Days 282-286- Chilin' in Darwin

Day 282- “Crikey! There’s another croc!” - Mary River Billabong Cruise

Point Stuart to Darwin via Litchfield National Park- Wednesday, October 3, 2007

It was still dark when Colleen and I arose and first checked the location of the St. Andrew’s Cross spider just in case it had found its way into our luggage. It was still where we had seen it the night before.
The Mary River Billabong is one of the largest rivers in the area that is cut into billabongs (disconnected ponds) during the dry season. The 15 km section that we cruised has the largest population of crocs, both Estuarine and Freshie, anywhere. No sooner had our guide, a kind of Crocodile Dundee wannabe, launched the tour boat, we were sitting amongst a group of crocs 100 metres down the bank. Seeing the two species close up, one beside the other allowed us to learn a lot about their similarities and differences. Freshies, we were told, are not interested in eating you, while the Estuarine (or Salties), actually want to hunt you down. I was not prepared to test this proposition.
The bird life in this billabong is quite diverse. Our first observation of bird life here was a Jabiru, a large stork like bird, fighting a crocodile over a fish meal! The croc lept from the water but was no match for the bird, believe it or not!
The Mary River area is world renowned for its bird life, and as our guide began to name of the birds we were observing, I began a list that kept going down the page. The birds were in such number and variety that one could easily forget the number o crocs in the water! They are everywhere! It may be true that the largest concentration of both Estuarine and Freshwater Crocs is found here. It certainly looked that way.
Heading off towards Litchfield National Park, we stopped at Banyan Tree Caravan Park for lunch under the giant fig tree. The area here is well known for its diversity of termites, and more specifically, the various forms of mounds that different species contruct. Some make no mound at all, but two species, the “Cathedral” and “Magnetic” create unique towers, the former a corrugated mound up to 3 metres and the latter, perfectly north-south aligned that look like tombstones.
The afternoon was spent in the cool waters of Florence Falls, swimming in the deep pool while being pinched by Barramundi.
Finally, we headed back towards Darwin and its humidity, to be dropped off in front of the Cavanagh backpackers. We were picked up by by my friend Steve Hawkins, who was on exchange to my school in Mississauga in 2004 and who now works for the Northern territory Department of Education. His apartment faces the Beagle Gulf of the Timor Sea and we watched the sun go down over the ocean from his 3rd floor verandah as we caught up on our adventures and his most recent travels.

Day 283- Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory

Darwin- Thursday, October 4

We were moving slowly as it was the first day of not having to rise early in 3 weeks and some of us were having a harder time than others getting out of bed. When we had all got ourselves going (Steve had gone off to work after dropping me off at the airport to hire a car), we drove to the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. The collection of Aboriginal art, Cyclone Tracy memorabilia and WWII Darwin bombing archives is quite extensive. We met Danielle, one of our Wayward Bus travelling companions, who had the rest of the day to kill in town before her flight home to Brisbane.
The Museum turned out to be one of those little gems where the small but eclectic exhibits give one deep insights into the city and the Territory. The Cyclone Tracy exhibit was particularly extensive, and we were reminded at how often the city has had to be rebuilt due to war and storms.
Downtown's Smith Street is a pedestrian mall with many Aboriginal Art Galleries to explore. We inrerupted our shopping with a visit to our first Cold Rock Ice Cream parlour, which has outlets around Australia. This was our first and the ice crea, rates very highly. Little did we know that Steve's work colleague owns the Baskin Robbins across the street.
We returned to the Thursday evening Mendil Beach Market and did more serious ouvenir shopping, buying some Aboriginal prints from an Arnhem Land artist, and some tacky souvenirs too, which shall be given to some lucky (or unlucky as the case may be) friends back home...so watch out!
For supper, we met Steve at the Stokes Hill Wharf, which has a wide variety of "take-away" restaurants. We sat on the pier and watched the sun set as we ate Thai food washed down with various local beverages.
Near the wharf is the outdoor "Deckchair Cinema" which is exactly like its name. Although the film selection was not the best choice, we had a great time sitting under the stars watching the film.

Day 284- Darwin's WWII History

Darwin- Friday, October 5

East Point Military Museum is a privately owned museum set up in the battery and gun emplacement with a replica 9.2 inch gun that was built near the end of the war and never used. We visited part way through the morning. There were lots of old artillery and vehicles, but the heat outside sent is back in, where lots of war memorabilia were on display. The highlight, though, was a 15 minute film about the bombing of Darwin by the Japanese. It was hard to imagine that the city suffered over 300 casualties, and that the 64 bombing attacks are not well known.
Later, we returned to the downtown area and expored more art galleries (much to the chagrin of the boys).
We headed back to Steve's, crossed the road by the bay and swam in the pool in the heat and humidity of the late afternoon as the sun set again over the Timor Sea.

Day 285-286- Homeward Bound, but first, let's go for a swim

Time was running out and we felt that we had to make good use of our last day in the heat of the Tropics. Colleen and I got up early and walked the track along the ocean for and hour before returning to Steve's. The boys were barely awake, so we rousted them, told them to grab their bathing suits ("bathers" in Oz), and headed out of town to the nearest swiming hole, Berry Springs, about half an hour south of town.
We grabbed breakfast on the way and were swimming by 11 am. The pools were warm and the sun strong. Colleen, still not quite fully comprehending the tropical sun, forgot to put on sunscreen. Even in the water, it seems, you get quite a burn here, and we were all nicely coloured after our swim. We walked the Monsoon forest track in the park and then drove back to the city.
Arriving back at Steve's, we loaded his gear into our car, as he was heading to the airport on his way to Thailand for his holiday. All we had to do was lock up when our flight was scheduled a few hours later.
Unfortuantely, his flight was cancelled and I had to drive back and get him. Steve spent the next few hours rebooking his flight for early Monday. AS Steve was rebooking his flight, we received a call from Virgin Blue requesting that we change routes from the Darwin to Melbourne non-stop to a Darwin-Brisbane-Melbourne flight. The incentive was a free flight home, or rather, a credit for the value of our flight. Economically, it made sense, but the 2 a.m departure, stopover in Brisbane, and the connecting flight home were very uncomfortable. But I am getting ahead of myself.
We had another swim, went with Steve to a downtown restaurant highlighted in the Lonely Planet Guide (The Duck's Nuts), and then headed to the airport ourselves.
It was a long wait, a crammed red-eye flight, and very uncomfortable. We arrived back at Tullamarine Airport in Melbourne at 9 a.m., tired and without transportation home. A taxi ride home is over $100, so we took the bus-train-bus option.
Finally, at 10:30, we stumbled off the bus at the bus stop next to the house, weary but very happy about our 3 week Outback adventure.
We have seen parts of Australia that many Australians have never seen. We have experienced the true Outback and the Red Centre and the Top End. We have watched the sunset over the desert, over Uluru and over the Timor Sea.
And Monday, when I go back to school, there are only 9 weeks left here, and we will be heading home. Time is running out.