Week 8 – Darwin and Litchfield

 We have had a fantastic time in Darwin. The weather has been the same every day – sunny and 32-35 degrees during the day dropping to 18-20 at night. The smoke from fires in the National Parks has been an issue at times but they can only burn at this time of the year as it is too wet at other times. We visited the Museum and Art Gallery of Northern Territory which was a great museum. There was an exhibition about Cyclone Tracy which smashed Darwin on Christmas day in 1974. Basically, Darwin was almost wiped out. The photos and information about this was scary, it wouldn’t have been fun being here and living through it. Darwin has been rebuilt since.

The waterfront area of Darwin is built around one of the largest harbours in Australia, nearly 12 times the size of Sydney Harbour.

Of course we had to go to the Mindil Markets on Thursday. These markets are famous Australia wide with market stalls but most of them focussing on food. All types of food. Seafood, Asian food, pancakes and crepes, crocodile burgers, Indian food, and cakes! These are only a few as there were too many to mention. We had dinner there and watched the sunset over the beach.

Trees up here grow huge. The one below has sent its roots sideways across a wooden paling fence.  

The Pathy went in for an oil change during our visit so we had some down time as well. The caravan got a good clean inside and out (we’re still finding red dust). On the day the car was being fixed we took a bus ride into the city. We visited Parliament House and were lucky enough to be there on “bring your dog to work day.”   The politicians and workers had all their dogs out on the speaker’s lawn. They had some prizes for the best dressed, biggest and smallest and the local TV stations were there as well. They were very friendly and invited us to join. Nanna got right in and patted the dogs, we think she was on the news in the background.

Parliament House was built on the site of the original post office which was where the international telegraph line from Asia and beyond came ashore. All phone and telegrams went through Darwin's post office. The post office was bombed during the Japanese attack and 9 workers were sheltering in a trench but they took a direct hit and were killed. They have kept a portion of the original post office wall and incorporated it into the Parliament House.

We walked around the waterfront area of Darwin which is set up for families to swim and relax with a dedicated, safe swimming area. They even have a wave pool, although Pa reckons the waves are pretty lame. They have an area where there is an inflated water fun park. The kids would love this to jump on.

 On Saturday we went to Darwin’s camping and fishing show which was held at the showground. We walked around and looked at all the stalls and exhibits. Pa bought some Greek food, loukoumades. These are crispy donuts with honey, cinnamon and almonds. They were yummy!

In the arvo we walked around Fisherman’s Wharf and decided to go back to Seafood on Cullen again for dinner. This is an all-you-can-eat seafood buffet, right on Cullen Bay where you can watch the sun set over the ocean.

The next day we went on the Bombing of Darwin Cruise. This cruise went around the harbours of Darwin and explained where and what happened during the bombing of Darwin in 1942. The Japanese surprise bombing devastated Darwin. It was the major harbour for Australian, British and U.S. ships during the war but was not well set up for defence. It was basically a refuelling site with large oil tanks scattered around the harbour to refuel the ships. The Japs targeted these tanks and also the ships in the harbour. One of the ships was a supply ship which was loaded with ammunition to be transferred to the ships. It took a direct hit from a bomb as it sat next to the jetty. The explosion blew steel plates from the ship over 2 miles into the centre of Darwin. Over 500 were killed and wounded that day, with many ships lost to the bottom of the harbour. There were more bombs dropped on Darwin in this raid than there were on Pearl Harbour, ten weeks earlier. This attack sank a few U.S. ships and the Australian and U.S. governments were spurred into action to make Darwin a major defence base from that day. It is now the site of major army, RAAF and navy bases with most of the navy’s patrol ships based here.

That arvo we went to the fish feeding site at Doctor’s Gully.  What a rip off! $10 each to throw bread at a few fish. The things tourists do!

Before we left Darwin we visited the Casino for lunch. They have a senior’s lunch – seafood buffet for $13 a head – Awesome! We stocked the fridge at Woollies and cleaned the van and car ready for the coming weeks.

We headed off to Litchfield National Park, not far from Darwin. Litchfield is famous for huge termite mounds and  many waterfalls and swimming holes. These termites are very clever for little insects. They arrange their mounds to face north-south so the sun doesn’t shine too much on the face of the mound, thus keeping the mound cooler. It looks like rows of gravestones in the bush. 

As soon as we parked the van we headed off to Wangi Falls for a swim. Wangi is a double waterfall to a huge swimming hole. They make sure there are no crocodiles there. We had a lovely swim and splashed under the falls. This was Nanna’s favourite swimming spot.

At the left waterfall there is a plunge pool which is right below the main waterfall. It is like being in a spa with the water bubbling around you. Nanna says the water is good for your hair – makes it soft.

The Litchfield Safari Park is a great van park – just like being in the bush. Find your own site, shady and green. We really liked it there. We visited many attractions including the Lost City. This is down a 10km rough dirt track. The Pathy had a ball. The Lost City is the remnants of a sandstone plateau which has been eroded by water and wind. The remaining stacks of stone are reminiscent of buildings in a lost city.

We visited Tolmer Falls and Florence Falls. Florence Falls has a swimming pool at the bottom but there were over 200 steps down to the pool so we decided to visit the Buley Rockhole just up from the falls. Here the falls cascade down a series of plunge pools. The water was so cool and refreshing in the constant 32 degree heat.

We finished the day with another trip in to Wangi Falls for another swim. Then we headed home to get ready for our trip tomorrow to Edith Falls near Katherine. We decided to cook some potatoes and onion in a fire to go with our meal so we went bush to find some wood. Of course a fire is a great idea when it is 32 degrees, but the spuds and onion were yummy!

Tomorrow we head off to Edith Falls before heading west to Western Australia.