Days 330-331 – Darwin, NT (9-10 August)

Started some sightseeing on Monday in Darwin.  We toured the WWII oil storage tunnels. Two tunnels are open to the public.  Darwin was the only refuelling point between Sydney and Singapore and was being bombed by the Japanese fighters in an effort to destroy the tanks and the war effort.  After having above ground oil storage tanks bombed and replaced many times it was decided to store the oil underground.  400 engineers were sent up from the southern States to build these access tunnels nd storage tanks.  As it turned out not all of the 11 planned tunnels were built and those that were finished  weren’t used to store oil as the war ended before completion.  In the 1970s one was used to store aviation fuel but the fuel had to be destroyed when water got into it.  The tunnels are based at the wharf and across the road is a man made wave lagoon.  This looked like great fun especially for the kids who are given huge inner tubes to sit on to amongst these huge waves.   We were then heading to the Darwin Museum when we had major problems with the car, John suspects the clutch. Luckily when we were in South Australia we decided to join the RAA (Royal Automobile Assoc) who provide roadside assistance.  For $165pa we thought was good insurance given where we are going to be travelling with the van on tow.  We called them and the mechanic agreed it was likely to be the clutch.  Fortunately a clutch specialist was 200m away and John was able to get the car into first gear and we managed to grind into the workshop.  So there the car is and we probably won’t get it back until Thursday.  We are waiting for a call from the workshop to tell us what is wrong and the $$ damage - we know it is a big job.  RAA have supplied us with a hire car to tide us over in the meantime.   We are grateful that we took out the cover as just in this scenario it has paid for itself.  It was nice when we got home and a beautiful fish dinner had been cooked for us – can’t beat that!  The following night we all went out to the Palmerston Tavern for 1/2 price Tuesday.  Had the best herb crusted barramundi for only $11 and John had fettucine carbonara for $9 – can’t beat that either.  All the meals looked good and such great value.