Day 32 and 33 Darwin

We knew that there would be a lot to do Darwin and we weren’t wrong. Our first stop was meant to be the Qantas hangar and the home of the Motor Vehicle Enthusiasts Club of the NT collection of classic and vintage cars, motorbikes and trucks. Problem is that we had quite a bit of trouble locating this place and we ended up heading up to East Point and we visited the Military Museum there. We learned a lot about the Japanese bombing of Darwin, something that we were aware of but had no idea of the devastation that occurred here over the months towards the end of World War II.

We did eventually find the Qantas hangar and then went into town (Darwin really doesn’t feel like a city) for some lunch. I treated myself by trying on a $135,000 strand of pearls at Paspaley Pearls. The afternoon was spent marvelling at the sheer size of the B-52 Bomber that is housed in yet another hangar, this one purpose built for displaying this mighty beast and a number of smaller aircraft.

The guide here was extremely knowledgeable about the B-52 and he talked for ages which would have been boring except it was so interesting to hear what these planes were used for and how they actually fly. It seems impossible that they could even get off the ground.

Next visit and second last for the day was to Aquascene Fish Feeding. We had heard a bit about this place and it was a bit daggy but to have wild fish of many different varieties swimming around your feet was very exciting. Some of the fish even came to the surface and took the bread from our hands.

After watching the sunset from the wharf we went to my Aunty and Uncles for a BBQ dinner and to meet Mum and Dad who are bringing the car and caravan home for us.

Thursday we did some more sightseeing around Darwin with Mum and Dad. We spent a few (free) hours in Darwin’s brilliant (airconditioned) Museum with its Cyclone Tracy Exhibit and another hour or so in the wave pool on the waterfront after having lunch at Stokes Hill Wharf. The museum is a must see in my opinion, it is every bit as good as ours here in Melbourne, just on a smaller scale.

We didn’t save much energy for our evening, however which we planned long ago to spend at the Mindil Beach Markets, something we have been looking forward to for some time when we realised that we would be in Darwin for the first Market of the season. What we were not prepared for was the seething mass of humanity that we came apon. We found a car park not far from the market but the sheer volume of people was truly amazing, even by Melbourne Show or Footy Finals in Melbourne standard. We did make a few special purchases and found dinner. Justin had lots of turns at the whip cracking and it would appear that he has quite the knack for it.

We decided to escape the madding crowd and not wait around for the fireworks. Maccas and 50c cones were a really good idea and then we found a vantage point not far from the market to see the fireworks, which did not disappoint.