The first priority was to check out the CBD of Darwin. Neither Justin or I had been here before. The city of Darwin is a bit like the suburb of Williamstown in Melbourne, you drive into Darwin because you are visiting the city, never through it on the way to somewhere else. We took a ride on an amphibious vehicle run by Duckabout Tours.
We drove through the street, the gearbox screaming in first gear. That seemed to be the only one available, until we hit the water. We drove down the boat ramp, the driver fiddled with a few levers, then continued into the water. We pottered around Fanny Bay for an hour and a quarter. It is strange for us Melbourians to see an empty beach in beautiful weather. There is a huge sandbar in the bay that people play cricket on once a year. The buildings are reasonably low in this part of the city, closer to the CBD high rises are springing up for residences.
We have heard land is at a premium. Please bear in mind all things are relative and a 12 storey building is considered a high rise in Darwin
The girls got to be the drivers for a while.
They all got a certificate at the end of the trip.
From the bus stop we were left at, we wandered around the area looking at the Supreme Court.
There were some older buildings that were rebuilt after Cyclone Tracy, the court house and the Governer's residence, seen respectively below.
Lexie did her usual hanging routine wherever possible around town. We're hoping it will stop soon as it is hard to get anywhere while she hangs off every pole we pass.
We stumbled across the WWII oil storage tanks that are open to the public. These were hand dug and built on commission for the Navy in 1944, but never used for their intended purpose.
The narrow entry tunnel is above. All the rest are big enough to fit a train.
Once the war ended the Navy just walked away from the project. Inside felt and smelt like the London Underground. It simply smelt old. There were great photos from the war all along the walls. The tank below would have held 38,475 million litres of oil, safe under the ground.
This is one of six storage tunnels, and not the largest.
From the storage tanks we were drawn to the revitalised Wharf District.
There is a swimming beach here, blocked off from crocodiles and presumably box jellyfish. Right next to that is a much less risky wave pool. We resolved to come back the next day. We had fajitas again at the girls' request but this time with salsa, refried beans and mince.
Posted with Blogsy
ANd I toght it was going to b hard to get a license for Phoebe?
ReplyDelete