Garry and Carols Van Trip: Darwin

This is a short week due to our late posting last weekend. On Monday we all visited the Darwin Museum which features displays on Cyclone Tracy, Sea Life / Nature, and Indigenous Culture. It is one of the best displays we have seen in a Museum with the animals and fish shown suspended in large clear glass cabinets. There were plenty of touch displays as well where the girls could feel a turtle shell and large fish bones. The Cyclone Tracy area is excellent and gives you a real appreciation of the force of nature and of the huge job of clearing up starting Xmas Day 1974. The way TV News overdramatises everything these days, you forget how powerful the big ones were. I remember Cyclone Larry being talked up as dangerous at 160kph winds. Tracy broke the wind gauge at Darwin Airport after it had recorded speeds of 320kph (200mph) which was as high as the equipment could read. The CSIRO was also running a “Species Olympics” show for the school holidays. It was all about comparing Olympians with animals and there speed on land and in the water. It was a lot of fun for Isobel and Madelaine and Isobel won a gold medal for her slime fishing efforts with a magnetic nosed frog. Lunch was also very nice on the balcony overlooking the harbour.

After lunch, Grandad and the girls spent a couple of hours at the cinema watching Ice Age 4 while Mum, Grandma, and Grace attacked the city shops. I wouldn’t recommend the movie for 3 year old girls but the popcorn lasted most of the movie.

At bed time the local wildlife was moving about and the girls had a couple of possums living in the palms outside their unit and a baby owl came in one night to sleep under the carport.

Next day we fed the fish at Doctors Gully, a small bay set up for feeding where fish of all sizes come in each high tide for a feed of bread. There was heaps of large mullet and plenty of larger fish (?) about 1 metre long and was really interesting for the girls to be able to stand amongst the fish at the waters edge. The cove was originally the site of a small market garden run by Chinese and then was the base for Catalina Flying Boats during WW2. Once the fish were fed, we headed for the Wave pool. The days have been warm enough to swim and the girls loved the waves on their tubes and boogey boards. In fact, they enjoyed it so much we returned the next day for some craft activities on the lawn beside the pool but it wasn’t long before the pool was calling and we were back in the water. More than four hours straight were spent catching waves. Isobel loved it and had no fear. By the end of the day she had given the board away and was swimming out into the waves and riding them back in. Madelaine spent most of the day in a tube but ended up on a board. In no time she was sitting up on her haunches and paddling after her big sister. Lucky the chairs under the umbrellas at the water’s edge were comfy!!

Feeding the mullet

Testing to see if they like toes

At a nice marble carving

Craft...

at the beach park

No Mum! I know how to do it!!

Catching waves in my blue tube

Riding a wave with Grandma

A very kind big sister giving me a push at the end of the day

Racing out to catch another one...

At the end of the day; but before the girls were tired of swimming, we decided to sample some seafood out on Stokes Hill Wharf. The restaurant was located at the end of the wharf and the food was excellent and reasonable priced. Mud Crab, Lobster, Oysters, Prawns, Calimari, Beef, Garlic Bread and Chips filled us up while we watched the sunset cruise boats leaving for their evening harbour cruises. All in all it was a very pleasant evening.

Isobel resting her chlorine stressed eyes inside the restaurant

One of the Sunset Cruises leaving the wharf

Waiting for our fish & chips

One of several Navy & Customs boats in port

Grandma and the girls resting on the couch

A 1.1kg NT muddie

The next morning was spent packing while Carol whipped up a nice lace dress for Isobel. Isobel and Madelaine had to take Harley for one last walk around the van park and return him to Ted and Linda lined up for a few last nurses of Grace. We first met Ted and Linda at Daly Waters Pub while they were travelling with Robby and Lexy. Robbie and Ted are twins, apparently, although they are clearly not identical twins. Ted (and Robbie) worked as shearers and many other things in the off season and are good company for a beer or two most afternoons. They don’t mind a look at the horses and have bought a share of a horse that is running up here during the cup carnival.

By the end of the week, Isobel and Madelaine were ready for home and ready to see Dad again. It was a lovely week with them and the Hardware was good enough to allow Garry to only work one day while they were here.