We had a big sight seeing day today!! We were all very tired at the end of it but it was all so much fun! Tess and I fell asleep straight after our M&S microwaveable dinner! (Very yum by the way!)

Dad and I saw a squirrel when we were running through a park this morning! We didn’t get a chance to take a photo though.

We went and had a look around Westminster Abbey. So fascinating.
We saw the changing of the guards ceremony today at Buckingham palace, however due to wet weather (in the middle of London’s summer!) parts of the ceremony were cancelled so it wasn’t the whole thing, but still very exciting all the same! 

  WOW! What a building!!
  How do they stand so still for so long!?
   It was interesting seeing what they wear in wet weather.
We caught a talking double decker bus for a little bit – ’twas a good chance to rest our tired legs and have a little munch on some lunch!

    
Eating lunch on the bus! 
We went on a boat down the River Thames from near Big Ben to the Tower of London.

  
  BIG BEN!

    The London Eye!

We also went today to Westminster Abbey. 

   
 
  In the evening, we went to a wax museum called Madame Tussaud’s. It was amazing everything looked so real!  Tess just chillin’ with Katniss!

Oh yeh – did I forget to mention that we met the Queen at Buckingham Palace…?
Just kidding! They’re made out of wax!
  

  
“Office of the president, good evening!”

Tara

First day of sight seeing!

On the way back from Harry Potter World we started to get on the underground train.  Mum and Tara got on first, then I started to get on but the doors started to close. I almost got cut in half!! Dad and I were left at the train station and Mum and Tara were on the train! It wasn’t too bad though as the next train was in 4 minutes and we were only going one stop anyway! We waited for the next train then met them at the next station.

  
Massive escalator at the under ground train station!

   
A building in the city.

   Red telephone box!  

Father’s Day roast!

Alsop Arms – this is where we had our Father’s Day lunch! 


  

Warner Bros. Harry Potter World

The Knight Bus at Harry Potter World

Inside the wand shop.
   
 

Butter Beer – YUM!

We made it!    Dubai Airport

  Dubai Airport

 London Tube!

Our last day. We have had a great trip and are sad that it all has to end. We had breakfast then had one last swim in the wave pool! We packed up and caught a taxi to the airport. We checked in and put our bags through the scanner before going to a coffee shop in the airport to wait for our flight to be called. We boarded the plane and found our seats. The plane took off and once it was flying level they served the lunch that was included. You could either have lemongrass chicken and rice or pasta and meat balls. I had the pasta, it was very nice. We settled in for the 4 hour journey home. We landed in chilly Melbourne at 6pm. We got our luggage then caught the Andrews bus to the long term car parking. We collected the keys to Trish and Marks car that we used to get home. We arrived home and said hello to Bella and Nan. Nan cooked us a very nice casserole as a welcome home dinner. Our friend Mormie came over to say hello and have a cup of tea.

We added up a few stats from our trip:
☆ Cost of fuel = $2,860
☆ Total driving distance = 13,410 km
☆ Most expensive fuel = $2.15 Doon Doon
☆ Cheapest fuel = $1.59 Leamay
☆ Distance on plane = 3,135 km
☆Longest drive = 739 km
☆Shortest drive = 80 km
☆Cheapest stay = free camps
☆ Dearest stay = $78 Monkey Mia
We had a wonderful trip!

Tess

After breakfast we went for a little wander down the street. On the way back, we stopped in at Parliament house. We had a bite to eat for lunch at the cafe there. It was very nice food, and a very nice setting over looking the water! Apparently Parliament House is known as the wedding cake, because it is very big, white and square, also people say that it is filled with fruits and nuts.

In the afternoon we had lots of fun swimming in the pool! We went to the Hanuman restaurant for dinner, which was a co-ink-i-dink, because Trish and Mark happened to be at the Hanuman restaurant in Alice Springs! We had a very nice meal. After we had finished eating our meal, a gecko fell on our table!!

Tara

We had a nice swim in the wave pool and then anouther great swim in a section of the actual sea that has a net to stop crocodiles and jelly fish. We also had a swim in the hotel pool they were all lots of fun! We then caught the double decker red bus to Fannie Bay. We sat on the top level on the bus. It was mostly open but had glass at the front. It was a fun ride! We walked into the shops in Fannie Bay and had lunch in a nice air conditioned cafe. We then walked over to the old Fannie Bay gaol but found we just missed opening hours. We had to run to try and catch the next bus. We made it just in time, the bus was already there! We had another fun ride on the top level of the bus back to the hotel. We had a refreshing swim in the hotel pool before getting ready to go to a Greek restaurant in Cullen Bay for dinner. It was very nice.

The double Decker bus.

This is all we saw of the gaol.

We had a lovely view at the restaurant.

Tess

After a yummy breakfast at the hotel restaurant, and a fun swim in the pool we embarked on a heritage trail walk around Darwin.
We visited several interesting places around the city of Darwin.

☆WWII OIL STORAGE TUNNELS
The original above ground oil tanks were bombed by the Japanese in WWII, so some underground oil storage tunnels were built in secrecy. By the time they were finished building the new underground tunnels, the danger to Darwin had subsided, thus these tunnels were never actually used to store oil!

☆THE COURTHOUSE
Pictured below is the Old Courthouse. The original Courthouse and the Police House were situated right next to each other.

☆CHRIST CHURCH ANGLICAN CATHEDRAL
Cyclone Tracey knocked down 90% of the original Cathedral, leaving only the front entrance standing. Today, they have built a new modern Cathedral, incorporating the original entrance. It has been designed to blend into the surrounding park.

☆TREE OF KNOWLEDGE
This is a very old Banyan tree. Chinese people used to pass on traditions to the younger generation under this tree, hence it’s name The Tree Of Knowledge.

☆STAR CINEMA
The Star cinema screened the first talking movie in the NT in 1933. In the photo below there are some Aboriginals that have their eyes closed, this is because they believed at that time that the camera might steal their spirits. Also there is a buffalo hunter with his gun and hat over the barrel!

After the walk, we had a nice lunch at Stokes Hill Wharf. Then we had another fun swim in the hotel pool!

Tara

First up we caught a bus to the Nightcliff market. It was busy but not even close to how busy Mindel beach market is! We caught the bus back and had a fun swim in the wave pool as well as at the hotel pool. We had a 45 minute walk to Burnett house. Burnett house is now a museum and serves devonshire teas on Sundays. The house is a National Trust house built in the 1930’s. This old house had tropical architecture that made it stay cool. For example the inside door were swinging doors with large gaps top and bottom like in some cafe’s. There were lot of vents and louvered windows. This house was one of the very few that completely survived the bombings of Darwin and Cyclone Tracey! We had a nice afternoon tea there before walking along the beach to Mindel market. We arrived and had a light dinner on the beach. We then walked back to the hotel.

Tess

This morning we went to the Parap Village Markets. We had some very yummy Asian food for breakfast there. It was a very nice market! At lunchtime, Trish and Mark came over and we had some very yummy Thai salad. After lunch Dad handed over the keys to the caravan over!

Dad handing over the keys!

When we got to the hotel, we settled in, then went down to the hotel pool for a swim. It was lots of fun! We just had a quiet evening at the hotel.

The hotel swimming pool!

Tara