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!

Back in Darwin...where it all began - 26th  July

What a day the 26th was.....left Merl at 9...tears welling as we drove out. Drove steadily to Darwin, stopped at Big W to get the next two books in the Fifty Shades trilogy, packed all our bags and dropped off Big Betty Breeza.  By 5:30 in the afternoon we were done and dusted.  Keys handed over and job done.  Phew.  Now onto our next engagement with the lovely Lucas family at the Mindil Beach Markets - the family we met in Kununurra.  I called to let them know we would be a little late and Kylie offered to pick us up - AWESOME.  What a treat.  So we all piled into the Lucas family mobile and headed for the markets.  By this point Mum and I were well and truly exhausted so were quite happy to just drop into the deck chairs that Kylie and Matt so thoughtfully packed for us, and watch the sunset on the beach.  As we had already dropped all our bags at the apartment before we dropped off Big Betty Breeza I didn’t have my camera……a very strange feeling to only have my iPhone to rely on~~~~

Such a balmy evening.....spent with our new found friends. 

We will miss the smiling faces of this family....how well it feels we know them when really, we know very little about them. But they are back on the road now as well so we shall see them again...this time on our home turf.  So until then Lucas family - we bid thee farewell and thanks for being such lovely hosts xxx

Kakadu - Jabiru, Ubirr and Merl 22nd - 26th

I have no body to blame but myself for not doing more research about our next destination but I really did not think I would come across a mining town in the middle of Kakadu and with a name like Jabiru…..it sounded lovely.  And I guess, if you like caravan parks it was lovely enough.  The only thing that endeared me to this place was the maintenance man (Oh and this butterfly we tried to rescue) – known as B2 – who dug up a replacement water cap for the one that went missing off Big Betty Breeza on the way.  It just didn’t have the vibe we were all looking for.  But again, we made the most of it.  We spent the morning in the Bowali Visitors centre and found out some very interesting local facts.  The kids went fishing in the interactive part and we were treated to some amazing footage of Jim Jim, Twin Falls and Gunlorn falls – something you need a 4WD for.

So it was the pool and catching up on stuff after Bowali at Jabiru -  after we exhausted what was easily accessible around us.

Lovely Merl....Although we had been warned off Merl due to the mozzie problem I had promised Toli we would swing by and have a look anyway….boy am I glad we did.  We fell in love with this camp ground and the bewitching blue eyes of Mara, the little German camping grounds manager who greeted us endeared us to the place instantly.

Check out the surroundings of our secluded camp site....this is what we were looking for.  The tent is where I slept with one or the other of the kids.  Not much sleep to be had though as there is soooo much activity during the nights!  Curlews, bats, dingoes, scrub fowl, donkeys or horses or some other loud and big creature....I loved every minute of it.

The next day it was a quick step to the magical Ubirr......the home to a plethera of rock art and incredible views of the surrounding wetlands and escarpments.

The Rainbow Serpent

Chatting with the ranger about the $5,000 fine or the $55,000 civil penalty......damage to artworks

The shy little Rock Wallaby....I'm taking a pun that this little one is a bloke?

If you look closely you will see a tiny little abandoned egg in the bottom of the nest....I wonder what the mum bird looks like?

A Thai feed at the Border Store - named as it rests on the border to Arnhem Land.  Rather amusing that such wickedly delicious Thai food is deep in the heart of Kakadu :)

Along the walk to the Border Store...just photo ops everywhere I look!

My morning view :)

A stroll around the mini rainforest along the border of Arnhem Land.....mozzies were shocking but it was worth it.  Once amongst these lush green plants everything felt and smelt different.  The air was so very thick!

Little Flying Foxes....noisy little things

The Rainbow Pitta....moves so fast this is the best shot I could get.  Didn't manage to get it's red bum as well - but it is almost the full Rainbow in colours.

The realisation his us here that in a week we will be back at home.  It is a very mixed feeling.  We are all very homesick now - Tom, friends, beds...space!  But also loving the hot weather, amazing sights and incredible moments we are having together.  Can I love my children and dear old Ma anymore then I already do?  Seems like it just keeps expanding!

 

Toli is in heaven here....no shoes (lost the second pair already), a scrub down of visibly dirty areas when necessary and free to make a fire to cook toast.  He is our man after all!

Bells busy drawing little Aussie animals.

This should be at the start of our Kakadu entry...but it seems we may have done Kakadu the opposite way that most people do so we passed the gateway to Kakadu on the way out .....seems to happen to us a bit, doing things backwards or in a different way :)

Oh, I love this pic.  Found it and can't be bothered putting it in order.  It's from Katherine.  Check out the size of this Didj Toli is playing!!! He got a cracker of a sound from it too!

So...Kakadu is finished for us.  Now we head to Argus Apartments in Darwin and drop off Big Betty Breezer...again, mixed emotions.  She's been our home for three months but gese we will be glad to have some more room!