Darwin

Don't be surprised if we move to Darwin.  We loved it when we visited 3 years ago and we love it even more this time around.

Yes, it is stinking hot and no, we haven't been here during the wet season, which by all accounts is a foul and uncomfortable experience.  However, we love the feel of the place, we love being warm, we have no problem with gratuitous and excessive air conditioner use and Darwin is close to all sorts of fun and amazing places to visit.  We have friends here - some who have been here for many years and know all the 'get through the wet season' tricks and some who have just arrived on a round trip like ours and liked it so much they have got jobs and put their daughter in school.

Darwin has been a repair and upgrade stop for us.  We have had the fuel tank replaced, the bull bar and front radar sensor fixed, rotated all our car tyres, returned our useless generator, rewired the car so the caravan fridge runs from the car cranking battery instead of overloading the dual battery (Jenny did that job herself - she is a Superstar!), installed a router which shares out network storage so we have our own wireless network in the van/car (again, yay Jenny!), installed some additional 12v plugs in the van, had the oven door glass replaced, fixed the freezer door, replaced the feeble runners on the big pot drawer with ball-bearing captive runners, added an external TV mount so we can watch movies outside and tried to wash the red dirt out and off of everything.  Phew!

It hasn't all been work though.  There is a great pool and bistro at our caravan park and over the 2 weeks we have been here we have caught up with our friends Trish and Greg (who kindly let us get a stack of parcels of stuff we need sent to them) as well as doing movie night on the grass at the Darwin Waterfront with Sophie, Josh, Esther and Caspar who we first met at Windjana Gorge and then again at Manning Gorge.  They are Darwin residents now!

We made new friends with Darren and Claire, a couple from NSW who camped next to us.  Their son Jake is the same age as Ben and they became firm friends.  Their young daughter Jessica is gorgeous and hung out with us a lot too.

Poor Daniel picked up an ear infection the first day we were here and wasn't able to swim for the whole first week which was terrible timing given the proximity of the caravan park's pool, the wave pool at the Waterfront and the two nearby free waterparks.  He was great about it though and has been able to enjoy the second week more now that he is allowed to cool down in the water.

We have done heaps of other cool things here as well:

WW2 Oil Tunnels
There are 11 underground tunnels that contain huge tanks that were built for fuel storage after the above ground tanks were bombed in 1942.  They took years to build, went ridiculously over budget and kept leaking so they were never really used.  Some were utilised for aircraft fuel storage in the 50s but they leaked after a big wet and were then decomissioned.  A couple of them are open for public viewing now and they are lined with boards telling the stories of Darwin during the war.  It is pretty interesting but the air is thick and hot and Lou found it a bit stifling.  Ben was bored after the novelty of being underground wore off...

On the way in.

Not much for Ben to do.  "Can we go now?"

Wave Pool
The Darwin Waterfront has a great wave pool - compensation for the fact that sharks, crocodiles and highly venomous jelly fish render the lovely harbour a definite no swim zone.  We went a couple of times, once with Ben's new friend Jake and his family and once with Ross, Barb and Daniel.  Lou was mortified to discover that floating up and down in the waves made her feel sea sick but was somewhat relieved to hear from other people that she was not alone. Boogie boards and inflatable tyre rings are provided and all the kids loved it.

In we go!

Leanyer Water Park
One of the days was so hot that we went to the wave pool in the morning and on the way home decided to go to a water park we had heard of so we could cool down again.  The park is run by the YMCA and is free.  It has a big, shallow pool, an awesome splash park and three huge, high enclosed water slides.  Unfortunately the slides weren't open on the day we went but Ben loved playing in the splash park and pool. 

Splashdown!

Mindil Market
Mindil Market is one of those 'must do' things in Darwin.  We remember going last time we were here and were keen to go again to see the many different stalls and the amazing sunset from the beach.  We went with Ross, Barb and Daniel and also met Jake and his family there.  There were guys demonstrating whip cracking, heaps of food stalls and people selling all kinds of crafts.  It was really crowded and we grabbed some fish and chips before heading to the beach.  Ben had seen a fire juggler setting up back near the stalls and when we met Jake on the beach, both boys saw some people practicing juggling fire sticks further down the beach near the water.  They wanted to go down and see them close up but the juggler was about to start his act so we ate some of our very average dinner and headed back to his performance area near the stalls.  He put on a good show and had the kids gasping as fire flicked towards them.  I was sitting on the ground in front of the boys and when the juggler finished I turned around, intending to give Ben some money to put in the performers hat.  He and Jake were gone.  Jenny was beside me and Jake's Dad was standing a few feet away and none of us had seen them move.  Thus commenced the Great Mindil Market Child Search of 2016.  Jenny, Jakes parents, both his grandparents, Ross, Barb, Daniel and I all scoured the area and could find no trace.  After 5 mins or so Jake's Grandfather said he saw them go towards the beach and Jenny then saw the boys heading down the sand (now in darkness) to where the other fire jugglers were.  She caught up with them and appropriate scolding occurred.

Great Mindil Beach sunset accompanied by very average fish and chips.

The fire juggler captured Ben and Jakes attention.

 
Stokes Wharf / RFDS / Bombing of Darwin Virtual Reality
Stokes Wharf is home to a number of restaurants and a food court, as well as the Royal Flying Doctor Service Tourist Facility.  The RFDS facility has historical displays about the service and an amazing virtual reality experience that immerses you in the first days Darwin was bombed.

We had a great Indian lunch on the wharf and then met Ross, Barb and Daniel at the RFDS building.  We did the Virtual Reality activity first, sitting in swivel seats and putting on the VR headsets which cover your eyes and ears.  The seats vibrate and you can swivel around as much as you want.  The experience is amazing.  You start off in the hold of a ship and you have 360 degree views.  You look up and see the roof, you look behind you and see the back of the hold.  You see bombs falling toward the water and rise up out of the ship as water sprays up, the deck explodes and debris rains down.  The scene then morphs and you feel like you are sitting on the wing of a fighter plane.  You look up and see triangle formations of squadrons of Japanese bombers flying towards you.  If you look behind you, you see the tail of the plane and the burning wharf below.  Bullets fly and your plane shoots down a couple of enemy aircraft and suddenly you are suspended in the air, the pilot free falling with his burning plane plummeting towards the sea below.  Then you are in the water, surrounded by debris, bombs still falling and the ocean's surface becoming an inferno as burning oil slowly spreads across it.  You then sink under the water and the experience ends.  We all did it at least twice and we got sore necks from trying to look everywhere at once.

The centre also has a hologram room where they show 2 historical documentaries hosted by holographic representations of the men whose stories they are telling. One is the story of the RFDS and it's founder, Rev John Flynn and the other is the story of Rear Admiral Etheridge Grant who was the Commanding Officer of the USS William B Preston, a US warship which was in the harbour at the time of the bombings.

We all had a great time playing in the decommissioned RFDS plane that is on display.  The boys piloted and the parents took turns as patients and doctors. The boys had such a great time in it that it was hard to extract them from the cockpit!

Patient strapped in, ready for takeoff!

Crocosaurus Cove
There are numerous crocodile themed attractions in Darwin and as we had been on a jumping crocodile boat on our last visit, decided to go to the aquarium-like Crocosaurus Cove.  Unsurprisingly, they have a lot of crocodiles, salt and freshwater as well as turtles, snakes, lizards etc.

Arty freshwater croc shot.

Silliness.

We didn't do it but there is a 'Cage of Death' activity where you can pay an exorbitant amount of money to get into your bathers, hop into a clear plastic cage and be lowered into the water next to a big croc.  The staff wave dead fish around the croc to get it to snap, jump and act menacingly but overall the big reptiles look like they can't really be arsed.  If you don't want to get wet you could get much the same experience looking through the underwater windows at the bottom of the enclosure.

The 'Cage of Disinterested Crocodiles', I mean 'Death'

We saw a fish and stingray feeding session and lamented about close we were to barramundi that we couldn't try to catch.  We also 'fished' in the freshwater croc exhibit, hanging a bit meat over the barrier on a long stick which encouraged the crocs to jump up and grab it.  We had to help Ben a bit to make sure he didn't lose his stick over the edge.


Palmerston Water Park
There is a second free water park in Palmerston and this one has a huge open air water slide that you slide down on a yoga mat whilst lying on your stomach.  There are 6 lanes in a race configuration and you certainly get some speed up.  After a bruised elbow and a whack in the mouth, Lou decided to take far more care when sliding.  Ben was a keen competitor and was thrilled when he finally beat Jenny in a race.  The two of them spent a couple of hours there while Lou did some shopping one day so they got a lot of practice.  Jenny got a killer leg workout walking up those stairs all afternoon!

Benny in the lead!

Deckchair Cinema
The boys had sleepovers at each others caravans so that we parents could get out for a date night.  Jenny and I went to the deckchair cinema to see a film called 'Midnight Special'.  The cinema is awesome and really well set up.  There is a bar and they have a different local business cater each night.  We had an Indian dinner sitting in our deckchairs with a drink, watching the sun go down as we waited for the movie to start.  It was beautifully warm and we loved it.

We're not very good at selfies.

Aquascene
Jenny's Mum had been up here recently and recommended a place called Aquascene, which is a fish feeding activity.  There is a section of the harbour where the fish have been fed for decades and now they come each high tide and are tame enough to take food from your hand.  To make it an attraction and ensure that the people attending don't get stung by jellyfish, they have built a feeding platform and big concrete steps next to the boat ramp.   They provide bread pieces and you are free to feed as many fish as you want.  There were hundreds of fish, it was amazing.  Most of them were catfish but we saw Archer Fish, a couple of Barramundi, sting rays and at least 5 other species.  Our favourites were the Batfish.  The are big round flat fish, like dinner plates and they come to the surface and take bread right from your fingertips.

Jenny and a hungry Batfish.

Crusty Demons Win Trivia!
Thursday night is Trivia Night at the caravan park bistro and we were keen to give it a go.  They were running late and the boys were tired but we decided to play a few rounds and leave early if needs be.  It turned out that there were only two teams competing - us (Crusty Demons - Ross, Barb, Jenny and me) being one of them.  I'm pleased to say that we killed it, winning by more than 10 points!  We got up to leave, not realising that they actually had prizes and as first place winners we had won a $75 voucher for the bar/bistro.  The second placed team won a $25 voucher but were leaving the following morning so they gave that to us too.  It was an excellent end to the evening.  Dinner the next night cost us $1 :)

Other highlights of Darwin are the great games that Ben and Daniel have been playing.  They've made armour and weapons from cardboard and have been play fighting for days.  Barb and Lou were helping with the crafting one afternoon and suddenly realised that while we had been concentrating, the boys had stopped and were watching cartoons.  We then wondered if we would win any parenting awards for making them cardboard throwing stars and nunchaku.

Ben and Jenny have also been having a great time playing stories.  Jenny has created a team of superhero birds that are played by Ben and his friends.  Every day Ben begs for a Power Birds story. It's brilliant.

Our last day in Darwin was spent returning to Howard Springs where we had stayed on our first trip here. The nature park is easy to access and has a great playground with flying foxes, climbing walls and some cascading water pools to keep kids and parents happy. We also returned to have a look at the Big4 Howard Springs caravan park where Ben learned to swim without floaties and where the original idea for this trip was formed. We were a bit cheeky and snuck in for a swim and a play in the splash park; the splash park is looking a little in need of maintenance but is still great and the pool was wonderful. Ben has declared that he always wants to come to the Howard Springs Big4 on future holidays (except if he can go to America :-) ).

We are sad to be leaving Darwin but are keen to head into Kakadu to be off the beaten track again.