Darwin, Kakadu suggestions?
Feb 26th, 2006, 11:03 AM
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Darwin, Kakadu suggestions?
We are a mid age to older couple planning a 6 night stay in and around Darwin, including Kakadu and probably Litchfield. We are looking for suggestions of mid range accommodations, bed and breakfasts, overnight tours, and day tours, and special things to see and do.
Feb 26th, 2006, 08:58 PM
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speedcolumbia: We enjoyed our stay at the Lakeview Resort run by the local aborinal group at Jibaru.Our accomodation was a cool tented cabin w/ private bath for very little money. We did a great tour with Lord's that went into Arnhemland for the day. Also enjoyed the cruise on the Alligator River and hiking in the park.
Spent a few nights at the lodge, etc at Cooinda and enjoyed the dawn cruise onto the Yellow water. We also enjoyed wildlife spotting/ abo cultural experience afternoon and evening drive and hike on the local aboriginal owned water buffalo ranch that was fascinating.
The museum in Darwin is also worth an afternoon great local art and exhibit about the cyclone. Try to schedule your time in Darwin to hit the Mindl market.
We were there the first week in May.
Some australians whom I will not embarass by naming again suggested we kakadon't; they however had not been and we thoroughly enjoyed the Top End
cheers
Andrewdavid
Spent a few nights at the lodge, etc at Cooinda and enjoyed the dawn cruise onto the Yellow water. We also enjoyed wildlife spotting/ abo cultural experience afternoon and evening drive and hike on the local aboriginal owned water buffalo ranch that was fascinating.
The museum in Darwin is also worth an afternoon great local art and exhibit about the cyclone. Try to schedule your time in Darwin to hit the Mindl market.
We were there the first week in May.
Some australians whom I will not embarass by naming again suggested we kakadon't; they however had not been and we thoroughly enjoyed the Top End
cheers
Andrewdavid
Feb 26th, 2006, 09:33 PM
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Territory Wildlife Park is excellent and well worth a visit. There are hot springs at Berry almost next door to the wildlife park.
The museum at Fanny Bay is small but good and has a good Cyclone Tracy exhibit. Mindil Beach market is a must (great food so have your dinner there) as is sunset over the water. I think the market is on Thursday and Sunday evenings but locals will give you details.
Cullen Bay is an upmarket marina close to the CBD with lots of restaurants.
Do include Litchfield - it is different to Kakadu, and make sure you see the rock art at Kakadu.
Have you considered hiring a car as traffic is light around that area and it would give you freedom to go where and when you want.
The museum at Fanny Bay is small but good and has a good Cyclone Tracy exhibit. Mindil Beach market is a must (great food so have your dinner there) as is sunset over the water. I think the market is on Thursday and Sunday evenings but locals will give you details.
Cullen Bay is an upmarket marina close to the CBD with lots of restaurants.
Do include Litchfield - it is different to Kakadu, and make sure you see the rock art at Kakadu.
Have you considered hiring a car as traffic is light around that area and it would give you freedom to go where and when you want.
Feb 27th, 2006, 10:33 AM
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My spouse and I are also middle-aged and here are the things we enjoyed doing in Darwin (one of our favorite spots in Australia).
1. Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory--fabulous!!! Excellent Aboriginal art and interesting natural history exhibits. The exhibit on Cyclone Tracy is also good.
2. Mindil Beach Sunset Market--good food, fun entertainment and interesting crafts.
3. Aquascene--Some may say this attraction is for kids, but I loved hand-feeding the bread to the various types of fish.
4. Deckchair Cinema--Although we wanted to go to this outdoor theatre, they weren't playing anything we wanted to see while we were there. But it looked like it would be fun.
5. Fannie Bay Gaol--An interesting self-tour throught this complex that was a prison from 1883 to 1979.
Day Trips from Darwin
1. Litchfield NP--This is a MUST! Plan to swim in at least one of the natural pools. Our favorite is Wangi Falls where we take a picnic lunch. (They also have a kiosk there selling food in case you forget your picnic lunch.) The termite mounds are also fascinating, especially the magnetic termite mounds. This would pretty much be a full day trip.
2. Territory Wildlife Park and Berry Spring--This is an excellent wildlife park with a wide variety of animals in natural enclosures. Plan on spending at least a half-day here and if possible, arrive first thing in the morning when the animals are most active. If you have time, stop by the Berry Spring Park next door for a picnic and swim.
Accomodations and Restaurants--
We have stayed once at the Parap Village Apartments and once at the Cullen Bay Apartments. Both were good choices. The Parap Village Apartments were less expensive, but were also further from town.
Our favorite restaurant was Tim's Surf and Turf. You'll feel like you are eating in a forest! The food is good and very reasonably priced, so it is a popular place. Make a booking ahead or plan to get there quite early to get a table. (It's on a small side street near the GPO, so you may need to ask for directions from your hotel.)
Kakadu--We visited there, but are among the "Kakadon'ts", so I don't really have any recommendations. However, I can recommend a visit to....
Katherine--
1. Visit the Katherine Gorge and either book a canoe ahead of time (through Travel North) for a half-day canoe trip or arrange for an escorted boat trip. There are also hiking trails.
2. Visit Edith Falls National Park north of Katherine. There is a wonderful hike to the upper pools, but it's also fun to just swim in the lower pool. Lovely grounds for a picnic lunch. The locals told us it gets crowded on the weekends, so it would probably be best to visit on a weekday. We did and it was great!
3. Arrange to go on the Crocodile Night Adventure (through Travel North or your hotel). You ride up the river at sunset spotting crocodiles on the banks. Then there's an excellent BBQ dinner under the stars. Informative and fun!
4. Take a tour of Cutti Cutti caves. We got there first thing in the morning and had our own private tour with the guide.
We have stayed twice at the St. Andrew Serviced Apartments and loved it. Plan to eat some fresh barramundi. We just stopped at takeaway on the main street and had the best food!
1. Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory--fabulous!!! Excellent Aboriginal art and interesting natural history exhibits. The exhibit on Cyclone Tracy is also good.
2. Mindil Beach Sunset Market--good food, fun entertainment and interesting crafts.
3. Aquascene--Some may say this attraction is for kids, but I loved hand-feeding the bread to the various types of fish.
4. Deckchair Cinema--Although we wanted to go to this outdoor theatre, they weren't playing anything we wanted to see while we were there. But it looked like it would be fun.
5. Fannie Bay Gaol--An interesting self-tour throught this complex that was a prison from 1883 to 1979.
Day Trips from Darwin
1. Litchfield NP--This is a MUST! Plan to swim in at least one of the natural pools. Our favorite is Wangi Falls where we take a picnic lunch. (They also have a kiosk there selling food in case you forget your picnic lunch.) The termite mounds are also fascinating, especially the magnetic termite mounds. This would pretty much be a full day trip.
2. Territory Wildlife Park and Berry Spring--This is an excellent wildlife park with a wide variety of animals in natural enclosures. Plan on spending at least a half-day here and if possible, arrive first thing in the morning when the animals are most active. If you have time, stop by the Berry Spring Park next door for a picnic and swim.
Accomodations and Restaurants--
We have stayed once at the Parap Village Apartments and once at the Cullen Bay Apartments. Both were good choices. The Parap Village Apartments were less expensive, but were also further from town.
Our favorite restaurant was Tim's Surf and Turf. You'll feel like you are eating in a forest! The food is good and very reasonably priced, so it is a popular place. Make a booking ahead or plan to get there quite early to get a table. (It's on a small side street near the GPO, so you may need to ask for directions from your hotel.)
Kakadu--We visited there, but are among the "Kakadon'ts", so I don't really have any recommendations. However, I can recommend a visit to....
Katherine--
1. Visit the Katherine Gorge and either book a canoe ahead of time (through Travel North) for a half-day canoe trip or arrange for an escorted boat trip. There are also hiking trails.
2. Visit Edith Falls National Park north of Katherine. There is a wonderful hike to the upper pools, but it's also fun to just swim in the lower pool. Lovely grounds for a picnic lunch. The locals told us it gets crowded on the weekends, so it would probably be best to visit on a weekday. We did and it was great!
3. Arrange to go on the Crocodile Night Adventure (through Travel North or your hotel). You ride up the river at sunset spotting crocodiles on the banks. Then there's an excellent BBQ dinner under the stars. Informative and fun!
4. Take a tour of Cutti Cutti caves. We got there first thing in the morning and had our own private tour with the guide.
We have stayed twice at the St. Andrew Serviced Apartments and loved it. Plan to eat some fresh barramundi. We just stopped at takeaway on the main street and had the best food!
Feb 27th, 2006, 04:43 PM
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longhorn55, you have given very informed advice on this and other postings (including mine) about Darwin, especially with teens (I have 3 boys, ages 17, 14 and 10). We will be in Australia in August and will visit Sydney, Alice, Uluru, Cairns and Melbourne (visiting relatives in Sydney and Melbourne). If we wanted, we could fly from Sydney to Darwin, spend 3 nights and then fly to Alice (and then continue with Uluru, Cairns and Melbourne). My question is this -- is Darwin worth a special trip like this for 3 nights? On another post, you questioned whether adding another stop was advisable, and others have raised the same point. I am considering that question very seriously but if we were to decide that adding another destination would be acceptable, would going out of the way like this for 3 nights in Darwin be worth it or is it too short a visit to make the trip worthwhile for my family, in your opinion?
Feb 28th, 2006, 04:56 AM
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Europewithkids--I generally just like giving information about places I've visited and not try to tell people what they should or shouldn't do. However, since you asked...If it were me and my kids travelling, I would not make the long additional trip just to spend 3 days in Darwin. To do justice to the Top End, you really to see more than just Darwin and that takes more than 2 or 3 days.
Mar 1st, 2006, 02:38 AM
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Since we've got a Darwin thread going I'd like to post our itinerary and see if there are any comments. I plan to stay at least 2 nights everywhere along the way, but could shift it if it would be better to stay, say 3 nights in Katherine and 1 night in Batchelor. The other thing to factor in is that we will be in Darwin at the start of the Darwin Festival so maybe we should stay an extra day there?
Darwin-Wed. Thurs. Fri. nights at Palms City Resort (we arrive in Darwin at 8 p.m. on Wed.)
Kakadu-(self drive)Sat. Sun. nights at Lakeview Resort in Jabiru
Katherine-Mon. Tues. nights at River View Tourist Village
Batchelor-Wed. Thurs. nights at ???-- thinking about Batchelor Resort but it seems a bit expensive. Suggestions?
Drive back to Darwin on Friday stopping at Territory Wildlife, Berry Springs on the way (flight out of Darwin to Sydney leaves at 1 a.m. on Sat.)
And I second the thanks to longhorn who has offered great advice on the area in several different posts.
Darwin-Wed. Thurs. Fri. nights at Palms City Resort (we arrive in Darwin at 8 p.m. on Wed.)
Kakadu-(self drive)Sat. Sun. nights at Lakeview Resort in Jabiru
Katherine-Mon. Tues. nights at River View Tourist Village
Batchelor-Wed. Thurs. nights at ???-- thinking about Batchelor Resort but it seems a bit expensive. Suggestions?
Drive back to Darwin on Friday stopping at Territory Wildlife, Berry Springs on the way (flight out of Darwin to Sydney leaves at 1 a.m. on Sat.)
And I second the thanks to longhorn who has offered great advice on the area in several different posts.
