2 TRIPS IN ONE BLOG

Darwin Easter 2016

Great place and time of year to visit with family.  We came up with our daughters, partners granddaughters (Just 1 and not quite 1).

There is a fantastic wave pool for us and a great toddles pool and sand beach down at the harbour front. Bring a picnic and you can while away many hours here while the kids enjoy the water.

A trip to Litchfield was really good as it had been pretty wet and the waterfalls were flowing strongly.

Litchfield is very scenic – but also very busy. 

Interesting to watch the idiotic youth jump into Florence Falls from a great height.  I was really concerned as many only just missed hitting rocks on the way down – plus the pool is not that deep and there are rocks under the water.  No-one was hurt while we were there, but we did hear about a serious incident only a week or two later.

Darwin July 2018

Arrive on late flight from Alice (7.30) so we had decided to stay at the Mercure at the airport, which has nice cabins in an attractive garden setting.  Also the food over the road at the Novotel Asian restaurant is fantastic.  We had a pleasant evening and in the early morning we took a walk in the next door nature reserve, there are a couple of walks through this area, lots of birds and a lovely running stream.  We managed to lose a couple of very enjoyable hours taking photos here.  Then off to town to buy our supplies.

We were doing something different this time, due to the lack of lovely accommodation in the bush without paying a fortune, we decided to rent a 4×4 and buy some basic camping gear – it was going to be much more fun and cheaper too.

KMART here we come, little tent, blow up mattresses, cheap chairs, little stove and other odds and ends coming in at about $100.  After a great lunch in town we head out, our destination was Mary River NP.

It was very smoky around the whole of Darwin and surrounding areas as the National Parks were doing lots of burn offs but it did not affect us too much – in fact come sunset it really added to the colours.

On the way we went to Fogg Dam where we are always happy to spend an hour or two taking photos, unfortunately we wanted to do the walks which we have not done to date, but due to recent flooding they were all shut, next time…..

As usual a lot of birds on the water, plus plenty in and around the carparks – a very social place the carpark – lots of international visitors ready to chat.

From here we head of to Mary River on the way planning a visit to “Window on the wetlands” a great place for information although when we got there it was only 10 minutes to closing due to all the burn off’s happening it was closing early at 3pm.  Still just enough time for a quick browse and then on the road again.

There are 2 campsites in Mary River National Park, Shady Camp and Couzon’s lookout.  There are also 2 tracks we wanted to explore, Hardies track and Wildman track – both are 4×4 only, although you never know to what extent we had googled it and they looked as if they could be pretty rough.  Not a problem, as to our way of thinking that means not too many people.

We decided on Couzon’s campsite as it had great sunset views and was situated on the edge of the Mary River.  Great campsite and we were lucky, when we arrived at 4pm there were no other people – amazing on a Friday nght.  Unfortunately around 5 a couple of fishermen turned up and had to chose the site right next to ours – even though there were lots of others.  They then proceeded to take 2 hours sorting themselves out with music blaring out the car.  Not quite what you plan for a quiet weekend in a national park.

The sunset was superb, the smoke from the burn off’s made the colours incredible and the reflection in the water was wonderful.  We took some wine and our chairs and sat by the edge of the river for a good hour.  This alone made the trip really worthwhile and it had barely started.

Back to camp for a BBQ, after which we sat for a couple of hours watching and trying to learn how to take photos of the stars (not very successfully – a work in progress).

In the morning there was a mist over the river and trees making everything look surreal and very pretty.  Plenty of birds around as well a roo’s, wallabies, lizards and other wildlife – although we did not see any crocs (but I am sure they were there somewhere).

Today we are going to drive Hardie’s track as unfortunately Wildman track is still closed after the rains.

This is definitely not a well used track but very pretty with billabongs and interesting flora and fauna, the further you go the worse it got though and after a couple of hours we had to turn back as it was getting a bit too rough for us without the right gear if we got stuck.

From here to Mistake Billabong in the National Park – beautiful place, very serene and a wonderful place to rest up and have lunch.

A great day topped off by yet another fantastic sunset back at Couzons lookout.  I could easily spend a week here.

Packing up the next morning and off to Djukbinj National Park, so many lovely areas and great for anyone who loves nature, birds, wildlife and general flora and fauna.

Next to McMinns Lagoon – lovely setting and so pretty with all the waterlilies out, there are a number of walks and it is a very peaceful spot – well worth a visit.

We stayed in town at the Palms city as we like the bungalow style with plants everywhere.  We had only come into town for this night as we wanted to visit Mindil market – one of the best markets on the planet in my opinion.  The food is just out of the world and so much choice – and great for arts and crafts too.

We also spent a few hours in the botanic gardens after the market which is another great place to visit.

Diner was at our favourite Nepalese in Mitchell street and as usual was amazing.

Last day was an early trip to East point and a gentle stroll through the Monsoon Forest amazing wildlife here, loads of different birds and we even managed to spot the Rainbow Pitta.  Having a little more time we then walked the Mangrove Boardwalk and saw another pair of Rainbow Pittas – must be our lucky day.  Pity though, our photography is still not where we would like it to be, but it is improving (we think and hope you do too).

And all too soon off to the airport and the end of a great trip.

Darwin Early June long weekend 2019

We stayed out at Club Tropical at East Point – seems like a long way out of town, but the units are huge and very comfortable.  The plus side is being surrounded by greenery and great birding sites.  Arriving mid afternoon, the first evening was just sitting outside the unit enjoying the peace and quiet (plus the quite significant number of bird species).

Mornings were spent at Buffalo Creek, amazing numbers of shore birds that should have migrated by now but were still around. There were many Great Knots, 1 solitary Red Knot and Oyster catchers.

 The forest at the edge of the beach also had many species and we were lucky to see the Red headed honeyeater and the rainbow pitta – along with a dozen or so other birds. 

Another great spot was down at Lee Point beach – and specifically the walk from there back to our accommodation.
Being a short trip there was not a lot of time for much more but we did take a short walk around the botanic gardens – unfortunately they were doing building work which made it a little too noisy.

Another highlight of any trip to Darwin is the amazing food – we were luck with not only Parap, Nightcliff and Mindil markets but there was also an Indian celebration market – such amazing food at all three, great value.

On a sadder note, many restaurants and shops in town seem to have closed down so not sure what is going on there – and it appears to be the good ones that we have eaten at for years and still had great reviews that have gone.