Down Under Darwin

 Decisions made early , we'll head to Darwin via Palmerston , we are getting the ute serviced next Tuesday at 7:30 , so we need to know how long it takes to get there - 25 mins as it happens . There is also some mail there waiting to be picked up .
 After finding where we need to go , we drive back out toward Darwin , there was a sign further out pointing to the left for Darwin , so we took it - presuming we were on the Stuart Hwy ! Another 10 mins and we found ourselves in Darwin - right in the middle !!! , we found the information centre and parked - $2.50 for an hour . We wandered down The Mall , thinking that this isn't as busy as Wollongong is on a quiet day !!
 Walking around the block , there is the Old Town Hall ruins , Supreme Court , Parliament House and NT Library , Administration Buildings and across the road , Government House .

Parliament House & Library

Unbeknown to us , there is also something below us .
 We walked past Government House and up to a covered walkway , on the way , there is a covered monument to the fallen - all about those who lost their lives in the bombing of Darwin . Darwin had 64 separate air raids by the Japanese in 1942 - more bombs were dropped on Darwin , than on Pearl Harbour !!!!! Ships , wharves , fuel tanks & buildings were all damaged or totally ruined . Civilians & armed forces were killed in the 1st two air raids .
 As a result of the air raids , a decision was made to build tunnels under the escarpment above the harbour to store fuel in , they built 11 tunnels with concrete outer and steel lined inner . You can walk through into one of them , and see into another , there are story boards on the walls informing you of all the relevant facts , and a time line section about Darwin .

 Back to the ute and tried to drive down the Esplanade - road works - they were digging up one lane , so it was one way traffic only - not our way of course !! Driving on , we found Cullen Bay - with multi storey living & a marina - not for your average income !! We kept going around to Mindil Beach and found a seat in the shade to sit and have some lunch , we were between the beach and the grass area where they have the markets on Thursday night and Sundays . 

  We kept driving after lunch finding the Museum and Art Gallery of NT , the Darwin Ski Club and Darwin Trailer Boat Club at Vesteys Beach .

Vesteys Beach looking at East Point

 We continued around to East Point , where the Military Museum is . There are bike tracks that travel the full length of Fannie Bay , from east Point to Cullen Bay - that will be for another day . Stopping at Dudley Point , the rock formations were different , with white crumbly sandstone - chalk white !! The views back toward Darwin were great .

 It was hot again with the temperature hitting 33 degrees , so we headed for the hills - at least Palmerston to get our mail , well half of it anyway , as the other letter hadn't arrived yet . Then we did some shopping for some things we couldn't get yesterday or forgot to get , before heading back to the park for a swim & a cold drink .

  Todays map link :-https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=z1G8gwwxwyYo.ksj4hS-hmCLQ&usp=sharing