We are all moving to Darwin!

Here we are in the top of the Territory. We have heard so much about the place. The most common phrase we are told by those who have already visited the NT, especially Darwin, is that NT stands for  not today, not tomorrow, not Tuesday, not Thursday!!!!
It does not take us long to discover that so many of the people that currently live in Darwin, were not actually born here. There are lots of international travellers on working visas, many Australians who came for a few weeks and are still here years later. Lots of Australians who have moved here for 'a better life'. We are told there is quite a large turnover particularly in the public sector, teachers, police, nurses........mmmmmm, now there's a thought!

We check into our caravan park in a place called Howard Springs, about 35 kms south of Darwin..

Our friendly neighbours!

There is so much to do here in Darwin and in the surrounding areas....we couldn't possibly cover it all in such a short time. Our first stop is to Aquascene - situated in Doctors Gully. You get to  hand feed  some local fish; diamond mullet, milk fish, and some others we can't remember.
At first us adults were a little taken back by the how commercialised the place was and by the volume of over excited bodies throwing bread into the water. Eventually the numbers thinned out and we were able to hear the information that was being shared with us and enjoy the experience for what it was all about.The kids had a ball, and like most things, we were the last family to leave at the end.

 

Next stop the mandatory check in at the Darwin Visitors Information Centre, followed by the filling of our bellies at a particularly yummy Malysian Restaurant in town. You know you've hit on a good thing, when there is a not a spare table and it is filled with locals....either that or there is no where else to eat in town!!!

A view taken from the car, whilst driving through Darwin city. The water is so blue and so inviting on such a warm and humid day, but at this time of the year the beaches are empty of swimmers. Alas, no swimming in Darwin during the wet season as this also coincides with  Box Jelly Fish season. Crocs are bad enough, but these jelly fish are not the nice gooey variety we find on our shores down south. Here in the NT, one does not travel anywhere near the ocean without litres of vinegar to attempt to counteract the extremely painful and potentially fatal stings.

So off  we venture to Crocosaurus Cove. Croc world!!! We get to meet the famous croc who starred alongside Paul Hogan in Croc Dundee and some of the biggest crocs in captivity. There is a fabulous nocturnal reptile area, an aquarium and turtles. Regularly throughout the day you meet the guides and watch as they feed the gigantic crocs, feed the baby crocs, feed the reptiles, fresh water fish and so on....

There where lots of things we did that just blew the kids away........here they are sitting in front of the tank of baby crocs. All the crocs in this park are all salties, salt water crocs. The variety that would, could and do eat humans if given the right opportunity.

Here the kids are now swimming with those baby crocs!!!!!! Ok, perhaps not quite swimming with the crocs. They are swimming in a small tank separated from the main tank by a sheet of acrylic.

Feeding time for one of the large salties.

One of the most impressive things about this place was the enthusiasm and passion that the staff had for their animals and for their jobs.  

Yes, Boaz is holding a real live baby salt water croc. His name was Fluffy!!!! Apparently all the babies names are Fluffy. They explained to us that no croc is trained to be held. They randomly take out a different croc each day so they do not get used to all the attention. 

We found some career alternatives for the python..... hand cuffs.

............or a scarf.

Warning. Next pic is not for the faint hearted .....but if you read this and smirked then keep reading. Our last guided tour for the day was in the nocturnal reptile section. We were priviledged to watch some of the animals receive their tucker. It took 20 minutes for this olive python to devour his dinner.

The next day after a lovely and slow morning, whilst thinking about getting out for the day, w We received a call from Andrew and Vanessa ( met them in Kakadu, kids pics taken with their kids on top of Ubirr rock). They were returning their  hire van and were not flying out till late evening. Off to Leeanyer Water Park we go. A free park that offers 3 water slides, water play area and a large swimming pool. This was a wonderful day. Thanks to Andrew the boys ended up playing kick to kick with some of the local Aboriginal kids. Benj was in awe by how limber and athletic these kids were, but he held his own, and probably played some of his best footy. When looking back through the pics for the day we found only 2. We were there for 5 hours!! Too much fun had by all. Vanessa & Andrew thanks for such a great day, hope the kids enjoyed the books and hope the plane trip home went smoothly. Look forward to catching up when we get back. 

The following morning Rob and the kids head off for a full days fishing with Arafura Blue Water Charters. We are discovering the perks for travelling off peak, the full days charter at 1/2 price.

Sunrise as they head out.

Success.

And again..... Final tally 4 snappers brought home and subsequently cooked to perfection by Chef Robbie on his WeberQ. MMMMMM!!

Whilst the others were off fishing, Boaz and Linda ventured to Berry Springs to visit the Northern Territory Wildlife Park. What an incredible space. As the pics were taken with a different camera, we have bee unable to resize them and post here. Will keep trying. But suffice to say what a great time was had. An incredible tunnel aquarium, fascinating birdlife and a raptor area. Boaz even got to hold an owl.

A visit to Darwin would not be complete without the Mindil Beach Market. They said this was a quiet day....glad we were not there during peak season!!! The advice we were given was to go hungry. So much food, so many stalls. Fabulous entertainment. Didgeridoo player, fire thrower, whip cracker. All the kids had a go at whip cracking. Sorry, no pics as we took only video of this one.

View from the Mindil beach at sunset. 

Would you believe that the smallest and the youngest Gore had the best whip cracking technique!!! Now there is a story for show 'n tell.

The only downer for the night was discovering when we got home that we had lost one of Timna's crocs. Downer reversed next morning, when on return to the beach car park we found her shoe sitting in the dust.









Whilst in Darwin we all felt very at home. The only thing missing as we stayed the extra day to bring in Yom Kippur was our family and friends. So we have decided that you should all move up here to be with us! The tropical weather and relaxed lifestyle is so enticing, and all the incredible places like Kakadu, Katherine, Mataranka etc are only a short drive away. We hear the flights to get to Darwin from down south are cheap in the wet and Margot, return flights to Bali can be had for under $200. There is plenty of work across many fields and if enough fellow Jews come up, I am sure the chabad will see fit to send us a Rabbi!!!!
Whilst enjoying such a holiday we learnt quickly that you cannot possibly see everything, so as we get ready to move on to our next destination we add to the list all the things we just did not have time to see and the places we wish to visit again and again and again..........
As we have now come to the end of our stay at the top of the top end, we start travelling south. Next place.....Litchfield National Park.

P.S we forgot to mention our trip to the Darwin Museum. what a great day had by all. Pics taken by Boaz and his camera. We have not yet worked out how reduce size of pics in order to upload, so this will just have to be left as a work in progress