Cecil was booked in for his 12,000 km service today so whilst Cecil was getting a grease and oil change we caught up with Nick, Shirley, Caitlin and Jess (the OBG's) our friends from Willoughby Public School. Was great to see them and hear about their adventures so far. We spent the day at Darwin Wave Pool which all the kids loved but sorry to say its not a patch on Sydney beaches. Then it was back to Darwin Sailing Club for a very relaxing dinner and yet another...

We said goodbye to Beepy today. She headed back to cold Sydney having crossed "visiting Darwin" off her bucket list. We had a dull and boring day as far as the kids were concerned as we ran back and forth to Bunnings (just like home really) to get some bits and bobs for the remainder of the trip. We finished the day with dinner at an Italian place in the heart of the backpacker precinct. Pippy asked if we were backpackers, since I was carrying a day pack, I had t...

Off to the waterpark today. We have been really impressed with the facilities in Darwin. Here we were in this awesome waterpark complete with slides, water play equipment, picnic facilities and it's all free (Geoff loved that part) and to top it off there was hardly anyone there (apparently too cold for the locals). To us it seems like the Darwin government try very hard to make Darwin a great place to live. There are new schools, parks and shopping centers on ev...

Apparently they are having a cold snap here in Darwin - its only 29 degrees instead of the usual 32 or so. Each day we wake to glorious blue skies, although the evenings sometimes require a long sleeve top and during the night we need a sleeping bag to keep warm. Today we went off to Crocosaurus Cove to experience some safe crocodile encounters. We got to feed some juvenile crocs with a fishing line and the kids got to hold a baby croc. As well as that they got t...

Today we (all 5 of us and Beepy) went on a half day fishing charter from Darwin. We had (stupidly) said to cousin Polly that we would be cooking fish on the barbie for dinner. We caught nothing! We got a few nibbles but that was it! Apparently the day before they had caught plenty - yeah right! That said we still had a fantastic day out on a lovely boat in Darwin harbour. The water is a beautiful turquoise green and the weather glorious. We came home via Mr Barra...