Wednesday 24 April 2013 - Darwin
It’s still hot. (How many times have I said that?) But this time it’s humid rather than dry. I don’t know if it’s better or worse, but I guess it’s different. Strangely, I think we feel a bit more ‘at home’ in the humidity – probably because it’s what we’re used to at Mackay. Yes it’s sticky and energy-draining, but at least we know what to expect and how to deal with it.
Sunday afternoon was lovely. We headed down to Stokes Wharf where there are a heap of fish and chip shops and a few other restaurants. You can sit and watch the fish feeding down below (but an 8m drop with no railing meant we had to hold tightly to the girls) and enjoy the balmy weather. Most of the fish was imported so we decided to order chips for the girls and Indian for ourselves. Definitely a good choice – it was absolutely delicious! Then we watched the sun set over the city (really weird, cause you’d think it would set over the water) and the girls burnt off some steam on a little playground before we went home.
The past few days have been spent doing a few touristy things, as well as a few errands. Glenn has serviced the car and we’re on top of the groceries and laundry. We got Glenn a new camping chair for his belated birthday present (he’d been ‘borrowing’ mine far too much!) and we’ve swapped our books as well, so we have some new reading material. Yesterday we also went in and submitted Glenn’s paperwork for a NT contractor’s licence. So we’re all set for my return from Brisbane (leaving tomorrow, back on 30 April) and our gradual migration towards the Kimberley.
The boat has had a few more trips out and the motor has been running much more reliably. All of us went out the first time, but it was a bit hot for the girls, plus Sienna didn’t like being told to stay away from Daddy’s tackle bag – unfortunately, shrill screaming doesn’t entice the fish onto the line. The girls quietened down though when we came across another representative of the local reptilian population! We were just cruising through the harbour when Glenn spotted a small croc (about 2 metres?) floating along in the water about 80m away. On the way back, we either saw it again or there was another one a similar size, but this time we managed to get much closer to take some photos.
As the expedition was frustratingly unproductive and too short for Glenn to have a decent fish, we decided to send him out without us girls to hamper his efforts. So on Monday I took the girls to another free water park (this one at Palmerston) after dropping Glenn at the boat ramp. Half a day and two very tired girls later, we picked him up again. Sadly, the freezer hasn’t been filled with fish, but he did catch one half-good eating fish for dinner that night (although we would have preferred the salmon he lost).
Yesterday afternoon we took the girls to the fish feeding session in town, which they enjoyed. Sienna was very enthusiastic about feeding the fish their bread, as well as sampling it herself at times. We had to keep an eye on her at the boat ramp, as apparently a croc lives nearby, plus a big one had been caught a bit further up the point just a few hours earlier. They’re pretty busy at the moment – the headline on the paper the other day was 6 crocs caught in 2 days.
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| Cruisin in the boat |
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| Happy to be in Daddy's lap |
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| Yasmin had a go at steering |
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| Self-portrait |
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| Darwin Harbour |
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| Harbour again |
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| Our floating friend |
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| And a little closer... |
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| Chippies at the Wharf |
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| They nearly ate the whole plate (Daddy helped)! |
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| Sunset at the Wharf |
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| Much the same |
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| Snack time at the water park |
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| Happy girls |
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| Aquascene fish feeding |
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| Say cheese Yasmin |
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| Sienna wouldn't look at the camera - she was too engrossed in watching the fish |
