Darwin surrounds - April 2021 part 2

 

We only spent a week in Darwin, and did something every day. Just so much to see and do in and around Darwin. 

We did a day trip to Howard Springs to see the Orchid Lady, the quarantine centre and the recreation area. I was hoping to see a lot of tropical orchids, but they were far and few between. We had heard some bad reports about the Orchid Lady, but we went to look for ourselves. The place looked very over grown and didn't appear to be open, so we kept going. The Howard Springs Quarantine Centre was interesting to see. Very well organised and keeping us safe. Well done NT for doing this and not hotel quarantine - as it obviously doesn't work as well!

Howard Springs Recreation Park was originally developed during WW2 by Australian and American servicemen as a recreation camp.

The weir was built in 1944 to improve the pool for swimming. If you look carefully you can find markings from the servicemen that built it.

There is a toddler pool and playground built near the weir and a lovely park to walk through with picnic tables. There is a kids rock pool walk that looks fun and there were a lot of kids playing on it. 

 

Next we went to Humpty Doo and didn't really see what was so good about it. There is a jumping croc cruise, and a good pub, but that is about it. Oh, and a 'big things' crocodile.

 

On the way back, along the highway we stopped at Strauss Airfield, which runs parallel to the highway. We noticed the life size cutouts of the planes when we were driving into Darwin. This landing strip was used by Australian, American, and British pilots during the war. We drove into and around the bush beside the runway and saw all the cleared spots where we assume the planes were stored under the canopy of the trees. Very interesting, and would make a perfect bush camp - except for the signs that say no camping. Sadly there was evidence that people had stayed there - toilet paper and old campfires.  

 

Peter wanted to see the Ghan Railway station - we will travel on the Ghan one day, so we headed out to East Arm. Not a lot to see at the railway station, it was rather underwhelming. I had my 'Defence of Darwin Experience App' turned on, it shows WWII sites in the Darwin area, and there was a Quarantine Anti-Aircraft Battery nearby.

We followed the signs and the app and found what was left behind some trees. It is not hidden, but would be easy to miss if one didn't know about it.

The roof of each structure is gone but the surrounds and accompanying information boards give one a good idea of how it all worked.

It is the most complete aircraft battery in the Darwin area, and it helped to defend the Darwin Harbour.

There was also a silo art nearby.

Jonnie wanted to see crocodiles. It has been many years since we have taken him to see crocodiles, so out of the two crocodile parks in Darwin area we chose Crocodylus Park at Berrima, mainly because it had a 'croc cruise'. So we planned a day trip and wouldn't you know it, the cruise was cancelled due to the boat needing maintenance.

Well another place/activity to add to our list of sites closed. The park itself was good anyway. There are a lot of crocs to see, and we saw the croc feeding twice. 

The park has many more animals, lots of Australian animals but also meerkats, funny creatures, and apparently white lions. We looked and looked for the lions in their enclosure and finally found one asleep in the shadows under a tree, didn't look white, but.......

Jonnie held a baby freshwater croc.

The reptile museum was very good, and cool inside away from the outside humidity.

We missed the Mindil Markets by a week, but drove through the park both during the day and early evening. Would have been interesting to see the transformation into a market. We had to do a sunset from Darwin so went to Nightcliff Beach with some snacks and waited with everyone else for the sunset. It was amazing.

After sunset we drove through the city to see what was lit up, and we were not disappointed.

There are just so many different tours and experiences in Darwin, many centering around the bombing and WWII. We liked it so much we will come back.