Saturday 20 May to Friday 26 May
Batchelor to Darwin
Blog 4
Edith Falls was our first stop after leaving Katherine and even though some of the walks were still closed what we saw was beautiful.
We stopped for lunch at Pine Creek and decided not to go to Kakadu now as many of the 4 wheel drive tracks are still closed due to the wet but rather head to Litchfield and then on to Darwin.
Batchelor is at the beginning of Litchfield National Park and feeding the native birds was a colourful sight and it was interesting to watch the pecking order of the birds as they came for the food. There were Rainbow Lorikeets, Galahs, Sulfur Crested Cockatoos, Corellas, Blue Faced Honeyeaters and Minors.
In Litchfield National Park we enjoyed Wangi Falls, Tolmer Falls and Florence Falls. All were spectacular and different. As always the colours and the birdlife were spectacular. At Wangi Falls we took the 1.6km walk up to the escarpment where we could enjoy the magnificent views from the top of Wangi Falls. The water in all the falls and creeks was refreshing but warm. Buley Rockhole was a small waterfall with rock pools and lots of swimmers. The Magnetic Termite mounds are a must see as the termites build their mounds facing North-South so that their broad side faces East-West to achieve maximum warmth.
By the time we got to Darwin there were 4 Bushtracker vans all together so we all decided to go for a sunset cruise on Darwin Harbour leaving Cullen Bay through a loch. We saw some of the confiscated Indonesian fishing boats and the HMAS Kinimbla. We are very close to Asia here and you really do feel the presence of the Australian Army, Navy and Air Force. The weather is warm with blue skies and occasionally we have to leave the air conditioning on at night. We have made Darwin a stop for a while just to relax and do nothing!!!!
NT parliament house is most impressive. The architecture of building is beautiful and materials used were Australian as much as possible. A lot of the symbolism of the things used was explained. The emblem on the floor of the entrance is of a pink Sturt rose which is the NT flower. The 7 petals represent the States and NT and the centre represents Canberra as the meeting place.
The foyer is designed to have maximum natural light and the fountain outside is to commemorate the lives of the 2 workers who died while working on the building. The Parliament has 25 members to represent the 200, 000 residents of the Northern Territory, of which 10 are women, 5 are Aboriginal and 3 of those 5 are women. The head of the government, the head of the opposition and the Speaker of the house are all women.
Our explore of Darwin included the area around Fannie Bay which is pretty exclusive with beautiful houses. Just past Fannie Bay is East Point and a military museum set in a beautiful park.
A must see is Mindil Beach and of course the Mindil markets. The weather and the sunset were perfect and there were LOTS of other people enjoying the same thing.
Batchelor to Darwin
Blog 4
Edith Falls was our first stop after leaving Katherine and even though some of the walks were still closed what we saw was beautiful.
We stopped for lunch at Pine Creek and decided not to go to Kakadu now as many of the 4 wheel drive tracks are still closed due to the wet but rather head to Litchfield and then on to Darwin.
Batchelor is at the beginning of Litchfield National Park and feeding the native birds was a colourful sight and it was interesting to watch the pecking order of the birds as they came for the food. There were Rainbow Lorikeets, Galahs, Sulfur Crested Cockatoos, Corellas, Blue Faced Honeyeaters and Minors.
In Litchfield National Park we enjoyed Wangi Falls, Tolmer Falls and Florence Falls. All were spectacular and different. As always the colours and the birdlife were spectacular. At Wangi Falls we took the 1.6km walk up to the escarpment where we could enjoy the magnificent views from the top of Wangi Falls. The water in all the falls and creeks was refreshing but warm. Buley Rockhole was a small waterfall with rock pools and lots of swimmers. The Magnetic Termite mounds are a must see as the termites build their mounds facing North-South so that their broad side faces East-West to achieve maximum warmth.
By the time we got to Darwin there were 4 Bushtracker vans all together so we all decided to go for a sunset cruise on Darwin Harbour leaving Cullen Bay through a loch. We saw some of the confiscated Indonesian fishing boats and the HMAS Kinimbla. We are very close to Asia here and you really do feel the presence of the Australian Army, Navy and Air Force. The weather is warm with blue skies and occasionally we have to leave the air conditioning on at night. We have made Darwin a stop for a while just to relax and do nothing!!!!
NT parliament house is most impressive. The architecture of building is beautiful and materials used were Australian as much as possible. A lot of the symbolism of the things used was explained. The emblem on the floor of the entrance is of a pink Sturt rose which is the NT flower. The 7 petals represent the States and NT and the centre represents Canberra as the meeting place.
The foyer is designed to have maximum natural light and the fountain outside is to commemorate the lives of the 2 workers who died while working on the building. The Parliament has 25 members to represent the 200, 000 residents of the Northern Territory, of which 10 are women, 5 are Aboriginal and 3 of those 5 are women. The head of the government, the head of the opposition and the Speaker of the house are all women.
Our explore of Darwin included the area around Fannie Bay which is pretty exclusive with beautiful houses. Just past Fannie Bay is East Point and a military museum set in a beautiful park.
A must see is Mindil Beach and of course the Mindil markets. The weather and the sunset were perfect and there were LOTS of other people enjoying the same thing.
