With Sandy we revisited Litchfield National Park over the last long weekend of the year celebrating Picnic Day when the Darwin Cup is held. We stayed in an AirBnB place owned by one of the families at Alawa School. It is listed as Litchfield Holiday House and was built in the 80's as Defence Housing for the RAAF in Darwin, then relocated to this block only 7 kms from Wangi Falls. It uses solar power and is connected to the NBN by satellite. There are many of these for sale in Darwin and the cost includes relocation, I keep thinking this would be the perfect solution for Adrian to get out of rentals. Each day we went bird watching in the mornings around the block then explored the waterholes in the afternoons. On Saturday it was the Upper pool at The Cascades where the dip in the pool was an appropriate reward for the challenging walk in.
On Sunday we all enjoyed Wangi Falls together and Eric did the loop walk which took him up over the top of the cliff face and back.
Then in the afternoon the two of us enjoyed a wander into the Walker Creek area which has a walking trail that loosely follows the creek. Every now and then you come to a turn off with a sign saying "Camp Site 1" (or 2, 3...). In all there are eight sites along nearly two kilometres of trail. The sites are clearings beside a cascading waterhole equipped with a big table, a wood fired barbecue plate and enough flat ground to put up a couple of mozzie domes. These have to be booked back at the carpark so that means the waterhole is yours alone, a great way to avoid the crowds at Wangi but you do have to carry everything in. We must come back one day and spend a night under the stars and fall asleep to the sound of water falling into the pool.
On the way back to Litchfield Holiday House we dropped in to visit Kokie and ian at Woolaning School. Turns out they know the owners of our place as they had lived out here for a year while they established the place and the children attended this school.
Festival Fever descended on Darwin for the next 3 weeks. We enjoyed a number of shows and milling about in Festival Park in the evenings soaking up the undercurrent colours, flavours and sounds.
We watched Penny Arcade do her one woman 'Longing Lasts Longer' show which saw her reflecting on her journey through the decades with a different twist to the usual 'good old days' viewpoint, but all with good humour. We also saw a Malaysian comedian, Kuah Jenhan, who talked about his difficult upbringing with a traditional Chinese father and 'A Prudent Man' more comedy but this time with a political twist exploring what it means to be right! Apart from a few artists performing in the Festival Park we also saw Clairy Browne's R 'n' B concert in the Lighthouse.
The highlight for us though was 'Blanc de Blanc' in the Spiegeltent on Parliament Lawns. The show was described as "An amazing, decadent, debaucherous world that draws you in, performed by some of the most talented cabaret performers in the world. It started out smooth and sophisticated but soon transformed into what felt like like a crazy nightclub where you’re immersed in a glass of Champagne and by the end, the audience feels a bit intoxicated by the energy." I couldn't describe it more aptly. We had such fun and really enjoyed the experience of being seated in a spiegeltent for the first time.
A European spiegeltent has been used as a travelling dance hall and wine tasting marquee since the early 20th century and used to be the number one attraction at the Belgian funfairs as the ultimate cabaret and music salon. The spiegeltent is a hand-hewn pavilion built from wood, cut mirrors, canvas, leaded glass, and detailed in velvet brocade. Each spiegeltent has its own style, personality, and name. There are only a handful of these special spiegeltents left in the world and the Aurora is one of the finest. Somewhat more polished than the pallet furniture and bar in the park, but that all works well too.
By the end of August we had also visited the Indigenous Art Fair at the Convention Centre and the Telstra Indigenous Art Awards had been held at the Gallery. Yve and John took to the road heading south east but before they left we had more Wednesday evenings Drinkin at Brinkin and a farewell dinner with them at Cullen Bay eating fish and chips on the lawns.
If all that didn't make August a busy month I also fitted in a night out on Darwin Harbour for a sunset cruise. Eric was planning to join me and the staff from Alawa Primary but he didn't feel well on that particular evening. It has been a long time since I last sailed on the harbour, maybe for Tahlia's 21st with her family.
And now I know why I have fallen so far behind with the Tiwi Tattler Blog. Too busy!
Then in the afternoon the two of us enjoyed a wander into the Walker Creek area which has a walking trail that loosely follows the creek. Every now and then you come to a turn off with a sign saying "Camp Site 1" (or 2, 3...). In all there are eight sites along nearly two kilometres of trail. The sites are clearings beside a cascading waterhole equipped with a big table, a wood fired barbecue plate and enough flat ground to put up a couple of mozzie domes. These have to be booked back at the carpark so that means the waterhole is yours alone, a great way to avoid the crowds at Wangi but you do have to carry everything in. We must come back one day and spend a night under the stars and fall asleep to the sound of water falling into the pool.
Festival Fever descended on Darwin for the next 3 weeks. We enjoyed a number of shows and milling about in Festival Park in the evenings soaking up the undercurrent colours, flavours and sounds.
The highlight for us though was 'Blanc de Blanc' in the Spiegeltent on Parliament Lawns. The show was described as "An amazing, decadent, debaucherous world that draws you in, performed by some of the most talented cabaret performers in the world. It started out smooth and sophisticated but soon transformed into what felt like like a crazy nightclub where you’re immersed in a glass of Champagne and by the end, the audience feels a bit intoxicated by the energy." I couldn't describe it more aptly. We had such fun and really enjoyed the experience of being seated in a spiegeltent for the first time.
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