Blogs from Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, Oceania - page 6

We spent alittle over 2 weeks in Darwin as Peter's dad was unwell and passed away after a nasty fall fracturing her hip. Peter spending most of this time in Melbourne and the 4 kids and I left to holiday and explore Darwin and surrounds. Now in the tourist season, we had to adjust to all the interstate travellers. The dry season, however hotter and more humid than anyone can remember. We lived through the hottest night since world war 1. During our lengthy stay in Darwin we learnt our way around, ate ourselves silly and lived it up a little. Whilst here we purchased a new tyre for the car, repaired a puncture in a caravan tyre and put on a spare. Visited the orthodontist Geoff Swan to exams Billy's mouth brace and generally did ... read more

In Darwin from June 2nd to June 19th due to Peter's Mum Beth, becoming unwell and passing away. The temperature was always in the mid 30's by midday and the humidity 80% to 100%. The kids and I sayed at The Free Spirit Resort and Howard Springs Big 4 Park. The two caravan Parks we stayed in had great Pools and facilities. Many an afternoon and evening was spent swimming and having a quiet drink with travelling comrades. The kids loving the jumping pillows. The only problem I encountered was Free Spirit's lack of compassion when Pete's mum passed away and we were forced to change caravan parks.... read more

Hier, je suis allé à l'arche de Nina. C'est un refuge pour les animaux. Nina est très gentille et elle prend vraiment bien soin des animaux orphelins ou malades. Le refuge est le royaume des wallaby! C'est un animal de la famille des kangourous... Il ressemble au kangourou mais en plus petit. Quand je suis arrivé c'était l'heure du déjeuner et il y en avait partout! Il y a des bébés, des jeunes et des adultes. J'ai même vu une maman avec son bébé dans sa poche. J'ai aimé les voir et pouvoir les flatter. Le Wallaby est un animal végétarien. Il mange de l'herbe, des feuilles, des racines, des bourgeons et des fruits. Au refuge, il mange aussi des légumes. J'ai eu la chance de les nourrir avec une "pluie de patates". Trop cool!... read more

Geo: -12.4623, 130.846No need for the hurry up this morning, it was full steam ahead to the foyer ready for the pickup for the train ride. The 20 minute bus ride took us out through the suburbs to Berrimah to be greeted by 38 carriages of The Ghan stretching along the platform for 980 metres. Yep, that was nearly 1 km of train! And we thought we had hit the jackpot when we we were given carriage A, only to find it was at the end of the train. The hike, in the heat, carrying the luggage was almost a marathon. But every staff member smiled and greeted us at every doorway and assured us it would be worth it.And it truly was.Cabin A5/6 was a suite complete with a a 3/4 bed, a bathroom (well ... read more

Geo: -12.4609, 130.836We had hardly settled into our seats and the flight was over. That little domestic hop, skip and a jump of four hours was a breeze. Scored an extra seat so we had the row to ourselves, tuned in for a couple of movies, a bit of food, a couple of drinks, weathered a little bit of turbulence and we were touching down in Darwin. Effortless.And forget those boring old days of watching the safety demonstrations, Qantas have released a new inflight video that captures the cheeky spirit of Australia perfectly! First time I have seen so many people pay attention to the safety demo. http://youtu.be/fhbXFHrDmTgHave been in constant "Let's celebrate 60 and Mindy & Ian are home" mode for the last week. Enjoyed great extended family time at a birthday bash for Mac ... read more