Judy & Brian Tour Oz: Darwin NT July 2

Has it been a week since we arrived in Darwin? Yes it has, so I guess we've both been overwhelmed by 'Darwin' time!

Oh well, what have we done with the week? Having been here a few times before, our range of activities is restricted down to things that we want to do rather than the 'must dos'.

In very rough order of appearance:

Visited a couple of new shopping centres, ostensibly to buy food but I suspect that the ice-cold air-conditioners may also have been an attraction. Yes, it's been hot-ish most days around 34ºC and not much less at night. Even our 'air' in the van has been getting a bit of a flogging.

Went looking for birds out along our favourite boardwalk into the mangroves at East Arm, but the tide was way out and must have taken the birds with it.

Mudflats. East Arm. Darwin NT

Ducked into the Darwin Museum and Art Gallery where we have idled away more than the odd hour. Cafe: Closed. Aboriginal Art: Replaced by some dreadful unfathomable thing called 'Defying Empire', which may or may not have had an Aboriginal rebellion / uprising theme. 3 major galleries: Closed. Disappointing to say the least, but I did buy a nice book to read about Escape Cliffs and European settlement history.

Not far away is Doctor's Gully, so called because the first doctor in the new Darwin settlement lived there, but now a haven for fish. They come up at high tide and you feed them bread and let them swim around your feet. Only mullet and milkfish. No Sunfish or sharks. A few rays made there appearance on the other side along with some Rajah shell ducks that live there in / on / around the rocks.

Judy feeding fish. Aquascene. Darwin NT

Aquascene. Darwin NT

Went to Mindil Thursday Night Markets. It took us an hour to get into the carpark, and even then I dropped Judy of so she could have a bit of a look. They have changed it around a bit since last time 2 years ago: less trinket shops and heaps more 'food' stalls. All jammed either side of the path, ten thousand people pushing and shoving, prices sky-high. The smell! The noise! Even Judy declared it as a dead-loss as far as markets go, and so we went.

From Mindil we wandered down around the corner to Cullen Bay and enjoyed the freshness of the night with a stroll along the uncluttered beach promenade. We were about to crossover to the dockside when we noticed we were standing outside a nice looking pizza joint called 'Eat Pizza', so we stayed and ate and generally relaxed for an hour or so.

Lured by the hype, we went to look into the Royal Flying Doctor Service museum / display opened not that long ago down on Stokes Wharf. It cost $28 per head to get in, so we were now really expectant. To say that it was disappointing would be an understatement. Basically there's nothing to see or do except read a few cards and wait interminably to view a hologram display or watch the virtual reality show. Basically we didn't appreciate it, so we left. Being on Stokes wharf has always been so relaxing: grab a table next to the waters edge and eat fish and chips and drink cold drinks and watch boats go by. Somehow we ended up inside the arcade part of the building, the drinks were warm, the food awful.

RFDS exhibition.
Stokes Hill Wharf, Darwin NT

RFDS plane. RFDS exhibition.
Stokes Hill Wharf, Darwin NT

The ghost of John Curtin, Australian Prime Minister 1941-1945. RFDS exhibition.
Stokes Hill Wharf, Darwin NT

Perhaps the open-air deck-chair cinema would have something interesting on over the next week or so, or then again perhaps not.

Getting a bit desperate and a lot despondent, we wandered by the info place in town. First thing we saw was a notice for a Vika & Linda concert at the entertainment centre, the very next evening. After booking cruise on Corroboree Billabong for Monday and a dinner cruise on the Cap Adieu for Wednesday, we zoomed down the road the the entertainment centre. Judy comes out all smiles with 2x tickets in hand, and only $55 each.

On Saturday, I put all my beach-walking training into action at the Palmerston Parkrun and cracked it for a 40 minute time. The run has several very steep bits in it and is basically two laps of one out-and-back segment and one of another. Just as well these things start at 7am because it was hot and humid and the air thick with the smoke from the eternal burning-off fires.

That night we went to the concert, and apart from a lame support / warm-up act, the evening's entertainment was excellent.

Yesterday we took a little drive down to the Manton Dam recreation park, which was supposed to be fabulous, only to find it a bit rough and unloved. Theoretically, one could swim here if there were no 'closed-due-to-crocodile' signs, but given the neglected state of the place, and how the water way looked perfect for these killers, we chose not to. There was evidence of a few boast being out on the lake, and we saw at least one pulling a skier, maybe the locals just like their chances, croc-wise.

Manton Dam recreation park. Darwin NT

Today we drove out to Corroboree Billabong, about 70km away, out towards Kakadu, to pickup our tour. As we approached the place it dawned on us that we had done this cruise once before, maybe 2012. Not a problem, it was a relaxing way to spend the morning and we got to see lots of birds and crocs and had a running commentary on the billabong and it's inhabitants.