Northern Territory - Darwin

Darwin

29.07.2011 32 °C

Darwin was our next stop. The weather was beautiful and a nice change from The cold weather in Alice Springs. Our stay in Darwin was planning to be for a few weeks as there is no point in heading south to any cold weather. We had lots to do in Darwin starting with Litchfield National Park. With several waterfalls and swimming spots this was a fun day. We combined swimming with bushwalks to lookouts and some Four Wheel driving to the Lost City where we were lucky enough to meet a bunch of Grey Nomad Nudists. Hmmmmm..... Interesting
Ben at Lichfield

Ben at Lichfield

Wangi Fall- Lichfield National Park

Litchfield National Park

Litchfield National Park - Termite Mound

On our drive home from Lichfield we thought we would take the four wheel drive route through the dirt. This is where we saw our friend the snake who was at least 2 metres long. We both saw it on the road in front of us and so we stopped to catch some photos. This is when we realised the snake didn't really want us there and followed the car and even lunged at the car. It was fantastic to see and the kids were very entertained.
The big Snake

The big Snake

Darwin has a free waterpark with water slides and it is fantastic. We sent a few days here and I felt sorry for poor little Riley. His twin sister was allowed on the waterslides but Riley was just under the line and too short to go on. Poor little guy.
Riley

Riley

Jack and Kayla

Tyran at the Water Park

We were in Darwin for Northern Territory Day. This is a huge day in the Territory and fireworks are allowed to be purchased and let off by the public, kind of like our old cracker nights. obiviously not enough cats blown up or eyes lost up here for them to be banned yet! We went to Mindil Beach and Markets where the public fireworks were to be held. This was really fantastic as they played the music from didgeridoos to the fireworks. What amazed Ben and I was that half the beach was fenced off for anyone who wanted to let off their own fireworks. We sat at the opposite end of the beach as there was fireworks everywhere. On the drive home it was like a war zone as we dodged fireworks all over the place.
Mindil Beach on Northern Territory Day

Mindil Beach on Northern Territory Day

Kayla at Mindil Beach

Mindil Beach

The annual Beer Can Regatta was another special event while in Darwin. This would have been even better back in our fun drinking days!! Some of the boats sank while others looked pretty cool.

Beer Can Regatta

Kayla and Riley at Beer Can Regatta

Beer Can Regatta

The caravan park we were staying in had a lovely beer garden and bistro by the pool. An observation of ours is that all Caravan Parks in the Northern Territory are like resorts, with beer gardens and bistro in the pool area. It is great. No other states in Australia have a set up like this. We had dinner one night with the Carters and participated in the trivia night. We won and received a voucher for 2 people on a Jet Boat ride on the Harbour. Kerrie and I thought the boys could do the jet boat ride and we could have a night out at the Mindil Markets without the kids. Fair deal!

The caravan park also had a kids club. Kayla and riley loved doing crafts, face painting, Dinosaur bone hunts, jumping pillow games and Toad Races on Sundays.

Face Painting

Averys with a baby Crocodile

Free Spirit Resort

We went for a swim at Berry Springs which is a beautiful natural springs on the way out to Litchfield National Park. We have since found out that a lady was attacked by a croc 2 days ago. Scary!! We also went for a drive to Gun Point which is at the end of about 40kms of bumpy unsealed road with the last bit onto the beach only accessible by 4WD. The view was speactacular although there had been croc sitings so we stayed away from the water.

Saying goodbye to the Carters was sad. We had such a good time with them and the kids will miss their buddies. See you at Wang one day Carters!!
Averys and Carters