18 Sep 10 - Darwin

By Lou: Although we didn’t explore extensively, I really enjoyed Darwin. We stayed at Palmerston about 15 minutes drive out of the city in a lovely caravan park with 3 pools and a jumping pillow. We had set up by lunchtime and ordinarily we’d be off sight seeing but we are becoming a little travel fatigued and it was humid and hot so we opted to stay and swim.



Next day our first stop was to pick up our passports for our USA trip and thankfully that went without a hitch. In celebration of that milestone being met we wandered out to the Harbour and had a delicious seafood lunch on the pier. Any excuse for a treat.


Toward the end of our stay we had a chance to catch up with the parents of 4 boys Sam had befriended, initially at our campground in Kakadu. We hadn’t approached them earlier as Sam had been so full-on in meeting the boys, we didn’t want to bombard them with full-on parents too. However, on the day of their departure we made a note of where they’d be staying next and agreed there’d be a good chance of catching up again there.

It was also in Darwin that Craig launched his fundraiser, Kut 4 Kyle, to raise money for Suicide Prevention Australia in memory of Kyle. The first donation flowed in within seconds of pressing the ‘Publish’ key and we are blown away at how quickly and generously friends and family and acquaintances have provided their support.

By Craig: We took a little time to look around Darwin mainly due to our need to sort out passports and other matters such as international drivers licences although we were able to take in a beautiful lunch on the wharf.



The markets were a very popular event and reminded me a little of the Airlie Beach foreshore markets and Bangalow markets with lots of local artists and heaps of food.












We made our way to an aircraft museum which was home to a B52 bomber apparently on loan from the Yanks. Wow! What an aircraft, the wings needing their own wheels to support the weight, you simply wondered how this enormous airplane could ever leave the ground. The chap taking the tour was an aircraft engineer and knew his stuff which made the visit more enjoyable and the stats he delivered on this craft were astounding.














I had a chance to catch up with parents of 4 boys Sam had been spending time with, Luke and Deb, a young couple from South Australia who were taking a break from growing sprouts, yep sprouts which apparently aren’t that easy to grow well and are from all accounts a bit of hard work. The boys, in particular Sam and Jake (the eldest) got along well and as the family moved on we exchanged travel plans with the thought we may cross paths in Litchfield NP.

Time to move on and as everyone gather at the main beach to watch the sun set I new Darwin had a lot more to offer if only we had more time. Darwin is a place I will certainly visit again.