagh Street end is called Birth of Venus. The bartender makes an excellent dry martini, and I do love their glassware, but don't ask Ken about their beer. Cheers!