Before we set off for Darwin we backtracked a little to Adelaide River to visit the War Cemetery which we read about whilst staying at Litchfield. It is a place not to be missed if you are travelling this way. Ian and I had no idea of the importance of the cemetery in our WWII history (being the only Australian War Cemetery on Aussie soil) and look forward to learning more in Darwin.
When we arrived in Darwin on Tuesday we set ourselves up for a week at the park – our longest stop so far. Even put up the awning for the first time since Alice Springs where it was nearly blown off in the once a year storm.
Bright and early on Wednesday morning we set off for the East Point Military Museum where we learnt amongst other things, just how close the war was. We started off with a video presentation then looked through the static exhibitions and the war machines outside. It was a very interesting morning and we now feel we have somewhat filled in a large gap in our knowledge of WW2. Did you know there were 64 air raids on Darwin and surrounds?
After lunch we decided to treat ourselves to a movie. We always talk about going at home and never do so we went to see Get Smart. It is so ridiculous we laughed all the way and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
Did I mention how warm it is here? It’s around 26-30+ so we’re quite comfortable thanks for asking. So comfortable in fact that on Thursday morning we went to the beach and had a lovely swim and lounged around on the beach. Then in the evening we went to the famous Mindil Beach market which is fantastic and sadly will put me off markets at home for a while. It is so colourful and big and features so many different food stalls there’s almost too much to choose from. Ian and I strategized that it was better to share and have a few tastes of different things and call it dinner. We finished our dinner with Ian enjoying passionfruit ice-cream as we watched the sunset on the beach. It was so good we’re going back again on Sunday.
Friday was a beautiful day again so we went back to the beach for more swimming and in the evening we went to the Deckchair Cinema which is located almost in the centre of Darwin. We walked down heaps of steps to the Cinema which was just fantastic. All these deckchairs set out in the garden, a bit like a drive-in without the cars. It was a great experience, especially with the message on the screen advising us to hang onto our food if we didn’t want to share it with the possums who ran through the ‘cinema’ throughout the night as if they owned it. We were also advised to turn off our phones as the bats don’t like them! We saw “Before the devil knows you’re dead” which features amongst others Albert Finney, Marisa Tomei, Ethan Hawke and Philip Seymour Hoffman. It was a good movie but almost surpassed by the whole experience of sitting in a deckchair in a garden in August in shorts and a T-Shirt!
On Saturday we went to the beach for a swim, the market at Parap, the fish market at the wharf and another swim in the pool at the park, as well as some housekeeping which keeps getting in the way of fun!
Sunday was markets again – this time the morning market had so many different fresh Asian vegies and fruits it was overwhelming – I only wish I knew what to do with half of them! Then it was off for a swim. After lunch we went to the Museum and saw a great exhibition on Cyclone Tracey which included a room which was completely blacked out and had a recording of the cyclone as captured by the local priest. We’re certainly glad we spent Christmas at home that year. Then it was back to the Mindil Sunset Market again. I’ve attached a couple of photos of the market for you to enjoy.
The rest of our stay in Darwin will have to be another blog as we’ve booked in for a sunset dinner cruise which should be fantastic.
When we arrived in Darwin on Tuesday we set ourselves up for a week at the park – our longest stop so far. Even put up the awning for the first time since Alice Springs where it was nearly blown off in the once a year storm.
Bright and early on Wednesday morning we set off for the East Point Military Museum where we learnt amongst other things, just how close the war was. We started off with a video presentation then looked through the static exhibitions and the war machines outside. It was a very interesting morning and we now feel we have somewhat filled in a large gap in our knowledge of WW2. Did you know there were 64 air raids on Darwin and surrounds?
After lunch we decided to treat ourselves to a movie. We always talk about going at home and never do so we went to see Get Smart. It is so ridiculous we laughed all the way and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
Did I mention how warm it is here? It’s around 26-30+ so we’re quite comfortable thanks for asking. So comfortable in fact that on Thursday morning we went to the beach and had a lovely swim and lounged around on the beach. Then in the evening we went to the famous Mindil Beach market which is fantastic and sadly will put me off markets at home for a while. It is so colourful and big and features so many different food stalls there’s almost too much to choose from. Ian and I strategized that it was better to share and have a few tastes of different things and call it dinner. We finished our dinner with Ian enjoying passionfruit ice-cream as we watched the sunset on the beach. It was so good we’re going back again on Sunday.
Friday was a beautiful day again so we went back to the beach for more swimming and in the evening we went to the Deckchair Cinema which is located almost in the centre of Darwin. We walked down heaps of steps to the Cinema which was just fantastic. All these deckchairs set out in the garden, a bit like a drive-in without the cars. It was a great experience, especially with the message on the screen advising us to hang onto our food if we didn’t want to share it with the possums who ran through the ‘cinema’ throughout the night as if they owned it. We were also advised to turn off our phones as the bats don’t like them! We saw “Before the devil knows you’re dead” which features amongst others Albert Finney, Marisa Tomei, Ethan Hawke and Philip Seymour Hoffman. It was a good movie but almost surpassed by the whole experience of sitting in a deckchair in a garden in August in shorts and a T-Shirt!
On Saturday we went to the beach for a swim, the market at Parap, the fish market at the wharf and another swim in the pool at the park, as well as some housekeeping which keeps getting in the way of fun!
Sunday was markets again – this time the morning market had so many different fresh Asian vegies and fruits it was overwhelming – I only wish I knew what to do with half of them! Then it was off for a swim. After lunch we went to the Museum and saw a great exhibition on Cyclone Tracey which included a room which was completely blacked out and had a recording of the cyclone as captured by the local priest. We’re certainly glad we spent Christmas at home that year. Then it was back to the Mindil Sunset Market again. I’ve attached a couple of photos of the market for you to enjoy.
The rest of our stay in Darwin will have to be another blog as we’ve booked in for a sunset dinner cruise which should be fantastic.
Thanks everyone for your comments --- by the way for those who are curious about Kate's comment ---- Kate and Waz have bought a house in Shepparton and we were out of range when it all came together --- Congratulations Kate and Waz!
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