Welcome to Cindy and David's 2013 Adventures
Note 15 - Darwin
Markus and Margaret enjoyed the crocodile outside the restaurant where we stopped on our way from Kakadu to Darwin. On our first day there we drove around acquainting ourselves with the city again and then sat in the park whilst the kids played (please note the decent play set, not like NSW!)
Above is one of the jets which flew regularly over the caravan park. Darwin's main airport is owned by the RAAF and has NO curfew. Jets at all hours. Below is where we spent a good few hours of our Darwin stay. The Wave Pool down on the Waterfront. Magnificent.
Delicious dinner taken one night at the Thai restaurant attached to the holiday units where the family stayed.
We spent a day at Litchfield National Park. Above is an example of the huge termite mounds in the area and on the left are the magnetic ones, facing east/west - pointing north.
On the left is the pool above and right. To take the picture from ground level you had to go right into the pool camera in hand! The green seen in the water is not weed but rocks. David, Julia and Tapani all took their turn in heading to the waterfall and going under it.
We went on to the next pool which was much easier to go into and we all enjoyed a long swim there.
No, no crocs where we swam!
We went on a Jumping Crocodile cruise and were suitably amazed by the boat owners ability to entice the crocs to the boat and then get them to jump for their reward. He was also good enough to let some of the children drive the boat and Markus scored the longest time. A very happy boy.
A lot of the good times were spent at Mindil Beach. On the left is our old favourite musicians - Emdee - Mark on the didgeridoo and Lucas the drums. Brilliant sounds and their sessions drew huge crowds but we were at the front! Sunsets always draw the crowds and below is the crowd building up for the grand firework display which occurred on Northern Territory day, July 1. Much excitement and Maggie really was not terribly impressed with all the noise. We even let off a few of our own fireworks after the display was over.
On the right is a shot of the tunnels under Darwin which were built in WWII to store oil as the original storage was bombed by the Japanese. (They actually were never used as the war ended soon afterwards).
We spent a fair amount of time at museums. The Military Museum has been generously upgraded since our last visit and warranted a very long visit. The Aviation Museum was a favourite with Markus and we went to see the Darwin Museum which concentrates on Cyclone Tracey plus some very good Aboriginal artwork.
Altogether a busy and happy two weeks.
We spent a fair amount of time at museums. The Military Museum has been generously upgraded since our last visit and warranted a very long visit. The Aviation Museum was a favourite with Markus and we went to see the Darwin Museum which concentrates on Cyclone Tracey plus some very good Aboriginal artwork.
Altogether a busy and happy two weeks.
All too quickly came the time for the family to fly home so we celebrated our holiday with a magnificent lunch at the Casino restaurant (below - one of the best views in Darwin!)
After their departure we did not feel much like hanging around Darwin so we duly packed up and headed off to our next set of adventures.