Final day in Darwin

Wednesday - well it was back to Bridge Toyota at 7.30am to have the rear brake pads replaced, to their word they had it completed by 9.00. We had a couple of things to do around the camp then it was off to the Darwin Museum to see the Cyclone Tracy exhibit, it was very good, brought back a lot of memories of that Christmas in 74. It was then of to Skycity (Casino) for a look and lunch, lunch was far better than yesterday. State of Origin is big in Darwin, the Casino had a big screen setup on the front lawn and at least 10 other venues had it on TV. It was then back to the park for a swim as it is 33 degrees. Tomorrow we head off to Kakadu.

Touring inner city Darwin

Tuesday - today the car was booked in for a 150k service so we had it to the dealer early so hopefully we could get it back at a reasonable time, not to be, it was finished at 5, well almost they hadn't done the rear brake pads which was one of the main reasons for the service so I'll have to take it back tomorrow. To fill in the day we firstly went to the WWII Oil Fuel Storage tanks. There where 5 built after the bombing of Darwin, 400 men dug the tunnels that became the tanks by hand.

We then went across the road to the wave pool and beach, by mid afternoon the area was packed, the area reminded us of the harbour area in Newcastle. We had lunch at one of the restaurants but unfortunately the meal was ordinary, the remainder of the afternoon was filled in walking around the inner city. There are some nice old buildings in the city. Darwin in our opinion is just like a large country town.

All around the city there is information on what happened during the war.

Lazy day in Darwin

Monday - easy day today, needed a couple of things for the trailer which we found at a local caravan spare parts dealer, then it was off to restock for our trip through Kakadu. Bigger day tomorrow as the car is booked in for a service so we are going touristing in the city.

Touring Darwin

Sunday - today we did a bit of touring around inner Darwin, firstly we went to East Point which has a very nice park and picnic area that has views over the harbour. The Darwin Military museum is also out this way, it has a new interactive multimedia recreation of the attack  on Darwin by the Japanese in February 19, 1942. As mentioned when we went to the Adelaide River War cemetery 264 where killed in the initial raid, overall there where 64 raids on Darwin and the surrounding area. The area was a primary location that was attacked, there are the remains of the gun emplacements that housed the 9.2 inch guns that were installed to protect the harbour. The presentation is very realistic, Darwin was Australia's Pearl Harbour, everywhere you go around Darwin there are WWII sites remembering the event. Then it was onto the Trailer Boat club for a seafood lunch, we finished of the day at the Mindil Beach Sunset markets.