Darwin - a great place to spend winter.

So another early start so we could get on the road and make our jumping crocodile’s tour which we had booked in for 11am.  The drive out of the Kakadu National Park was quite interesting and we enjoyed watching the changing landscapes and laughing at all the crocodile warning signs.  Obviously some people need to be reminded of them at every water crossing and to not stop on the bridges and croc spot.  We only had a quick toilet stop at Bark Hut Inn which was disappointing as the place looked awesome and so quirky, but we needed to keep moving. 

The sign says it all.

I don't think this car has gone anywhere lately.

Inside was so cool.

Of course we had chosen to do the tour that had the smallest boat to make sure we got up nice and close so this meant taking the van down a narrow bitumen track that then turned to gravel that then turned to corrugated compacted dirt.  It wasn’t that bad really at all and it was only 4km of dirt so we just took it nice and easy like we always do.  As we boarded the boat I started to wonder if going on the smallest boat was really a good idea after all, especially when a friendly five metre crocodile came alongside.  He even had a go at one of the smaller females but thankfully she managed to get away.

The big male having a go at the female.

A little one jumping out.

Yep I was happy to be in the safety of the boat.

Seeing the crocodiles up close and personal and trying to eat the meat really made you realise just how big and ferrous they are.  One thing that did totally surprise us was that their snap is more like a pop.  Mind you I am pretty sure the sound has nothing to do with how much it would still hurt to have that clamp down on you but it was just an odd noise to hear.  The tour was only for an hour but it was all we needed to see some very big crocodiles and Kayla was getting quite cranky and tired.  I think we were all getting very hungry for lunch.  So back on the road we headed for the slow drive out and just down the road we pulled into the Humpty Doo Inn. 

Don't smile!

Look at the big guy jump.

Trying to get him on land to see the true size of him.

Apparently it is one of the top three pubs to stop at in the NT, but based on the line up it was going to be a long time until we got our lunch so we decided to hop back into the car and go straight to the caravan park which was only about half an hour away.  Once we were checked in and on our site we plugged in the power, turned on the air conditioner and headed straight to the pool bistro for lunch.  We let the kids have a swim whilst we were waiting for lunch and already we started to feel relaxed and settled into the top end lifestyle.  Mind you once we had finished lunch we needed to go back to the caravan and finish setting it up and it was hot.

Hamish got a chance to be in charge of the boat.

There is no way Kayla was going to miss out.

I was lucky though and Jason did the majority of the outside setting up, I just helped with the legs and then the awning pegs before moving into the air-conditioning.  All the early starts were really starting to get to me and I was so tired so Jason took the kids down to see the Peta and Darren and the kids whilst I rested.  I was nearly asleep too when someone knocked on the door to let me know our water hose had popped off and they had turned off our tap.  I was so grateful he had done that for us but at the same time just wanted to sleep.  So eventually I gave up and walked down to join the others. 

As the day ended we decided that we weren’t really in the mood for cooking so ended up going back to the pool bistro for dinner.  The kids swam around whilst we tried to relax and eat dinner.  Hamish was being a bit silly in the pool so I had to constantly get him out and make him have timeout to let him calm down and be sensible.  When we did head back to the caravan the kids just crashed.  Kayla had actually fallen asleep in my arms beside the pool so I just had to change her and put her to bed.  Even though Hamish said he wasn’t tired he fell asleep instantly.  I followed quite shortly afterwards and Jason got to stay up and watch Wimbledon.

For some reason I just couldn’t get a good night sleep.  I don’t know what it was but I just wasn’t settled, so around 6am I gave up and decided to get the laptop out and catch up on a few jobs.  Unfortunately in my attempt to catch up on a few things I managed to wake up Kayla and then Hamish so before I knew it we were all up and having some breakfast.  The benefit to this was that we managed to get two sessions of school done before heading out for the day.

The Beer Can Regatta was on at Mindal Beach so we headed down there with the Longergan family to check it all out.  As soon as we arrived they were having kids running races so we lined Kayla up for hers and yep she just stood there.  There is no way she was going to run the short distance to just get a lolly.  Oh well, next was Hamish and I think he also didn’t understand but was happy to follow whatever his mate James was doing.  I think we would have had a second child just standing there if it wasn’t for James to give him a little nudge.  Eventually they came back with lollypops in hand and were so proud.

I loved the name of this one.

A lot of effort must go into these.

Even the costumes are well thought out.

We managed to score a spot in the shade but it was on the beach so it meant the lovely dirty sand of Mindal Beach was all over us again and the picnic rug.  We went and checked out the awesome boats that people had created and one team even went that step further with making some pretty awesome costumes to go with them.  I thought there would be a lot more entrants in the competition but unfortunately there wasn’t.  We sat around for what felt like forever to watch the main event but it didn’t start until 2:45pm and of course it started to get really hot and the kids were over it, so we headed up and checked out the markets for a bit before calling it quits and heading back to the caravan.

Not bad at all.

Looks like most of them are afloat.

The plan was to duck back to the caravan, put on the air conditioner to cool it down and then head out to grab a few items from Woolworths.  Unfortunately when we got back Jason went in to turn on the air-conditioner and when he went to close the shower vent he realised a palm frond had fallen and smashed a big hole in it.  There was nothing we could do about it and we were just grateful that it was the shower one and it doesn’t look like rain anytime soon.  On our way back out we reported it to the office and of course the young girl behind the desk said there was nothing they could do about it.  Jason just asked that they get a gardener or someone to come and look at it and remove the other dead looking fronds so they don’t smash any others.

Anyway we still headed out and stocked up on food and beer before returning home.  When we got back the gardener was kindly picking up the fallen frond and had pruned the other dead one.  He was a lot more helpful and recommended that we fill in an incident report and try and hold the park more accountable.  It does make me wonder why on earth these caravan parks plant such inappropriate trees around.  It isn’t like they give any shade.  Anyway nothing major and the van is going into the service centre whilst we are in Singapore so we will just add that to the list of things we have to get fixed.  We are just annoyed that we will have to pay for that.

The rest of the afternoon we relaxed and knocked over another school lesson before calling it a day and trying to get to bed at a normal time.  Well our normal time seems to be a lot earlier than everyone else.  Mind you because I went to sleep so early I was up in the dark but I guess that was mainly because Kayla was having a bad dream.  Something along the line of ‘give dog back’, I am not really sure but she was not a happy girl at all.

Kayla and her choice of toys for the day.

Hamish having a army game.

So we started the day a little earlier than I had originally expect but being the first day back at school, this was actually a really good thing.  Now we are in the NT Hamish’s on-air lessons have moved to commence at 9am, so I was able to knock over two school sessions with Hamish and still give him time to play with the kids next door before his on-air lesson started.  Nothing like the feeling as if you are on a winning streak at the start of the day.  That is probably where it ended as I was looking forward to chilling out and looking after Kayla whilst Jason did his on-air lesson.

Well in order to help Jason have a good lesson the idea is to keep distractions away from the caravan.  Having three little boys going through Hamish’s toy box was not an ideal start but I managed to entice them away before Hamish heard them.  Their parents were packing up to leave so I offered to take them for a walk around.  We went down to James’ caravan to see if he wanted to play but he was also doing school so then I was really stumped.  So Sarah came with us and we all headed down to the jumping pillow.  I had an hour to fill in and I think we managed to get half of it covered by the jumping pillow.

Mind you watching five kids on the jumping pillow was quite difficult.  Yes it would have been easy if they were the only five kids on it but I just kept looking for the coloured shirts they were all wearing and making sure I could see them all.  It didn’t help when the boys would go behind the cabin up the other end, especially as the older kids were throwing coconuts, so I would have to go down and ask them to stay on the pillow where I could see them.  It is funny, I started to feel like the babysitter again, but I really didn’t want Hamish’s distracted from his lesson so I had to suck it up.  We filled in the last bit of the hour with some target practice on the palm tree using the nerf guns! 

Yep she looks powerful.

I didn't really feel comfortable standing down this end.

I don’t think I was ever so happy to see Hamish run out of the van and say his lesson was finished.  He then got to play with his friends for a bit before they headed off.  We then promptly packed ourselves into the car and headed to the Darwin Aviation Museum.  We were really looking forward to this as they had a B52 Bomber and an F1-11 on display.  The B52 was huge and the displays were set up so well.  Hamish loved it and asked me so many questions about the displays and everything.  We even did his 15 minute phone reading lesson whilst there with no dramas.  Just as we were leaving the Lonergan family arrived so we chatted for a bit before heading back to the caravan for some lunch.

Trying to put the size into perspective.

Underneath was a tv showing its history.

Kayla was taken by this one.

At least this time we were smart and had the air-conditioner on before we left so we just went inside, ate, had a bit of a rest and did another session of school.  Then we packed ourselves up and headed out to the Palmerston free water park to reward the kids for being so good (and lets’ be honest we wanted to go too).  There was one large waterslide there but Kayla was too short and Hamish had to go on his own.  Jason took Hamish up but poor Hamish found it too high and chickened out.  Jason still went down it to say he had done it and later when the Lonergans joined us Jason, Darren, James and Sarah went down a few times. 

Jason and the kids about to go down the slide.

 We left a bit earlier to get home and finish the last school lesson for the day and just to get ready for dinner.  We were a bit slow when we got home as Kayla was nearly asleep. So our main focus was to not let her fall asleep.  Lucky she loves her shower and was more than happy to hop in there.  Again it was another school lesson we should have not left so late in the day and we promised ourselves to stop doing them so late in the day as we are all just tired and not really into doing it properly.

Tuesday we managed to get up early again and knock over school before Hamish’s on-air lesson.  I thought we were going to have an easier day as there were less kids around for Hamish to want to go and play with, but I was wrong.  Instead he seemed even less interested in doing school.  Thankfully there were good lessons with a wind experiment so his interest was kept just long enough.  Once the lesson was over we were straight in the car as fast as we could which still means a few “oh we forgot this” moments back to the caravan – at least we hadn’t left.  Then it was straight to the Darwin Museum.

I wanted to really check out the cyclone Tracey display.  Hamish complained that it was going to be boring the whole way from the carpark to the entry but funnily once he was inside the complaining stopped and all the questions and ‘look Mum’ started!  It was great to see him so interested and pointing out the different animals he thought were on display.  Whilst there we also did his reading lesson and from there it went downhill. 

Hamish enjoying seeing another crocodile.

Kayla having fun in the activities room.

See the Museum and Art Gallery are combined and so I was trying to get Kayla to keep her shoes on and we get told she shouldn’t be eating food in there (she had an apple).  So they pointed to an area we could sit and eat it.  Then we went up to see a statue of a big croc and the kids ran down the ramp so they got in trouble for that.  This was our cue to leave as all that was left to see was artwork and well it wasn’t worth the pain nor was really our thing.

So back to the van we headed for lunch and a little bit more of school before heading to the movies.  We were taking them to the Minion movie with the Lonergan family.  I didn’t think the movie was as good as the first two but Hamish was cracking up through it and Kayla was loving the popcorn so at least they were happy.  I think I nearly fell asleep in it as I was so tired.  On the way home we tried to find some luggage to take to Singapore but I couldn’t make a decision without Jason and he didn’t want to get the kids out of the car.  So I just did some birthday shopping and left.

All hyped up on sugar.

That night we looked after Sarah and James whilst Peta and Darren went out for dinner together.  They are going to return the favour the next night and we will go out kid free.  The problem is deciding where on earth we should go.  I think we will just wing it on the night.  Still it was funny putting James and Sarah to bed as I had no idea where anything in their van was kept but luckily James was able to show me everything and do it all for me.  Then I got the explanation of all the toys which I just loved as kids are just so cute like that.  Both were good kids and fell asleep… now I feel sorry for Peta and Darren as they have Kayla to deal with!

So Wednesday rolled around and we had decided to set this time aside to get some shopping done.  Something we didn’t think would take too long but by the time we got to the shops and I realised just how much I missed shopping we ended up being there for quite some time, even enjoying some lunch.  We did however manage to get some dressier shoes for Kayla and Hamish for our Singapore trip and then the suitcases we needed as we didn’t think our green Woolworths bags were going to cut the mustard for international travel.  Then it was just general school supplies and birthday presents for our nieces and family.  In the end Jason dragged me back to Woolworths so we could food shop and get out of there.

We made a mad dash back to the caravan and unloaded the cold food before heading straight to the other free water park as we were meeting the Lonergans there.  This one was even better and you just couldn’t get over it is for free so I sat back and watched the kids and Jason went to join Darren on the big waterslides!  Well that didn’t last long as Hamish was too scared to go on the big ones but wanted his Dad so I went and got Jason and he came back and showed Hamish that the little ones were fine and they had a ball playing together on them.  We also caught up with another family we have met a few times over our travels and chatted to them for a bit.

Yep she loves playing in places like this.

Hamish was certainly enjoying it.

Now I will tell Dad what to do.

Eventually my two got over the waterslides and decided to go to the playground instead.  There was a little girl who wanted to play with the boys but Hamish was not keen as it was a boys only game.  I had a chat to Hamish and said that he didn’t have to play with her but that she was entitled as much as him to be on the playground and to let her play there also.  However this little girl was persistent and wanted to play with the boys.  Hamish just kept staring her down as she just kept wanting to be right there with them, so she went and got her Mum.  She of course came and had a chat to Hamish and I just stood back and let it happen.

It is odd because I don’t believe you can force kids to be friends, sometimes they just want to play a certain game so as long as they are not being mean to the other child you have to let it go, you can’t fight their battles.  Today was one of those days, but obviously this Mum wanted them to all play together.  Trust me Hamish has been on the other end of the stick and not like it but that is a life lesson I believe he needs to learn and we can’t fight their battles for them.  It is hard to see when it is your child being left out but it is a reality of life, not all adults are friends or want to associate.  However I was proud of the way Hamish stood up for himself and wasn’t rude to the lady, just simply answered her questions honestly with a five year old logic ‘because it is a boys game.’

From there we headed home after a while.  That took forever as there had been some accident just after our caravan park and the highway was closed.  So it was a slow rolling motion for the last 3km.  We quickly rushed to get ready and dropped the kids off down to Peta and Darren.  Then it was straight to the casino to enjoy a nice dinner at their restaurant.  We were in the mood for seafood and they didn’t disappoint us.  Then we had a little flutter before make our way back to the caravan.  I managed to win $7 and Jason lost $35 so I guess we won’t be extending our travels with that outcome.  Back home it was great to hear the kids were good for Peta and had gone to sleep relatively easy.

Cheers to a great night out.