Darwins Leanyer Park and Mindil Markets

What a day! After a much needed sleep in and a quiet morning we took the girls to the Leanyer Recreational Park which is fantastic and best of all, absolutely free!! Three huge waterslides, a water park and huge swimming pool. Not sure how the locals don't live here! The kids are ready to move! They didn't stop for nearly two hours until we dragged them away. Even Joe enjoyed the slides!

Afterwards we headed to Mindil Beach for the famous markets and sunset and it didn't disappoint! We arrived at quarter to four as the stalls were nearly finished setting up. This ment we got a reasonable park and were able to look around before the crowds turned up. The smells from the food stalls were amazing. By 4.30 we could've had dinner but we held off. We splurged on a bird and Reptile experience at the other end of the market with us all deciding which type of bird we should get once we're home. Paige fell in love with a Sulfer-crested cockatoo called Lilly (sorry neighbours), Lara loved the female ekkie and Joe is still partial to Macaws. We also got to hold some of their reptiles including a 3.5m Olive Python.

There were a lot of great stalls with the odd junk stall thrown in but in all it was one of the best markets we've been to. Paige and Joe tried their hand at whip cracking, Lara got her much anticipated Crocodile skin bracelet (with real teeth!) and after choosing from the vast array of food for dinner (from which Paige still chose chicken nuggets and chips) we went to the beach to watch the sunset. We were just a few in the hundreds of people on the beach. It was beautiful.

Afterwards we watched a fire dancing street performer and wandered through the markets again. We had one last visit with the birds before making our way back to the car. It was nearly 8.30pm by the time we got back to the van. It's been a huge afternoon! The girls should be much more tired than they seem!Read more