Saturday, 12 July 2014

Darwin 9th, 10th & 11th July 2014

 Sunset at Mindil Beach
 Sunset at East Point
 Speak No Evil, Hear No Evil and See No Evil at Doctors Gully
 Fish Feeding at Doctors Gully
 Crocodylis Park, croc feeding
 Holding a Baby Croc at Crocodylis Park
 Holding a Baby Croc at Crocodylis Park
 Holding a Baby Croc at Crocodylis Park
 Fannie Bay Gaol
 Stokes Wharf (re enactment of 7 years ago + 1 child)
East Point
Jacob and Lou in the WWII Oil Tunnel

After packing up and saying goodbye to Kakadu, we moved onto Darwin. We had a very jam packed few days in Darwin. The Wednesday we arrived we took the kids to feed the fish at Doctor's Gully. This is something I remember doing when here with the family when I was in grade 2 (1982) and then again only 7 years ago with Jacob and Louise along with mum and dad and my sisters. So it was great to see the 3 kids really enjoy themselves. Jacob loved watching the big fish chase and jump for the food. Louise was enthralled in the whole experience and Hannah thought they were slimy. After the fish feeding we went for a drive around the city and showed the kids a few sights around Darwin. After going back and setting up the camper we decided to have fish and chips and went and sat on the esplanade to eat them.
Thursday we got up and took the kids to Crocodylis Park. We saw not only different sized crocodiles but a number of other different animals. The kids, Strick and I all held a baby crocodile. We were all very very brave. Lunch was on the agenda next followed by the Fannie Bay Gaol. It was interesting reading all about the Gaol including how it got moved because it was felt the original Gaol was too close to the law abiding citizens. Also when Darwin was bombed all the inmates were released to defend for themselves. The kids were amazed at how small the cells were considering they had 3 inmates in them and Hannah thought it was pretty grosse that they had to go to the toilet in front of each other. After the Gaol we went back to camp the kids had a swim while mum and I tried to catch up on all the much needed washing. We then went to the Mindil Beach market and watched the sunset, had tea and bought a few items. The girls loved the market and the fact that there was so much to look at. Friday was the old boys birthday so it was about doing things that Strick really wanted to do. We visited the WW2 underground oil tunnels. Again kids were great and asked the man some great questions and found out 250 people died in the initial Darwin bombing and only 1 died while building the tunnel. He was very unlucky as he was walking out and s rock fell and hit him on the head. We visited the cenotaph and some other Darwin bombing memorial sites and looked around the city. We spent some time in a doctor's surgery with both Louise and I needing some attention. Louise we have discovered has an allergy to something and I have badly infected midge bites that needed some very strong antibiotics. Once that was sorted we went and had lunch on the Stokes hill wharf. Prawns and oysters were on the menu. Kids all tried the oysters with only Hannah willing to go back for seconds. Stocking up on food was next while the kids got to have a swim at a free water park with slides. Sunset at the East Point was how we not only finished the day but also our time in Darwin. It was time to head to Litchfield NP the next day via Tumbling Waters which is only about 8km's from Berry Springs.

2 comments:

  1. I completely forgot about feeding the fish, I remember doing that on my Grade 5 trip to Darwin. The natural springs were worth the stop on our way back to the airport though.

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  2. Sounds like you are all having a fantastic time, except for the trip to the z doctors! I didn't see that on the itinerary!! Can't wait to see more pics xxx

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