Thurs 15 Aug 2013 – Kakadu to Darwin and the undies experience

Early morning swim in the pool at the Aurora Kakadu Resort at Gungarre.  This place is very beautiful and very reasonably priced ($14.50 per adult for a powered site) and so much room around us when camping. 

We decided that as the Gungarre billabong was only 5mins walk from the campground we could spare the time – well what a great surprise to see the billabong with lots of water lilies and surrounded by lovely trees. They had even gone to the effort of making a croc proof fence walkway out from the shore into the billabong on pontoons to get a better view.  This was such a difference from yesterday with the disappointment of the Red Lily and Bucket billabongs.

Drove in to Darwin and checked out the Visitor’s Centre – lots of good information and brochures and maps – found ourselves a camping area on the internet (Discovery - close to the city just off the Stuart Highway on Farrell Cres Winnellie $42 per night powered – rip off but so are all the others in the city and are more expensive at $49.  Evidently many illegal campers have been fined around the city – much worse than Sydney.

Found out that the markets were on at Mindil Beach, so headed off for an experience.  Lots of food sellers from every nationality.  Mel had Indian and I went Hong Kong Chinese takeaway which we then took up onto the beach to eat while viewing the sunset and listening to live Peruvian pipe music – sunsets are really beautiful in NT.

There was also entertainment consisting of a blues band, fire jugglers and street theatre comedians/acrobats.  The craft markets produced some interesting finds including a guy who reuses old truck canvas, tyres and tubes to make hats, bags and wallets.

We enjoyed desert of chilled fruit salad while we watched the last set of the band, then off home after a great night out – like a combined market and folkfest says Mel.

When we got back to the camping ground we realised that, in our rush to leave for the markets, we had forgotten to remove our underwear that we were drying on the bull bar’s driving lights – miraculously they had survived the journey and dried nicely!