August 2012

We both spent the morning reading our books and after lunch decided to have a walk around the Darwin Waterfront. We managed to find a parking spot outside Parliament House on a 2 hour meter. On the way down to the waterfront we passed a number of buildings that were badly damaged by Cyclone Tracy in December 1974. The Town Hall was not rebuilt, while the front wall of the church was incorporated into the Anglican Cathedral. The Courthouse and Police Station were rebuilt after Cyclone Tracy and are now used as Government House (Administrator's Office).

Di outside Parliament House

Darwin Town Hall Ruins

Darwin's Christ Church Anglican Cathedral

The front wall of the old church destroyed by Cyclone Tracey

Darwin Government House (Administrators Office)

Di in the garden behind Government House

We continued on down to the Darwin Waterfront area where they have a swimming beach behind a seawall to keep the nasties out, a large wave pool, and the Darwin Convention Centre. A number of apartment blocks with restaurants are built around the area and building works are continuing.

Darwin Waterfront

Darwin Convention Centre

Darwin's Wave Pool

Stokes Hill Wharf from the waterfront

Custom's Vessels tied up at the Darwin Port

David enjoying a Peroni at the Waterfront

On the way back to the Navara we passed Darwin's Festival Park, the scene of the Darwin Festival for the last 2 weeks, where we heard Colin Hay (of Men at Work fame) rehearsing for the evening performance. The words of the song's first verse could not have been more appropriate!

"My, my, my it's a beautiful world.
I like swimming in the sea.
I like to go on beyond the white breakers,
where a man can still be free.
Or a woman if you are one.
I like swimming in the sea."

Darwin's Festival Park

Colin Hay to appear at 7:00 pm

Another lazy day! David replaced the main water filter that was starting to clog up - the water pressure in the van improved markedly! We spent the day reading books - David is reading "The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo" and can't seem to put it down, while Di is reading a WW1 tear-jerker by Audrey Howard.

We went to the pool again to cool off before going to the Oasis Shopping Centre looking for the Australian - no luck - the girl at the newsagency told David that the Australian comes in at about 3 pm - but seemed unmoved when told it was 4 pm! We made a late dash into the City for the paper and managed to get a copy of the Australian - without it the world might end - and we would not know!

No photos again!

David spent the morning working on the cupboard shelves above the washing machine that had started to work loose, no doubt due to the continuing vibration from rough roads. Some timber and screws from Bunnings appears to have solved the problem as there is now no movement in the shelves.

Another warm day so we spent the day lazing around reading the weekend papers and reading books until it was time for a swim in the pool to cool off. After a shower we went to the Bistro for the Sunday Special - Di had Roast Pork with Vegies, while David had Roast Beef with Vegies, and we both had a Church Block Shiraz. We both finished off with sticky Date Pudding with Butterscotch Sauce and Ice Cream. All in all a excellent meal!

No photos today.

Some dew about this morning so the overnight temperature must have been down to about 14 degrees or less - the result however is humidity of 70% - a bit sticky. Forecast temperature is 32 degrees again so we have decided to go to the Casuarina Shopping Centre this afternoon and enjoy the airconditioned comfort of a large shopping centre - might even do a bit of shopping as well - Di has decided that David needs more shorts as we live in them.

As we were driving to Casuarina Di got a phone call from her nephew Andrew Conway who had unexpectantly flown to Darwin from Gove where he flies twin-engined planes for a charter company. We arranged to meet at the shopping centre for a coffee and a cake - apparently a Jan Conway tradition. It was good to see Andrew again and we caught up on all his news and his exploits flying out of Gove, which is located on the north east coast of Arnhemland. After Andrew left we shopped in R M Williams and left with 3 pairs of shorts and a linen shirt for David, and them Di left David with the weekend papers having another coffee and did some man-free shopping - came back with 2 pairs of slacks and a top.

Di with Andrew

Back at the caravan park we cooked lamb backstrap on the BabyQ and had it sliced with a rocket salad. We settled back to watch the football on TV, but it was such a disappointing Lay-down Sally performace that we watched Poirot instead!

Another blue sky day with the temperature in the low 30s - how boring! David spent the morning catching up on the blog - it becomes a bit of a chore when you get a few days behind. After lunch we headed for the small pool at the front of the caravan park and had it mostly to ourselves.

Di in the pool

Later that evening we picked up Richard and Margaret Hughes again and went to Stokes Hill Wharf to look for somewhere to eat. However there was no parking within cooee of the wharf so we headed for Cullen Bay again. We ended up at Buzz Restaurant at the slipway and had an excellent meal, Richard had scallops while the rest of us had grilled barramundi. Over dinner Richard and Margaret told us about there travels over the last few days - they had been on a three day tour of Kakadu and the Katherine Gorge, followed by a one day tour to Litchfield. Tomorrow (Saturday) they catch the Ghan for Alice Springs before flying to Adelaide.

David and Richard at Buzz Restaurant

Di and Margaret at Buzz Restaurant

Night-time view from Buzz Restaurant