DARWIN cont'd

Hello everyone!

Still in Darwin and up early for the day's adventures. As we are staying in Darwin for 3 or more weeks, we don't have to cram so much into our days here. It is so very, very hot so we try to do most things in the morning and get back to the caravan and a swim after lunch.

Monday, 10/8/09
Today we drove into the CBD and walked the Esplanade which is a beautiful green park with a pathway running along the inner edge of the park with a lot of WWII history markers. Unbelievable! This canon was on the USS Pearlly which was bombed by the Japanese and all on board killed. The ship still lies on the bottom of Darwin Harbour and this canon points to where she lies.

It is such a hot day we give up at 2pm and go back to the Boat Trailer Club on the water. It is so lovely sitting by the water with the sea breezes.

Tuesday, 11/8/09


Today we caught a ferry from Cullen Bay Marina over to Mandorah, a 20 min ferry ride across Darwin Harbour. There is a couple of aboriginal communities at Mandorah and a hotel which is right on the waterfront. On the way over, an old boat was pointed out to us which looked like an Indonesian fishing vessel but it is owned by the Navy and is used for training.

After we arrived, we went for a long walk along the beach and collected some lovely shells before heading off to the hotel for lunch. There is just nothing here but the lunch was lovely and we headed back to Darwin mid-afternoon.




Wednesday, 12/8/09
Another consolidation day. Defrost fridge, wash car, wash awning, tidy up.

We found another club which is close to Lee Point Caravan Park. It's called the Tracy Club and we became honorary members. We pick up our cards tomorrow.

Kathy and Rud are still here so it's over to their place (caravan) for happy hour.

Thursday, 13/8/09








Today we went to the Military Museum at East Point Reserve. Is was fantastic. Tremendous exhibition covering the Darwin bombings and many things we didn't know about. The gun above is made out of wood and these were placed all over the metropolitan Darwin to give the impression from the air that Darwin was heavily armed.
The afternoon was spent at Fannie Bay Gaol which only closed in 1978. It also housed a lot of the "illegal" immigrants from Vietnam.






The last couple of hours for the day were spent at the Northern Territory Arts and Culture Museum which was excellent. The cyclone Tracy exhibition was brilliant. There is a sound room there which, when entered, replays the sound of cyclone Tracy recorded during the actual cyclone. It's really rather scary.




Found another club across the road called the Darwin Water Ski Club. There must have been a thousand chairs and tables in the grounds and the obvious was thought about where would you ski here!! There are crocodile warning signs everywhere and we are told that there are 200-250 crocodiles caught and relocated each year! No fear said the lady behind the bar. We ski at a dam south of Darwin but this is the social club side of things. We asked whether they really do fill all these chairs and tables and she said that on Friday and Saturday nights, you can't move.

Friday, 14/8/09
Saw Macca today. Macca hosts the Australia All Over programme on ABC Radio each Sunday and he is presently touring Australia with his team in the G'Day Van, and today is signing autographs at the Casuarina ABC Shop. He will be broadcasting his show from East Point Military Museum on Sunday so we're looking forward to going out there to be part of it.

We collected our membership cards from the Tracy Club today. We were amused to see that the names on the cards were Honorable Ken and Honorable Frances. Oh well - we only wanted them so we didn't have to sign in each time.

Tonight we're having dinner with Nick, meeting him first at his apartment in the CBD then off to dinner and an overnight stay. Looking forward to it immensely.

Saturday, 15/8/09
Wow - what a night. When with good friends there is so much to talk about and one loses count!!








Nick's place is beautiful and the views magnificent. We started with drinks, cheese and bikkies at Nick's then went to a Vietnamese restaurant for dinner, then back to Nick's for more drinks before bed.


This morning we went to a Lebanese Restaurant for breakfast, said goodbye to Nick then headed home via the Rapid Creek markets. Darwin is so multi-cultural, the markets have great produce .... some fruit and vegetables we've never seen before. For lunch we had a great green pawpaw and chilli salad - it was delicious.

Sunday, 16/8/09



I took this photo of the tree because I thought it was dead but Nick told me that it is in this state in the dry season, and he sent me the photo on the right which is the same tree in the wet season. These are taken from Nick's balcony.


Monday, 17/8/09
Washing day today, clean caravan bathroom.

Tuesday, 18/8/09



Today we did a tour to Litchfield National Park. We had to drive into the CBD to meet the coach - no pickups from Lee Point Caravan Park - it's too far for the tour operators.

It was a long way with not much to see but Litchfield would be beautiful if it wasn't for all the people. Our first stop was Wangi Falls and it is beautiful but so many people! Our next stop was Florence Falls, Bulys Holes then back to Darwin. Some of the people on the coach went for a swim at each place, but we found it too crowded. They even had to queue to change into their bathers and we only had about 40 mins at each stop. I would love to come back here in "the wet" as it would be magnificent.





Wednesday, 19/8/09
After our walk, we went into the CBD again to have a good look around the town itself. The wharf area is now like most cities with it's Port Melbourne area or it's Darling Harbour area, and has high-rise hotels and apartments and beautiful gardens. The wave pool is new to Darwin and is obviously very popular. It's so cheap too - $5 for half a day or $8 for all day.


One thing I had to do while in the CBD was to buy that handbag I saw at Parliament House. Ken wasn't too impressed as when I got to the shop in Parliament House, it was closed and the lady was walking away when I expressed dismay!! She opened the shop for me and the bag was gone - someone got there before me. Why oh why to I do this! I should buy what I want when I first see it instead of thinking I might find it less expensive somewhere else. So - I was a woman on a mission. There had to be another like it somewhere in Darwin. Tomorrow!!