I'm back with Part 3 of our trip to the Top End. In past posts I've shared photos from my time wth the Darwin Patchwork and Quilters, then our visit to Katherine Gorge and then Kakadu National Park. After our days visiting national parks we returned to the city of Darwin. 


We checked into our hotel, and found a beautiful lush green jungle in the foyer.

The view from upstairs...

Hello Mr Daisy!

We only had 1 1/2 days in Darwin but we managed to see a lot of the city thanks to these motorised scooters that can be found all over the city. They were such fun to ride, I'd be giggling and laughing as we scooted here and there and everywhere. 


Our first stop on Saturday morning was the Botanical Gardens. 

We followed paths that lead through colourful leafy foliage.



There were interesting tropical flowers, many that I'd never seen before.




We came across a waterfall,

And a pineapple!

or two.

When I was a little girl I believed fairies would come out at night to paint leaves..

In fact, I think that maybe they still do.


There is something magical about orchids.

A fluffy flower!!

A vine of leafy hearts, or hearty leaves.








After our visit to the gardens we scooted off to the Museum and Art Gallery where we saw lots of wonderful art, a very moving exhibit about Cyclone Tracey, a display about boats and many other wondrous collections.

I loved this boat for its painted designs but couldn't imagine sailing in rough ocean waters in it. 

The restaurant at the Museum had been recommended to us and it lived up to expectations. Mr D and I both agree that we'd highly recommend it to others.

After lunch we jumped back on our scooters and I took Mr Daisy to see Songlines Art Gallery. I wanted him to see all the beautiful artwork, and it gave me a chance to pick up some fabric. 



After much deliberation I chose two pieces - 
Merrepen artist,  Kieren Karritpul's Mermaid fabric. I loved the thought that our lakes and rivers have mermaids in them.


and Ikuntji artist, Eunice Napanangka's  Kuruyultu fabric.  I chose this because it represents water, which of course mermaids need water to swim in.

My plan is to simply piece them together in large pieces and add lots of hand quilting. A big bold simple quilt that allows the fabrics to stand out as the art works that they are.


Incidentally the lotus flowers in Kieren's mermaid fabric reminds me of this painting by my mother, that hangs in my living room.  

I wasn't the only one to walk out with a fabric treasure from Songlines Gallery. We found this fabulous shirt for Mr D, made with fabric from Timor.

A close up of the fabric design!!

After our wonderful time at Songlines Gallery we headed back into the center of town and down to the waterfront area of Darwin, the popular hub of restaurants and cocktail bars overlooking a harbour. 



Beautiful patterns made by reflections on the water.



We found a giant deck chair!!

So we lounged around and watch the sights.

...until the sun went down.

...and the ferris wheel lit up the night with its neon light show.


The next morning we were up bright and early!! We had a couple of hours before catching our plane so we headed off on our scooters again to find the street art that Darwin is known for. 


The man walking by will help give you a sense of scale for this giant brolga mural.




Many of the mural were on the backs and sides of buildings that were on the other side of fences. 

...and down alleyways.





They certainly added colour to the streets and made it enticing to explore.





Parliament House was one of my favourite buildings in the city for its impressive presence. 

And that was it... Our holiday to the Northern Territory was soon over but the wonderful times we had live on in our conversations. About a week after our return Sydney went into lockdown for several months, and we thanked our lucky stars many, many times that we had been able to go on our trip. 

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This post is such a burst of tropical colour so thought I'd share these paintings by Jennfer Paganelli. She lives in Florida, US but these flowers look as though they could have been picked in Darwin. 



I particularly love the way the markings on this table cloth look like big stitch quilting. 

Thank you for following along with my stories, I've been travelling again so I have more photos of wonderful places to share, but until I do... I wish you lots happy colourful days.