We had hung around in Darwin for quite a bit longer than we had originally intended, then stayed another couple of days to celebrate Territory Day on the 1st July. Back to Mindil Beach, with Mike and Peggy for our last night and the fireworks. 
The public can buy fireworks for the one day of the year and they set them off everywhere, however this was the official display, and was a lot better than we had anticipated.
To say we left on a bang would be an understatement!!!!!!
The yearly bath for a group of the onboard kids....poor buggers! Clarence, Bunny and Ted all had to hang around for a few days to dry out...ah the humidity!!!
Darwin has just opened a Wave Pool. This pool has 25 wave types and is a big hit with the locals and visitors alike....just $8 a day, or you can swim on a man made beach and watch for nothing....no crocs or stingers here!!!
Graham (see friends on last post) has progressed from vintage cars to vintage warbirds. We had the fantastic opportunity to go out and see his Corsair and he kindly invited Bassie along (he was up in Darwin for the week). This plane was in service up until the Korean War and there are very few restored and flying examples in the world. 
The project has already been 13 years long, and the detail restoration is unbelievable....the time frame is still 2/3 years to go, with the propeller and engine due to arrive in Darwin sometime in August/September.
Nobby, the guy doing the restoration, also kept crocodiles....this little fellow died some time ago...so Nobby froze him...cute but cold!! You can buy these critters for about $250 each, when they get to 60 centimeters they are not allowed to be kept as pets...but they will not take them back.....wonder what they do with them...only in Darwin!! Thanks Graham, much appreciated.
This blog is dedicated to some of the friends that we have made and some that we have caught up with since our arrival in Darwin.....thanks Guys and Girls for all your support (especially with the small scare, biopsy all clear, thank God). This is Richard at the Wharf...good tucker!
Bring a pot night....from left to right...Sandra, Peggy, Mike, Richard and of course me...that was a good Happy Hour and good food too!
Just after we got the good news...if you can't tell we were over the moon!
16th Floor apartment in Darwin, old friend of Stephen's, on the right Graham, Mary-Louise, Sarah, Stephen, Kerry and me...again good tucker, especially as we were not expected!
Our next door neighbours at the Darwin Caravan park at Lee Point, Greg and his visiting wife Cathy from Brisbane...and of course Peggy and Mike.
Fogg Dam has been visited twice now as it is a Twitchers Heaven...with some of the best wetlands that we have seen so far, though Parry Lagoon cames in a close second... This is the little Kingfisher that was just in the lookout area along with many other small birds...but what was so special was the vast array of Wetland birds on the dam area.
Magpie Geese coming in over the reeds.
Rajah Sheldrake and Cattle Egret, who looks like he is about to be booted up the bum!!
One of Stephen's favourites, the Royal Spoonbill, three actually.
The Jumping Crocodile, on the Adelaide River, was an experience!!!!! These massive creatures are a sight to behold. May I introduce you to Geoffrey, all 5.5 metres of him, who was patiently waiting by the boat for his lunch time snack!!
Here Morgan feed Geoffrey, with no more than a quarter of his length out of the water.. 
In the turbid water you can see why you cannot see them...they also have a heatbeat rate of one per three minutes when resting...this means they can stay waiting for you...under you...for up to an hour....no swimming here.....ever....or fishing....ever!!!!!
The boat trip was an hour and a half and included some fantastic bird antics, with Whistling Kite and the White Breasted Sea Eagle coming down to feed almost from Morgans hands. 
This is a very poor showing of what was a fascinating day at the Museum and Art Gallery of NT. We saw so much but in the lighting and with the camera restrictions we only got this shot. They had many displays of interest, including Natural History, Cyclone Tracy, Aboriginal Artifacts and much more. They also had a huge display of boats, both large and very small, that had been used to travel the seas hear abouts over the centuries.
On another day we went to the Aviation Heritage Museum, on our arrival we managed to time it to the take off of a squadron of F18's...awesome! By the time one was just visible on the horizon the next slammed past us. This Museum is dedicated to the history of Darwin's association with the aeroplane. Blow this up and red it...another of the many history lessons that we are having.
I am standing beside a Mirage which is situated under the motherly wing of the giant B52. You can understand why they are called BUFF (Big Ugly Fat F....r's). This huge bomber was given to Darwin when the Yanks left town...they had been based here at one time. We watched a movie on the plane while sitting in the bomb bay! 
There was a jet motor in here once and now you can see straight through to ME! Among the other displays were a huge collection of plane engines that went from the very early war birds to present day. They also had the pioneers of the air, with the flight details of the first women to fly from London to Australia and some of the race details of the races from London to Melbourne.
This, would you believe is the bush/shrub area just outside the caravan park....volunteers were having a burn off and to our mind it got a little to close...the poor devils that were parked in that area were all hosing down awnings etc. to stop them caching alight...
This one was actually in Kathrine..we were heading for the shopping centre when we spied this group of mad people...yes that stuff on the roof was slipping to one side...but they still put on more...we also counted 7 people for the trip...and they were going on dirt roads...glad we were not following them!!!!!!!
We have seen many types of vans etc on our trip (some of which I have posted before) but we could not resist this one...the ute tray was now a campervan and did not appear to be removable....note the heart shape on the front...put's a new slant on the Love Bug!!!!!!
An old one but a good one..this guy at Mindil Beach..it reads "Life is full of Important Choices". I think he had made enough choices for one day!
