Blogs from Cullen Bay , Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, Oceania

Tuesday 20th October 2015 The morning was spent cleaning the boat. Windows were washed, chrome polished up and the decks were scrubbed and cleared of bladders and pumps. Once again it looked like the boat that left Airlie Beach. The crew numbers increased dramatically just after 1400hrs with the arrival of Diane, Jen and Judy, Barry, Ian and Rags’ wives respectively. Originally they were joining us until Friday, by which time the boat would have had its engines serviced, and then fly home. It has now been decided that they would stay on board with us until we reach Broome, giving them the opportunity to see the waters of the Kimberley. As this area should be the highlight of the trip it was an opportunity that was too good to miss! Judy and Rags caught up ... read more

Hi People, We had nothing planned today apart from having a walk down the beach, having a long lay in, catching up with the blogs and general chilling out. There is nothing around Wagait beach area but that’s why we wanted to stay here, getting out of the normal tourist areas and into real Australia!!! I cooked Jenny, Vick and myself breakfast of cheese on toast, Jenny thought her oven didn’t work however I had a look and had it working within a minute!! (Being an electrical engineer helps) I could then grill the cheese so everyone was happy with breakfast. Harris and I then sat on the balcony taking turns in writing the blogs; this was nice to read our book while the other one wrote. It is so so hot and muggy I was ... read more

We had a sleep-in today and then looked at what was left to see in Darwin, preferably without cost, as we've been a bit extravagant lately. I was interested in the Chinese Temple and Museum, for a gold coin donation so we started there. The Darwin Chinese Temple is colourful with its bright yellow roof and red decorations and has two little lions guarding the entrance (made in China and originally belonged to a temple near Pine Creek, before it was destroyed by Australian servicemen). Inside the altar area is under cover but there are two side sections that are open to the sky and have pits underneath to collect and drain away the rain. It certainly makes the place lighter and more airy, despite the incense burning at the various altars. It was built in ... read more