DARWIN

We were only going to stay in Darwin for three nights, but we were having such a great time we decided to make it a week. At the end of the week we paid for a second week, and will probably now stay until after Brodie's birthday on October 4.
We visited the military museum and the kids learnt about the bombing of Darwin during WW11, which was far more extensive than I realised.

It's really hot here, but not unbearable. We have the air-con going all night so we can sleep, and during the day we spend a lot of time in the water. The caravan park has a nice pool, but our favourite place is this water park. There are three big waterslides, a huge lagoon pool, and an adventure area a lot like Buccaneer Bay at Wet n Wild on the Gold Coast. The big difference is it's absolutely free!

The adventure area even has a big bucket that fills up and then dumps on everyone. Tara was about one centimetre too short for the waterslides, but she still claimed this was the best day of her whole life!

Another great spot to take the kids for free is the Darwin Museum. There is an exhibit on Cyclone Tracy which includes a dark sound booth where you listen to an actual sound recording of the noise of the cyclone. It is quite frightening. You walk out of the booth into an area which shows what some of the destruction may have looked like.

The museum also has a kids' room where they can get 'hands on'. The boys particularly like the animal bones.

No, this freshwater croc is not alive - and hopefully it's the only one we see!

Another Darwin experience is the Mindil Beach Sunset Markets every Sunday and Thursday. There are live bands, fire twirlers and buskers, and so many different food stalls. We thought the Roadkill Cafe was amusing, but we didn't eat there!

On Friday we took a day trip down to Litchfield National Park. The first stop was at the magnetic termite mounds. They are all pointing north-south to control the temperature of the mound.

The next stop was Buley Rockhole. It is a series of small waterfalls and rockholes, and a popular swimming spot. The water was beautiful, and a lot cooler than the pools up here which can be quite warm at times.

Our last stop for the day was Florence Falls. The plunge pool at the bottom is another very popular place to swim. You get down there via 135 stairs.

Tara enjoyed paddling amongst the rocks and watching the small fish. She eventually built up the courage to go swimming in the deeper water.

Darren and the boys swam across to the other side and jumped in from some of the lower rock ledges. Some people were jumping from quite high up - a couple even jumped from the top of the waterfall. The boys then swam under the waterfall. I don't think I've ever seen them so excited!

GOODBYE QLD - HELLO NT

What a week it's been! We've been through a major black hole as far as communication is concerned. No optus connection, so no internet - and we were lucky to get one very fuzzy analogue tv station in most places. So I will try and update a very full week.
We stayed at Normanton for two nights so we could leave the van and drive up to Karumba on the Gulf of Carpentaria. This was as close to the water as I would allow the kids. There were signs everywhere warning of crocodiles. We had a picnic lunch then bought some fresh banana prawns to take home for dinner. Very yummy!
From Normanton we drove down to Cloncurry and then headed towards Mt Isa. We stopped at a rest stop for the night - a popular spot for vans.
The next morning we drove into Mt Isa to have a look around. I thought a visit to the School Of The Air would be interesting for the kids. We arrived just as the one guided tour for the day was finishing! The staff were so lovely - they put a dvd on for us which explained pretty much everything they talked about on the tour, and then said we could have a look around. We were watching a teacher in one of the studios when he waved us in. We got to sit in on a grade 6 Science class about space shuttles. The kids even got to conduct their own experiment using a paper space shuttle.
That night we stayed at a caravan park in Camooweal, the last town in Qld before reaching the border. We jumped straight in the pool. It had been 37 degrees that day. In fact every day in the last week has been at least 35. The air con has had a good workout.

The next morning we drove about 10 minutes, then excitedly jumped out of the car to take photos at the Northern Territory border.

We stopped at Barkly Homestead and had lunch in the van. The kids got up close to a roadtrain filled with cattle when it parked right next to us. From there we drove to Threeways roadhouse which had a caravan park out the back - and yes, thank goodness, another pool. The kids made friends with a boy who was also travelling with his family, and with the boy who lives at the roadhouse.

We were going to leave the van and drive the 130km south to Karlu Karlu (Devil's Marbles) that afternoon and stay there until sunset, but the kids were having so much fun with their new friends that they didn't want to go. So instead, we put the alarm on for 6am (that's 5:30am NT time) and headed down to see it in the morning. The kids didn't understand what the big deal was about some rocks, but they were suitably impressed when they got there. We even pulled up right next to a dingo as we were driving in.

We got back to the van at Threeways and then set off for Daly Waters. We had heard that there was a good spot to camp at the back of the pub there.

This is the front of the Daly Waters Pub - the oldest pub in the NT. It's a very popular spot for tourists and travellers. The publican told us there had been 40 vans there the night before, and 60 the night before that. There's not much else in the town at all, but it was worth the visit just to see the pub. The walls are covered with artifacts left behind by visitors, including shirts, bras and undies, money from all over the world, photos and even id cards.

Out the front of the pub are 'Australia's most remote traffic lights'.

Tara quite liked the post with international coins stuck all over it.

So that brings me to today. We had a huge day in the car and drove all the way to Adelaide River, which is only about 100km from Darwin. We're at the showgrounds - always cheaper than caravan parks with all the same facilities. This one even has a pool! Lots of other vans here, and hooray, internet and 4 clear tv stations!! Tomorrow we're off to Darwin.

PORT DOUGLAS TO MAREEBA AND ACROSS THE SAVANNAH WAY

I can't believe it was only Friday morning when we left Cairns. We've seen many places and travelled a few kilometres since then. We drove to Port Douglas and had lunch in a park by the water. What a stunning place! The drive up there was beautiful as well. I tried to take photos out the car windows, but I was on the wrong side of the car for it!

From Port Douglas it was a short drive north to Mossman, on the edge of the Daintree rainforest - somewhere I've always wanted to see. There is a free shuttle bus that takes people up to the Mossman Gorge. Tara was very excited to be riding on a bus! Once there we took the short walking track (about 500m) into the rainforest.

Although there were signs to warn people against swimming in the waterholes because of the danger of slippery rocks and undercurrents, quite a few people were having a dip. The kids, of course, wanted to get in but I wouldn't let them. Darren made their day when he helped them jump across onto a rock and they dipped their hands in and sipped the water.

From there we drove south over the Atherton Tableland and made it to the Mareeba Rodeo Ground to set up camp for the night. It's a very popular camping spot - there were about a hundred vans there and we were told it was actually very quiet at the moment! The kids loved it and wanted to stay for more than one night. They had acres of space to ride their bikes around, and Tara loved watching the horses in the rodeo arena.

The kids climbed to the top of the stands around the arena.

There were also a few shetland ponies in the paddocks next door, and many kangaroos - one of which we think had a nibble of Tara's basil plants during the night. She was more impressed than upset by the idea - like she had helped to feed it.

Another feature of the area was these large termite mounds. Casey did a project on termites at school last year, so he was pleased to actually see them.

The portable dvd player has been playing up a bit lately and we had a long stretch the next day where it wouldn't play at all. We were driving across the Savannah Way towards Georgetown, right in the centre of north Queensland. I thought the scenery was quite spectacular in places, and certainly beautiful in its own way, but I don't think I quite convinced the kids!
We arrived at Georgetown at about 4:30pm, quickly set up, and then went to the public pool across the road until after 6. It was a lovely resort style pool and people at the caravan park were given free access.

The kids gave Darren his Fathers Day present and cards this morning and we headed off west again. Thankfully the dvd player decided to work because there wasn't much to look at out the window. We got to Normanton at about 1pm and couldn't believe how hot it was! We found this replica of the largest croc ever killed in the world - 8.6m long - shot by a woman in the local area in 1957. Glad I didn't run into it! We checked into a caravan park and jumped straight into the pool, where we spent most of the afternoon.

Late in the afternoon a heavy shower came through (just after I'd hung the beach towels on the line). Apparently it's the first rain they've had here in 6 months. The boys decided to celebrate with the locals and dance in the rain!

CAIRNS AND KURANDA

Our first day in Cairns, we decided to have a look around the city. We went for a walk along the waterfront and the boys were on the lookout for crocodiles! We had drilled it into them that they weren't to go near the water up here.

It's been a wet week in Cairns - not heavy rain, but fairly constant showers. At least it's taken the edge off the heat. The weather started to clear yesterday so we went for a drive up to Kuranda. It was quite busy for a Tuesday outside peak holiday time - busloads of tourists, and of course the skyrail bringing people up. We had a look around the Kuranda markets and through the town. (See what I look like with blonde hair and a flat stomach!!)

We visited a honey shop with a working beehive inside the wall. The kids were amazed to be so close to so many bees. And yes, Tara has had a haircut. It was getting so knotty all the time, so she agreed to let Dad cut it. He cut more off than I would have!!!! But she really likes it (thank goodness!)

Tara comes face to face with a dinosaur outside the museum at Kuranda.

Inside the museum we saw some amazing fossils, beautiful gemstones, and this replica of a dinosaur skeleton.

The kids loved watching the aboriginal dancers perform. The boys got up to have their photo taken with them, but Tara was a bit shy.

Just out of the township of Kuranda is the Barron Falls. The views were spectacular. It must be incredible during wet season.

It was another nice day today, so we went to the lagoon pool on the waterfront in Cairns.
No crocs in here and the kids had a great time swimming around!