Friday 25 May 2012

Darwin for 4 nights...the summary....

There was no rush for us when we left Litchfield on Tuesday morning because Darwin was only an hour away, so we spent an hour washing the red dust off the trailer after doing the Prado in Katherine. We left a nice patch of red mud on what was a very nice camp with green grass and shady trees, they didnt need to water our site that day thats for sure....

Arrived in Darwin around lunchtime and set up pretty quickly, then decided to go into town and see what was around. I also wanted to check possible venues for the footy to have a drink and watch a big screen. We sussed out the information centre like all travellers do and went for a short walk, which surprisingly was quite good - our expectations were exceeded - it is a pretty nice town.

Wednesday came around quickly and we had visions of going to Crocosaurus Cove and the wave pool, but Zander was playing up again like a used lawn mower so we didnt. Not sure what it is but he is being so disobedient and throwing tantrums all the time. We are hoping it settles down because it is driving us nuts. Maverick isnt too bad if he gets enough sleep, but Z Mann is really testing us - so no fun today. We went for a long walk along the river front in 35 degree heat instead...and he still didnt get it.....we could have been fishing for crocs, but instead we were walking all over town.....

The plan for the footy was the casino lawns but given the tiredness of the boys, and us for that matter we opted to stay in the camp and watch it on out TV. Just our luck 10 minutes before the start the park lost power and we were in complete darkness.

I had the ablility (luckily) to power the telly through the trailer battery so I got that up quick smart and we had a few visitors over to watch the maroons win another origin, so not all bad in the end....I got pretty vocal so the locals knew what it was like to have a spirited queenslander amongst them....

Thursday arrived and I knew Nat needed some time out so I said she should go and have a massage because I am an exceptional husband and father. She did and Zander Mav and I went down to the beachfront to perve on all of the back packers, it was really boring....Seriously though the area they had to swim was great and so were the backpackers...

After Mum got out of the massage we went into the wave pool area which is just like wet and wild and the boys had a blast, we met some people from the Gong beside us in the camp area and they arrived so all the kids had a good time, which is very cool and gave us a bit of a break.

We took off as we wanted to go to the Mindil sunset markets which are on each Thursday night from 5pm to 10pm in the dry season, everyone gets a feed from the huge variety of cuisines on offer and pulls up some grass or sand and watches the sun go down. Ive said it before but for all of us east coasters, it is a bit of a novelty seeing the sun set over the ocean. We caught up with Monte Dwyer again and said hello, had a walk around and we were all tired so went back to the van. 9:30pm and still 30 degrees, bloody uncomfortable. We dont get why people would live here in this heat when you cant really just go and jump in the ocean to cool off.....

This morning (Friday) came around and I was up early on an Arafura Bluewater Charter all day, this has no link to the offer of the massage yesterday for Nat - that was just because I am exceptional husband and father.....

It blew up this morning to 28knots so not the most pleasant day out, but it was still blue skies and we got some nice fish, although not as many as they normally get. I got a nice Golden Snapper which we cooked up tonight and it was sensational, and we still have 4 more feeds of fillets for the tribe as we now embark on Kakadu for the next few days and not as much civilisation. I could really get used to this fishing thing, and not knowing what day it is, it definitely agrees with me.

Nat took the boys to the fish feeding (Aquascene) and the boys loved it, they then went to a big playground in Fannie Bay and they also had a ball. No tears or tantrums today I hear, so hopefully they are getting the idea that this is how we are living at the moment....

In summary Darwin is a good place to visit, there is enough here to do for more than the 4 nights we stayed, although we did what we wanted to and think it was enough for us.

Croc Jumping Cruise in the morning and then into Jabiru, I hope to convince the Mrs that I need to do a specific Barra tour to ensure I catch a barra, because...you guessed it...I am an exceptional husband and father!!

Jase


Jase

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