We are staying at Coolalinga Caravan Park,right on the Stuart Highway and right next to a shopping centre.The only problems here is that there are no concrete slabs for the vans,we are backed tail to tail and its costing us $35 a night.I guess that we should be lucky as we had a look at other parks and they are worse of than we are,so we are here for at least a week.Nice in Darwin,BUT blasted hot........
Catch you soon
pambaz said
10:25 PM Jun 12, 2013
Feeling very envious of you being in Darwin. One of our favourite cities. We are stuck in cold and wet Sydney.
I know where your coming from when you say you are back to back. We stayed at Hidden Valley at Berrimah and we were packed in too. We were lucky we had a concrete slab and an enormous ensuite.
There is so much to see in Darwin we thought a week would do it but ended up 10 days.
Have a great time.
Pam
GaryKelly said
11:47 PM Jun 12, 2013
$35 to park in a traffic jam is pretty rich.
Gerty Dancer said
12:12 AM Jun 13, 2013
Having family there, we've been to Darwin several times and it has lost its appeal for us, except for visiting said family. Its hot, caravan parks are expensive, and the midges get me every time! Enjoy your time there peakhillfm, stock up,, and when you head out toward Kakadu, stop at the Wetlands place, see the jumping crocodiles, and if you are into bird-watching, do a dawn cruise from Corroboree lagoon
Cloak said
01:52 AM Jun 13, 2013
If you call in to see the
http://www.darwinsairwar.com.au/
Aviation Heritage Centre see Owen Veal and tell him Steve from Melbourne sent you. I believe he will look after you.
But don't tell everyone ok..
Cheers
neilnruth said
02:19 AM Jun 13, 2013
When it is cool in Darwin? I struggled with the humidity in July.
Feeling very envious of you being in Darwin. One of our favourite cities. We are stuck in cold and wet Sydney.
I know where your coming from when you say you are back to back. We stayed at Hidden Valley at Berrimah and we were packed in too. We were lucky we had a concrete slab and an enormous ensuite.
There is so much to see in Darwin we thought a week would do it but ended up 10 days.
Have a great time.
Pam
We love Darwin. For me it brings back memories of the 3 months that I spent there doing restoration after cyclone Tracey.
On our first van trip there we stayed at Hidden Valley as they were just finishing those jail like en-suites. Great for safely storing all your stuff.
The next time we were there, the RAAF had an exercise on & as well as being spectacular at night, the F11's & Phantoms drove us mad with the noise. It was made worse by the race track just over the next ridge with the V8's roaring round the place.
On our last visit it was mostly peaceful and full of back packers. The rental motor home beside us had the Air Con going all day. Found out later that it contained a German family who had just flown in and were getting over jet lag while getting out of the unaccustomed heat. They were nice people but no idea of just where they could take the motor home. Wanted to go across the Tanami would you believe.
From this you can deduce that we still prefer Hidden Valley CP.
Darwin is a great place to go bike riding. Bike paths everywhere .. but try to avoid the middle of the day & take lots of water.
Willow said
05:20 AM Jun 13, 2013
Thanks Sheba for fixing the links. This is the third link I have followed tonight thanks to you. It's not easy to cut and paste links on a phone or tablet.
Can't wait to visit Darwin.
Clare46 said
08:18 AM Jun 13, 2013
neilnruth wrote:
When it is cool in Darwin? I struggled with the humidity in July.
Me too
Duh said
11:31 AM Jun 13, 2013
Agree with Cupie, even if it's only one trip it would be a shame to miss the many sites etc, the old Fanny Bay Gaol was free last time I was there and well worth a visit. Buses do a free return trip to the Casino with pick up points at all the caravan parks, also some caravan parks have a paid trip to Mindil markets and return, but need to book early for that one when you arrive at your CP.
Most other places you visit (including the Casino, even if you are not a gambler, the restaurant has fantastic views over Fanny Bay) will be air conditioned but I would not like to be there in an RV that was not air conditioned, but for a few days or even a week it is worth it.
-- Edited by Duh on Thursday 13th of June 2013 11:33:38 AM
Dougwe said
03:59 PM Jun 13, 2013
Looks like I will be giving Darwin the chop then, due to the humidity. Enjoy though Peter and Sandra.
Cupie said
04:55 PM Jun 13, 2013
Dougwe wrote:
Looks like I will be giving Darwin the chop then, due to the humidity. Enjoy though Peter and Sandra.
That's a mistake in my opinion ...... It's not that bad once you get used to it.
Cloak said
08:58 PM Jun 13, 2013
Is it worse than Cairns? I survived Cairns ok just take it easy.
Cupie said
10:43 PM Jun 13, 2013
Cloak wrote:
Is it worse than Cairns? I survived Cairns ok just take it easy.
When I worked in Darwin a number of the locals were getting ready for retirement to Cairns, because they thought that the weather was similar.
pauline said
12:34 AM Jun 14, 2013
I agree with Cupie on this one, love Darwin, and if you go during the dry the weather is magic.................
wendyv said
03:34 AM Jun 14, 2013
Cupie wrote:
On our first van trip there we stayed at Hidden Valley as they were just finishing those jail like en-suites. Great for safely storing all your stuff.
The next time we were there, the RAAF had an exercise on & as well as being spectacular at night, the F11's & Phantoms drove us mad with the noise. It was made worse by the race track just over the next ridge with the V8's roaring round the place.
On our last visit it was mostly peaceful and full of back packers. The rental motor home beside us had the Air Con going all day. Found out later that it contained a German family who had just flown in and were getting over jet lag while getting out of the unaccustomed heat. They were nice people but no idea of just where they could take the motor home. Wanted to go across the Tanami would you believe.
From this you can deduce that we still prefer Hidden Valley CP.
Darwin is a great place to go bike riding. Bike paths everywhere .. but try to avoid the middle of the day & take lots of water.
Cupie,
maybe you have been at Hidden Valley at the same time as us? Our last time there featured the RAAF exercises (a regular event in dry season) and the V8's. The nightly return of the airforce, at low level over us, was loud enough to drown out TV sound, totally, for about an hour. But that is part of the whole Darwin atmosphere - it is our front line to Asia, I guess. We love Darwin - even in the wet season.
The rental company would have told the newcomers not to travel off the bitumen. Maybe they thought the Tanami was a sealed road?? Although you would be surprised how many hirers totally ignore the restrictions - and complain furiously when they come to grief and suffer financial penalty. A close relative worked for a major hire company - he knew first hand what hirers were told. He was on a trip along the Gibb River Road with us once and kept seeing the company's motorhomes in places they were never designed to go - including getting into trouble trying to ford the Pentecost ! There were a couple of lots of hirers who must have wondered how the depot knew how the damage to their motorhomes really happened
Well folks we gogt into the outskirts of Darwin.
We are staying at Coolalinga Caravan Park,right on the Stuart Highway and right next to a shopping centre.The only problems here is that there are no concrete slabs for the vans,we are backed tail to tail and its costing us $35 a night.I guess that we should be lucky as we had a look at other parks and they are worse of than we are,so we are here for at least a week.Nice in Darwin,BUT blasted hot........
Catch you soon
I know where your coming from when you say you are back to back. We stayed at Hidden Valley at Berrimah and we were packed in too. We were lucky we had a concrete slab and an enormous ensuite.
There is so much to see in Darwin we thought a week would do it but ended up 10 days.
Have a great time.
Pam
Enjoy your time there peakhillfm, stock up,, and when you head out toward Kakadu, stop at the Wetlands place, see the jumping crocodiles, and if you are into bird-watching, do a dawn cruise from Corroboree lagoon
http://www.darwinsairwar.com.au/
Aviation Heritage Centre see Owen Veal and tell him Steve from Melbourne sent you. I believe he will look after you.
But don't tell everyone ok..
Cheers
http://www.darwinsairwar.com.au/
We love Darwin. For me it brings back memories of the 3 months that I spent there doing restoration after cyclone Tracey.
On our first van trip there we stayed at Hidden Valley as they were just finishing those jail like en-suites. Great for safely storing all your stuff.
The next time we were there, the RAAF had an exercise on & as well as being spectacular at night, the F11's & Phantoms drove us mad with the noise. It was made worse by the race track just over the next ridge with the V8's roaring round the place.
On our last visit it was mostly peaceful and full of back packers. The rental motor home beside us had the Air Con going all day. Found out later that it contained a German family who had just flown in and were getting over jet lag while getting out of the unaccustomed heat. They were nice people but no idea of just where they could take the motor home. Wanted to go across the Tanami would you believe.
From this you can deduce that we still prefer Hidden Valley CP.
Darwin is a great place to go bike riding. Bike paths everywhere .. but try to avoid the middle of the day & take lots of water.
Thanks Sheba for fixing the links. This is the third link I have followed tonight thanks to you. It's not easy to cut and paste links on a phone or tablet.
Can't wait to visit Darwin.
Me too
Agree with Cupie, even if it's only one trip it would be a shame to miss the many sites etc, the old Fanny Bay Gaol was free last time I was there and well worth a visit. Buses do a free return trip to the Casino with pick up points at all the caravan parks, also some caravan parks have a paid trip to Mindil markets and return, but need to book early for that one when you arrive at your CP.
Most other places you visit (including the Casino, even if you are not a gambler, the restaurant has fantastic views over Fanny Bay) will be air conditioned but I would not like to be there in an RV that was not air conditioned, but for a few days or even a week it is worth it.
-- Edited by Duh on Thursday 13th of June 2013 11:33:38 AM
That's a mistake in my opinion ...... It's not that bad once you get used to it.
When I worked in Darwin a number of the locals were getting ready for retirement to Cairns, because they thought that the weather was similar.
Cupie,
maybe you have been at Hidden Valley at the same time as us? Our last time there featured the RAAF exercises (a regular event in dry season) and the V8's. The nightly return of the airforce, at low level over us, was loud enough to drown out TV sound, totally, for about an hour. But that is part of the whole Darwin atmosphere - it is our front line to Asia, I guess. We love Darwin - even in the wet season.
The rental company would have told the newcomers not to travel off the bitumen. Maybe they thought the Tanami was a sealed road?? Although you would be surprised how many hirers totally ignore the restrictions - and complain furiously when they come to grief and suffer financial penalty. A close relative worked for a major hire company - he knew first hand what hirers were told. He was on a trip along the Gibb River Road with us once and kept seeing the company's motorhomes in places they were never designed to go - including getting into trouble trying to ford the Pentecost ! There were a couple of lots of hirers who must have wondered how the depot knew how the damage to their motorhomes really happened