Saturday, 30 August 2014

DARWIN SIGHTS

VIEWS OF DARWIN


The lights in the trees for Darwin Festival.  Very pretty when it gets dark.

The RAAF display over Mindil Beach as a thank you to the people of Darwin for Pitch Black exercises.
 Darwin skyline from Charles Darwin National Park.

MYILLY POINT 

The Myilly Point Precinct is a group of 4 pre-war houses built for public servants in the late 1930's. The 4 houses illustrate several designs by architect B.C.G. Burnett. The houses continued as accommodation for the public service until 1974 when cyclone Tracy caused extensive damage and the houses could no longer be used for their original purpose. The houses were threatened with demolition in the early 1980's but were saved by strong lobbying and community action by the National Trust.
We visited Burnett House one Sunday afternoon where we looked through and enjoyed a Devonshire tea in the garden and a beautiful sea breeze due to the perfect location on the cliff top overlooking the harbour.

View of the harbour from Myilly Point
 Burnett House

 

 

CAPE ADIEU HARBOUR CRUISE

On Friday 29th August we climbed aboard the Cape Adieu traditional fishing ketch for a tour of Darwin Harbour and dinner. It was a beautiful afternoon with a light breeze and we began the tour with  a serving of home-made dips, bread and rice crackers. As there is only a maximum of 50 on the tour everyone is seated at their own table on the deck. After the dip we were called up table by table to help ourselves to banana prawns, Coffin Bay oysters and smoked Spanish Mackerel served with a selection of salads and bread. It was all delicious. We cruised from Stokes Hill Wharf at the waterfront to East Point. We noticed there were several Navy Ships tied up - apparently on exercises up here as part of Pitch Black.
After our course of prawns, oysters and fish we were served either steak or Jewfish (lightly fried in breadcrumbs). Keith and I both had the fish which was mouthwatering and perfectly cooked. As we cruised the harbour we were enchanted by a delightful sunset which is very different than seeing it from the beach. Then as darkness fell we began to see the lights of the city and were able to point out various landmarks.
The meal finished with a beautiful lemon cheesecake and coffee. All in all an experience worth doing.







 Dinner Yum


The Cape Adieu

Thursday, 21 August 2014

Mix and Karrots 12 month Aussie Adventure: DARWIN THEN TILL NOWWell it seems we have been her...

Mix and Karrots 12 month Aussie Adventure: DARWIN THEN TILL NOWWell it seems we have been her...: DARWIN THEN TILL NOW Well it seems we have been here forever and I have not done a blog post for awhile- been too busy. So I thought that ...

DARWIN THEN TILL NOW

Well it seems we have been here forever and I have not done a blog post for awhile- been too busy. So I thought that I had better post now.

We have been in Darwin since 8th June and have stayed in various places both rural and in the CBD. We have stayed in Humpty Doo, Howard Springs and Lee Point. We have both worked here to top up the coffers as fuel is so expensive and was depleting the bank somewhat. It has been good working here because we have lived the lives  of locals to a certain extent and certainly had a good look around Darwin. I have particularly enjoyed working with the indigenous kids in my classes. We have paid a visit to two of the local running clubs and met the locals. We also did a housesit in Humpty Doo so we have made friends there.

While we have been here we have been to Mindil Markets lots of times, Palmerston Friday night markets many times and Parap Market quite a few times. All good markets and very enjoyable. We have visited the Deckchair Outdoor Cinema (an interesting experience) bring a blanket it does get a bit cold and maybe a pillow the deckchairs can get uncomfortable. We have ridden our bikes to the Dripstone Cliffs (great sunset viewing area) and Fannie Bay to visit 'Cool Spot' one of our favourites for a coffee or a cold drink. We have walked all over the Casuarina Coastal park and watched many sunsets. We have been to Litchfield National Park great for swimming in waterholes and under waterfalls.

The Darwin Festival is on this month and we enjoyed the free opening night with a performance by Tina Arena, a performance on another night by Choir of Man (great group) I've never seen a bbq cooked on stage during a performance before. We enjoyed another act called 'You dance funny' which involved audience participation and lots of laughs.

We have been to Crocosaurus Cove right in the middle of town and out to Adelaide River to see the jumping crocs - great experience and you get right up close and personal with the crocs.

We have driven out to Berry Springs for a swim and listened to good music in the afternoon at Litchfield pub. We have enjoyed a meal at Humpty Doo Hotel an iconic aussie pub with great meals and heaps of it.

We have also visited the waterfront and had some good meals there and checked out the ships tied up at Stokes Hill wharf. There is also a wave pool and a beach there for a bit of fun. We also enjoyed catching up with friends Jo and Graeme from Melbourne one night here for a meal at the Irish pub.
 These are pictures we took at the RAAF open day.


Cullen Bay is a great place for a meal and Seafood on Cullen restaurant is amazing $40 for all you can eat buffet seafood - fresh oysters, prawns, mussels, calamari the list goes on and on and all delicious.

George Brown Botanic gardens is worth a look to see all the plants that grow in tropics so different to Melbourne. Darwin musuem is very good with lots of exhibits including one on Cyclone Tracy and Sweetheart a huge croc that was caught finally and put on display. Another good activity to try is Aquascene at Doctors Gully check the website for tide times and you can handfeed wild fish that come in there at these times. I really enjoyed this.


We had a great day playing Ambrose golf for charity at the RAAF base with our neighbours from the caravan park Chris and Dave.
Fanne Bay Gaol worth a look but be careful - it's haunted. Whooo...