Darwin

Darwin

As indicated in the last blog we arrived in Darwin just as the V8 Supercars hit town. In fact we ended up right behind the last police car in the parade of semi-trailers housing the various cars. As the procession headed into town we felt like celebrities. People waved to us and took photos of our car. They must have thought we were a part of the support team! Not knowing where we were going we pulled up beside one of the police cars and asked for directions to the tourist bureau. He said to just follow him. We did this and after going through the centre of Darwin city we found the said bureau.

As a result of the car racing weekend, accommodation in Darwin was at a premium. We fortunately secured a place at a caravan park, or at least we thought we were lucky until we saw the place. With little or no choice we had to accept the sardine conditions presented to us. To give you some idea of how poor this place was, we did not eat one meal at the campsite for the two days we spent there. We just slept and showered at the camp and tried to spend as much time as possible out and about in Darwin.

Darwin is a modern city after being raised by cyclone Tracy in 1979. It is a relaxed place with plenty of bars and pubs. You can imagine that these were all really pumping with the V8’s in town. We managed to find a quiet place for a drink in Cullen Bay. As you can see from the photo, this is an up-market area where all the wealthy Darwinians hang out – what were we doing there!

Darwin’s wartime history is very present in the city and surrounding area. Old airstrips are abundant and there are interesting oil storage tunnels next to the harbour. Other monuments and displays describe events around the bombing of Darwin and provide context in relation to the magnitude of the attack being significantly larger than Pearl Harbour. Why do we know so much about Pearl Harbour in popular media and so little about the Darwin experience?

One highlight was the Mindil Beach markets. The markets are only on a Thursday and Sunday evening. By chance we were in Darwin on the Thursday and made a bee-line to them. Half of Darwin must turn out to go to these markets. They are huge! Every kind of food is available and just too many art and craft stalls to see in one visit. A must-do of the market is to watch the sunset and hundreds of people gather to experience this. It was quite spectacular and not just because of the sunset but because so many people were enjoying a common event that was free to see.

Another well visited attraction is Aquascene. Large numbers of fish (mullet, milkfish and batfish) gather every high tide to be hand fed. We spent about two hours here feeding and interacting with the hundreds of fish swimming around our feet.

After two days of living in a sardine can we made our escape to places where one could swing a dead cat or more appropriately and dead croc! Having decided to bypass Kakadu we headed for Litchfield NP. We have discovered that if you want a campsite at the more popular places you need to arrive early – we didn’t. Campsites were thin on the ground but by luck and persistence we managed to secure a really great spot. Litchfield is kind of a mini Kakadu with all the main features within easy reach. The next day was spent roaming around, walking and swimming in the various spots. A couple of 4WD tracks made the day interesting with water-crossings, sandy sections and generally fun type tracks. Photo of Tia attempting to swim under one too many waterfalls provides an appropriate image of the day. (The photo is actually misleading. Tia is not drowning, just trying to extend the experience of being in the waterfall). Other photos are of the magnetic termite mounds and the incredible rock formations of the Lost City.

Given that the Kimberley’s is the main focus of this adventure we left Litchfield comfortable in the knowledge that we had seen most of what was on offer and having spent two nights in a great campsite with some like-minded and congenial people.

The drive to Kununurra provided one real surprise. The Victoria River end of the Gregory NP was spectacular. Dramatic cliffs, red ranges and the very wide Victoria River had us wondering whether we should have spent a few days here as well but you can’t do everything. We camped out on this day and I am hoping that we get more opportunities to do this in the Kimberley.

We saw our first Boab trees on the road west just outside of Timber Creek. We are now over Boab trees!

The last photo above is our first view of the Kimberley’s just outside Kununurra. We have spent today taking in the sites around here and will head off tomorrow to El Questro. Beyond that we will spend the next two to three weeks around this part of the world. I am therefore not sure when we will be in range again but rest assured I will keep the blog upto date and post it when I can.

We are now over half way through our trip! It doesn’t seem like it but soon we will be heading south and then east for the first time since leaving home.

Regards to all

Alan and Tia.