After a short day trip to Darwin for the Aboriginal Art
Fair, we were quite excited to be visiting a biggish city again. The weather was
stinking hot and sticky, a little early for the wet season we were told. Darwin
was going to be home for the next 2 weeks as Josh was going to be leaving us again for a
week and then Trace’s parents were coming to visit, which the kids were really
excited about. Trace had heard of a great caravan park, expensive but worth it
considering we were there for a while. Oh and kids club did sound quite
enticing!
The weather cooled down slightly as the week progressed and
although Darwin at this time of year is still fairly hot, it was manageable. We
had been told that Darwin was a pretty cool place and we were soon to find out
that it had a lot to offer. With great restaurants, markets, art, coffee and an
interesting mix of cultures. Our friends from Broome were also going to be at
the park for a few days with us which was once again nice for the kids.
Luckily for us it was the Darwin Festival throughout the
time we were there so there was actually quite a lot on around town. We booked
with our friends to see a children’s show called MC Platypus and Queen Koala,
two New Zealand women who rapped their way through a show on being a resilient
child against bullying. It was quite a laugh and the kids got chosen with our
friends who we’d gone with to go on stage and perform. A fun morning for all!
The week without Josh flew past and we made a considerable
effort to get all the homework done by the time Trace’s parents arrived. A few
visits to the water park, some serious ice-cream eating at Trampoline on the
waterfront, a swim at the Wave pool, some more eating at Chow, a favourite hang
of ours and another visit to the amazing Parap markets. Our first visit to
these markets saw the kids rub shoulders and have a photo with Jessica Mauboy. Rubes
slightly embarrassed to ask for a photo. Not Trace though!
By the time the week was up we were ready for Josh to come
home and very excited to see Trace’s parents. After convincing Mike and June to
change their five star accommodation in town for the luxurious surrounds of a
family villa at the caravan park, we were all excited by the week ahead. Josh
and Trace excited to have some time out and the kids excited to see Gran and Pa
and get a bit spoilt.
June and Mike stayed in a villa at the end of our row so the
kids enjoyed having breakfast with them, a sleepover at their cabin and just
hanging out. Whilst Josh and Trace enjoyed a few hours in town looking at art
galleries, museums and sampling some good coffee finally, the kids and Gran and
Pa went to the Territory Wildlife Park. They all enjoyed seeing the reptiles and mammals that are found only in the Northern Territory and
getting up close to some of the largest crocodiles in captivity. It was a typically hot Darwin
day so everyone was ready by the afternoon to jump into the resort style pool
the caravan had to offer. Even Gran got
in!
Just for fun we decided the following day to hop on the
amphibious water duck that toured around the city of Darwin and then into the
harbour and waterfront of Mindil Beach. It was a pretty tacky and somewhat
amateur tour but nonetheless the kids enjoyed it for the hour or so it ran.
Once again we sampled some good coffee at what was becoming a favourite haunt
of ours called the Spice Café.
June and Mike were surprised to see how well we were coping.
We could even cook great food for ourselves….imagine that! We had some
wonderful meals together, big Sunday breakfasts and beautiful Friday night
Challah (Sabbath bread) and roast lamb was on the menu.
As part of the Darwin Festival, Trace, June and Rubes went
to one of the beauty Salons to get their nails painted. They sat in the salon
chairs and listened to stories on their headphones about the nail industry
through stories of patrons. It was a lot of fun and nice to have some time away
from the boys who spent their time at the waterfront.
A few people had recommended to us a great restaurant called
Hanuman apparently was one of Darwin’s finest Thai restaurants. It was a
beautiful tropical Darwin evening, the weather just right for outdoor dining.
June and Mike were taking us out to celebrate Josh getting a permanent position
at Royal North Shore, so we all had a few drinks and enjoyed a really delicious
meal.
The time had gone very quickly and it was already time to once again be saying goodbye to Gran and Pa. But before they left we spent our last Saturday morning once again at the Parap
markets gathering tropical fruits,
sampling beef rotis and sipping on coffee and tropical smoothies. And just as
lucky as Ruby was the week prior at the markets to rub shoulders with Jessica
Mauboy, so too was Oscar when he was lucky/unlucky enough to chat with the then
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. He was pretty chuffed with himself and rang his
Nanna straight away to tell her.
We had really enjoyed our stay in Darwin and our time with
Gran and Pa and were looking forward to our much anticipated time in Kakadu.
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