14 August 2011 Litchfield to Darwin
We left Litchfield at about 8:30am and had only about an hour to Darwin, the earliest we could check-in at the Caravan Park was 12 noon, so we had a bit of time to fill in.
On the way out to the highway we noticed that Batchelor had a Saturday market, so we took the turn off and found the market. As luck would have it, there was also a (your favourite spot and mine) dump point right near the market. The market was, well to tell you the truth, just like any market you find in small towns around the country. There were stalls selling local plants and produce, second hand books and, of course up here, sarongs. One stall boasted a hot chilli sauce rated at 9/10, I gave it a 7 to maybe 8, LOL. 🙂 The market was set in a beautiful park, under some magnificent huge trees. Batchelor is a very pretty little town, with many well maintained parks, a real tropical oasis.
We took a slow drive up the highway, calling it at a shopping centre to get a few supplies and eventually arrived at our caravan park at about 11am. We sat in the car outside until 11:45am and then drove in and checked in with no problems.
After setting up we headed off to explore. Our first stop was the Nightcliff Saturday markets. Apart from the wonderful array of food from the area, the market had all the usual culprits, jewellery, sarong stalls, second hand books, etc. The fresh fruit looked a bit passed it, but the offerings of asian food was delectable. After a
bite of lunch we headed out and drove around the coast line. First stop was the Nightcliff Foreshore, and a walk out on the jetty. Then we drove around the coastal roads all the way to the working port area.
The housing varies from a Territorian version of the “Queenslander” in the “burbs” to some magnificent homes set on the waterfront in the Cullen Bay area with huge boats parked at their jetties, and everything in between. We drove around passed the fisherman’s wharves and took good note of the fresh seafood markets down there (a definite stop later in the week).
We then had a quick stop at the Information Centre, picked up a few brochures and not many ideas (it was near closing time and the staffwere more interested in going home – that is the first time that has happened this holiday).
We then headed up to Burnett House, Deb had read they served
“High Tea” there on Sunday afternoons. Alas, it was just ordinary tea and scones, but very nice 🙂 The house was full of history, bearing scars of the Japanese bombing raids of WWII (Bullet
and shrapnel holes) and some pieces of bomb casings found in the area. It was lucky to escape any serious damage, as were the other 3 National trust houses in the area.
After “Tea”, we drove down to the Mindil Beach Markets for the afternoon and sunset. It was a great place to spend a few hours,
taking in the music, people watching, sampling the very tasty food and generally relaxing. It is a definite way to finish your day in Darwin and we will be back Thursday afternoon.
We watched the sunset from the beach (took way too many photos) and then headed back to our car. The car was in the middle row of 3 lines of parked cars!! Guess it’s a Darwin thing, something the
tropical heat does to you after a while. I mean why wouldn’t you park one car in front and another in the rear of an already parked line of cars, forming three lines in which the middle had no chance to get out!!! Luckily we had parked at the very end of a row, pulled down the barrier and drove away 🙂
15 August 2011 Monday
It is Land Rover, please find out what the red “ Engine System Fault” light means Day.
We dropped the car off at the Land Rover Service dealer and
were dropped back at the caravan park, a 10 minute drive away, now that is good service. So we took the opportunity to
do not very much and had a relaxing day around the Van. I managed to finish the book I have been reading for our last 3 holidays, Steven Kings “Under the Dome”. Time to move onto something “new”, Kurt Vonnegut’s”Cat’s Cradle” looks a nice
change.
(Greg has just rung, he has just picked up the car, all is good, there was an upgrade needed to the car’s computer system and all was fixed – there was a fault in the system that land rover have since fixed – Tomorrow we will be back to exploring Darwin)
NEWS FLASH NEWS FLASH 🙂
We have just posted a whole lot of new pictures on Flickr (see the link above). We will be adding some more from Karijini tonight, I hope 🙂
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