Darwin

Well our time in Darwin has come to an end.  For the second week in Darwin we went to the Wave Pool one morning.  A heap of fun was had by all especially Glen!!!  Glen and Haydan caught a few waves while Laura and Emmalisa hung out in the toddler pools.  Glen did help Emmalisa catch a few waves before we left and yes in the end the dare devil loved it but was not so sure to begin with.   We also visited the Darwin Museum and Art Gallery.  This was quite fascinating and Haydan loved the Cyclone Tracy section and is now an expert on the topic. He will tell you that 'all the houses blew down at Christmas in Darwin because of the Wet Season Tracy'.  It's amazing what he picks up when you think he is paying no attention!!!!! When you finish the Museum you can take the kids to the Discovery centre where the rule is 'Please Touch'.  Emmalisa found her inner artist after being inspired in the Gallery while Haydan had a look around and played with most things.  We also went and had a look at the Fannie Bay Gaol.  It was quite interesting to see a prison that was so old yet still operating  until fairly recently.  Haydan was interested to see where big people do there 'time out' and was impressed to see they had a whole room and not just a mat.  He was not quite able to grasp the concept that they were there for longer than 3 minutes.  We had lunch one day in the Botanical Gardens where we found a HUGE tree house for the kids to play in.  The gardens were quite big so we just had a little walk through a small part of them after lunch.  We also did the Palmaston and Mindil Markets and still no doughnuts!!!!!  The Mindle Markets were quite big and had lots of YUMMY food and good entertainment.  The kids were impressed with the 'fire performer' and loved it when he blew big fire balls into the air.  We also went and had a look at Howard Springs but again we could not swim in it due to the big wet season.  It has actually been a bit disappointing that many of these springs are still not ready to swim in yet the tourist season is well underway.  I think some of the rangers and tourism operators are a little relaxed in NT.

We made it to Mataranka today and will stay here for a few days then we will head to Mt Isa. Queensland here we come!!!!

The Journey so far

Haydan catches a wave at the Wave Pool

Glen helps Emmalisa catch a wave

Emmalisa finds her inner artist in the Kids Discovery Centre

Kids give Glen a massage after lunch - it's a tough life!!!!

Now that's a tree house - Botanical Gardens

Darwin So Far

Well we have moved closer to the city and have been in to explore a few times now.  So far we have walked around the Darwin Waterfront, Bicentennial Park and the Mall and shops.  We did a tour at the WWII Oil Storage Tunnels.  These were very interesting.  It is amazing to see what they achieved under hard conditions and with very basic tools.  One of the tunnels was 72m long by 4.5m wide and 4m high.  Would love to own that full of oil these days!!!!!  The highlight of the week was Crocosuarus Cove.  This is a crocodile and reptile park right in the middle of the city.  To say that Haydan loved it would be an understatement.  We went to a fish feeding show where the archer fish spat to get their food and the Barramundi ate out of the handlers hand - they don't have very good manners either.  We saw the croc feeding show and Haydan cheered very enthusiastically when the crocs got the meat.  Glen and Haydan then got to go fishing for crocs.  They even managed to catch a few as they jumped out of the water to get the steak on the end of the fishing rod.  There were many crocs to see in the tanks.  Haydan's favourite was one called Chopper that was missing its front feet due to a croc fight.  Haydan was fascinated by him and thought Chopper should go to the shop and buy some new feet later!!!!! We got to hold a baby croc as well.  This was only the start of critters we got to hold.  We went to the reptile shows where we learnt about reptiles and even got to see a snake eat a rat.  Then it was time to hold the reptiles.  Haydan was all for this and held different lizards and even a huge snake.  Glen held a few of the reptiles as well but when it was Laura's turn to get close to the snake it moved rather close to her face and she was not impressed.  Poor Emmalisa found the day bit confronting and spent most of the day shaking her head saying 'no' any time we came close to an animal.  All in all it was a great day out with much fun had by all.  Tonight we went to the Palmaston Markets and again there were no doughnuts!!!!!  We managed to find a Greek doughnut but it wasn't the same.  The kids loved dancing to the music with the clowns that were showing the kids the dance moves.  A great atmosphere and good night out.

We will keep you posted with all our other Darwin adventures.

Glen and Haydan fishing for crocs

Emmalisa looking at the snake - not so sure about it

Laura scared by the snake

Haydan holding one of the lizards

Haydan holding the snake

On the Road to Darwin

Well it has been a while since our last update and for some of it we have been busy doing not much.  When we left Katherine the first stop was Edith Falls.  A nice walk in and then a swim at the waterfall.  Just so you know it is not plain sailing and happy days all the time.  Haydan had a melt down when it was time to leave and Glen ended up carrying him all the way back!!!!  Then he had a 2 hour sleep in the car.  Phew!!!!  We then made our way to Litchfield National Park.  We really endjoyed it here.  We went to Wangi Falls, Tolmer Falls, Florence Falls and the Buley Rockhole.  The waterfalls were spectacular due to the great wet season but what also impressed us was Buley Rockhole.  This was a series of mini waterfalls and lots of rock pools that you can swim in.  While at Litchfield we stayed at the Litchfield Tourist Park in what they call the back paddock.  This was great.  The kids had space to run around, Emmalisa enjoyed a bush bath every night and Haydan even hand fed the cows and horses that came up to the fence.  Glen thought Emmalisa might like to feed the horse too. One little neigh from the horse and Emmalisa was screaming in fear.  Safe to say we wont need to buy her a horse for her next birthday!!!!  We then made our way to Berry Springs which is about 65kms outside of Darwin.  We stayed with friends here that have a bush block and 2 kids.  Haydan loved it.  Not only did he have kids to play with, there was a trampoline, new toys, bikes and scooters.  There were chooks to feed, eggs to collect and a veggie patch to water.  Glen was able to get the motor bike off the back of the caravan and the kids loved doing laps of the block with Glen.  Upon leaving today Haydan said he didn't want to leave that caravan park.  Don't think he clicked we were the only caravan there!!!!  It was a very relaxing and enjoyable week at Berry Springs.

We are now in Howard Springs at the caravan park just outside of Darwin.  From here we will explore Darwin and its surrounds over the next couple of weeks.

 Emmalisa enjoying a bubble bath - bush style

 

Tolmer Falls

Florence Falls

Glen enjoying Buley Rockhole

Glen and Haydan at Buley Rockhole

Katherine

Well we have completed our stay in Katherine.  We saw most of the main attractions in and around town.  We spent our first morning at the Katherine Hot Springs.  They were nice and warm to swim in but considering they only opened a few days before we went they didn't look anything like the crystal clear springs on the postcards!!!! They flood each year in the wet season and remain underwater for 3-4months so there was still a lot of silt in the water and mud - which Haydan loved.  That afternoon we went down to the train station to see the Ghan arrive.  That train is HUGE!!!  The kids were very impressed and loved waving to all the passengers.  The next day we went out to the Cutta Cutta Caves which are made of Limestone.  We learnt about stalactites and stalagmites and Haydan had fun looking for bats and snakes as we went through the cave.  Thankfully we didn't see either.  We went and visited Katherine School of the Air and sat in on a lesson that was being conducted via satellite across NT.  It was very interesting to see how remote kids learn and how far technology has come.  The high light of our stay in Katherine would have to be the Breakfast Cruise we did through Katherine Gorge.  There was more food than we could possibly eat as we cruised through the first Gorge.  Then you changed boats to go through the next Gorge and Haydan was very disappointed to leave the food behind.  After the cruise we did a walk to the lookout at the top to see where we had spent the morning.  On our last morning we went to the Katherine Markets where Haydan was again disappointed as we were unable to find him any doughnuts!!!! 

That wraps up our week in Katherine.  We are now on our way to Edith Falls, Litchfield National Park and Berry Springs before we hit Darwin.

Morning Mist Rising over Katherine Gorge

 

 

Breakfast is served!!!!

Katherine Gorge

Looking at Katherine Gorge from above

Lake Argyle to Katherine

After leaving Kununurra we headed for Lake Argyle.  We spent the first day there catching up with the Bell Family and swimming in the Infinity Pool which is designed to make it look like the pool falls into the lake.  The next day we explored the Lake area and went to see the water absolutely thumping down the spillway.  If you want to go white water rafting it is the place to go.  That night we went on the sunset cruise to explore Lake Argyle and see the Dam.  It was a great tour and quite unique as the water is still 8 meters above the usual level.  We also learnt that there is 1.2million litres per second flowing under the Spillway  Bridge at the moment.  The amount of water there is mind boggling.  We were very lucky that on our last day they opened up the road so that we could go to the bottom of the Dam. It was a bit daunting to look up and after doing the tour we knew all that was holding back that huge amount of water was a pile of rocks and clay.  Yep, no concrete was used in the construction of the Dam wall!!!!!  We then spent the next three nights at roadside rest areas where the kids finally got to toast some marshmallows.  To say Emmalisa enjoyed her first toasted marshmallow would be an understatement!!!!  We are now in Katherine and will stay until the end of the week to explore what it has to offer.

The journey so far

Sunset cruise on Lake Argyle

Glen in the Infinity Pool

All set up at the roadside rest stop

Emmalisa enjoying her first toasted marshmallow!!!