Blog for in Darwin

Friday (March 16) arrived with little fanfare in Darwin and set up our
stay at the most pleasant Marina View Apartments in Cullen Bay. The
view of the boats in the marina below, along with daily beautiful
sunsets, made it all the more worthwhile. We also spent the first day
and Saturday in amongst the three pools the complex has.

On Saturday we went to the Botanical Gardens. There we spent time going
through the rainforest and checking out all the amazingly large spider
webs and associated spiders. Logan showed his first of many clumsy
maneuvers by balancing on the edge of a bridge, and then subsequently
falling over the side. We enjoyed pretending there were dinosaurs in
the jungle. Also, at the end was a large treehouse playground that was
built around the huge tree. Both kids loved going up to the top of it.

On Sunday we headed off to the beach, but upon arrival, noticed the
forbidding signs warning of NO SWIMMING at this time of year,
predominantly because of the lethal box jellyfish. Besides, it had just
started raining and so we quickly moved to plan B and stopped at the
large hangar of the Australian Aviation Heritage Centre to check out
Logan's favorite thing, real live full-size planes, helicopters, and
jets. They managed to even fit an entire B-52 bomber in the thing.
Afterwards the rain had subsided and we moved along to a fun water
playground, with shallow pools perfect for Delenn and a water playground
with slides and water cannons for Logan.

On Monday Dad took Logan and Delenn off to the East Point Military
Museum. Mom had had a rough night with Delenn and so she was left at
home to try and veg. Along the way Logan spotted a couple of soldiers
in uniform, carrying guns. He commented to us that they were off to
shoot chickens so they could cook and eat the chickens as the soldiers
were very hungry. At the museum we saw various guns, artillery,
munitions, cannons, along with the full-sized ones. The museum's
primary focus was on pointing out how much Darwin was involved in WWII,
and how it endured 2 years of massive air raids and bombings that
covered most of present day Darwin. Logan's favorite item was the huge
150 ton 9.2 inch Gun Emplacement. We had to go through a tunnel and up
some steps to get to it. Delenn's favorite thing was also there, only
it was a bit different. At the top of the gun emplacement we could see
some horses grazing in the field next door. On the way out the door
Logan spotted an old bomb. He proclaimed with much fervor, "I predicted
I would see a bomb!" After the museum, and an ice cream we all shared,
we set off for the nearby playground next to Lake Alexander. We didn't
go swimming as there was no real shade coverage and the heat and
humidity was quite overwhelming. At least the playground was covered
with a giant sunshade, and we were able to eat our lunch somewhat
pleasantly even though Dad's undies were completely sweated through.
At the end the kids were fried and ready for a break in the
air-conditioned apartment.

On Tuesday we went to the Territory Wildlife Park, the sister park to
the Desert Park we frequent down in Alice. Once again it was very hot
and humid when we arrived, and we proceeded to walk a good chunk of the
6 kilometers around the exhibits (only taking two short hops on the free
shuttle tram). Along the way, during the billabong expedition, Liesl
got attacked by a leech. It creeped her out to such an extent that she
quickly disrobed down to her skivvies to ensure no more were on her.
Dad and Delenn thought they'd evaded the evil little things too. Only
while in the nocturnal house did Dad suddenly feel something on his foot
under his sandal straps. Sure enough, two leeches were having their way
in a bloodsucking bonanza. Once outside, one more was found on the
backside of Delenn's right leg, just under her knee. It was a tough one
as it had latched on good and hard. When we finally removed it blood
was sufficiently dripping out of Delenn's meager frame that we summoned
a band-aid from the close-by first aid station. Some alcohol and
blood-curdling screams from the little one (which sent park rangers
running to help) and all was well again.
Once again, another full day for the kids and they were completely
zonked out for 3 hours on the drive back after.

On Wednesday we went to 'Aquascene' in which we get to feed bread to the
hordes of mullet fish (and some barramundi) that come in during the high
tide. The kids loved reaching down and petting and feeding the bread to
the teethless fish. Within a few minutes we had our feet soaking on one
of the concrete steps with fish pouring themselves all over and around
us to get at the bread. Logan misstepped (or hadn't noticed that there
was no step where he placed his foot) and he suddenly was completely
submerged amongst all the fish. Mom quickly grabbed him and pulled him
out (this boy can't stay close to water without falling in!) Later at
another location of the fish feeding there was a sign that said "No
standing or playing near rock", primarily because that's where the
stingray and larger fish tend to commune. Mom and Dad read the sign to
Logan when he started to get on to it. Even the official who was
narrating about the fish and how to feed them commented on how we should
not be too close to the rock. So Dad and Mom picked Delenn up and told
Logan to come along away from the area. We turned our backs on the boy
for one second, then heard someone call out and we quickly about-faced
towards Logan again, and there he was having had fallen in to the water
next to the rock and the stingrays! It's not as if he's doing it on
purpose... he's just clumsy or something in that he had turned to come
along and then he fell in the water backwards! After 'Aquascene' we
headed over to the Darwin Art and Science museum where we saw many
interesting exhibits of birds, fish, dinosaurs, and earthly discovery
wonders that kids were allowed to play with.

Delenn has been using words more and more, like Uh-oh, and NNnnnnooooooo
(a cute long No), and she has her own similar sounding way of saying
"There it is" but no one other than us would know what it meant. Delenn
and Daddy had a cute time together as she discovered how to say "knee."
She'd point to her knee and Daddy's knee and Logan's knee saying her new
word each time. Then she did the same for "toe."

On Thursday we went about 150 kilometers out of town to the much loved
Litchfield National Park (the preferred park for many compared to the
more-oft mentioned and acclaimed Kakadu National Park). We went to the
Wangi Falls, but were saddened that it was closed for swimming as both
fresh water and salt water crocodiles were known to be in the area.
Then we went to Florence Falls, which were also almost just as
spectacular. After a long set of steps down to the waterhole area, we
all hopped in the nice warm water. It was a rainy day and the rocks
were all pretty wet and precarious, so we really had to be careful.
Also, the current was a bit swift in certain areas so each parent really
had to hold on to the kids in some areas. Once again, Logan proved that
his listening and agility skills needed improvement when he disobeyed
Dad and left his side, only to be blown down a small waterfall ledge of
a couple of feet into the lower waterhole below. Liesl was down there
along with another man who was nice enough to stop Logan from descending
down further stream. On the way back up the many steps, Daddy carried a
very tired Logan. At the very top Logan said to Daddy, "You're so
patient with me." Daddy had to keep himself from chuckling out loud.

Towards the end of our week in Darwin, Delenn started to jump into the
pool on her own. The scary thing was, she would walk quickly down the
side of the pool with Mom chasing after as best she could in the water.
Then Delenn would jump off into the water (whether or not Mom was
ready!). It was great to see Delenn with so much confidence in the
pool. Logan had a hard time in the pool as he spent so much time in
there, his eyes burned from the salt water. We kept telling him to keep
his eyes shut, but to no avail.

One evening, Mommy and Delenn getting ready for bed. Mommy asked Delenn
what her doll's name was. Is it Jan? Delenn said no. Then Mommy went
through about 50 names with Delenn saying No, No, No each time. Finally
after many names, Delenn nodded when "Rebecca" was mentioned! So, her
new little doll from Grams and Gramps is named Rebecca.

All in all we had a wonderful, relaxing week in Darwin.

About midweek while we were in Darwin, Logan said he didn't want to
return to Alice Springs. When we talked to him a bit more about it, he
told us he did not want to go to Nana Kath's. He was quite worried about
it and even cried. So, upon our return, we decided not to have Logan
return to Nana Kath's house on Tuesdays. He has been very relieved and
often says at random moments, "I don't have to go to Nana Kath's any
more. I am a homeschooler." (We've been talking a lot about
homeschooling because Liesl went to a national home schooling conference.)