Eden, NSW

Thursday, May 20, 2010

DAY 88 - 16/05/2010 - Howard Springs, NT

Today we visited Fanny Bay Gaol, the museum and art gallery, the Monsoon Pub and the Mindil Markets which are also on Sundays.

Our friends, Chris and Leigh which we met during our travels, arrived in Howard Springs this morning and have set up camp beside us. They joined us today on our site seeing adventures around Darwin.

Heritage listed Fanny Bay Gaol operated between 1883 to 1979. The legal documents on display regarding the prisoners were interesting to read. Surprisingly, quite a few people went to gaol for drinking straight metholated spirits. We walked thru and checked out the cells, kitchen, washhouse, solitary confinement and the eeriest of all...the gallows. The last person hung here was in 1952.






Enter the gallows

Warren's re-enacment of the last hanging


We enjoyed our visit to the Museum and Art Gallery of the NT.

The main attraction was the Cyclone Tracy exhibit. This exhibit was very fascinating. There were huge satelite pictures displaying the area before the cyclone hit, a few days after it hit and 10 years after it hit. A small movie played continually showing true footage of the event. The footage was of a news reporter driving through town hours after the cyclone hit, commentating and filming the destruction.

There was a dark room you could enter where they re-enact the sound of Cyclone Tracy. This gives you a good idea what people went through and what a scary time it was for them.

The story goes like this. The news announced a huge cyclone called Selma, was going to hit Darwin early December in 1974. Cyclone Selma had changed course and fizzled out to sea causing nothing more than some wind and a lot of rain. So when the cyclone Tracy warnings made the news, people didn't take it seriously thinking that it would do the same thing as cyclone Selma did and everyone was caught in the usual Christmas spirit and not giving this current news much thought. Just before midnight on Christmas Eve, cyclone Tracy hit Darwin with extreme force. This went on for a bit and then everything went quiet. People assumed that the cyclone had ended, and they came out of their houses to survey the damage. What they didn't know was that they were in the eye of the cyclone which explained the calmness. The eye was that huge it covered the whole of Darwin and surrounding areas. Then it really hit and it hit harder the second time around. This is when most of the destructive damages occured.

Houses back then were not built to withstand a huge cyclone, hence the extent of the damage caused by Tracy. Thousands of houses were destroyed and hundreds damaged. Post Cyclone Tracy, specifications of building structures changed and strengths of houses improved. Everyone was also required to build a cyclone shelter on their property.

We also met Sweetheart, the Top End's most famous croc. I can't remember what he was famous for but he was humungus.


"Sweetheart" is a real stuffed croc.

Feeling a bit thirsty and pekish we head over to the Monsoon Pub on Mitchell Street for some beer and hot chips. The beer was cold and the chips were yum.




Cheers!

The Mindil Beach Sunset Markets are also on Sundays. This afternoon we thought we would give some Japanese food and quail a run. The food was delicious.

A man has built a sand sculpture. We saw him start it on Thursday.



Alicia and Taylah had a go at whip cracking here. Taylah nearly got it cracking and Alicia managed to crack it twice. Go Girl!







Lilly enjoyed watching her big sisters cracking the whip.

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