Sights of Darwin

---

SIGHTS OF DARWIN

“We are not on a holiday! We are on a lifestyle!”

This is what we keep telling ourselves at the Free Spirit Resort (fancy name for a caravan park). Our days have been just like they were at home: work, go home, work, go home, work, and go home… you get the drift. The exception however, is that we are doing it in the Northern Territory and living what we have dreamed about for ten years.
Normally at home we would do something on a Saturday - so that’s when we do things now. So my blog entry (and most probably the last for the Darwin region) will outline what we have seen whilst being residents of Darwin.

Darwin is the perfect capital city for those who don’t like capital cities. It takes 20 minutes to drive from the city centre to the outskirts - try that in Sydney or Melbourne! The city centre itself is not very busy with hardly any traffic lights. It’s a backpacker’s haven - with plenty of seasonal work. At the moment there are signs everywhere we go: “position available”. This is mainly due to the fact that people are moving on and leaving their jobs (as are we, but more on that later).
In the centre of town is the “Croc Cruise” boat: a bus that turns into a boat. Grady had seen the tour on TV before and had always wanted to go on it, so off we went. It was interesting to see Darwin from this perspective, and the guide was informative giving information that we previously weren’t aware of, but the real fun was when the bus entered the Darwin Harbour with a big splash and we explored the water. At the moment, the waters are closed for swimmers due to the large number of stingers (jellyfish) that have arrived; it will remain this way for months until they leave. I have heard the same is true of Broome as well, which is unfortunate since we were hoping to swim there. The risk is not worth it though, as people have died from stings to their bodies.
We were told to be on the lookout for stingrays, dolphins and dugong - the latter not expected - the tour guide had never seen one. You can imagine her surprise when Grady spotted a dugong frolicking in the water. As is the law, the driver (or is that captain?) immediately cut the engine and we watched until the dugong decided to leave. Once it was more than 50 metres away, the driver/captain was allowed by law to continue. This was a magical moment for us - only two days prior I had read a response in the paper to someone who had seen a dugong while barramundi fishing. The response was from a man who had lived in Darwin 65 years and had never once seen a dugong. They are shy creatures and we were blessed to watch it.

I was at work when Grady took the kids for an educational outing to Reidy's Lure Factory. He had been looking forward to this factory since Alice Springs and he and the kids really enjoyed watching and learning how the lures are made and to see the testing pool. Grades returned with some lures he purchased and have already proven successful; when out fishing with a mate from the park, he caught a cod on one of the lures.

KAKADU
Kakadu was a place we knew we had to see while we were in Darwin - but were a bit nonchalant about visiting. I had been before when in my teens and really enjoyed it, but because so many people had told us that Litchfield was better, we had to force ourselves to go. How wrong we were.
After 5 months of living in the van I told Grady that for Kakadu, we should leave the van behind in Darwin and stay in a cabin. This took Grady by surprise (he knows how frugal I am) and he jumped at the chance. We booked into a cabin at the Lakeside Caravan Park - for a family of 6, it was the cheapest cabin in the area at $195 a night (!!!). I finished work on the Saturday and after work, we drove around 270kms to Jabiru to arrive there before 9pm. On the way the kids all had to line up on the side of the Arnhem Highway for a wee, and we included Cody for the fun of it. Perhaps to be just like his brothers, he “peed on demand” and we will always remember the point his toilet training began: on the road to Kakadu. Oh the fun we shall now have…
We opened the door to our cabin and had to try and calm the kids down from their excitement - we didn’t realise they would be this overcome and we had a few tears of gratitude from one of the kids, who was so thankful to be in a cabin at last! We allowed them to stay up later and we watched a Bollywood film that was on SBS. As a result, Chloe is quite the Bollywood fan.
Our touring of Kakadu was only for one full day and then the home trip the next day. We decided not to drive south to Jim Jim Falls, Twin Falls and Maguk and Gunlom pools. I know they would have been beautiful, but it is such a deviation of driving and we didn’t mind leaving them for a future trip.
Our first exploration of the area was to Nourlangie Rock. This was a 40 minute drive from Jabiru and involves a 1.6km round trip walk, viewing various Aboriginal rock art in the area. This rock art is especially beautiful and there are a lot of storytelling pictures to do with the Aboriginal culture and religion. We forgot to charge our camera though, so it is fortunate I still have my photos from 18 years ago! The rock art is beautiful and certainly worth the drive and walk - even in 40 degree heat.
On the way back to the cabin we stopped at the Kakadu visitors centre. I love the visitor centres because they are full of information and free to visit. Grady stayed in the car with sleeping Cody and the air conditioning while the other kids and I checked it out. There were displays of animals in the area, a film centre which shows different films and a large natural water display with a bridge to walk over. We really enjoyed it and returned to the car having learned much more about the area.
Whilst the camera and video camera were charging back in the cabin, we used our free passes for the Jabiru Swimming Pool - the only recommended swimming place in Jabiru. The free passes come from the caravan park; because they do not have a pool, all guests are given free passes to the public pool. We didn’t know what to expect and had a great time in the 50 metre pool - mostly because it was a cold pool! Since leaving Alice Springs, all of the pools we have swum in have been warm - heated by the surrounding temperature. It was so refreshing to swim in a pool and have to get out to warm up after a while!
We remained at the pool for the afternoon and returned back to the cabin for tea before venturing out to Ubirr - the host of what is claimed to be the best sunset in the world (not being seasoned travelers of the earth, we will just take their word for it). Ubirr is about 35 minutes drive from Jabiru and then another 1 km walk or so, past more amazing Aboriginal rock art. In contrast to Nourlangie, this rock art is more to do with hunting. Our favorite section of art is an entire wall mural of various fish and animals - it almost looks like a menu listing. The walk is a slow one because there is so much art to reflect on, and so we meandered through this outdoor gallery until we reached the climbing point of Ubirr. It was a short climb up to the vantage point and a panoramic view around the wetlands of this section of Kakadu. There were tourists like us at the top waiting for this most romantic of moments: a Kakadu sunset. The only thing was… they had no kids. We tried our best to keep the kids quiet, but in their excitement there was only so much we could do. We watched the sun go down and then left the people to their moment - I laughed when a few people turned around to watch us go and said with a smile: “don’t worry, the family are leaving now!” - They understood my joke.
That’s the thing about doing this trip with the kids, we have had noise, toilet stops, nappy changes, arguments, head lice, bed wetting, mountains of hand washing, home schooling… but we have also had wide eyes of wonderment, cuddles in bed, Bible stories at night and deep talks like never before. We watch them grow together and develop before our eyes and we are teaching them not only about this beautiful country of ours, but about people as well. How proud we have been when strangers have come up and commented how nice the kids are in the caravan park, coming over to their van for a chat. Their very lives are a gift and a blessing to us and even though it would have been nice to work our way around the country before we had the kids, their presence causes us to stop and reflect on places rather than shoot through.
Our second night in the cabin was even nicer because the kids were so exhausted they went straight to bed and so Grady and I had a night to ourselves. We watched “Parenthood” on DVD, which covers about a month’s worth of parental therapy. We had a lovely night together, and it certainly gave us the recharge we needed.
On the way back to Darwin the next day, we called in at the Bird Observation Point, where you can view thousands of birds on the wetlands. There are too many species to remember, but we were interested in the Jabiru, whose beak is so sharp it can penetrate a crocodile, and so are left alone by the salties. I have been reading a book on saltwater crocodile attacks, and the author mentions that it seems crocodiles have a very good memory. Now that they are protected, they are not wary of humans (they don’t carry weapons anymore). They remain however, wary of the Jabiru.
We stayed at the observation point longer than we anticipated and viewed the area through a fellow tourist’s binoculars, reminding ourselves to take our binoculars out of the van and put them in the car!
Further back along the Arnhem Highway, we went to the Window on the Wetlands visitor centre. This centre was even more educational for the kids, as they were given a school worksheet of questions to find the answers in the centre, to which we promised a reward when completed. It will be interesting to see if they remember what they researched - I will have to question them again. Kakadu was a wonderful holiday for us - its areas were in contrast to Uluru and Standley Chasm because the National Park is free to enter. Even though we were viewing rock art painted by people, we did not pay a charge for this. It was a beautiful place.

LITCHFIELD - DAY TWO
Our friends the Lynch family (Jeannie, Shaun and boys Alex and Oscar) are travelling like us and had invited us to explore the four wheel drive tracks in Litchfield with them. The Lynches had previously been through the area and were happy to go again, so we jumped at the chance. We each cooked a meal in our thermal cookers (we in our Dream Pot, they in their Shuttle Chef) to have before the return home and set off for a day’s exploring.
First stop was Litchfield’s Lost City - tall buildings of stone standing alone. We enjoyed walking through but boy was it hot! We were glad to have the awning on the side of the car to set up for lunch. It gave a much needed barrier between us and the sun. Tjanera falls at Sandy Creek was next - a walk along a dry creek bed (Chloe needed a lot of encouragement) revealed a true oasis with two tiered waterfall, better than any we have previously been to - and we were alone! It was serene yet eerie to swim in (I really shouldn’t read my Croc Attack book), to venture to the waterfall together and swim amongst the fish and even a small turtle Shaun spotted. Next we traversed through the Magnetic Termite mounds - tall flat mounds which look like hands waving as you drive by. The mounds are flat and run north to south to minimise exposure to the sun. These are in contrast to the Cathedral mounds, which are more frequently photographed. We had previously visited the viewing station on the East side, but to explore through the 4wd area was certainly more enjoyable. The tracks lead us through a couple of creek crossings and to Surprise Creek. The surprise is that after a trek through the bush you arrive at a waterhole which is - surprise - disgusting! Keep walking though and there are two lovely plunge pools so deep that we could not see the bottom, even though they are completely clear. We remained here until dusk, which was silly because on the way back we could not see the snakes for the sticks. Of course we stumbled across a snake which slid through my legs to Chloe. She stopped dead in her tracks and when the snake curled back in a defensive strike pose I yelled at her to run, which she did - screaming. I scared the snake away when it was not leaving the path and we all returned back much like a line of elephants in the circus. We set up tea by the light of Grady’s 1 amp light which just happened to be in the boot and enjoyed our tea of curry and rice and for the kids, shepherd’s pie (kangaroo meat of course). Poor Chloe had a big day and ate her tea in the car. She is not the most adventurous of kids and has adapted well to our travels. We had travelled a fair distance by tea time and enjoyed ourselves so much that we forgot how long it would take to get home. We arrived home at 11:30pm - tired and happy. How we are enjoying the company of the friends we make!

NEXT STOP: KUNUNURRA
Whilst at Darwin we have attended a few services at Palmerston Baptist. It was here that we met and shared lunch with a couple from Kununurra. A couple of weeks later the husband called Grady and offered us their house for a month in December to house sit. They have four children as well and so the children would all have a bed each (Chloe is rapt as she shares a bed with Cody), the house is air conditioned and they also have a pool! Whilst I am at Kununurra with the kids, Grady is going to fly home and restump a client’s house, which will hopefully finance enough to get us along a stretch of the West Coast. With only one income and huge expenses in Darwin, it’s not a place you can save money! There is a reason there are childcare centres everywhere: both parents HAVE to work to pay the mortgage. We are extremely thankful to have this opportunity and are looking forward to Christmas in Kununurra - I might even do a roast!

---

Photos

Reidy's lures
The kids checking out the lures on the tour

Croc cruise
Bus that turns into a boat

Our home
This is our site at the caravan park...pretty nice.

Nap time - touring style
Naa...he just fell asleep! Its a hard life!

Rock art at Ubirr
It was getting dark and the flash has killed the effect... but you get the drift.

View from Ubirr
View of the climb from the vantage point - really beautiful contrast of land

Sunset from Ubirr
They claim it is the best in the world - we have nothing to compare it to but it sure is nice.

Ubirr
How's the serenity...not for much longer.

Rock art at Ubirr
Barramundi...yum

Big boxing croc
Still on the search for "big" things...

The Lost City - Litchfield
Beau at the Lost City

Falls at Sandy Creek
Wow and to have the place to ourselves...