Getting back to Darwin

 


Zebra Rock on the way to Litchfield National Park



















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We are here! 2023 trip underway

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  After a quick change of plans due to a flight cancellation, we left Adelaide at 10.00pm on Saturday 15 April (instead of 8.00am on Sunday 16 April). Well done to Aaron for this amazing re-scheduling work all day yesterday -  a marathon phone effort.  We arrived in Darwin at 1.40am on Sunday morning and all were in rooms in H on Smith by 3.30am. We met for breakfast at 9.00am and then went on our first historic walk along the Esplanade in Darwin. Here are some early photographs.  Ton ight we head down to Stokes Hill Wharf for dinner. All going well after an unexpected start to the  tour! Our first history talk on Darwin Harbour at the USS Peary Memorial. The USS Peary was a US destroyer sunk by enemy air attack in Darwin Harbour on the 19 February 1942. 92 (although the information at the site says 88) servicemen died aboard the ship, the greatest loss of life on any of the ships sunk in the attack. Today visiting US naval ships still pay tribute to its fa...
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Some of the finest landscapes I have seen

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  This was a great day accompanied by some great friends By Oscar Rice This trip was a once in a lifetime moment, and I will remember it for years. I had so much fun and made so many friends. There were so many good moments, and it is honestly hard to name the best. Instead, I choose a photo to match it to all the good moments I had on the trip. I chose this photo of myself, Archie and Harry standing on the Edith Falls lookout. This was a great day accompanied by some great friends. When first meeting the boys, I wasn't sure they would be much fun, but after talking to them and hanging out a bit, we quickly got along.   The day started with an early rise at Cooinda lodge and a short drive to Edith falls, where the group when on a beautiful walk. The series of cliffs and hills accompanied by native shrubbery were some of the finest landscapes I have seen. The temperature was high, but nothing could stop me from taking in the breath-taking scenery. This photo above shows the b...
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Margaret Augusta De Mestre by Olivia Brook

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  Margaret Augusta De Mestre was a nurse during WW2, who worked on the HMAS Manunda which was an AIF hospital ship.   On the 19 th of February 1942, Manunda was moored 2.5km southwest of the Stokes Hill Wharf in Darwin Harbour. That day, started off like any other, the harbour was calm and there was a clear, sunny sky with the temperature around 26 degrees.   As it was a hospital ship, the doctors and nurses including Margaret were onboard training, doing their rounds and attending to the many sick and injured patients on board.   At quarter to ten, the buzz of a large number of Japanese planes approaching from the southeast could be heard in the distance. The noise was gradually getting louder and then at 9:58 am, all hell broke loose. Air raid sirens were set off and wailing loudly. Then soon after, bombs were raining like hail stones and going off all over the harbour. The noise was horrendous.   The crew, doctors and nurses on the Manunda quickly rushed t...
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