Darwin Week 31

Sunday 6th to Saturday 12th February 2022

Sunday

We had a rough night with Charlotte as she is grunting and regurgitating for several hours after her overnight feeds. She’s near impossible to lie flat within 1.5hrs of feeding. She’s feeding every 3-4hrs which means someone is up with her almost constantly.

Big tears and crying at 4am woke Madeline and she didn’t go back to sleep.

I like to sleep all day and party all night

Jason entertained Madeline in the jumping pillow.

After lunch Eva took Madeline for a nature walk around the caravan park.

She learnt about; the importance of tree roots and what happens to a fallen tree, lichen/moss, Bush Curlews and green ants.

Madeline also learnt about old phone technology and called from a pay phone.

Monday

Another bad night with Charlotte and another early wake with Madeline.

Today we did grocery shopping and once again the fruit and vegetable section were empty.

Jason entertained Madeline on the jumping pillow again.

Eva and Madeline did arts and crafts.

Tuesday

We’ve noticed that the kick over on pressing the ignition in the car has been slower and slower the last week. So Jason decided to check the battery while cold, with the multimetre. turns out it was flat.

He pulled out his jump starter kit, and the alligator clips on the connectors had cracked. Thank you Darwin heat.

A call to NRMA and they organised a NT roadside assist to come out to us to replace the battery.

The roadside assist guy said they usually only last 2 years in Darwin due to the heat. Thank you, again, Darwin heat.

While inside we also noticed, as it was raining heavily, that our roof had sprung yet another leak. Only leaks when it’s raining.

We stays at the van park today. Eva took Madeline on the jumping pillow. Another child, 2yo Quill, was there as well. He was very boisterous and was pretending to be a dinosaur and was growling loudly at Madeline. Maddie was scared but persisted to watch him play. She then pretended to be a dinosaur back and growled loudly. This time he was put off by it. They played together for 20 or so minutes.

Jason asked Madeline….“Maddie can you smell Charlotte if she has done something in her nappy? Maddie “yes, it smells like egg boil”, I think she meant boiled eggs.

Wednesday

Last night was the toughest so far. Charlotte was very hard to burp and very unsettled from 10pm Tuesday evening through till around 530am.

Eva took Charlotte into the bunk beds to try to stop Jason and Madeline from waking up from the crying.

After a restless night we still got up and got on with the day.

We picked up our generator from servicing. We went to the post office to get a parcel. Then we were to Adventure Playland, indoor play centre.

Jason took Madeline in while Eva looked after Charlotte and walked the shops.

Madeline scored two Paw Patrol toys that were on clearance today too.

Thursday

We had a better night last night which gave us a false sense of security that today was going to be a good day. Wrong! We needed to be well slept as Charlotte decided to be unsettled all day today. Practically no sleep unless it was in our arms and demanding milk every few hours.

We spent some time rearranging the Thule and back of the Ute today in preparation for our next trip leg.

Madeline and daddy went to the pool and splash park at the Big4 grounds this afternoon. They had a great time and Madeline was warn out.

It was a overcast day today but there was no rain. It was nice to have a small break from the rain.

Preparation for departure in 2 weeks continues as we wrap up our time here in Darwin.

Friday

Today we went to Howard Springs Nature Park this morning.

Howard Springs Nature Park

The Park is 286 hectares (710 acres) of protected area located 27 km southeast of Darwin. The spring-fed waterhole is a great place to birdwatch and spot fish and freshwater turtles. Howard Springs Nature Park protects monsoon forest, paperbark swamps, spring-fed creeks and significant areas of Howard Sand Plains.

Recent History

Late 1800s – it was part of large pastoral leases.
1910 – the Springs became a solution to Darwin’s unreliable water supply.
1939 – Spring water was piped to railway dams, overhead storage tanks in Darwin, and Vestey’s Meat Works.
1942 – During World War Two, rest and recreation camps were set up here for up to 120 servicemen from USA and Australia.
1944 – Weir was built across the waterhole to create better swimming areas by The Royal Australian Engineers.
1957 – Howard Springs became the Northern Territory’s first reserve

We got to swim in the manmade pools and waterfall.

It was Charlotte’s first swim today.

Afternoon

We went and did some drone photography.

Last night we received the devastating news that Renji passed away. He was the 9 month old pup we looked after over Christmas. He was sick with a neurological condition before we sat for his owners, but he was thought to be all clear. Unfortunately he declined suddenly in the last week of January and passed away.