Darwin

What a week we had in Darwin!  There was so much to see and do and we all learnt so much about the history of Darwin and Australia!  The first day we were there it was about fun and action.  We spent the entire day at the Wave Pool.  The Wave Pool is a big pool on the waterfront that every 20 minutes has a different wave sequence, all of us had a great time catching waves on the body boards and in the tubes.  The next day we headed off to Berry Springs and caught up with some family who are also travelling!  We all enjoyed the swim in the fresh water spring and for those brave enough to go underwater they were able to see an amazing amount of fish swimming in the water.  For those that stayed above the water we got to see a water monitor that followed us on land as we floated down the stream. 

Our next activity in Darwin was Crocosaurus Cove.  This is a crocodile park in the middle of the city!  We were able to see some big crocodiles being fed by the professionals and then we got to feed some baby crocodiles!  There was a saltwater aquarium based on the Daly River with Barra in there that Glen wouldn’t mind catching! We all thought the pig nosed turtles were a bit ‘funny looking’ and learnt a lot during the feeding show. There was also a reptile display where we got to hold a bearded dragon, a blue tongue lizard and a snake.  The highlight of the day was when the kids got to hold a baby crocodile.  Emmalisa found a new cuddle companion and was quite happy to snuggle up to the crocodile!

The action didn’t stop there! We went to the RFDS (Royal Flying Doctors Service) and the Bombing of Darwin interactive display.  This was one of the best informative exhibitions we have been to.  The stories were told through holograms and virtual reality and because you were able to be part of the action and ‘see’ what it would have been like we all came away with a new appreciation of what the RFDS do and how much Darwin suffered from the bombings.  We were also able to go inside an old RFDS plane and see what it is like inside the planes.  From this exhibition we then went to see the Oil Tunnels that were built after the bombing to protect the oil and fuel from further Japanese bombing raids. We all walked away and learnt so much about Australia’s involvement in WWII and the key role we played in the Pacific.  To round off our history lessons in Darwin we then went to the Fannie Bay Gaol which is now a historic site.  We were able to see what the prisoners conditions were like as we were able to walk through the old building.  This goal had a purpose built gallows for executions and there were only ever 2 people that were executed in these gallows before it was outlawed.  There were a few facts we found interesting such as during the Bombing of Darwin they let all the prisoners go and told them to fend for themselves!  We also thought it was funny to find out that one day during roll call there was an extra person, someone felt the conditions inside the goal were so good they actually broke into the prison and tried to stay!

We also spent some time at the Darwin Museum and Art Gallery.  It was here we learnt even more history of Australia as we walked through the Cyclone Tracy part of the museum.  The kids were blown away by the destruction that the Japanese Bombing raids caused on Darwin and then as they were getting back on track Cyclone Tracy destroyed it all again.  Emmalisa really enjoyed the Art Gallery and found some new inspiration for her drawings.  Another place she found some inspiration for her art was at the Mindil Markets.  We enjoyed looking at all the market stalls and had some delicious dinner from the large choice of food vendors.  Haydan was very happy with his lasagne that he hasn’t been able to have since we left (no oven in the camper trailer!) We then watched the sunset and all had a good giggle when the crowds of thousands that came to watch the sunset all clapped as the sun disappeared into the ocean.  It almost seemed like they didn’t think the sun could do it and then they were very impressed when then sun made it to the ocean.  We went back to Mindil Beach a few nights later when the markets were not on and had the beach almost to ourselves.  We had a lovely picnic on the beach and got to see a spectacular sunset.

Our time in Darwin was drawing to a close but we couldn’t leave without one more visit to the Wave Pool. We spent our last afternoon there having fun catching waves again.  We all had a wonderful time in Darwin and felt that we all learnt so much history and came away with a greater appreciation for some of the key figures and events in history that helped shape this country.

Kids enjoying the Wave Pool

Emmalisa at Berry Springs

In the Cockpit of the RFDS plane

Experiencing the Virtual Reality

Inside the Oil Tunnels

Mindil Beach Sunset

                                
                                                      Holding snakes at Crocosaurus Cove

                  

Cuddling Crocs at Crocosaurus Cove

(Yes! It's a real live crocodile!!!)

NT Boarder to Darwin

We were all very excited to cross the NT boarder and be able to say we are now in a new State (or Territory).  The first place we visited was Daly Waters.  It was very interesting to walk around the little main street and read the history of the town.  The memorabilia in the Daly Waters Pub was also very interesting to see.  We then did the historic walk just outside of town where there was the Stuart Tree where John McDouall Stuart marked an ‘S’ in the tree to as part of his successful journey to cross Australia from North to the South coast, which later became the Stuart Highway.  We also saw the Chinese Cemetery and the flying fox that was constructed to take passengers and supplies over the Daly River when it was flooded as the airport was on the other side of the river to the township. We then made our way to Mataranka.  We found a great little camp called the Little Roper Stockyards.  It came complete with cows, bulls, buffalos, pigs, chickens, reptiles, rabbits and a camp dog that would come and visit you!  Needless to say, Emmalisa was in her element with all the animals!  We soon realised they need to change the name to the Little Ripper Stockyards!  Haydan thought it was hilarious that they don’t name the chickens because are constantly ‘changing’ (AKA – eaten) and one of the buffalos was called Edible Curry!  In fact, Glen and Laura enjoyed the curry night where they cooked up a selection of curries, we even tried the Buffalo curry!  The kids were not up for the curry night, but they were keen for the Johnny Cakes that they make every morning for ‘smoko’ at 8am.  There are like a cross between a donut and a scone.  They were delicious!

Our adventures around Mataranka included seeing a World Champion Whip Cracker, Nathan ‘Whippy’ Griggs.  His show was amazing, and he inspired the kids to buy their own whips.  After a few practice sessions the kids are both now able to crack a whip!  Which is much harder than it looks! While at Mataranka we also enjoyed the Thermal Springs that were beautiful and warm without being too hot.  We enjoyed a relaxing swim at the Mataranka Thermal Pool and enjoyed floating down the stream of Bitter Springs.  The kids even saw a turtle in the water at Bitter Springs.  Back at the camp we enjoyed being able to have a good campfire and cook some food over the coals.  We made an amazing chocolate chip damper as well as savoury damper rolls for lunch.  We loved our stay at Mataranka but it was time to move on. 

Our next stop was at Edith Falls.  This was a beautiful place to swim and enjoy the water that was no where near as cold as what we were swimming in in Queensland.  There was a bit of a walk in on some pretty rocky terrain and unfortunately for Emmalisa she slipped on some rocks getting out of the swimming hole and hurt her knee.  Glen had to piggyback her some of the way back, but she walked a lot of the way by her self like the tough little cookie she is! The next day her knee was feeling better, there was just a nice bruise!

We are now looking forward to a week in Darwin!

Crossing the NT Boarder

The Stuart Tree at Daly Waters

Kids meet Nathan 'Whippy' Griggs

  

 

Animals in the Stockyard

Holding the Blue Tounge Lizards

                  

Emmalisa wanted to take home one of the new born baby rabbits!

Johnny Cakes for 'Smoko'

Kids doing handstands in Mataranka Thermal Pool - Can you spot them?

At Mataranka Thermal Pool

Bitter Springs

Underwater Fun at Bitter Springs

Emmalisa floating in Bitter Springs

Edith Falls

Normanton to Adels Grove

 In Normanton we stopped at Krys the Croc.  This is an actual size replica of the largest crocodile ever captured and killed in the world!  It measures 8.6m long and was estimated to be over 2 tons!  We continued on our way and visited Camp 119 which is the most norther camp reached by the Burke and Wills expedition.  Burke and Wills left the expedition party there while they tried to make it to the ‘water’.  They made it to the marsh lands of the Gulf but were not able to see the clear waters of the ocean. While Burke and Wills were away the surveyor blazed no less than 14 trees to prove they made it this far north.  Most of the trees are no longer standing but there are markers to show where the trees were.  The next town we visited was Burketown.  At the town boundary you can go and see the bore that was sunk in 1897 that once supplied the town with hot water.  It still flows today at a rate of 707,109 litres per day with a temperature of 68  ̊c!  This bore was once at ground level but with the amount of minerals it produces it now stands almost a metre above ground.  We then went to see the Landsbrough tree where the expedition party looking for Burke and Wills buried some supplies with the work DIG blazed on the tree.  Unfortunately, it is believed that vandals burnt the tree down so you can now only see some of the tree.  They were able to save some timber from this tree and made a court gavel. 

We then made our way to Boodjamulla (Lawn Hill) National Park.  This is a lush green natural spring fed oasis in the middle of nowhere.  We stayed at Adels Grove and enjoyed the shade of the ‘Grove’ at our campsite.  Adels Grove was once a botanical garden planted by Albert de Lestang (his initials make the name Adel) in 1920. He planted many trees and shrubs and supplied the Botanical Gardens of the world with the seeds his garden produced.  In the early 1950’s a fire swept through (some say deliberately lit) and destroyed everything including the trunk that stored all his information and research.  They say he died a short time after of a broken heart. We enjoyed a very fresh swim here and Emmalisa was fascinated by the birdlife.  The next day we went into the national park and thought we would just do a quick short walk, which turned into a combination of three of the walks there…in our thongs!  One of the walks was very steep and meant for people with bushwalking experience only.  There is nowhere thongs can’t take you!  After our ‘quick, short’ walk we had a lovely swim in the Gorge, and the water was still very fresh!  We enjoyed the sites from the lookouts so much that the next day we went back and hired some canoes to row down the Gorge.  It was a very different perspective seeing it from the water.  We even got to see a freshwater crocodile and we rowed up close to it!  Back at camp we managed to make a chocolate cake from scratch and cook it in the camp oven.  Dessert was enjoyed by all that night!

When we left Adels Grove we stopped off at Riversleigh Site D.  This is Australia’s most famous fossil location and is recognised for it's well preserved fossil deposits.  This site is heritage listed and is said to have some of the richest and most extensive range of mammal fossils in the world.  We all learnt a lot and were amazed to see some fossils along the short walk. 

That night we found a beautiful camp at Camooweal by the side of a billabong.  It was full of bird life that we enjoyed watching through the binoculars.  The sunset there was amazing and then we were dazzled by the sunrise the next morning.

We are now feeling the warmer weather and are heading towards the NT boarder to continue our adventure!

Krys the Croc in Normanton

A blaze on the Burke and Wills Tree at camp 119

The bore at Burketown

Indarri Falls (Lawn Hill)

Lawn Hill Gorge

Indarri Falls Lookout

A fresh swim at Lawn Hill

A canoe through the Gorge (Lawn Hill)

Camp oven chocolate cake!

The Fossil of a limb bone from a crocodile

Sunrise at Camooweal
 

Malanda to Norman River

 Our next stop was Malanda and we found our favourite caravan park so far… ever…not just this trip!  What made it so good?  For the kids, it was the animal farm they had, complete with chickens, ducks, goats and baby goats, pigs, a lama and a pony!  They both enjoyed going down to visit the animals and they even got to feed them!  For the parents, it was the hot shower!  After 6 days showering with the 12volt shower and only getting 2 liters of water these were the best hot showers!  We also spent some time exploring the area.  The visitors centre had a great display that taught us about the local history.  We went for a short bush walk and visited the Malanda Falls.  We also went to the Curtain Fig Tree.  We learnt that this occurred because a fig seed was deposited onto another tree, a host tree.  The roots of the fig tree then made their way down to the ground and strangled the host tree which then fell onto another tree.  Over the years the host tree rotted away, and the fig tree continued to spread it roots which formed the curtain formation!  On our way back we then found the best strawberry sorbet at Shaylee Strawberry Farm.  The ice cream was amazing and so was the large punnet of strawberries we bought to take home.

When we left Malanda, we thought we would stop and have a look at the Windy Hill Wind Farm.  Well the name didn’t disappoint!  It was blowing a gale and freezing cold so we think that stop took us less than 2 minutes!  We then stopped at Millstream Falls which is reputedly the widest single-drop water fall in Australia. This waterfall is also site to a WWII training and rehabilitation camp.  We all learnt a lot walking through the ruins and finding out about life at this site in the 1940’s.  The next stop was Innot Hot Springs, a natural mineral spring that flows into a creek.  The water in some places is up to 75  ̊.  The kids got in and enjoyed a relaxing ‘hot bath’ in the creek.  They were a little red when they got out and Glen and Laura had some very red feet!  The final stop for the day was the Georgetown Visitors centre where we looked at the Ted Elliot Mineral Collection which is home to over 4500 minerals, gems, crystals and fossils that are from local, national and international locations.  We also looked through the display of local information for this area as well.

The next day it was on to Cobbold Gorge. Most of us were excited about doing the Stand-Up Paddle Board Tour through the Gorge.  Laura was not so convinced though!  But before that afternoon activity we spent the day kayaking on the dam and briefly dipping in the infinity pool – that was freezing! But the afternoon was spent gently paddling through the Gorge as the sunset.  The colours in the gorge were breathtaking and the rock formations were amazing.  Laura managed to conquer more fears and made it all the way down the gorge and back!  We all enjoyed the afternoon and were even happier to return to camp dry and not have the full immersion experience in the gorge!  The next morning, we got up and did the walk to Russel Lookout and we were able to see that the land stretched for miles in all directions!  We were surprised at how much there was to do at Cobbold Gorge and we all had a very memorable experience there. 

We then started to head up to Normanton.  On the way we stopped at the town of Croydon and looked at the historic buildings that they have restored. The kids enjoyed listening to an actual court case that was heard in the late 1800’s and found it very funny that a lady got a 2 month goal sentence for swearing in public and another man also got a 2 month goal sentence for dealing drugs!  Boy, how times have changed!   We are now settled at a camp on the Norman River and will continue our adventures in the Gulf!

Malanda Falls

Curtain Fig Tree

A view of the animal farm

Emmalisa Feeding one of the goats

Strawberry Sorbet at Shaylee Strawberry Farm

Millstream Falls

Haydan Relaxing at Innot Hot Springs

Kayaking at Cobbold Dam

Freezing in the infinity pool

Stand Up Paddle Boarding in Cobbold Gorge

We all managed to stay dry!