MURRAY MCLAUGHLIN: The forces of nature have shaped the history of Darwin like no other city in Australia. It’s hard to believe, on a day like today, that cataclysmic weather has battered this place and defined its character.
Back in 1898, Banjo Paterson said that Darwin broke everybody that ever touched it. There was the unbearable heat, there was no water during the dry, and there were flooding rains in the wet. Crops failed and termites devoured any wooden structure. It’s extraordinary that anybody chose to live here.
MURRAY MCLAUGHLIN: Chinese migrants were early stayers. Their legacy is the Asian influence which still touches Darwin. The Quong family has been part of that history since the 1880s, when Chinese outnumbered the European population many times over. Eddy Quong brought his young bride Greta to his home town in 1953.
GRETA QUONG, DARWIN RESIDENT: It was a cultural shock-I was a city girl. And I arrived up here and, my goodness, you know? No gardens, no green lawns, but a wonderful place to live.
MURRAY MCLAUGHLIN: And a good place to bring up kids?
GRETA QUONG: Oh, bringing up family’s wonderful.
DONNA QUONG, DARWIN RESIDENT: It was great growing up in Darwin.
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