July 31st - Home to beloved Melbourne!

After a day of packing and picnicking in the park we headed out to Darwin airport and boarded as soon as we could. 

The kids were chatting to the CoPilot for quite some time during the flight (they met in the queue for the toilet) so he invited the kids to come into the cockpit once we had landed.  Little did we think they would evacuate their seats for the kids!  Oh lovely Melbourne, it is good to be home.  But why does it have to be soooo damn cold!

So the time has come for us to return to reality.  What an incredibly memorable trip we have all had.  From hikes to swimming in gorges, from spear throwing to feet being nibbled by Cherebin, from cooking over fires to eating kangaroo, buffalo, crocodile and Thai in the middle of Kakadu. The added special bonus to this trip has been the appreciation by us all of what paradise we already live in. 

Home Sweet Home xxx

Darwin - 29th-30th July

Well, I can honestly say we were all pretty touristed out by this point.....but it was on Mums list to see Fanny Bay Gaol and the WW2 Oil Tunnels.....so off we headed.

Lunch at the Darwin Trailer Boat Club - it was yum and not a bad view either.  Can you see the enthusiastic tourist look on Mums face?  One more day to go and back home :)

Fannie Bay Gaol.....Mum loves all the gruesome stuff.....especially UK crime shows.

These could be kind of handy at home....seems I would need one to have a shower or go to the toilet in peace!

But they always find a way in!

 Weirdo xx

 Ummm..Yeah.

The bonding whilst travelling has been beautiful to watch.....they don't fight nearly as much as at home.

Last day in Darwin....we decided to spend in at the Indo Pacific Marine and then onto the wave pool.  The Indo Pacific Marine was a great place to spend the morning.  They don't, however, allow any photos do to IP or some rubbish....Intelligence Protection - hmph.  It was a brilliant place though.  Saw some very cool fish and amazing coral.  All the tanks have self sufficient living ecosystems, impressive.

So after that very educational and fascinating morning it was off the Wave Lagoon at the Darwin Waterfront.  Toli stopped to ride a mosaic creature...chicken maybe....on the way.

Kids were having a thumb war whilst sitting in their rings in a lull in the waves.

Home from dinner at Manolis - our much loved Greek restaurant from the start of the trip.  Note how the three generations of Curtis-Smith women love their blue stripes!  Toli taking the pic...had no stripes :)

Well that's it. Darwin done and dusted.  Not many photos towards the end of the trip.....see you in Melbs!

Darwin - 27th, 28th of July

What to do, what to do...so much with such little time.  To be honest I feel like doing nothing and just sitting in our very lush apartment...reading...sitting or whatever.  But who knows when we will be back in Darwin.  So yesterday we got stuff sorted and went to the Deckchair Cinema...so very cool.  But the deck chairs were not the cumfiest I have ever sat in....you could tell the locals who got there early and scored the cushions!

Today we checked out Aquascene....a place where at high tide the fish willingly swim in for a free feed.  It was cool.  The kids loved the feeling of the fish swimming in and around their legs.  Some big green fish (Milk Fish I think?) swim towards you with their top fin out - very shark like and then swish just as they get to you.  This caused many a shriek and giggle. I think, just possibly, that they may be taking advantage of the tourists here though.  It cost us $43 to feed the fish some bread....no other interactive displays or anything.  Lucky the joy on the kids faces was enough for me. 

I felt we needed a reminder of this message at this point....

plus I like the pic :)

After Aquascene we headed out to the Darwin Military Museum.  It felt austere and a little odd. Walking around and watching Toli ooohhh and ahhhh at all the killing machines and swords/guns/bombs etc.  I have the utmost respect, gratitude and thanks for those soldiers and nurses who fought and worked to keep us safe but I wish Toli wouldn't be so willing to imitate the guns firing. I guess it's just the boy factor.  They had an incredible theatrical experience of the Darwin Bombing in 1942 (19th of February....I'll never forget that now). It was in a room that shut and sealed when the show would start.  It was then an all encompassing, lights, sounds and pictures all over the walls tale of that fateful day using old pictures bought to life with movement.  It was very well done.

How cool would this spotlight be spotting for crocs - it reaches 25 km....I'd feel safe in the water then!

So cute. The only pictures the kids wanted - Bells with the ficus roots and Toli with a big gun....so be it.

We were all touristed out by then so home to Argus for home made Pita Pizzas and hot choc pudding....oh to have an oven again!