Darwin Take 2

So after dropping off the grandparents at Darwin Airport bound for Sydney it was time to fill in our 11 days with general housekeeping jobs, kids entertainment and preparations for the next leg ahead. After doing the usual clothes washing, stock up on food, swim and relax by the pool we tackled the big job. New tyres for the Landcruiser. This job required an early start for the kids and I as we were told we would be best off to be at the Service Centre at opening time of 7am so to ensure the least amount of waiting around time. Thankfully I was there with kids, breakfast cereals, clothes for Ella and a few cars for Kai before the gates even opened on the yard. While we waited in the reception area having our picnic breakfast the car had four new tyres fitted and looks even more aggressive then before.


We spent the week entertaining ourselves by visiting the Northern Territory Museum and Art Gallery, the local cinema where we saw Mr Poppin’s Penguins, Leayner Water Park for another mornings fun, the caravan park swimming pool and the Bloomfield Outdoor Kitchen for decorated arrowroot biscuits and experimental afternoon teas.



At the Museum/Art Gallery we spent most of our time in the Kids Discovery Room, which was just a small section of the gallery that had some hands on activities for kids. There were foam blocks to build with, dress up clothes, a microscope to view dishes of butterflies, lava and seeds. There were also jars of snakes, lizards and even a spider. There was also colouring in pencils with paper, clipboards and animal rubbing templates. The kids thought it was great and although it hadn’t impressed me much at first, I did get to have a lie down on the cushions on the floor while they were kept busy. I did manage to convenience the kids to enter the rest of the Art Gallery and steered them towards the Cyclone Tracey display. I would have loved to have a good look around this area but unfortunately the kids weren’t as interested as I was so we quickly departed. I did manage to catch a glimpse of some footage of devastated Darwin on the Christmas morning after Cyclone Tracey had hit. There were aerial photos of different suburbs around Darwin with three photos for each. July before the Cyclone, January after the Cyclone and then July in about 2008 or 2009. It was a great comparison showing Tracey’s destruction and how Darwin has rebuilt itself. We also managed to walk through a pitch black sound booth which had a recording of the noise of the storm that fearful night. It was very scary indeed standing in the pitch black with this thunderous sound of wind and things creaking around you. I tried hard to explain to the girls as much as I could about Cyclone Tracey and told Maddi she should ask my cousins back in Sydney what they remember of that night as they lived through it. The whole display is definitely worth a visit if you get a chance.


We had some resident frogs in our caravan park ensuite, which kept us entertained in the evenings. It was always interesting to see if you could spot the frog when you went out there after dark. One night I got quite a surprise when I found this little fellow on the door handle. Ella almost stepped on a big green/brown one on the bath mat one night. After that a torch was always used so one could check the ground for the few steps that were needed before you reached the light switch. The girls thought it was great fun trying to spot and pat them. I think Kai was always in bed asleep when we found them. He did see them during the day when we would discover them tucked up behind a bucket on the wall trying to hide for the day.


The kids had fun making up different food creations too. One day they were very quiet inside organizing a special afternoon tea for me. Finally they produced skewers with a strawberry or two, a selection of jelly lollies and a marshmellow. The girls were desperate to cook something but it was so hot I wasn’t going to put the oven on so decorated arrowroot biscuits were made a few times. The kids had so much fun doing this that they insisted we make some on the morning of Tig’s return and take them to the airport for him. Kai didn’t care much about giving a biscuit to daddy he was more interested in eating the lollies off the top himself.


Thankfully Saturday rolled around quite quickly and it was again time to head out to the airport to pick up Tig. We had been busy making signs for his arrival and I even managed to convince the girls to do their hair in honour of daddy’s return. Hair is not top of the priority list for Ella and Maddi so I have been using any excuse I can think up in order to have them sit down and let me do it.

Until next time …
Thea