Darwin again, Litchfield National Park

26/06/12

This morning we caught up on the usual chores, and the Walkers went into Darwin for a look around. In the afternoon we washed the cars and the kids played on the jumping pillow.

Braydon holding a salt water croc

27/06/12  Crocosaurus Cove & Water Park

Today we all went into Darwin to Crocosaurus Cove, which is a huge aquarium full of fish, crocodiles and reptiles. It is in the middle of the CBD. There were quite a number of shows telling you all about the animals. There were some huge crocs being fed, and ponds with heaps of little crocs where kids had a fishing line with meat on it and the small crocs would jump up and grab it. We all had our photos taken holding a small croc, and some of us even had Croc Burgers for lunch. After about 4 hours we decided that we would leave, and headed to a new free water park that had just opened up. Miriam and Braydon had a great time playing on the waterslides and other water activities, while Mark and Craig headed for the 6 lane speed slide. After 2 races Mark and Craig were one race each, with the decider to be held at a later date.

Braydon and Miriam looking at the crocs



Mindil Beach Markets



Just a few people at the Markets

28/06/12

We moved camp once again to a different site, and generally had an easy morning. The kids caught up on some sleep, while we did some odd jobs. In the afternoon we packed the car with happy hour and chairs, and headed to the Mindil Markets which Belinda was hanging out to see and do some shopping. We had a quick look around the markets before going back to the car and getting our chairs and happy hour drinks, and headed back to the beach to watch the sun go down. Braydon and Miriam had a great time playing on the sand dunes, while us and thousands of other people were watching the sun go down, with a guy playing the didgeridoo in the background. After a really tough decision on what we would have for dinner, we sat down and watched the sunset. It was a perfect night and it was spectacular. After a little bit more shopping we headed back to our caravans.

29/06/12  Darwin Aviation Museum

This morning Belinda and Jacob went into the Darwin Mall for a bit of shopping, while Mark and Miriam and our family went to the Aviation Museum. It was full of war history, as well as the home of a huge B52 Bomber, which was left here by the Americans as a gift because they did some training here. It was very interesting, with quite a number of planes and helicopters under one huge hanger. After a couple of hours we left, and met Belinda and Jacob at Stokes Hill Wharf at Darwin Harbour. It has a number of restaurants that are on the Wharf overlooking the beautiful turquoise colour water. We saw a couple of big fish that were eating chips thrown from the jetty. After eating icecreams, we hopped back in the cars and headed back to camp.  

Wangi Falls

Litchfield National Park  30/06/12

Road to Blyth Homestead

It was an early start this morning, leaving Darwin at 7.30am. We had heard that camping at Wangi Falls was great, but you have to get there early as the sites fill up really quickly. We arrived at Wangi campground at about 9.30am, and we both got sites just as other people were leaving, which was lucky. We then went for a very short walk to see the falls and swimming hole, which had quite a few tour groups there. It is a very beautiful spot, & so close to the campground. We then decided to hop in the cars and do a 4WD track down to the  Blyth Homestead, which is a nice little track with a couple of 300mm creek crossings. The Blyth Homestead is a tin house that was very original and was used for tin mining. We then proceeded down the track to Tjaynera Falls for a bit of afternoon tea. We didn’t go on the walk, as we wanted to leave time to go back and do a walk at Wangi Falls. We then drove back to camp, and Mark and Belinda came on a 1.7km loop walk with our family to the top of Wangi Falls. Then Mark and Craig went for a swim at the base of the falls. The water was a little fresh, but it was so pristine and clear it made it very rewarding after our walk.

Flourance Falls

01/07/12  Territory Day – Fireworks

This morning was another early start to the day for the Walkers, as it is Territory Day which is the only day of the year you can buy and let off fireworks. It seemed like every second shop in Darwin had signs up that you could buy fireworks from them on the 1^st of July. Jacob, the Walkers 15 year old son, was really excited and wanted to buy some fireworks, so they got up early and drove about 65km back to Batchelor in the hope that a shop would sell them. At around 10am they arrived back at the park, Jacob with a huge smile on his face as they had bought two big bags of various fireworks for them and one big bag for us. We had some morning tea, and then hopped in the cars and headed to Florence Falls, which was an easy 1.1km walk along a running creek till you get to the falls. This is another beautiful location with lots of people swimming and jumping off the rocks into the water. Mark, Miriam, Craig and Braydon braved the water, which was a little fresh when you first got in, then swam around the large pool. Mark and I swam under the waterfall which felt like you were in a hail storm. We saw a couple of crazy guys jump off the top of the waterfall which would have been 15m high. We then opted for the stairs track home, which was only 400m, but up 165 stairs, to a lovely lookout looking over the falls. We then got back in the cars and drove to the Magnetic Termite Mounds, where we cooked up some nice hotdogs for lunch. After a quick look around we then headed to The Lost City, which is a 10km 4WD track through a slow and windy sandy track. We had a look around at all the interesting rock formations, and then headed back to our camp for an early happy hour. This is the last night with the Walkers before they head to Karumba and then home, so it was nice to sit around and celebrate the time we spent together. We had a BBQ dinner together, before hopping in the cars and driving a couple of km away from the camp to light our fireworks. Jacob was so excited about letting them off, and with a huge variety to choose from we let them off in military precision. We all had a great time playing with them, and Jacob who is a hard scorer, scored it 10/10.



Magnetic Termite Mounds

   



Darwin  02/07/12  Walkers Leave

It was time for the Walkers to leave us this morning, so they packed up camp and we said our goodbyes. It was great having them up here, and we all had such a great time together. Braydon and Miriam were such good buddies and had a ball playing together. Mark also had  a personal breakthrough just prior to leaving, but unfortunately came unstuck due to the damn fly. After seeing them off, we went back to our site and packed up camp, had some lunch, and left for Darwin again. We arrived back at the FreeSpirit Resort Caravan Park at about 3pm, and set up camp. It is good to be welcomed back like old friends as you drive in to find your site, and wave and talk to all the people you have met previously.

Aaron getting a ride





One of our bags of fireworks