In 1971 my family moved to Darwin so that my father could fulfil his dream of becoming a Northern Territory Police Officer. It has been 36 years between visits and Darwin has no doubt morphed from a small country town to a large multicultural city. We have had an amazing time being tourists and taking in the sites and visiting attractions. To make our visit even better we have been staying with our friends, the Tamoatai’s. We have watched the sunset over the Arafua Sea, wandered aimlessly through markets, sailed on rivers with crocodiles, swam in the crystal clear waters at Wangi Falls and Berry Springs, ate from food vans, cycled along the coastline, learnt about Darwin’s involvement in the war, experienced the sounds of a cyclone, walked the corridors of Fannie Bay Gaol and met and made friends with backpackers from Germany and France.

We have also just chilled with our dear friends, laughed together, ate together, watched telly together, solved the problems of the world together and dozed together on hammocks.

While here we have visited places from my memories, we dropped in on one of my old schools and our home in Anula. We also popped into Nightcliffe Swimming Pool where we swam as kids with the nightcliffe dolphins and where I gained my love for Samboy BBQ Chips. As a reward for training each day we were allowed to get something from the kiosk and I always chose Samboy BBQ.

One of our favourite finds in Darwin has been the Nightcliffe Foreshore Cafe – where Mike gave their coffee a 4 out of 5. I would say the whole cafe – atmosphere, service, food and location are a good 4.75 out of 5. Mike also gave the coffee at the Darwin Museum cafe – Cornucopia  4.5 out of 5.
Tomorrow we head off on an outback adventure to visit the Barkly Tablelands and hopefully Anthony Lagoon where dad was a the sole police officer at the Anthony Lagoon Police Station.