It’s starting to feel like Groundhog Day. But I mean that in a good way.
Wake, ablutions, eat, be a tourist, sleep, repeat. With an afternoon nap thrown in there somewhere.
It has been really nice being in Darwin for several days. I feel like we should have moved on before this, but as I said by staying here for the extra nights, we will be able to go to the Darwin Baptist Church tomorrow.
We did some more sightseeing today, then back to Percy for a late lunch and a nap, and had dinner.
That’s the short version. If that’s all that you need, feel free to stop reading now.
But the longer version …
We started the day in the same delightful way that we start most Saturdays … by having a video call with 2 of our very favourite little people in the world (Teddy and Lili). They are growing up so fast and we miss them so much 🙁
MBW was keen to go to the Parap Village Markets this morning. We also had an idea about either going to the WWII Military Museum that we have been told is very good, or the Darwin Museum and Art Gallery.
The Parap Village Markets are a Saturday morning market at a place called Parap Village. No real surprises there.
They are known for their fresh local produce and crafts, and MBW was pretty enthusiastic about going. I’m not really sure why … she has never been that motivated to look at fresh produce before, but what do I know?
We knew that we were getting close when Jolene hadn’t even told us yet that we would be arriving at our destination in 500m, and it was already chaos on the roads. Cars parked everywhere, people everywhere.
Way too peopley for my liking.
We drove down a side street beside the actual markets, and I was getting ready to put on my best disappointed voice and suggest that we would never be able to park, and that MBW’s sore foot would never make the trek to the markets in this heat … when we found a nice, big, shady parking space.
It was meant to be.
So off we went exploring the markets.
I suspect that many of the food trucks (and craft stalls for that matter) were the same ones that we saw the other night at the Nightcliffe Markets, because the sights and smells were all very familiar.
Plenty of people eating stuff that I wouldn’t consider “breakfast food” (eg noodles, and Chinese food), but then I’m the guy that has a favourite shower stall at the Robbie Robbins Reserve ablution block.
Remember?
But then I’m also as dull as dishwater.
We wandered around and checked out all of the stalls, and when we were done doing that, we found a street vendor selling bakery goods.
And we do like bakery goods.
So we purchased a cronut/croissant/donut baked thingumy-gig that was mind-blowingly delicious, but probably moved me a few steps further towards hardened arteries and an untimely death.
My GP has warned me over and over about this 🙁
I’m fairly certain that “delicious” = “greater chance of early death”.
We had a bit of a debate about the WWII Military Museum, but even though it rated very highly on Google, we just kinda felt that we are not military buffs that would want to see it or appreciate it.
And, if I am completely honest, I’m a little perplexed about the relationship that Darwin has with WWII. I mean, many of the souvenirs at the RFDS/WWII exhibition from the other day seemed to celebrate the attack on Darwin in 1942. Well, that’s the way that it felt to me.
They had T-shirts that had “1942 bombing of Darwin” printed on them, like it was something that they wanted to celebrate. Like it was a good thing.
So we ended up going to the Darwin Museum and Art Gallery which was in the same general area as the Parap Village Markets, and also has a display about Cyclone Tracy that devastated Darwin on 25 December 1974. And we were keen to see that.
So we asked Jolene to show us the way.
The Darwin Museum and Art Gallery (DM&AG) is an unusual – perhaps eclectic – combination of stuff that doesn’t really go together.
In my opinion. But then I’m the guy with a favourite shower.
They had some stuff that people have made/painted/photographed … and some of it was … weird.
I mean, that is seriously creepy. Even after I read the description provided by the artist, I still didn’t get it.
And I’m pretty sure that it is going to give me nightmares tonight.
There were displays of butterflies and ants, and displays of Australian history, and a giant crocodile.
Called Sweetheart. 5.1 metres of Sweetheart.
There was a maritime section that showed boats and sailing ships through the ages, and a section on dinosaurs that showed a timeline from the Big Bang through to the present day.
And then there was the section on Cyclone Tracy that was horrifying, astonishing, and emotional all at the same time.
They even had a sound booth where you could stand in total darkness and be bombarded by an actual surround sound recording of the cyclone, at its very peak.
It was absolutely terrifying.
They also had before and after satellite imagery of various areas of Darwin showing the devastation that occurred that night.
After the museum, we did a quick run to Lee Point for a quick look and a walk on the beach.
It seems funny, but on a hot, steamy day the beach was almost deserted … but then I guess that if the crocodiles don’t get you, the box jellyfish will.
Probably best to stay at home and swim in the pool.
Back home to Percy for a late lunch and a nap, and then we got to have a video call with our other two very favourite little people in the world (Elias and Isabel).
I had the OK to give Percy and Elsie both a bit of a bath here at RRR, so I took the opportunity.
Dinner, and another stunning sunset.
Does it get any better than this?
Sunday tomorrow. Church and maybe a quick spin down to Berry Springs again.
Diesel is <$1.80/litre here in Darwin ATM, so Elsie will be getting a big drink before we hook up and head off to Kakadu on Monday morning.
We are there for three nights, and then – I expect – we will do a big run over several days so that we can get back into Queensland, and up into the Karumba and Normanton area, near the gulf.
My expectation is that we will probably do some long drives after Kakadu and news will be brief … not the least because experience tells us that once we leave Darwin we will be in a wilderness of little to no mobile coverage for several days. And because there is not much to see between here and the Queensland border.
So nothing much to see, and no way to tell you about it because we will probably have no internet.
And also because we have likely done some damage to our credit cards over the last week or so, and we will be staying off the grid for a few days … just to stop after a long drive, eat, sleep, and keep driving again.
That’s about it for another day.
Thanks for tagging along!
Ciao
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