Our previous family touring holidays have long been associated with thousands of kilometres of ‘black top’ (aka bitumen) travelling from town to town, witnessing the natural antics of our Australian native wildlife and expansive landscapes drawing awe and wonder until reaching our final destination then returning home. So much of it was about the journey as well as the destination.
This holiday, now that our children going their adult way, Terry and I decided to embark on a slightly different style of travel, though still in my favourite country of all time. There are only two main places left for us to visit in Australia, Tasmania and Darwin. I’m not so brave to holiday in Tasmania mid winter hence the decision to travel north to Darwin.
Time limitations swayed our decision to undertake a fly-drive holiday so we excitedly flew into Darwin for a two night stay before hiring a campervan to travel throughout Kakadu and Litchfield National Parks for a further 7 days before flying home.
Flying into Darwin was an eye opener, I’m not sure what I was expecting but it wasn’t a ‘silver city’ built up city with high rises. We had a pleasant shuttle ride through the city arriving at the motel and our room over looking Darwin harbour. The ambient temperature was sitting in the early 30’s just perfect for a walk through the city and along the Esplanade. We saw a few of the historical sites that had been demolished and rebuilt following both the bombing of Darwin and cyclone Tracey.
We took a Top-Deck commentaries bus tour of Darwin including the harbour district, aboriginal art gallery and museum and Military museum. Such a wealth of history, much of which, I’m ashamed to acknowledge, I was not aware of.
