Markets, Dinners, Dancing And More

Exploring Darwin and its surrounds has been such fun, and there is still so much to see and do.

One of Nick's birthday presents was having the kids babysat while we went out for the evening. We chose a night where there was an outdoor cinema night at the Waterfront, an event part of NAIDOC Week. We chose a restaurant overlooking the Watefront and had Tapas for dinner and wandered over to our chairs at the advertised starting time 7pm. Not
many people were there and there seemed to be no activity on the screen, at this stage we laughed about how casual and laid back things were in Darwin. Eventually the movie Red Dog started and we enjoyed watching such a classic movie on a balmy evening under the stars. Thanks Linda and Kristy for such a great gift. Apparently the kids were well behaved as well which was an added bonus.

The following night we went to "The Countrymans Concert", another NAIDOC week event. A number of Indigenous singers and dancers entertained us, the kids loving "Once A Jolly Swagman" sung in an Aboriginal dialect, Abbey and Zach getting up
and dancing, then sitting mesmerized when some dancers took the stage. The park where the concert was held at looked spectacular with giant rice paper lanterns in the shapes of animals, decorated and lit up. It is amazing watching the kids absorb such a different culture to what they are used to, although this was hindered slightly when I had to swerve suddenly whilst driving home when there was an Aboriginal man walking down the middle of the road, clearly drunk and in an area with no street lights.

Mindil Markets a fun and happening place to be; we enjoyed going here 3 times during our stay in Darwin, loving watching the sensational sunset from the beach, and wandering through the varied food and market stalls on offer. After dark the street performers with their magic and fire were a great watch, Abbey and Zach trying to copy their tricks.

Each time we drove to our caravan
Park we passed Territory Wildlife Park, and each time Zach or Abbey or Matt would ask if we could go there. So one morning Jo and I gave Pete and Nick a day off and took all the kids to the Wildlife Park. Being run by the Northern Territory Government meant that entry for the 2 families was $34 - not bad for 2 adults and 6 kids. Situated in bushland, the park has done a great job with their displays, which include a huge wilderness wetlands (where Matt enjoyed counting variety of birds including a large jabiru which gracefully flew down to the waters edge). An aquarium complete with a walk through tunnel with saw sharks, barramundi, rays and turtles swimming around you, Josh wishing that he could catch a barra that big; a great bird of prey display where the kids could meet and greet some of the birds, a "Daly River" enclosure which had huge whip rays and Barramundi. We learnt about the Barramundi life cycle and how they are all born male and by the time they are by the time they reach 80cm become a female. A few of the crowd were able to feed the whip rays, watching them feed intrigued us all as they curl themselves upwards and open their mouths. We were told of the unique ecosystem of the Daly River a fresh water river in which a unique species of Bull Sharks inhabit (which unknowingly at this stage, we will find out for ourselves first hand). And what wildlife park would not be complete without a reptile and nocturnal house - much to Zach's delight. Inviting paths and boardwalks lead you to each exhibit, and there is a shuttle bus which runs every 1/2 hour. Finishing the day with a play in the playground and an icecream, we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Darwin's water parks are a huge attraction. As well as the wave pool at the water front, there are 2 free waterparks with great slides and water play equipment. We visited these on numerous occasions. One of the times we visited Mel Wharton and her family were also there. Mel (my friend
Jodie's sister) had flown to Alice Springs, hired a campervan and driven up to Darwin. We had a great afternoon, and they ended up staying with us at our caravan park that night, which was fun.