There was heaps to see and do, and the attractions both paid and free, easily kept the kids entertained the entire time we were there. We would have had no issue spending a significant more time there given the plethora of things to check out.
I found Darwin to be modern, clean and accessible, not to mention reasonably priced and having all the mod-cons one would come to expect of an Australian capital city. Except an ALDI. B was still upset that ALDI hadn't at least got itself a small foothold up in the Top End.
A highlight for me was catching up with my mate Corinne from High School, and we spent a great afternoon and early evening catching up on life and what the last 20 odd years had brought us. I loved reigniting a great friendship that was simply dormant rather than extinct. Like catching up with Liz in Perth, I feel once you have lived in Alice and are friends there, it is merely water under the bridge until you once again meet up and chat like 'old times'. Turns out Corinne's sister doesn't live too far from us in Victoria, so there's hope of more frequent catch ups down the track!
So without further ado, it's time to stroll down pictorial lane at our time in Darwin...
Our first of two sites in Darwin. We were told when booking that we would need to move after one night, which we really had no issue with. We stayed at Darwin Freespirit out in Palmerston which we were referred to by the Butchers who were spending the best part of 3 weeks in Darwin. It's nice having trusted travelling buddies who have already done the leg work to find a place to suit us. And they were right. A massive park, but with all the facilities one could hope for, including an excellent pool and bar area!
Our first afternoon, and the reason we 'hotfooted' it across from Kununurra with one stop, was to get to the Thursday night Mindil Markets. Little did we know that they were actually on on Sunday too... Either way, after setting up camp and having lunch, we made our way down to the markets, trying to beat the rush. In this pic you can actually see Mindil Beach before the throngs arrived to watch the beautiful sunset.
Evie looking very fashionable as she sat down to enjoy her savoury crepes, a particular taste she acquired at the Broome markets. We had told the kids they could basically have whatever they wanted for dinner given the spectacular display of food stalls available. And the boys? James a hotdog and Sam a cheeseburger (which came without the top part of the bun!)... Advanced tastes those boys. I had an unfortunately uninspiring seafood risotto but I believe B's curried laksa (I think) was "pretty awesome".
The Amazing Drumming Monkeys... a great show put on by two puppeteers. The kids enjoyed it so much they pestered us to go back and watch the second show when they came on 45min later. There was a constant rotation of music and acts at the markets that you'd never be without entertainment. A really good vibe surrounds this place.
The markets became very crowded soon after we arrived. The kids had obviously forgotten how negotiate people traffic (it's been a while since we were at the footy!) so I remembered one of my favourite lines from Die Hard with A Vengence... "Get yourself a blocker and head for the end zone". I made the hole in the traffic and the kids snuck in behind me...
Silly faces (for some) whilst we waited for...
...Evie to have a go at Whip Cracking! Never one to be shy about anything, she stepped up to the plate when invited to have a go. It was quite funny, never quite nailing it but if effort is marked highly, then she'd receive top marks as can be seen in the video below.
And here is the beach at sunset... much more crowded. It was a good sunset, but I did think it was a little over the top when people clapped... I mean... it happens every night. And it's not like the sun can hear and go "yep... nailed the performance tonight"
Then as the sky darkened (that happens after sunset you know...) we went back past the whip crackers to see the owner deciding to embark on a one man show. It was really quite good when he set them on fire, but one must really know their limitations. When he started rapping and singing, it was pretty cringe-worthy in my opinion.
Still... flaming whips are very cool.
The next day as the Rock Truck was getting its windscreen replaced (not to be the last) we explored what the Darwin CBD had to offer. First port of call was the World War II Oil Storage Tunnels. Built to store fuel during the war, they are built underground the Darwin CBD and are pretty impressive. Ironically never used to store fuel!
We then strolled around the waterfront towards the RFDS Museum I noticed this sign. I thought it was pretty shrewd advice really...
The RFDS Museum shares it's facilities with the Museum for the Bombing of Darwin. Part of this display was a VR experience of what is was like. It was pretty graphic but incredible (if you found a headset that worked properly). It always makes you giggle watching people with these headsets on. The kids were no different.
Evie peering intently!
There was also a fantastic hologram display available with two features. The first regarding the bombing of Darwin and then the second telling the story of John Flynn and how he set up the RFDS. A great presentation and a great display of modern technology.
The centrepiece of the RFDS display, an old plane in which you were able to sit and imagine flying out to a remote station to rescue someone.
Here we can find Captain E.M. White and her co-pilot J.R. White embarking on such a flight.
...sigh... sometimes they are just too cute. I try and remember these moments when they're driving me bonkers! :)
It was pretty tough to try and drag the kids away from the RFDS Museum but we had a big ace to play. The Waterfront Wave Pool... Oh man... what a place. My first experience in such a facility but it was brilliant. Given the beaches and coastal waters around here are inhabited by significantly sized salties, this made a great alternative!!
Surf's up dude!!! Reasonably priced it was great to see that there was easily enough tubes and boogie boards to go around everyone!
The pool changed it's wave patterns also. Sometime uniform, sometimes chaotic and unpredictable. It was such a brilliant space. I left early to go back and pick up the car before returning and dragging the other 4 out after 3 hours! If I lived in Darwin I'd definitely have a season pass to this joint!
The next day brought a couple of great free attractions, the first being the Museum and Art Gallery of Northern Territory (MAGNT). The art displays were lost on me, but the museum sections were far more interesting.
Here Evie is reading and learning about the 5.1m saltie "Sweetheart" that was infamous around the area before being caught and accidentally killed. It was here we learnt that it is very difficult to move a rogue croc because you can't really anaesthetise them, as they can easily drown, as was the case with Sweetheart.
The highlight of the museum for me though was the display and monuments that documented what Darwin went through when Cyclone Tracey hit on Christmas Eve/Day 1974. A huge natural disaster there was heaps to read, look at, listen to and interact with. Highly recommended to anyone in the area, it will give you a great appreciation of the power of Mother Nature and the resilience of humankind. This tower was simply folded over in the wind. The bolts in the ground are pretty strong...
And due to the kids being great and doing a heap of note taking for school work, we rewarded them with another free attraction... Leanyer Recreation Park. Now we've seen some cool and free splash parks, but this... this was, and still is, king.
James, not too fussed with the big slides loved the big lagoon and wallowed and splashed around here like a tiny neon humpback whale!
It wasn't hard to work out which attraction at the park were the big kids (including me) favourite attraction. The three slides were all a little different but "Big Red" allowed tandem passengers to ride in by 'Figure 8' inflatables... For once I was really popular, because with me on the back, you could really get some momentum up!! And this place was free!!
I really loved the lagoon too. Parts were shaded which allowed for guilt free wallowing. But be careful to annoy me when I'm lazying about in the water, or else you might get 'thrown'...
And a splash park wouldn't be complete without a 'Big Bucket' and this one had the biggest bucket we'd come across. Obviously no water shortage up this way!!
On one evening, we decided to share some pizzas with the Butchers after a dip in the caravan park's pool. And whilst we oftened chastised and told off the 4 young kids for teasing Sam and Sapph about being "boyfriend and girlfriend" I couldn't help take this sneaky snap of them on a separate table, as it quite clearly looks like a dinner date! But sssh... don't tell the kids.
Sam had seen the 'Plane Museum' a few times as we drove around Darwin and basically pestered us to go until we caved and decided to go on 'school excursion' there. I was actually known as:
And what a place it turned out to be...
The centre piece of the incredible display was the amazing B52 Stratofortress Bomber. I'd heard of and seen clips of these things before, but to get up close to one makes you wonder "just how on earth does this thing actually fly?!?!?" It was colossal.
James' favourite of the day, the F1-11. This turned out to be larger than I expected, and can only imagine what it would be like to see it in full tilt.
Although he did like the 'teeth' on the Tiger Moth.
A picture showing just how big the B52 was. This plane, a comfortable 4 seater parked easily under it's wing.
An Evie sized wheel and tyre. I can't recall how many the B52 had, but it was a few...
It was a hanger load of displays. Photos showed how to get the B52 inside, it's tail fin was folded down before being put back up inside. Another great attraction to get to in Darwin.
The picture-esque Darwin marina, where all the pretty people hang out.
One of the restaurants on the marina left out old bread to feed the fish in the water. This worried me a little as the kids had learnt that feeding fish bread isn't good for them according to the aquarium in Denham. But it seemed the kids, and the very healthy looking fish, cared naught for this lesson...
Probably the highlight of the stay in Darwin for me was something I'd wanted to do for long time. The jumping crocs! This was another experience that conflicted my conscious a little as I think it somehow interferes with the 'natural order' of things, despite what the operators say. But the little kid in me told the big responsible dude to "shut up and just enjoy it". So I did.
Setting sail, it's an expansive river The Adelaide River even in the dry season. Apparently in the Wet it can flood kilometres wide and crocs can literally be anywhere... Hmm....
Whilst the other two kids were cautious, Sam was a representation of my inner self, beaming and very excited to be out there. This one is very comfortable on boats now...
Not long in to the trip and the crocs, attracted by the sounds of the boat came swimming over. It's amazing to see them get up and propel themselves out of the water. You have to remind yourself at times that these crocs are 2-3m long (pretty much all females). I can hardly roll out of a park pool without losing my dignity...
I love the way all crocs 'smile'.
It's no wonder we were told to keep hands inside the boat. These guys (or gals actually) could easily reach a hand reaching out for a photo.
The highlight of this video isn't actually the croc, but for me, the fact that neither of the two crew were focussed on where the boat was heading... Not a river you'd want to sink in...
'Fire birds' coming down to grab a cheap feed of left over meat on the way back. These hawks have been known to take food from BBQs. 'Seagulls of the North they're known as"
And yep... there was a few.
On the way back in we went looking for one of the few big males that inhabit this stretch of the river. Highly territorial, these guys 'own' stretches of river and by default all the females in that stretch. Every now and then an upstart young fella comes in and it's "smackdown" time. Apparently it's quite the site.
Due to a local being taken by one of the big crocs, a male has been removed (i.e. killed :( )and the tour guides are just waiting for the fight between the up and downstream crocs for the "unallocated" stretch of river. The two crocs are both well over 6m in length... We were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the upstream guy...
Not great shots, due to everyone standing up, but he was sitting there quitely in the sun before seeing us and not liking what he saw, decided to take a dive and head underwater. Just like that he was gone. To think he was then just swimming around under us was a frightening thought. This croc was not far shorter than the boat we were on!
As we left, we decided to get a shot with the 'Jumping Croc' out the front. I love this shot as James didn't want to go near it or get in the shot. So I said "wait over there" and I backed up enough to sneakily get him sulking in the shot anyhow!!
After the crocs we went back into the CBD and lunched at a brilliant park. Sam and I loved this display which was all about pumping and moving water. Not surprisingly I spent a lion-share of the time here explaining things to him. I don't think he cared, just wanted the water to go "as fast and deep as possible"... That's my boy!
And on our final night in Darwin, the Butchers invited us around to their 'camp' for a fine display of food including mudcrab salad care of their tour with Barra Bob. Brilliant catch up in which we cautiously treated it as a final 'goodbye' as we weren't sure we'd catch them down the track. A late night was not condusive with the early start we needed to head out to Jabiru, but meh... was worth every bit.
And with that our time in Darwin was done.
What a place it turned out to be. So much for the kids, big and small, to do. Loads of museums, displays and attractions. It was 'school excursion' overload and I've no doubt the kids brains simply went into "one in, one out" on the facts they were reading. Well, maybe not Sam's.
Any future trip to this area, will undoubtedly include an extended visit here to repeat some of these spots and visit the places we "saved for next time". It's an incredibly enriched place with great hospitable people.
Thanks Darwin.
