Tripping Over: The Griswalds come to Darwin- Litchfield & Adelaide River

We were happy to have the Griswalds come visit us in Darwin, the first time we had seen them in over 3 months.

We had a very nice buffet breakfast at the casino, only $15 each for all you can eat!

We also managed to nab some small boxes of cereals and some spreads to add to our caravan collection, you can say we definitely made the most of our $15!

After brekkie the first thing we did was make the most of the mantra resort pool!

The family got to Darwin at 6am and were a bit stuffed after not having much of a sleep on the plane, so you could imagine they weren't too happy when told the rooms wouldn't be ready until 12pm and then it changed to 2pm, even after 2pm Sharne and Aman's room was still not ready so they were upgraded to a better suite with a lounge, kitchen and balcony, poor Mum and Dad ended up in a stock standard room, would not recommend the Mantra on the Esplanade to anyone, plenty of other great places like the Holiday Inn (right Dad ;) ).

11:30am and on the beers already! Go Kazza!

Mum was outdone by Sharne and Aman, who both ordered cocktails!

Yummy!

We had to go to the Mindil beach markets of course, much to Brenton's disgust, I had talked up the salt and pepper barramundi to Dad and believe it or not out of the six times we had already been to the markets and had it, they had none the night the griswalds came to town!!

Sharne buying bathers from a bloke who called her 'curvy' !

Browsing the markets

No real sunset this night due to the cloud cover.

The boy's discussing how much they were over the market after being there for half an hour.

The next day we headed to Litchfield National Park ( about an hour and a half from Darwin) and waited patiently for Dad to pick us up in the spaceship he had hired, otherwise known as a Tarago, you think we made it obvious enough standing there with our thumbs out, but they still managed to miss us and pull up at a screaming pace at the very last minute!

Anyone??

The 'big mud rock' as Aman referred to it (otherwise known as a termite mound).

Our first stop after the giant termite mound was 'buley rockhole' , only a five minute walk from the car park and a great place to go for a refreshing swim. The water is extremely clear here and you can see all the tiny fish swimming around.

Dad even managed to coax all of us, except Mum to swim further down the stream that was there, it was very creepy and we were holding our breath, hoping we would not bump into Mr Freshwater crocodile or a snake like Dad had seen last time they were there, I think Dad was the only one holding his breath hoping he would see either of these creatures. All you could hear was our little screams each time something brushed our leg.

I packed my self a tad when I saw a water monitor swim across in front of me as I was following Aman and us girls decided we were happy where we were and waited for the boys on a little waterfall.

On the way back to rockhole Dad managed to catch a water monitor and gave us all a closer look, the water proof camera was not working that day so everyone will have to take our word for it!

A crazy looking bunch!

Even Mum ventured into the water, critters and all!

The second swimming spot was 'Florence Fall's' and to get here you have to walk down about 300 stairs and through a bit of a bush track.

A view from the top of the stairs.

Again beautiful clear water, a lot deeper than the last spot.

Mum on the walk to the falls.

There were a heap of fish at this spot and Brenton decided to feed them some biscuits.

Then he realised everyone was throwing food in near his man bits, hoping to get a funniest home video!

Much to our disappointment and Brent's relief there were no bites.

Then Dad jumped in and caught a fish the old school way.

Ahhh...the one that got away.

Not that I have any pics but Mum even made an appearance in this rockhole, very impressive, especially if you know how scared she is of all creatures great and small (mainly small spiders!)

The last stop was 'Wangi falls' the largest and most open swimming spot of all, they say there are freshwater crocs in here and after wet season they have even found saltwater crocs, but no one seemed to phased by it and the boy's even swam out to the waterfall, whilst Mum, Megan and I took the pictures.

Not a great zoom on this camera.

Some of the orb spiders on the viewing platform.

A closer look at these handsome fella's.

A few Emu's we spotted on the way home, just before a few wallabies jumped out in front of the car giving us all a heart
attack!!

After a long day of swimming at Litchfield we were off to have some dinner at Cafe' Uno, an Italian restaurant on Mitchell Street, let's just say Darwin's probably not the best place to eat Italian food, try seafood instead!

Living it up in Sharne and Aman's swank hotel room.

Then it was off to have a few drinks.

A nice pic of the lad's.

Having a dance off to poker face!

We weren't out too late as the next day we were off to Adelaide River to see the jumping croc show, only about 45 minutes from Darwin.

Meeting a few of the locals before we got on board.

Another olive python, a new pet perhaps?

First bite of the day! Apparently there is about 10,000 crocs in this river!

Top deck for the best views!

They tie the meat to the line and splash it around to attract them.

They don't always guarantee that you will see a croc, but we saw plenty!!

Remember this pic when your in a small boat in croc infested waters.

At one stage there was even a fight for the meat between a small female and a massive male!

They also show you some of the local bird life by throwing some meat into the air.

Look at those teeth! A great show for $35.

Is it just me or is he smiling??

A huge bird which I am going to say is a sea eagle, I think that's what he said it was?

Our spaceship that Mum and Dad hired.

After the croc show was over the family came back to our lovely little house for a cuppa, we were sitting on eskie's and crates because we only have chair for each of us!

The boy's getting (needing) some fishing tips from the locals!

Then it was off to the wharf for dinner, lot's of different stores selling seafood at a bargain price, you can even feed some of it to the huge fish that hang around in the water's below, yes, fish eating fish, cannibals!

More swimming at the pool.

We had breakfast at the Duck's Nuts on Sunday morning.

Mum and I had a delicious meal, unfortunately they stuffed Aman's and Dad's up, Dad ordered toast that was really bread with a line on it, and Aman got a nice juicy hair in his! Have to thank Aman for his generosity as he shouted!