A Weekend In and Out of Darwin – A Guest Post by the Dadventurer (AKA – Greg)

With this latest guest post, we are heading over to the other side of the world…the other side of the world if you are in the UK and Europe! If you are in Sydney…well, erm…then, you are still a good flight away! No matter, you are in safe hands as my old friend, former colleague, British expat and some time lookalike, Greg, takes you on a tour of his home for the past 6 years – Darwin! Greg is a passionate traveller and combines this love of travel by writing about these adventures with his lovely wife, Laura, and their two adorable kids at Dadventurer. The website is all about Greg’s adventures as a father and his family’s growth through the experiences he shares with his fans of travels in the outback of the Northern Territory of Australia to Indonesia and all the trials, tribulations and utter joy that travelling with children can bring!

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Note for Pulped Travel Readers: I’ve been trying to get something “Pulped Travel Worthy” written down for ages and with the dry season looming I feel inspired to get out exploring in the territory once again. My normal voice is that of a dad adventuring with his family – bet you couldn’t tell from the name! But on this occasion I don’t think my voice would be any different for Pulped Travel. It’s not like my monologue is littered with dad based puns or anything – well, it totally is but don’t let that put you off! I think all you need to do is whenever I mention the kids, replace them in your mind with your travel companions. Whether that means family, friends – hell, you might even be travelling with folks who need as much looking after as our kids do! We don’t travel differently with our kids than we would have before them really – we just find a safe way to get them access to our adventures. The adventures I talk about here are things our kids love but also things we loved as travellers before the kids came along. Enjoy our territory!

It’s been six years since Laura and I arrived in the Northern Territory of Australia and we’re still hooked on the lifestyle. We’re proud that the kids were born here and we love the outdoorsy, adventurous lifestyle they’ll be brought up with. We’ve seen a few people pass through Darwin for a weekend and leave pretty underwhelmed. I think that’s because they’ve done it wrong! You see, the real charm with Darwin is just how easy it is to get out of Darwin. There’s nothing between you and the great outdoors…no traffic, no distance just a gateway to adventure. For a young family like ours it’s perfect. Everything is kid friendly and there’s so much to see and do you can’t help but be entertained.

There’s a couple of things you really need to see if you’re heading to Darwin…crocodiles and waterfalls. Miss either of these and you’ve really stuffed it…yeah, yeah, there’s the city centre and surrounds, the markets, heaps of places to watch the best sunset you’ve ever seen, miles of unspoilt and empty beaches, a great wildlife park, a surprising and growing foodie culture and a couple of decent museums. Fit them in where you can…but make sure you swim in a waterfall and see a crocodile – preferably on 2 separate occasions!

Now, I get it…there’s a time and a place for Dadventure (yeah, it can be a verb!) and there’s a time to just kick back and relax and enjoy. I ain’t going to judge, I’m just going to make sure you see Darwin whichever mood you and your family happen to be in. For each Darwin experience I’m going to give you 3 options; a.) ‘Chillin’ with the Fam‘ option for if you’re in a kicking back with your kids kinda mood, b.) ‘The stanDAD‘ option for if you want to get the standard Darwin adventure experience and c.) ‘The Dadventurer‘ option for if you really want to go for it. Now I want to be very clear…there is no snobbery in these options, no judgement – do what you want. We’ve done and enjoyed them all at different times.

EXPERIENCE 1 – The Estuarine (Saltwater) Crocodile
They’re bloody everywhere. And there’s a few ways to see them. We kind of think there’s nothing more special than seeing them in the wild, where they should be. Obviously, this needs to be done safely (or they might actually eat you!) There’s plenty of places to do that and there’s a real easy city option, with an extra ‘dadventurer’, if you’re short of time or energy.

a.) Chillin’ with the Fam: Crocosaurus Cove
On the infamous Mitchell Street (Have you seen the TV show ‘Territory Cops’?!) in the middle of the city centre is Crocosaurus Cove, a small but pretty decent zoo (zoo? well, like the aquarium and the reptile house of a zoo…there are no lions or anything!) You can see some BIG crocs up close – realizing just how bitesize the kids or even us adults are, little crocs even closer and even go fishing for crocs and make them dance for their dinner. You can pet a snake or lizard, hold a baby croc for a photo ($) or jump in the infamous Cage of Death ($$$) and get dunked into a few croc tanks while the 5 metre monsters are having lunch! The fish feeding is great – the boofing barra, squirting archer fish and weird sword fish put on a decent show for the tourists. The kids love to see the animals up close and get underneath the big crocs in the aquarium. All in all, it’s a great half day in and out of air con and is very easy to access. ($35 adults, $23 kids and $0 for under 3s)

: (source – Dadventurer)

: (source – Dadventurer)

: (source – Dadventurer)

b.) The StanDAD: Adelaide River Jumping Croc Cruise
You don’t have to go far from Darwin to see some crocs in their own back yard – about an hour’s drive in fact. And, this is a totally different experience. Our kids love getting out and about in the territory and the drive out to the Adelaide River through the wetlands is pretty cool. Once you get on the boat you’ll be seeing crocs pretty quickly, the driver and the guide on the boat will pull up alongside a few crocs and get them to jump out of the water (almost fully out of the water!) to earn their feed. You WILL see crocodiles; probably big ones. And their jump out of the water will let you really appreciate the size of some of these monsters as you measure just how many times the kids (or even the adults) would fit inside the monsters! As a pretty cool bonus, you’ll get up close to some of the Northern Territory birds of prey as the kites and eagles swoop in to score a feed from the boat – our kids cannot get enough of them! ($45 adults, $30 kids and $0 under 3s for a 1 hour tour)

c.) The Dadventurer: Corroboree Billabong Boat Hire with Mary River Houseboats
We find an excuse to do this (with Mary River Houseboats) every time we have someone to show round. Driving the boat yourself gives you an extra layer of adventure and control but there’s plenty of advice and assistance from the guys who run the boats. It’s a massive billabong to explore and you’ll see crocs, jabirus, kites, turtles, fish (if you’re lucky!) and a heap of other animals. You can fish for barramundi, animal watch and explore some truly incredible scenery and take control as the Dadventurer you truly are. There’s a range of boats to hire but the 6-person or 10-person BBQ pontoons are what I’d go for. They’re a bit slow but there’s lots of shade, nice tall sides to keep your kids safe, and plenty of room to move around. Letting the kids roam the boats (with very keen supervision) will help them enjoy the tour and not feel too trapped. ($150 – $220 for a half-day on the water)

EXPERIENCE 2 – Litchfield National Park
Litchfield National Park. Old friend, trusty welcomer of tourists, Darwin’s swimming pool. It’s a great little (by Aussie standards) national park an hour and a half from Darwin with awesome options for a hike, a swim or a sight-see. Easily accessible water holes like Wangi, Florence and Buley are great for a swim and to chuck the kids in – watch out for the water monitors that are happy to swim along with you! A little walk will give you a bit of a more peaceful time at Cascade or Greenant but driving through a river will take you away from the tourists all together. There’s the magnetic termite mounds, tabletop swamp and Tolmer Falls to look at while you dry off.

a.) Chillin’ with the Fam: Litchfield Park Tour
If you want to kick back, relax and let someone who’s paid to drive you around drive you around you can book a tour. You’ll see all the main attractions, swim in the most popular spots, laugh at the inevitably hilarious tour guide’s jokes. You can’t go wrong really – the waterholes are great, the scenery is great, it’ll be brilliant! You’ll have plenty of time to talk to the kids about what you’re seeing and the kids should be able to see out of the window easily enough to enjoy the drive. (1 day tour from $90 each – with lots of options around)

b.) StanDAD: Litchfield Self-Drive
I prefer to wing it… My wife describes this differently and say that I just don’t like to plan. But, it’s more than that; travel is exercising our freedom and I feel a bit locked in on a tour. When we go to Litchfield I like to keep the options open and if we find a spot we really enjoy then we’ll stick there for a while, let the kids play and let their hair down. It’s not about seeing and “ticking off” each waterfall, sight or walk. It’s just about enjoying the National Park as much as possible. If you only see one or two spots then you’re just leaving the others for when you next visit! The car hire/self drive gives you the option to find a spot to swim and play, eat and relax or equally, if the kids are sleeping you can skip a stop or two and save your energy for wake up time! You might not be fussed about a particular termite mound, swamp, waterfall or other sight so you can prioritize something else instead – easy to do as everything is clearly signposted in the park. (Car hire from about $60 per day. Top Tip! Watch our for limited km deals!)

c.) Dadventurer: Litchfield 4×4 Self-Drive
The 4WD tracks in Litchfield National Park that give you access to some of the more secluded spots. You’ll find that, in the dry season, crossing water is the key to finding an uncrowded spot and there are some stunning spots accessible after the rains have gone. The Southern Access Track to Surprise Falls is a stunning drive crossing the Reynolds River (about 5 times) and Surprise is a great spot to swim and jump in. Tracks are well marked and there’s plenty to see and do on the way if the kids get bored or need a break from their booster seat! If you have some 4×4 experience it is well worth it, but take it easy and don’t cross water if you’re not sure you can get through. Wait and watch someone first if you’re not convinced.

EXPERIENCE 3 – Long Weekend Bonus: Camping at Litchfield National Park
If you’ve timed this cleverly and don’t have to get back to work/school/airport on Monday morning it would be a perfect chance to wake up in the National Park and see the sun set and then rise somewhere cool, wouldn’t it?! There’s options for each level of adventure you’ve set out to Litchfield with so here goes…

a.) Chillin’ with the Fam: Litchfield Park Cabins
There’s some great little cabins here that will fit a family or group of travellers in and it’s right on the way in to Litchfield. It’ll leave you with a 10 minute drive in the morning to beat the tourists, tour buses and locals to a nice quiet swim.

b.) StanDAD: 2WD Camp Grounds
There are 2WD campgrounds that are just great. They have plenty of shade and some basic facilities. The unspoilt stars above you, the short walk to your own private waterfall (at least until the tourist buses rock up!) and the surprisingly cool sleeping conditions are all stunning. They can get busy so get there in good time to set up camp.

c.) Dadventurer: 4WD Camp Grounds
The 4WD bush campgrounds are the next level Northern Territory experience. They have fire pits to cook on, plenty of shade and room enough to camp away from someone else’s tent doorstep. As always, crossing a river will buy you some peace and space. With less people around you get a more authentically wild experience. Check ahead if you or the kids are fussy – facilities are either basic or nonexistent. Sandy Creek and Florence Falls have particularly good camp grounds.

THE DARWIN EXTRAS
Try to fit these in around the crocs and waterfalls wherever you can:

i) Sunset – Heaps of options including Darwin Museum/Ski club, East Point Reserve, Waterfront, Mindil Beach Market (Sunday/Thursday evening only).

ii) Local Markets – The best stop en route out of the city for a breakfast or supplies for the road trip. Parap, Nightcliffe or Fred’s Pass. Highly recommend the Vietnamese pork rolls, paw paw salad, crepes and the fresh juices. Mindil Beach Market for a sunset feed en route back to the hotel.

iii) Wildlife Park – Yep, there is one and it’s good. Great for a half day and a good shady walk for those still pram bound.

iv) Museums – War and Regular – War is great if you’re into that kind of thing! The Darwin Museum gives a good overview of the place and is free.

If you need any more information about Darwin and the region Tourism Northern Territory has tons of information.

And, when should you visit…well, with a tropical climate from December to March; with associated monsoon rains and hot, humid weather, the dry season (running from May to September) is the perfect time to visit The Top End or as we call it “The territory”. It’s freezing and miserable everywhere else in Australia and the European summer’s coming to an end. So, here’s hoping we’ll see you up North!