Next stop - Darwin

We arrived in Darwin to a rainy Thursday night. Well showers, really but they persisted through the next day. Where was the sun we were meant to see? We had a suitcase full of summer clothes and here we were in the rain again. An unseasonal cold spell the weather forecasters told us. All returned to normal on Saturday morning with the hot sunny weather returning and yes we came home with a nice brown glow.

Darwin is a great place to spend a few days if you are wanting to escape the southern winter chills. It sure has grown in the last 12 years and with the average age of the residents being about 30 years old, coupled with a huge influx of backpackers it is party central. There is also a large number of grey nomads that arrive to stay & play for a while in the sun along with the many overnight tourists that arrive by the coach load each day. So it has a real friendly, happy feel to the place no matter what time you are wandering around.

We had a great time exploring Darwin. We hitched a ride on the Tour Tub and saw the highlights on a get on, get off tour one day. We also checked out the Museum, Art Gallery, The WW2 Tunnels, The Wharf, Parliment House (pictured), The Smith St Mall & all the shops in Darwin. We wandered along the Esplanade parklands and took in the beautiful views of the harbour and Govt House. Had lunch at Cullum Bay one day, dinner on the wharf with friends one night, a wonderful Champagne Sunset cruise on the harbour and the best fun wandering around and watching the sunset (on the beach) at Mindil Beach Markets.

Of course the best bit about holidays is catching up with friends and it was great to be able to have dinner with Peter Miller and meet Alison & John, also visiting from Victoria. Peter was unable to join Marg & Peter O in the snow this year as well but we had some fun reliving our memories of last years adventure over a glass or three of bubbles. We met again for breakfast at Fannie Bay on our last morning, the Cool Spot, just the place for a final fling brekkie in Darwin.

Our stay in Darwin was actually in two parts with a trip to Kakadu in the middle so I'll leave you now with the promise of our Kakadu memories to come in a day or so.

Until next time .........