Life in a Humpback

Day 40: Darwin (Day 4)

This morning we had a quiet one around camp before heading into the Darwin Waterfront. Our first stop was lunch on Stokes Hill Wharf followed by a visit to the Royal Flying Doctor Service Tourist Facility. They had a display on the bombing of Darwin Wharf during WWII and on the Flying Doctor history. There were lots of VR displays, which the kids really enjoyed. We all learned a lot about the war and the Service!

Next stop was the wave pool at the Darwin Waterfront. We spent a few hours floating in the waves then headed over to Mindil markets for dinner and the sunset. We all picked our dinner from the various food trucks and wandered through the market, where the kids got a grain of rice with their names written on it. After getting a round of slushies we headed down to the beach to watch the sunset. It was very, very busy so we walked down to a quieter end to watch the sun drop into the water.

Day 39: Darwin (Day 3)

Today we went on a jumping crocodile tour.

It took about forty minutes to get there from our camp site. We went past the boxing crocodile. Then we got to the car park were I saw a lizard. Then we went over to the crocodile statue where we put on sun screen. Then me and Olivia went to the gift shop where I got an opal in side a crocodile that was a necklace.

Then we got on the boat. Then we left the dock. We got to see baby crocodiles with there mum then she launched herself in to the air with her tail and chomped the meat off the stick. After we continued up river where we stopped at most crocodiles so they can jump for the meat.

We got to feed birds. I tried to throw the meat in front of the crocodile so the birds would try to eat the meat and the crocodile could eat them. Sadly it didn't work.

FINALLY IT FINISHED AND OLIVIA THEN GOT A CROCODILE NECKLACE!!!

Day 38: Darwin (Day 2)

Today was Water Park Day.

Today we went to two different water parks. These are the good and bad things about them.

Palmerston Water Park

• There were 6 slides but only 2 were open.
• You had to go head first and you had to go on a mat but there wasn't many mats so only like 10 people could use them at a time.

Leanyer Recreations Park

• There were 3 really long water slides and they were twisty but they were all closed.
• There was a pool that we played in

Both places had a splash park.

Day 37: Darwin (Day 1)

Today it was Humpback's (the caravan) turn for a service. We dropped it off before 9am and then headed to a shopping centre in Casuarina to hang out in the aircon and do a bit of shopping. We started off with a free coffee as the local cops where treating everyone who came by to a hot drink. Then wandered through all the shops.

Next we headed to the Darwin Waterfront District to have lunch and do some scouting for a future trip back another day. We also dropped into the visitor centre where the kids picked up some souvenirs and John picked up a stuffed crocodile, which the kids quickly named Crocodylus.

After picking up the caravan around 4.30pm John parked the caravan for the third time in two days. As we were setting up camp again we discovered that the mains power in the caravan did not work any more. This was definitely an issue for us Tasmanians, as we needed aircon to sleep when it was still 30 degrees outside! The Darwin Jayco service centre was closed for the long weekend so we called the Jayco emergency roadside assist, but they were unable to help us. Next we tried Jayco head office, on the east coast as they were still open, but although they tried to find us some help they had no luck. In a last desperate attempt, I emailed the Darwin Jayco service centre hoping that someone would see it the next day (even though it was a public holiday). It was a relief when Brayden called us straight away and talked us through a few checks - a few screws un-done, reconnecting some wires, and we had power again. We really appreciated his help after hours on the evening before a long weekend!!

Day 36: Palmerston

Because we added an extra day to the beginning of our booking at FreeSpirit we had to shift sites this morning to our original booking (3 spots down the road). Once we shifted sites we dropped Stacey (the ute) off for a service.

We then spent the day around the pools at the caravan park until we picked up the car again in the late afternoon.

Day 35: Litchfield National Park to Palmerston

Today we took our time getting out of camp as we only had a short drive to Palmerston (just south of Darwin). The kids and I headed back over to Wangi Falls to swim out to the hidden pool once again. We managed to time it perfectly and got the small pool all to ourselves for 10 minute or so before the next group came out.

Once back at camp we all helped pack up the caravan for our move to Darwin for 6 nights (the longest stay anywhere so far).

We stayed as the Darwin FreeSpirit Caravan Park in Palmerstone, which has several swimming pools for the kids, and power for the aircon. We are definitely into the warmer weather now - 33°C today!