Darwin

Thursday 14th - Saturday 16th August

The last few days we have been taking it easy. Jesse and Emily have made friends with some kids opposite us so they are happy. They have been going to the pool together.

David took Jesse fishing Saturday morning, they did not catch anything but he had fun. Emily and I made a cake for her birthday.

Sunday 17th August

Today is Emily's 7th birthday she wants us all to go to McDonalds for lunch and to the water park afterwards. The family across from us came to Maccas for lunch and to the water park.
They all had so much fun.

It is such a great water park, it is free. They also have a very large pool and a playground with barbecue areas. As the weather is hot all year round this is a great place. It does not get too busy in the dry season as it is mostly tourists. The locals say that 32 degrees is not hot enough.




Jesse, Emily and their friends

Emily in her new bathers


This is the bucket that tips over.
You can see Jesse, Emily waiting for the it to tip.

It is starting to tip

Emily starts to run off but Jesse is still waiting
Emily runs to the fence
Jesse is under there somewhere






We made Emily a cake for her birthday yesterday but we all ate it so we had to go and buy another one. She picked this because it was pink. It was really nice because the family across from us also came over to sing happy birthday to her. She was very happy.

Darwin

Wednesday 13th August


We had to get our car serviced this morning. We decided to go on the Tour Tub. It is a bus that runs from 9.00am to 4.00pm taking you to different sites around Darwin. You just hop off and on as you please. Some the sights we visited were the Musuem and Art Gallery. The Musuem had lots of history and photos of Cyclone Tracey. Indo Pacific Marine, The Dawin Wharf Precint, The WWII Oil tunnels.

It took us all day to visit most of the sights, which we then had to collect the car. We were exhausted by the end of the day.



Darwin shopping Mall



This is the WWII oil tunnel. By the time these tunnels were finished the war was over, so they were never used.

Darwin

Tuesday 12th August

Today we went to the Crocosaurus Cove, they have crocodiles, reptiles and a large fresh water aquarium.

Jesse and Emily were able to hold a lizard and snake.

They also have this 2.8mt clear acrylic cage that you can hop in and they place you under the water with a crocodile. You spend 15 minutes in the water. We did not do that but we did see some people do it.

Darwin

Monday 11 August

This morning we went to the beach for a walk. The tide was out so you could walk along the rocks. The kids went looking for shells. It is really lovely the water but you can not swim in it because they have the jellyfish and crocs. It is such a shame.





We went for a harbour cruise this afternoon called the Spirit of Darwin. It was a two hour cruise along the harbour. We really enjoyed this cruise. Jesse and Emily even got to steer the boat.

The tour guide explained things to us on the way. We saw some of the illegal fishing boats that have come from Indonesia, Parliament house and some Navy ships.

The harbour cruise is at the Cullen Bay Marina. They have these lochs which are big gates to handle the 8 metre tides. It is interesting to see how they work. One gate opens and once you go through the gate closes. It starts to fill up with water and when it reaches a certain level the other gate opens up so you can get out to the ocean or back into the marina.

The Loch photos












Emily and Jesse steering the boat






This is the Cullen Bay Marina. The tour boat cruise starts and ends here. Here are some of the houses. Most of the houses here have there own boat.


Parliament House

Darwin

Sunday 10th August

This afternoon we went to the Mindil beach market. They have these markets every Sunday and Thursday during the dry season. They have all kinds of asian foods.

Lots of people bring their chairs and table and have dinner there and wait for the sunset. It was very busy though.

Darwin

Friday 8th August

Today we went to the water park. The kids friends Malcolm and Ebony also came. They have this water park in Darwin and it is free, which is great. They have a few water slides and on top they have this bucket that fills up with water every four minutes. Once the bucket is full it tips over and water goes everywhere. The kids had such a great time.

Also they have a large swimming pool.


This is the bucket tipping all the water out.


David in the pool. He is the only one in the pool.

You can see the bucket up the top, it is filling up with water



Jesse with his frogs he has collected.