27 March 2013 - Aurora Shady Glen Tourist Park, Darwin, Northern Territory

We are yet again home early and yet again doused in a heavy rain shower immediately on arrival back at camp. You can just about set the clock by the weather here, but then I used to say that in Whangarei when my children were at school. It seemed that the rain would arrive just as the children poured out of their classrooms at the end of each school day and probably still does but is of no account to me now.

We started our day in Darwin back at the Information Centre, attended to by a very helpful and friendly chap who assured us that we should not concern ourselves with any change in the weather. If however the night brought exceptional rain, we should check for road closures. He did suggest we could still access the Kakadu National Park via Katherine, however I assured him that we had no intention of doing that. Katherine will be our exit point allowing us a loop tour.

Although we had driven down through the waterfront area of the city, we had yet to explore on foot and so we set off from the Esplanade and down via the skybridge and lift, the most attractive access to this great work in progress. There are already many appartments, gardens and pools in the development but it is evident that there is still much to come. What a delightful space it is! The swimming lagoon is free for use and the council have done their utmost to sieve out any box jelly fish however cover their butt by saying this cannot be guaranteed. There are several cafes and restaurants adjacent to this recreational area  and the frangipani trees are just lovely. We wandered on through the precinct and on past the wave pool which does require an entry fee, on past the huge modern exhibition centre and across a walkway parallel to Stokes Wharf. We had been encouraged by a fellow traveller to shout ourselves lunch at the wharf; barramundi and chips which sounded pretty tempting. The cost of parking noted several days ago had put me off and today the noise of construction work at the wharf finished me off. Perhaps we shall do the baramundi indulgence again further en route.

Modern waterfront development

We returned to the landcruiser cognsecent of the Nazi parking wardens that patrol the streets of Darwin so vigilantly. In fairness there is an excellent little brochure available at the Information Centre showing the different parking zones which is enormously helpful and assists in keeping the officious officials at bay.

Chris was keen to return to Vesty’s Beach to check out the yacht clubs or rather their yards. I left him to wistfully wander past the fenced compounds while I sat on a concrete bench in the shade and caught the sea breeze. Today, unlike our last visit here, there were no aimless aborigines sitting about; perhaps it was too early in the day. I listened to the pigeons, cockatoos  plovers and the far off sound of power tools in the boat yards. My husband got caught up chatting to a chap working on his yacht, hearing about a planned sea trip around to the Kimberleys. (I actually hadn’t realised the Kimberley’s has a coastline.) Soon the gate was unlocked and Chris was inside the compound helping him lift a battery up onto the deck of the yacht. Finally he dragged himself away and returned to the landcruiser where I was waiting, ruminating on men and their “sheds” and other pursuits that offer refuge from the tedium of home life and work.

It was not far to East Point, or more particularly, Dudley Point, where we found a picnic table and sat eating our sandwiches enjoying fabulous views across the Darwin Harbour. It was from here that the submarine net across the harbour stretched in the Way years, across to Mandorah. Further out we could see three large cargo vessels at anchor, waiting for their scheduled unloading or loading.

It is here at Darwin that live cattle exports are made along with the port north of Normanton we visited eighteen months ago or so. But live exports are not as they were and this was evident as we drove into Darwin a week ago and saw the dozens of cattle trucks sitting idle in the carters’ yards. It is here too at Darwin, or more correctly at Wickham Point, that LNG is exported, a significant export for the Territory.

At East Point we were reminded of the many wonderful walking and cycling tracks there are all about the city. No doubt the fact that the city was decimated in 1974 has something to do with this; here was a wonderful opportunity to plan for the future and for a population that could never have been imagined when Goyder surveyed the city out in the 1800s. To come to Darwin in the Dry and spend days cycling about would be glorious. Just not a particularly attractive idea in the current humidity and heat.

It had been our intention to visit the East Point Military Museum however on discovering the entry fee, we tight-wads decided not to bother after all. Had we not visited the War Museum in Canberra, which is by donation only, we might have thought otherwise.

So with the abandonment of our plan, we headed to the Woolworths supermarket at Nightcliff and stocked up with groceries in readiness for our departure tomorrow. We had called into the Shell Service Station earlier in the day and filled with diesel, surpassing our fill volume yet again, this time a massive  150 litres! We have injected enough to the Darwin economy today, even without the Museum.