Day 17 – Thursday 5 August 2021 – 70km
This morning we were super efficient, we had breakfast, done our laundry & we were at the Darwin Museum by half past 9 (it opens at 10am, since the Darwin Sailing club is very close we drove past the Darwin Sailing Club to see what it is like. Very fancy and big, with designated parking out front for both the Commodore and Vice Commodore. Tereza recons it is something we should do in front of the Canberra YMCA Sailing Club.
The Darwin museum on the waterfront is next on the agenda, we walk up to the doors just as they open, we are the first tourists in today. The museum is very neat & tidy, not overcrowded, with good displays and good write-ups. The natural history display is good, the skeleton of a giant goose gets our attention. The story of Cyclone Tracy that destroyed Darwin in 1974 is also well portrayed. The cultural history gallery is most interesting and the maritime display has a good array of boat examples. By the time we finished the museum it was lunchtime, so what better place to have lunch than the Saltwater Café at the museum, sitting on the veranda with the nearby ocean as a very pleasant backdrop. The seafood we had was delicious.
We then drove around the waterfront at Cullen Bay to see how the wealthy people in Darwin live, there are some very nice waterfront homes. Next to Doctor’s Gully to see the fish feeding but it was closed, the tides are all wrong.
Next was a drive out into Darwin suburbia to find the location of the Covid vaccination clinic because Tereza is booked in to have her 2nd Astra Zeneca jab tomorrow morning. We need room to park the Karavan as we will be on our way to Kakadu tomorrow. We found the centre, thank goodness for satellite navigation, plenty of parking room for our van.
Next we stopped at the massive Casuarina shopping centre for a grocery stock up, the first major shop since we left home. We are amazed how full our shopping trolley was, however, it has been more than two weeks now.
Back to the van, pack the groceries away and collect the washing and pack that away as well. Next it was back into Darwin city again to have a look at the sights before we drove through the Botanic Gardens then to the Mindil Beach Markets. We got there early enough so finding a park was easy enough. The markets were not too packed at first as we walked around, lots of all different sorts of food stalls as well as the typical market type stalls selling all sorts of things. We practised a bit of retail therapy before buying a bucket of fruit salad for dinner then joining the thousands of people on Mindil beach to watch the sunset. We walked a bit & found a nice comfy spot to sit & the sunset delivered with a spectacular display, helped by the drifting smoke from a fire on the other side of the harbour. A few sailing boats crossed in front of the setting sun to add to the effect.
Another great day.
Trekkin 