Dawin (Thursday 2)

Another busy day! I am feeling a bit sad about leaving tomorrow...
Today I had another busy day. I started off at the Fannie Bay Gaol, taking a wander through what is left of the old prison. It doesn't have the beauty of Port Arthur, and it doesn't look as harsh as PA, but I can't imagine it being any more plesent. It was operational between 1883-1978, so it wasn't quite as early as PA, but even so, it was still overcrowded. And most of the buildings were tin sheds which must have been pure hell in the weather up here! I did find it a bit amusing to read that when the Japanese bombed Darwin, they just released all the prisoners to fend for themselves. Don't know if that actually made things any better on not...

After the gaol, I took a drive up to East Point. I hadn't realized, but the Military Museum is up there too. I didn't go into the museum, but I did go for a push around the old ruins around the point. There was a massive round building in the middle of the clearing. Turns out it was for a gun!

'Pillbox'-where the big gun lived

There were lots of other smaller building about the place too, but I won't bore you with all the details of those. (Unless you're Josh, Stuart or Stuart, in which case you probably wouldn't find it boring.)

A bit of extra reading

The views around the point were pretty awesome too. After The point, I headed into the Mindil Markets. I had been warned to head in early to get a park, and I'm glad I did. Even 20 minutes early there were dozens of cars there already. I had a bit of a wander around- there were heaps of food stalls, clothes, entertainment... I picked up a few treats for Mum and the girls. I'm warning you Dad- don't ever let Mum go to the markets here unless you have just won lotto! They had some pretty amazing stuff up here. I got a tattoo. Don't panic Mum, it's just henna. Great job Michelle!

There is an ankle under there somewhere

There was an awesome little stall selling circus tricks, including fire staff, fire poi and those awesome fire fan things. I had a chat with one of the girls there and she told me her boyfriend was spinning fire, so I went and watched his show. Easily the best fire twirler I've ever seen! I got myself a new set of poi too. Not fire though, my balance isn't quite that good yet. After the show, I got myself a mango lassi and headed back to Aleisha's.

My new toys :)