Mataranka and then Darwin 13 - 21 Aug

Having made it to the Northern Territory we had 2 days before we were due to meet my Mum and Stepdad in Darwin.  They were flying in to join us through Darwin, Kakadu and Katherine.  Having had weeks now of dusty roads and dusty caravan parks we took the opportunity for a couple of days r and r at Bitter Springs in Mataranka.  David and I had experienced these springs when we were last in the territory 11 years ago and thought the boys would love a couple of days here.  Bitter Springs are a natural thermal spring with 32 degree crystal clear water that flows continuously and gently through a forest of palms and paperbarks.

We stayed at the caravan park nearest the springs so we could walk down for a swim each morning and another in the afternoon.  It was good to have a couple of days with no tours, no drives and just a bit of gentle exploring.  There isn’t much to Mataranka, but the boys were delighted as the springs attracted families along with grey nomads.  So this meant there were lots of kids around in the water.  Pretty much we spent our time in Mataranka turning into prunes.

LOVING THE GOPRO :)

Darwin

We spent our time in Darwin in a house shared with my Mum and Stepfather.  It was lovely to see them, however my stepfather has mobility issues which meant we had to adjust our travel style to meet his needs.  We spent our time exploring some of the local beaches and took in a few of Darwins' key attractions and spent our evenings at the house playing in the pool and enjoying family dinners

The Defence of Darwin Experience

Military museums are not normally something I would seek out – but the one in Darwin is definitely worth a visit.  The Darwin Military Museum has a wide range of military pieces inside and outside of the museum.  But it also has the Defence of Darwin Experience which is a very well put together multimedia interactive display about the bombing and defence of Darwin in World War II.  As I have mentioned earlier in this blog David and I knew that Darwin was bombed in the war (and through our travels that Townsville was also targeted) – but we had little appreciation of how often it was bombed, how much damage was done and how many people were killed and injured. 

Over 250 people died on 19 February 1942. Ten vessels were sunk and a range of key infrastructure, including the aerodromes, the wharf, and the post and telegraph services,

were either destroyed or badly damages.  

The Japanese raids continued across the Top End of the Northern Territory for a further 20 months.

One of the best things about this exhibit is that on entry you are given a card about someone who was involved on the first day of bombings and through the displays you can work out what happened to them on the day – usually through their own words.  One word of warning for those with younger or sensitive kids, whilst there is no direct footage of the bombings, the recreations and displays do a great job in making the bombings come to life.  Both my kids were challenged by this and not unexpectedly were a bit teary and sad at times.

Mindil Beach Markets

Just before we left the boys were given a copy of the book Are We There Yet by Alison Lester from a lovely friend.  We have read it numerous times and particularly Mr L will come out with exactly what the book says about something when we get to see it.  He has been really looking forward to going to Mindil Beach Markets and living the book:

Mum and I loved the market at Mindil Beach. There was so much yummy food, it was hard to choose.  We ate satay prawns and drank mango smoothies as we watched the sun set.

It wasn’t hard for us to choose – Mr L drank the mango smoothie and I ate the satay prawns, and we all watched the sunset over the sea.  

Then we watched a fire show and the boys had another yummy treat – some fairy floss.  We might have done a little bit of shopping (Ms K from Newcastle your present comes from here).  Both our boys declared it Mindil Beach market mission success.

Leanyer Recreation Park

For those of you reading this blog you will be aware how much we have liked the free water parks that abound in the north.  We have seen them since Mackay and are a favorite attraction for the boys where ever we have found them.  Well we found the biggest and best in Darwin.  Leanyer water park was not far from where we were staying so we visited it twice.  Leanyer is a free playground, pool, water park and huge water slides.  The kids were in heaven and I must admit all the adults enjoyed it too.

Museum and Fame

We set off to visit the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, which the guides will tell you feature collections of the region’s art, natural science, history and culture.  It has Aboriginal art and culture, arts and crafts, maritime history and lots of exhibits on the Territory’s wildlife and a fascinating exhibit on Cyclone Tracy which the boys found riveting.  But as good as this museum was none of these were the highlight of our day.  Whilst taking in one of the more breathtaking exhibits (Sweetheart the huge croc) the boys were asked to do a photoshoot for the NT News.  The museum was running behind the scenes tours and they were doing an article for the paper on Saturday.  We made our way into the depths of the museum and into the archive rooms.  The boys got to hold stuffed animals, crocodile and dingo skulls, we saw some cool things in there including a full sized stuffed orangutang.  Then on Saturday morning there they were on page 4 – our famous boys!