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 the concert was held at look 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 driving on the way home when there was an Aboriginal man waking down the middle of the road, clearly drunk 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 sensation sunset from the beach, and wandering through the varied food and market stalls the market offered. 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 $62 - not bad for 2 adults and 6 kids.