Darwin NT (July - 5 days)

Fearing sandflies up around the northern coastline we actually based ourselves just out of Darwin (approx. 50km south) at Berry Springs. It turned out to be a very small town with just one little food/petrol shop, but it did boast some amazing thermal springs. We are just loving swimming in the natural springs we are encountering across the top of Australia. These ones were largish and you could float down a series of waterways in to a broader river section. The clarity of the water wasn’t as good due mostly to the water depth and there were salt and freshwater croc warning signs. However many people were in swimming, so we all enjoyed it for quite some time. The big kids have really enjoyed using their snorkelling gear to observe the life underwater in these various swimming spots. They are getting quite good at diving to look at things then clearing their snorkels on surfacing.

We spent two days having a look around Darwin city. The three big kids and Kate had fun feeding and patting fish at the Aquascene attraction in Darwin harbour. Harrison was sure he received a bite from one of these fish as he hand fed it some bread. (He did have a little mark on his finger!). The Smead kids managed to create a fish frenzy at times, throwing in biggish pieces of bread simultaneously! Harrison relished in a good spot of fishing with Tim on a half day fishing charter in the harbour. He caught five fish (the most out of the 12 people on board). Two were keepers. One we all shared back at the van, and one we just threw out yesterday as a nasty smell was brewing! I will never forget his little face full of anticipation and excitement as the boat ferried away from the jetty and the four Smead girls waved the boys off enthusiastically! We all got a good buzz out of our night at the Mindil Beach markets. We attended on the eve of the Darwin show so we worked out that we had probably visited the markets on one of their busiest nights in the year. It was packed! (We have been so without crowds for the most part, so it was quite an experience to be walking shoulder to shoulder with a sea of other tourists. As the sun got lower everyone took their food stall dinner purchases to the beach to watch the sun set over the water. It was a magical sight….(only rivalled by seeing the sunset like this in seclusion!)….one of those ‘firsts’ for us that we won’t forget!

We were actually all geared up for really hot weather in Darwin, but to our surprise we had very pleasant day time temperatures and even some quite nippy nights! The mossies were still around in the evenings though…as you would expect in the Top End.