CAMPSITE # 139 - Hidden Valley Tourist Park, Darwin

There was only one reason why were in Darwin. We had an extremely important parcel to collect from the Darwin Airport.

It was a express parcel that had travelled all of the way from the UK for 30 long & impatient hours . This one parcel would significantly change the next five weeks of our adventure. Once we received confirmation that the parcel was on board for delivery, Tom was an absolute mess. It was as though he was travelling on a very bumpy emotional rollercoaster, a mixture of extreme excitement coupled with terrifying pain and anxiety.  As the Troopie sat in airport parking, ready and waiting to carry its load, we spent 15 long minutes waiting for our delivery.

When two out of the three Simpson boys were reunited, the oversized grins on their bright red faces allowed even a stranger to recognise them as brothers. At that moment, James had forgotten about the last day and a half he'd been fussed over by two very friendly air hostesses as he travelled by himself as a 13 year old unaccompanied minor.

For the record, that is Ginger Beer!

Farewelling his mum at Heathrow airport would have felt like a week ago, now he was in Australia, a journey none of his friends at school even believed he was taking during his summer holidays. Clad in his brown leather Akubra featuring real life crocodile teeth and his brand new hiking boots that he'd done laps around the house to wear in, he was ready and waiting for the all Australian adventure that lay ahead.


When we designed the shelving unit we had built into the back of the Troopie, we had it so that the front third of the shelving unit was not mounted but bolted onto the floor of the Troopie. This meant that if we wanted to use the backseats when we had guests, we could unbolt the section and then roll the back seats out. For the duration of James' visit, the backseats would remain erected and the three of us would sleep in the tent together.  

James had a lot of jetlag to shake off and we were adament that we had to get him into our timezone as quickly as possible. So, we returned to our caravan park and spent the afternoon enjoying a few games of Marco Polo in the pool followed by three $6 Cheap Tuesday Dominios pizza. I don't think James believed Tom and I when we told him that having pizza was an absolute one-off special. We thought we'd give him a bit of slack for now, camping life would begin the follow day... 

Site : Hidden Valley Tourist Park, Darwin
Rating : 7 / 20
Facilities : Pool, BBQ area, Camp kitchen with all the facilities, 10minutes drive to Darwin Airport, 15 minutes to the city. And they give you a free packet of Jelly Beans when you check out woo hoo!!! :) Quite pricey - $38 for an unpowered site.