Lameroo Beach

Lameroo Beach is nestled against the cliffs along the Esplanade near Government House in Darwin's CBD. Darwin city's only beach, it has long been a popular camping, fishing and swimming spot for the Larrakia Aborigines and early residents of Darwin and was the location of the once popular all-season swimming baths. The baths were built to keep out crocodiles, but were less effective at excluding box jellyfish, which caused a number of deaths to bathers. The baths fell into disrepair during the 1950s.

During the 1970s Lameroo Beach was home to a large hippie commune until Cyclone Tracy destroyed the site in 1974. A graded concrete walkway leads down through tropical rain forest to the beach and the ruins of the seawater baths, where the trees overhang much of the straight, low energy, 100 m long, sand and gravel beach. It faces southwest into the harbour, with rocky tidal flats exposed at low tide.

Access to Lameroo Beach and the surrounding foreshore is from the southern end of Kitchener Drive or Jervois Road. At the east end of The Esplanade just beyond the Herbert Street intersection is a pathway that leads down to the water's edge. It passes through a particular pretty patch of rainforest.

Overland Telegraph Well

In the early days, a natural spring on the beach, which became known as the Overland Telegraph Well supplied water to the fledgling community Port Darwin of the 1870s. As it was the only water supply available to the general public, architect John George Knight ordered that a little house be built on the beach over the well to protect it. Over time, residents built their own rainwater tanks and the well fell into disuse. In May 1941 it was filled in.

Damoe-Ra Spring

There is a registered Larrakia sacred site located near the site of the park, Damoe-ra, which means 'eye' and also 'spring'. The name refers to the many fresh water springs which occur behind the beach. These sites were well known and held significance for the Larrakia people who lived in the region.


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World War II Oil Tunnel Entrances

The tunnels which lie underneath the City of Darwin were constructed by the Allied Works Council between 1943 and 1945. They are approximately 4.5 metres wide x 5.4 metres high and were built after the above ground oil storage tanks were destroyed by Japanese bombing raids in 1942.

Anti Submarine Boom Net

In 1942 an anti-submarine boom net was built across the entrance to Darwin Harbour between East Point and West Point (near Mandorah). The floating steel net was initially 4.6 kms long but was later extended to 5.59 km. During the boom net's operation, the craft used to maintain the net were housed at a small dock nearby. Remnants of the net can be found in the grounds of Aquascene at Doctor's Gully.

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