Up to the Top End

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Geo: -12.4613, 130.842

Darwin is a very friendly relaxed sort of place. It is small & the majority of people seem to be on holiday. In terms of dress they dont do smart. Our hotel was right on the Esplanade which is a nice water front walk. The Lizard bar was a good place to stop for a quick beer before getting a taxi to the Art Gallery on Fannie Bay. It is small eclectic and recommended. The small indigenous collection is good. Opposite there is the Ski Bar -outside tables on the water front overlooking the bay- very casual..
The hotel backs on to Mitchell st which contains plenty shops, cafes etc. The best bar we found was the Monsoon Bar which has comfy tables and chairs outside and is lively .
For dinner we went to Stokes Hill Wharf which is being built up, but there is a jetty with several restaurants. At the nearest end ,we dived into the all you can eat for 32 dollars place. This has a good spread of seafood-oysters,prawns,mussels,crab and various salads. There is also a selection of chinese type stuff as well as soup and various veg. Ask for a rare steak as this is brought to you nicely presented so you can add salad or veg as well. We certainly felt we got our moneysworth. Go when hungry.
On our first full day we did some shopping and had a lovely breakfast of poached eggs and bacon on Mitchell st. It is only a walk down to the front to Aquascene for the fish feeding frenzy. We got there at 20 mins to 1 at which time it closed so the lady kindly gave us a discount for the 20 mins only. Quite frankly thast is all you need but it is fun standing knee deep in the sea with large mullet and cod etc swimming furiously round and between your legs as you feed bits of bread. There were very few people there and I suspect if it was busy it wouldnt be as much fun, but the 4 of us were the only ones in the water. There is a lady who gives a talk and describes all the various fish if education is what you want.
Another taxi then taken to Cullen Bay Marina for a few pleasant beers overlooking all the boats. In the dry season it is probably walkable, but because we were at the beginning of the wet season it is just too hot and humid to walk too far. The advantage is fewer people and it is still warm and sunny. We had a lovely lunch in the Buzz cafe which does terrific pies, and were able to sit outside overlooking the water as they have big fans blowing to keep you cool.
Afternoon spent relaxing before gearing up for the evening. We tried Sun City which contains a Casino and a few restaurants but we really didnt fancy any so it was another cab back to the Wharf. We hoped to go to Crustacean, which is a smartish rest on the end of the jetty, but there was a notice on the door to say they were closed because they had gone fishing for 3 months. Next to this is a food court but self service fast food is not our scene so it was yet another taxi ride to Mitchell st, where we ended up in Charlie's- a long established Italian. Good food. The entree sizes are big enough rather than going for the Main size, and food is very good. Dont expect to pay by credit card. The rest takes them but always manages for the card not to go thro so you end up paying cash!
The rest of the evening was spent at the nearby Monsoon bar with friends we had met up with.
Our second full day was booked on a tour with Kakadu Dreams. It offered a full day with breakfast and lunch thrown in for 99 dollars. We set off on the bus about 7.30am. About 10 of us in total and all young backpackers apart from us. We stopped at a place called Humpty Doo to pick up 2 girls then the first main stop was at the Wetlands visitor centre. I was really surprised at the scenery- vast areas of flood plain and trees. The grass is not too high yet so this really is the perfect time to come when all is lush and green. We had the odd falls of rain but the rain stops very quickly. The centre has good views over the flood plains but the exhibition inside is a bit basic with models of the local widlife and odd drawings. Then it was back in the bus and off to the Adelaide river. Here the breakfast turned out to be do it yourself instant coffee or teabags and an urn of hot water. A rickety toaster in which to toast bread from bags of sliced bread was the food! Helen had brought a bag of crisps so I had my first crisp sandwich for many years. We then boarded the boat and set off down the river which is in flood at this time of year. On the way we came across some crocodiles so a rod with a lump of meat at the end of the string was held over the side of the boat. This attracted the crocs and we were entertained by them leaping out of the water to grab at the meat. Dont lean over the side of the boat! The other entertainment was a flock of kites which swooped down to snatch at the bread thrown for them in mid air. They were very fast and graceful.
After the river trip, it was back on the bus to Litchfield National Park. The first stop here was to marvel at some cathedral termite mounds huge things and also magnetic termite mounds so called because they are aligned in a north south direction.
The next stop was for lunch. We took a short walk down to a creek and back stopping to look at a lovely big spider in its web on the way- it wasnt a poisonous one. The lunch was another do it yourself affair. Des our driver had plonked bags of onions, tomatoes, green peppers and cucumber on a picnic table and we had to slice it up ourselves. The meat was a few packets of ham beef and salami or tins of tuna- all of which we had to open. Dessert was a couple of tins of pineapple. As alcohol not allowed in the park the drink was orange to dilute with water from the urn which the boys carried down from the bus. After this non elegant lunch we then had to set to and do the washing up with Des instructing what had to go where. The next stop was at a lookout over some falls and then a walk down to the Florence Falls, where we could swim in the rock pool at the bottom. This was very pleasant but the rocks were a bit slippery. Non deterred the boys were climbing up the side and jumping down into the water. As there were over a 100 steps to climb back up we were hot again so the next stop was at a series of rock pools for another swim. I have to confess I only got my feet wet over the side of one pool as the rocks looked too treacherous to go down to the other various pools, but all the youngsters fearlessly plunged down them. Back on the bus, high tea was a packet of biscuits passed round with a tub of guacamole. Thank heaven we stopped at a garage on the way to buy a few cans of beer for the journey back. It may not have been elegant dining but we all enjoyed it very much and they were a good crowd to be with.
Dinner was a smarter affair at the Bhan Thai on Cullen Bay. The starters were particularly good and the seafood rolls are gorgeous.
The last evening was spent in the Monsoon bar with friends. A great few days and would recommend Darwin even at this time of year.

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