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Published: September 13th 2010
The A Team visits Nanny and Pa
Mike, Helen and Lizzy beachfront in Darwin.It was difficult to pull up stakes in Kununurra. We really liked it there. So much to do that we really ran ourselves a little ragged. However, we did, and on we moved. The trip to Timber Creek was very easy and as usual we were there and set up before lunch
TIMBER CREEK
Timber Creek is a small town on the highway. The population is largely aboriginal. It felt a friendly town and the van park was fine.
We had heard that the boat cruise on the Victoria River was very good so we were keen to stop over at Timber Creek to do that. However, right up to the time we arrived, they did not have the necessary six people. As we are getting near to the end of September, the Wet is building and the tourists are leaving in droves. It does get a bit warm and sticky but we don’t mind it. As luck would have it, they called us in the early afternoon to let us know it was on.
The Victoria River is a huge river and our cruise covered just a small section of it. The trip was really good.
Princess
Lizzy in a summer dress. We got to see crocodiles (one was huge) in the wild as well as many birds including Sea Eagles and Kites. The views were excellent. In one area we saw the sun drenched escarpment and that brought out the magnificent rock colours that we see up this way.
As is often the case, this cruise was arranged to coincide with a beautiful sunset on the river. It was very scenic. The boat came home in the dark and that was interesting. These guys know their craft really well.
KATHERINE
In 1991 we travelled to this area and spent a fair bit of time around Katherine so we decided to bypass it on the way to Darwin. There was a need to stay a night going through so we stayed at the Low Level Park and were pleasantly surprised at the park itself. It was surrounded by huge green lawn areas that you drive through to the sites. Very nice. The sites and facilities were good and we really enjoyed the stopover.
A bit of research turned up a couple of things we thought we might like to do so we decided that we would stay a
couple of nights on the way down to Alice Springs.
DARWIN
Rhonda had done her research as usual, chose well, and landed us in the Free Spirit Caravan Park that is on the way to Darwin from Katherine. It is about fifteen minutes out of town located on the Stuart Highway. The site was easy to get on to and provided plenty of shade. A good start.
Our big thrill was yet to come in a couple of days. Michael, Helen and Elizabeth were coming up to see us for three days. So we set to work stocking up on baby stuff, buying a capsule for the car, and organizing a unit for them. So by the time they arrived things were under control.
Lizzy did the right thing and slept most of the flight through (going back as well!) so she was in a good mood when we picked them up at 12.30 am (yes, after midnight!). That meant that Nanny and Pa were fully accepted and the stay was going to be just fine.
Over the next three days we did lots of bonding, touring, eating and drinking, talking and generally having a
Across the Victoria River
An escarpment nearing sunset. really good catch up. All too quickly the time was over and we found ourselves driving them all back to the airport. Even though it was whirlwind, we enjoyed it immensely and so did they.
Mindil Market One of the great events in Darwin is the Mindil Market. It is held at Mindil Beach (close to town) each Thursday and Sunday all year round. A feature of the market is the huge array of foods available to eat as you walk around an extensive number of stands. There is entertainment by buskers that include hula dancing, whip cracking, fire eating, singing and various others. As sunset approaches, a large number of people move out to the beach area to watch it.
A lot of stalls sell bric-a-brac and handmade jewellery, soaps and the usual paraphernalia of craft markets. The atmosphere is excellent and there are people everywhere. Lizzy loved it all. With her slice of water melon, she had some difficulty chasing her mouth as her head swung everywhere watching thee sights. It is great fun and a must when you visit Darwin.
Cullen Bay You must realize by now that we enjoy eating out
Pa's Treasure
Just someone she picked up! and having varied cuisines. Cullen Bay Marina is home to lots of fine water craft and some really nice restaurants. We honoured Helen’s heritage with a Greek lunch. In fact we all went back to try the international cuisine the next day. It was great.
The wharf area is also an eating area and well worth a visit, but for us, Cullen Bay has a nicer feel to it. Some sunset and fishing cruises also leave from there.
Northern Territory Museum & Art Gallery The gallery is well worth visiting. There is free entry and an excellent display of art and historical displays. One of the more impressive displays is the ‘mock up’ of Cyclone Tracy that devastated Darwin in the 1970’s. A worthwhile thing to do.
Wave Pool There is a huge development near the wharf precinct with a waterfront theme. It includes housing, water activities, restaurants and a huge artificial wave pool. The kids love it as the waves get up to 1.5 metres. An interesting concept. Mike was keen to go there but somehow it never happened so he will have to go back another time.
WW11 Oil Tanks Darwin
Mindil Sunset
Another great northern sunset! was attacked by the Japanese during the second world war. Many people were killed, ships, buildings and aeroplanes were destroyed and there was great concern about a possible invasion of this country. As one precaution, massive tunnels were burrowed into central city hillsides and huge storage tanks constructed to hold millions upon millions of litres of oil. Some of the tunnels are now open to the public and it is staggering how extensive they are. Naturally, they are starting to show the wear of time now but are very interesting just the same.
Litchfield National Park Our plan was to stay at Batchelor for a couple of nights and use that as a base to explore Litchfield National Park. As it was only an hour out of Darwin, it made sense to do a day trip from there. We had already been to Kakadu some time back so we had decided that we would not visit there this time. It had been suggested that Litchfield was nicer than Kakadu so we were keen to check that suggestion out. The two places are so different that we decided it was futile to compare them.
Whilst each stop along
Fireworks!
This guy was a busking fire eater at Mindil Market the way is described below, it is easy to overlook the appeal of the overall setting. Travelling along Litchfield Park Road there was an impression of scrubland for kilometers. When the significant sites were visited there were awesome escarpments and rock formations to enjoy along with waterways cascading through the rocky terrain.
After a quick visit to Batchelor to arm ourselves with maps etc., we headed off to the first destination and that was the Magnetic Termite Mounds. Amazingly, these termites predominately build north/south facing mounds and that assists in maintaining a constant temperature in the mound.
Next port of call was to Florence Falls and the Buley Rockholes. There was plenty of water cascading over the twin falls and they looked fantastic. The rock pools a few kilometers away were fantastically refreshing as we submerged ourselves. The water was not cold but a pleasant mid twenties by an educated guess. The various pools had their own tiny waterfalls into them. Very picturesque.
Tabletop Swamp promised some bird watching. Unfortunately we arrived in the middle of the day and there were very few birds around. However, there was plenty of water and water lilies abounded. We took
Cool Lizzy
Daddy's cool chick! a few photos and moved on.
We continued on around the Litchfield Park Road to Tolmer Falls. The falls were from a much higher level than Florence but were far narrower in the stream. They were very commanding in their own way and the setting was very impressive.
The final destination in the park was the Wangi Falls. It was a longer walk in with options to walk ‘over the top’. Naturally we did the longer, harder walk in temperatures in the mid 30’s and consumed a lot of water along the way. Down near the base of the falls it was quite tropical with palms and other plants to set the scene. Wangi Falls was again a twin falls but, unlike Florence Falls, there was not a massive amount of water flowing.
We loved Litchfield and the day spent there was very rewarding.
Berry Springs Like so many recommendations, Berry Springs disappointed! A number of people we met on our travels really loved the place and it is easy to see why. In its natural state it would present as a beautiful swimming hole(s) but we were concerned about two aspects. Firstly, the authorities
Biiiigg Boab!
We found it in the van park at Timber Creek have surrounded the place with concrete paving and given it an urban feel. The other issue we had was that it being so close to town, there were a number of ratbags spoiling it for everyone. It may have been better had we gone there in the middle of the week. Oh well, you can’t win them all!
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