Darwin

June 30 to July 10

With Pete and Sharon and one of those sunsets

We had originally planned to spend about a week in Darwin but we arrived about a week earlier than I thought we would, so Pete and Sharon have had the motorhome as a fixture in their driveway each night for a couple of weeks. We can’t thank them (especially Sharon, Pete was travelling for business a fair bit) enough. Pete and Sharon are very near the beach so we quickly got back into the routine of morning coastal walks.

With the extra time in town we took our sightseeing slowly, not packing in too much and getting a lot of chores, motorhome maintenance, admin (personal, hockey) done. The weather was incredibly consistent, 33⁰C to 22⁰C, sunny, with the wind direction and humidity the only changes.

B52 Hangar at the Aviation Museum

We were really impressed by the Heritage Aviation Museum, although heavily focused on the war period, it has amassed a large collection of planes, including the only B52 on display in the southern hemisphere.

Territory Day Fireworks

Friday July 1 was Territory Day. We have a Queensland Day, but it is nothing like this. July 1 is the only day you can buy then ignite fireworks. It is nothing for locals to spend $500 to $1000 (or lots more) then to go to the beach (or park, or back yard) and launch explosives! As we found out these are quality fireworks if you spend enough, you can get blocks of bundled rockets launched on timers delivering fantastic displays. This bundle might last for 30 seconds, but when you sit on the beach and can see thousands of people all around Darwin doing the same thing at different times, the results are spectacular for hours on end.

It starts innocently enough with early starters around 6pm, and it literally continues for 5 hours (and longer). The later it gets the more risky some of the activity gets, with rockets launched parallel to the ground and people scattering.

Mangrove Walk, 8 metre tides can be challenging

It’s no surprise that 18 people were hospitalised last year and debate rages every year, but hey, this is the territory!

We also made the most of the sunsets over the ocean, the photos never do it justice but they have been spectacular, with local burning off adding smoke haze on the horizon for extra effect.

We visited the Mindel Beach Markets, Botanical Gardens, walked all the waterfront beaches, points and wharfs, and Pete got me out for a game of golf. I don’t think we missed too much of Darwin.

East Point Walk looking back to the City

I had planned to go charter fishing to catch a barramundi, but the unbiased advice was that because of the poor wet season the numbers being caught are very low. Given the trips are very expensive (and I prefer “catching” to “fishing”) I will wait to see if my odds improve.
On Sunday we had lunch with Faith from Pack and Send Darwin, it was great to see her again (even though she was heading back to the store after lunch to clear work backlogs!).