Darwin - TERRITORY DAY

Well my days of laying by the pool have ended ☹  Darwin workforce is very much reliant on Employment companies providing the labour – so I checked around and signed up with Hays Recruitment.  Hays are Worldwide, so hopefully I will be able to use them at times when we continue to travel.  The process was pretty simple, I sent them my resume and then went in for an interview.  They then contacted my references (thanks once again Paul xx)  and then started looking for work for me.  Wow isn’t that easier than me running around!  First posting was 2 weeks holiday relief as Receptionist/Admin assistant with a Construction company.  Working in the office, checking invoices and job coding them before entering into the system.  Can I say hear how much I love Reception with Construction Companies.  No one ever comes in and the phone hardly ever rings as everyone calls mobiles these days.   Really enjoy this type of work and hopefully get to do this sort of stuff again.   I finished up there on the 13^th July and my next posting for 4 weeks is working with Peet Developments, a few minutes drive away from the caravan park.  Another good thing about Hays – at the end of the working week I put my times in online, they are authorised by the company I am working for and then Hays put the pay is in my bank account within 24hrs. 

We've been doing lots of bike riding around the Darwin area, and we had niece Aimee join us for a few days at the end of June.  We took a leisurely morning ride on Saturday 1st July, from Casuarina Beach - past Mindil Beach and around the Darwin City Centre and Stokes Wharf area.  Then of course (our usual Saturday) lunch at the Parap Markets.  Aims and I had a Chicken & Wonton Laska - it was amazing (and I've had it twice since).  Then a swim, bit of a rest and then it's time to join in the Territory Day celebrations.  It you haven't been in the NT for Territory Day - put it on your list of things to do.  It is July 1st and a Crazy must do thing.   Anyone can purchase fireworks on the 1st from 9am to 9pm  No restrictions - except they say "you must use them up before 11pm or return them to the supplier".  Yeah like that happens!  Nearly every second business had them for sale and people lined up waiting..  Darwin advertises the main attration as Mindil Beach.  They kick off with markets at 3pm, followed by a concert from 4pm (Killing Heidi & Pete Murray this year), then the fireworks from 8pm.  They are set off from barges in the bay and free buses to & from.  We had also heard that the locals let off their own fireworks everywhere.  They anticipated 10 to 15 thousand at Mindil, so deciding to give this a miss we headed off to join the locals at Casuarina Beach.  Grabbed an esky, a blanket, coupe of chairs and good to go.  We arrived around 5ish and the first thing we saw was 2 guys in uniform at the entrance to the beach.  Coming from NSW our first thought was "Oh shit they aren't going to let alcohol on the beach"  But not - they were NPWS guys and just handing out rubbish bags in the vain hope that people would pick up their rubbish. 

It was an absolutely crazy, wild night.  Words don't really do it justice but where we were there was around 200 - 300 people ranging in all ages.  They started letting their fireworks off from around 5.30 when it was still daylight but I guess they figureed what the heck!  It went continuously all night - you couldn't sit down to watch as they were going off all around you and you just had to keep turning to watch different displays.  As it got dark you could see that there were people all around the bay letting off fireworks, in fact we could see them going off on the opposite side of the bay at East Arm Wharf.  Never seen anything like it.  We left around 9 when the smoke and smell of gunpowder became too strong but they were still going to 11pm (and some still after that).    So yes there were 22 report incidents of injuries - but hey so worth it... 

Darwin SLSC

Great way to enjoy a drink

Tug at Stokes Wharf

The Navy was in town

Enjoying our ride

Cullen Bay Marina

East Arm Wharf

Sunset at Casuarina Beach (bonfire on rhs)

Ready for the fireworks

Photo's just didn't capture it well enough

Rob & I are slowly working our way through the list of things we want to see & do here, unfortunately there is always something else we hear about that gets added.  One thing that was on the list was Charles Darwin National Park - which is only 10 minutes from the centre of Darwin.  We arrived there on a lovely Sunday morning and one of the first things we noticed was a small sign saying "Biting insects".  Well we've not seen a sign more accurate!  We would have only been out of the car for 10 minutes and both covered in bites.  Beautiful view looking back at Darwin itself but won't be going back there to do the walks. 

View from Charles Darwin Nat Park

We also visited Burnett House, the only surviving example of B.C.G. Burnett's Type K  design (for tropical conditions) - unusual in being of two-storey configuration.  Built in 1938, the house survived the bombing of Darwin in WWII with only minor damage, only to sustain damage by Cyclone Tracy in 1974.  It has since been restored by the National Heritage Trust.  We couldn't find them but apparently there are bullet holes in the front fence and Fragments of a bomb in the garden from WWII.

Burnett house - bedroom upstairs

Burnett house - sitting room upstairs

Bedroom 2

Front view - Burnett House

The Main living area & Kitchen were downstairs and feature a beautiful cement design in the flooring.  It has a unique form of louvers with patterning by casements windows.  With the roof steeply pitched and a ridge vent at the top to allow air to circulate from open eaves through the ceiling space and out of the ridge.  The internal room doors upstairs are like swinging barn doors (3/4 height) to allow airflow go under and above them through the rooms - a really great idea.

Casuarina Beach

Croc trap at inlet to Casuarina Beach

No Surf today!!

Apparently stinger season is over at present and we are starting to see a few people swimming in the bay - however on our walk  on Sunday we came across this Croc trap - Think we will stick with the pool!!