DAY 51 – AQUASCENE AND ANOTHER AMAZING DARWIN SUNSET

It is the first Sunday since we left home that we haven’t been on the road.  We had arranged to speak to folk at home at our home church so spent the morning waiting at home for a call from them.  It was nice to catch up and say high, but I think in future we might try and have those conversations perhaps at a home group night rather than on a Sunday morning, as it would have been so nice to actually go to a church service.  

Ian and Kathy went to a Hillsong Service, which was only just down the road from us and enjoyed the fellowship immensely.  People were friendly and stayed chatting to them and they were one of the last to leave.  The message was live streamed from the Sydney campus and it was good to sit down and share with them about it when they got home…

After we spoke to our church family back at CCC, Steve decided to go do a little man shopping, as there were a few parts etc that he wanted to get before we took off again. Apparently the next Bunnings we will encounter is over on the west coast at Broome, so it is best to be prepared before we head west again.

I think he really enjoyed his time out visiting the different hardware and camping stores, and found that Darwin was very reasonably priced, picking up a few little treasures along the way.

He got home a little after 2pm, and then it was time to pack our BBQ up for dinner on the beach.  We were heading into Aquascene this afternoon to feed the fish on the high tide.

Aquascene is a place in Darwin where the fish come in on the high tide around this boat ramp to be fed. 

Aquascene in Darwin

There are baskets of bread here, where to help yourself to two pieces at a time and you are able to hand feed the fish.  They literally take the bread right out of your hand. 

Taking the bread right out of your hand...

If you stand down on the boat ramp, the fish are actually swimming around your legs and even nibbling on your feet. I have never seen so many fish in the one place.  Each day different fish arrive, as they are all out there in the wild, they never know from one day to the next what fish will turn up.

 

Due to the large tidal movements of Darwin’s harbour, which can be up to eight metres, the fish can only visit Aquascene for a few hours each day before returning back out to sea with the receding tide.

How many fish you see is determined daily by tide size, wind and water clarity, breeding cycles and general seasonal weather conditions, but you will always see fish! Feeding sessions on deeper tides are usually best, with fish numbers at their highest between December and August.

Regular daily fish visitors include an array of friendly and inquisitive milkfish, mullet, catfish, bream, batfish and barramundi. If you look carefully in the shallows a number of our other ‘shyer’ friends can also be seen outside of the ‘main mob’ who flock in closer to the feeding action. These can include rays, cod, mangrove jack, parrot and diamond fish.

A popular attraction in Darwin

Feeding from the boat ramp

 We were fortunate to see, Mullet, Catfish, Milkfish, Bat fish,  and Archer fish were the main bread eating fish that had come in to be fed today.   The bait fish that came in were Barrumundi, Gropher, Mangrove Jacks,  and a few others that we don’t remember the names of.  

 

On the far side of the boat ramp there were quite a few stingrays as well.   It was a great afternoon, and we enjoyed out time there.  Aquascene is only open for two hours each day, around the high tide, and on the days when they have a neap tide, they are not open at all, as the fish don’t seem to come in.

Tides in Darwin can vary from 5mtrs to 8 mtrs which is quite a variance.  

Burdekin ducks

Plovers

Almost seem to be dancing

Keeping a watch out for the fish....

Aquascene has quite pleasant surroundings and lots of bird life can be seen here as well.  

Charles Darwin and John McDouall Stuart

John McDouall Stuart- discovered the route from Adelaide to Darwin

Charles Darwin landed in Darwin Harbour and collected specimens from around this area...

Feeding area at Aquascene

 Aquascene is situated in  Doctors Gully  and it is steeped in a rich tapestry of fascinating history.   It soon became a landing point for livestock and a safe beach for careening ships.

The waters of Doctors Gully have been declared an official marine sanctuary and are protected under the auspices of the Commonweath Government.
There is a natural freshwater spring directly behind Aquascene in amongst the rainforest that was once known as Peel’s Well. .

 We had decided to pack up some snags and the BBQ so that we could have tea on the waterfront somewhere whilst we were in Darwin. 

Beautiful setting for a late afternoon BBQ

Views from our picnic spot

Fish and Chip Harbour Dinner Cruise

Rather than cart a whole lot of food in, we just took bread, sauce and the snags and had a Bunnings style snag in bread with sauce for dinner. 

Our chef

Steve and Ian preparing our dinner

A lovely way to end another beautiful day...

Simple dinner but boy did it sure taste good...

We ended up on the beach front around near the Deck Chair Cinema.  We couldn’t have picked a nicer spot.  There were lots of parks, a spare picnic table with views of the water, and the incredible Darwin sunsets, and as there was a function on at the Deck Chair Cinema,  we had light music in the background as well.  It seems we weren’t the only ones enjoying the beautiful evening.  We noticed that quite a few others were just down there also, and surprisingly they were all young people….  It is nice to see them just being… taking in all that surrounds them without being on their phones all the time….

I must admit,  I can’t get enough of these Darwin sunsets either,  In the six nights we have been in Darwin so far, I think we have sat on the beach for four of those nights enjoying incredible sunsets.   I am sure we will have quite a few more to enjoy once we are over on the west coast of Australia also. 

P & O Ocean Liner all lit up at night in the Harbour

 A P & O Cruise Ship had obviously docked in the last 24 hours because it had not been there when we were out there 24 hours earlier. It looked quite spectacular all lit up against the back drop of the evening sky. 

  

It was closer to 7.30pm before we headed home.  Ian and Kathy joined us for a cuppa which ended a pretty perfect sort of day.