Wed 06/08/14 Arrived at Howard Springs Big 4 around 3pm; Hello Mummar & Granddad, good to see you!!! L&W flown up for a 2 week visit, arriving a few days before us, so have had some time to look around a bit already. Kids were out of the car and vanished into Mummars & Granddads cabin in a flash; M&K left to setup sans helpers. L&W's cabin has a triple bunk so kids promptly relocated all their sleeping gear to the cabin, then put bathers on and organised Mummar to take them to investigate the splash park, pools and jumping pillow; they're quick! Granddad had the fore-thought to have chilled drinks ready for happy hour, so everybody smilin'!

Thu 07/08/14 Headed into Darwin today. Visited Stokes Hill Wharf and saw the memorial to those killed during the bombings of Dawin in WWII, 1942. We toured through the WWII Underground Oil Storage Tunnels. Saw a photograph of two shirtless, young soldiers with an unexploded 'jap bomb'; one looked very much like a young Grandfather Dahlstrom? He served in Darwin, so who knows, maybe it's him? The tunnels are huge; hard to imagine them full of oil hidden from bomb attacks. We lunched at "Chow", an open air Asian restaurant in the Waterfront precinct, then spent several hours at the Wave Lagoon mucking around on the tubes and boogee boards. Poor Lexi had to have her cast arm plastic bagged with duct tape so she could join in. At 5pm we made our way to Mindil Beach for the night markets. Loads of people out and about. Saw some very entertaining street performers: techno'ish' didgeridoo player, fire dancer, washboard band, acoustic guitarist/singers, stock whip demo's etc. Fantastic, hazy sunset thanks to smoke blown over from backburns; sun a brilliant, burning red, cheers from the crowd as it dipped below the horizon. We all chose different dinners from the many multicultural food stalls. Bought a pair of 'Slappas' each (thongs with supportive arches), girls a pair of genie pants and a glass animal each, Lukas a croc tooth necklace, K a beach dress, M & W a laser-light unit each, whilst LD resisted shopping. Fun, busy day.

Fri 08/08/14 This morning we visited the Darwin Military Museum. Very well put together, with interactive computer displays and a short film to give you a feel for what it was like when the bombing of Darwin took place. Interesting to discover the top end of Australia was bombed well over 100 times by the Japanese - ranging from Townsville, QLD to Exmouth, WA. Great exhibits outside of past military equipment also. Lunched under a huge, shady cappock tree at the Darwin Ski Club, W joking..."extra incentive to not fall off your skis up here!". Grassy, outdoor dining area overlooking the waters of Fannie Bay; lovely. Spent the afternoon looking through the Museum & Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. Excellent displays, Cyclone Tracy exhibit, maritime vessels exhibit, native flora and fauna, local dino fossils etc etc AND FREE! The institute was hosting the 2014 Telstra Aboriginal and Tiwi Islands Art Awards and many people were filing in as we left. Home in time to watch Bombers vs Tigers; bad luck bombers.

Sat 09/08/14 Utility day. After much nagging, we removed Lex's cast a day early. She was thrilled to be rid of it and decided to zip around getting everyone to sign it. Mummar and kiddies stayed home this morning for playing and swims etc, while M, K & W took car to mechanic for check on a whirring noise and do grocery shopping. Big afternoon of laundry for some and swimming / reading for others. Roast pork in the webber for dinner - juicy - then watched an exciting Cats vs Freo match, with Cats winning by the skin of their teeth!

Sun 10/08/14 Home school and blog catch up day. Lukas worked solo under van awning (as is his preference), girls in cabin with Mummar, K and laptop in van. Mummar and kids went for nice, long swim once they'd finished. Blogger at it all day, catching up from Derby to today; writing done, now for photos! Had a few swims to coold downa dn break up the day. Spag bol for dinner, watched a bit of X-Factor then Ghost Busters DVD. Michael & Wazza had left at 1pm on a fishing charter, returning at 10pm; didn't get the barramundi they were after, but did have a nice haul of 11 large mud crabs. Also stories of 'Bob', their guide, first taking them for a barefooted trek through the mangroves of the Howard River to catch live bait fish for the trip. With a fast returning tide, and feeling rather 'alert', they queried if any crocs usually in this area ... to which Bob replied 'no'. Then on boat ride out, Bob pointed to a salty in a trap and another lying on the bank, saying "he's gotta be 12 foot, eh?"......hmmm.... that sounds rather more like 'yes'. Menfolk enjoyed a balmy evening of fishing by moonlight, then cooked up the crabs on the beach before returning home. Busy day for all, we will sleep well tonight.

Mon 11/08/14 Rest day. Pathfinder into Nissan for suspected turbo related whirring noise fix, thus 'car-less' for the day. Granddad, Michael and mainly Mummar occupied the kiddies with cooking and swimming and reading and swimming and tennis and swimming and badminton, while blogger blogged away another day. Eventually success ... blog up to date... now to keep it that way!

Tues 12/08/14 8am pickup for day tour of jumping crocs and Litchfield National Park. Adelaide River first to see wild salties jump for food. Met our boat guide, 'wildman Pat', who provided a continuous stream of interesting croc facts. Gave us the safety talk - yes the boat has life jackets per Aust Standards, but no, won't ever use them as entering the water = becoming breakfast. Don't leave your back turned to the water, move slowly, speakly quietly, kids to stay close by an adult at all times so can't be singled out etc etc. Boat not paticularly big, with guard rails around sides but not the front ..... slightly unnerving as we sat in the front row bench. Pat advises we only ever see 10% of the actually density of crocs in an area. He then advises there's a 3.5mt female to our left, a 5.5mt male to our right (neither visible) and that we are going to beach on the mudbank ahead to get them to come out so we can get a good look at them ..... not convinced this is a sound plan! The female surfaces out of nowhere and makes her throaty growl to let us know we are in her territory. She puts on a jumping display for the chicken carcasses Pat dangles over the side, sliding up onto the mudbank so we can see her bulk. After wowing us with the female, Pat tells us to look over the right side of craft. He barley touches water with carcass, when a MASSIVE male surfaces with a deep, low, guttural growl; we shove kids between KML&W. Effortlessly he leaps for dangled offerings, jaws BOOM as they snap shut. Pat tries to tell us crocs do not see as we see. That the croc is used to this boat being full of people, therefore sees us as part of the boat, thus not looking at us and won't attack boat. Bulltish! It's looking right at us! Pat then coerces the giant onto the mudbank for a better look ... back to thinking a bigger boat, or least a front guard rail, would be preferable ... if he jumps in here with us there is nowhere to go. Magnificent to behold ... the size, power and ancient features ... a healthy respect is reinforced. Eventually we move down river and again stop against bushes lining the water... 'can anyone see any cros?" "no", we all chant. Pat puts bamboo stick over the edge with carcass - 1, 2, 3 ,4 ,5, 6 crocs surface ..."only seeing 10% remember"... point taken. M&W now thinking their walkies through the mangroves yesterday was not such a good idea!! We move out to middle of the river where Pat whistles, and tens of unseen kite hawks launch from the trees to swoop and feed on chicken fat he throws onto the river surface. Great spectacle to witness ... their numbers and flying agility amazing. Chicken fat and swooping birds soon have several large 'logs' floating in our direction and shortly we are watching some more jumping, the crocs launching out of the water as far as their hind legs, the sound of the jaws slamming shut is unreal! Thrilling! All too soon its time to get back on the bus. With a short stop at the Didgeridoo Hut, we head for Litchfield National Park. First stop is Wangi Falls. We the only people to hop in for a quick cool off, think the mornings river trip plus the croc traps and crocs gates and croc warning signs may have put a few people off! Enjoy a gourmet picnic lunch and ice cream, then head to Florence Falls. Kristy our guide informs us of the aboriginals use of boiling green ants & their leaf nests to make a tea like a 'lemsip' to assist with colds and sore throats. Kids nearly wet their pants when told "you can taste the citrusy tang if you lick the green ants bum". We all tried it and she's right, you can taste it! Licking greenants has now become a bit of a hobby for Lukas, who does his best to rope in his sisters! 180 or so steps to descend to the base of Florence Falls for a swim in the pool. We are told no crocs here as is too high up for them to access. Lukas happy to swim to falls, but girls take it in turns being ferried over by Granddad with K next to them - falls water quite warm as it splashes down off rockwall. Very beautiful, but tricky sharp slippery rocks to climb over getting in and out. Back up 180 steps to bus and on to Buley Rockholes. Here rocks are smooth and slippery, but more swim friendly. Find a nice, deep rockpool to do so jumping into; Mummar gives the jumping part a miss. After we've been relaxing in the rockpools for sometime, Brodie announces that she has spotted another snake in a crack near the edge. Mummar is straight into action to get distance between her and snake spot. 'Snake' is on the move, slipping out of hole ... we advise Mummar that it has legs and she can return .... a foot long water monitor lizard completely ignores all the people and climbs out to sun on the rocks. Too soon it's time to end our swim. We stop on the way out of the park to see some giant Cathedral and Magnetic Termite Mounds, then head for home. Great day and perfect balmy night.

Wed 13/08/14 Today visited Crocodylus Park, a privately run croc and wildlife park that is attched to a croc farm. Saw some absolutely massive salties they have penned for breeding. KL&A held a carpet python who liked to firmly wrap around necks. B helped 'feed' one o fthe large crocs and we all got to hold a baby salty ... very soft skin, but could already feel the powerful muscles at work when he squirmed. Farm lake full - containing qty 483 10 year old salties - looks like a tarzan film from back in the day. Two white lion cubs, pair of ostriches and several very naughty monkeys were LBA's other favourites of the visit. Next we drove to Howard Springs National Park and picnic area. Kids loved the flying fox and we cooled our feet in the cleverly designed splash pools. Also saw wild turtles and large barramundi in the dammed ponds.

Thu 14/08/14 Today we zipped back to the military museum to buy some books on the Bombing of Darwin. Had a stroll around Cullen Bay Marina, then lunched at a pub in the Smith Street Mall and bought some souvenirs. On to Crocosaurus Cove where LBA loved 'fishing' for 6 y/o salties and watching german tourists take a swim in the cage of death, which was lowered into 6mt 'Chopper's' pool. He floated next to them feigning disinterest, then took a giant leap and loud snap at them when the cage was being removed ... his keeper saying 'he always likes to say goodbye'! Great aquarium, like display of both freshies and salties, the cage of death and feeding, plus other reptiles. Next back to Mindil Beach for a picnic dinner at the night markets and to watch an F/A-18 jet flyover - so loud - part of Operation Pitch Balck RAAF display. Many nations visiting with the Darwin RAAF this week for flying manouvers - have had jets constantly streaking overhead .... super to watch. Another, full, fun, tiring, day!

Fri 15/08/14 Mummar and Granddad took the 3 angels into the wave lagoon for the day. Blogger entered Darwin info and M caught up on some work emails etc. Out to the Howard Springs Pub for goodbye dinner to L&W.

Sat 16/08/14 L&W to airport. Safe flying and thanks for the visit! See you soon back home! Utility day of laundry, groceries, schooling and packing up. Sprinkled with a few swims here and there. Bye Darwin, we'll be back!