Northern Territory: Darwin

Today was Saturday and we had a late evening flight to Denpasar, Indonesia, so we had the whole day to explore the city of Darwin. We awoke after a long, restful, mozzie-free night’s sleep feeling recovered from the heat of the previous day. After storing our luggage in our car we headed out on a walking tour of the city. It started at the Smith Street outdoor mall in front of a historic hotel. We did not get far. Being in the capital of the Northern Territory (where the largest proportion of inhabitants are Aboriginal) we were in a hotbed for Aboriginal art. Numerous galleries lined the streets here displaying work produced by artists of the region, some famous with works selling for thousands and other lesser-known or up and coming artists. Having just come from Kakadu and seeing rock art first hand, we were beginning to have a new understanding of the different types of art produced. So, we spent some time browsing the various shops, searching for a painting.

We eventually found time to continue on the tour, seeing the harbour and the WWII memorial (the US lost ships and men in the harbor in a Japanese bombing.) Most of the historic buildings were destroyed though, since Darwin had suffered devastating damage after Cyclone Tracy over Christmas 1974. That afternoon we learned a great deal about the storm at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. After a quick dinner of fish and chips we headed to the airport to catch our flight to Bali, our first flight out of the country since arriving and our first time in Asia!

Northern Territory: Kakadu National Park

Late in the afternoon on Thursday we finally arrived in Darwin after a long day in airports and airplanes. Following a brief stop at a pharmacy to pickup and inject a vaccine for our trip to Indonesia (Matt's parking lot medicine), we headed out to Kakadu National Park. We arrived in the park after dark and the mozzies were on the prowl, so we had a pint of beer at the hotel bar and headed to sleep.

The next day, we had an early start as Kakadu is huge…20,000 sq km. It is also on the World’s Heritage List, not just for the ecology of the area, but its Aboriginal cultural significance. Technically dry season starts in April, however, this happens to be one of the wettest years on record and many of the roads open only in the Dry were still closed. This meant less of the park to have to cover in a short amount of time.

The focus of the day was to see some of the unique features of the area including the geography, geology and rock art sites. We started in the Yellow Water region which is known for its wetlands. Since much of the access to this area was closed we checked out the Warradjan Aboriginal Cultural Centre to learn a bit more about the local Aboriginals. Our next stop was the Nourlangie Region. Here we were able to walk past many rock art sites and a hike to a lookout over the Anbangbang Billabong (a dry season residual lake). The temperatures were already hitting the low 90s with high humidity and the mozzies were out in full force. We began having flashbacks of summer in Rocky, so we decided to head back to the air-conditioned car. After lunch we headed to the East Alligator region which has rainforest in addition to floodplains and more rock art. We attempted a rainforest walk along the East Alligator River, but within 5 minutes we were swarmed with mozzies the size of fruit bats so we decided to head to Ubirr. Here we saw more rock art and climbed a rocky outcrop that overlooked the Nadab floodplain. The view was spectacular. You could still see waters that hadn't yet receded and the rest of the valley floor was emerald green.

It was getting late in the day, so we hit the road to Darwin. On our way out we saw some smoke and fires that are common here during the dry season. These controlled burns have been performed by the Aboriginals for centuries for hunting and environmental management. We arrived at our hotel after dark and took a much needed shower before heading out for a delicious dinner at a Turkish restaurant.

The Rajniks

We had the pleasure of hosting Kitty and Larry (Mom and Dad) for a couple of weeks in May. This gave us the opportunity to show them around Central Queensland. It also gave us an excuse to check out some new places. The first weekend they were here, we drove north toward Mackay to the Eungella National Park. The Broken River runs through this rain forest and is a permanent home to many Platypus. Arriving at dusk, we were just in time to see them head out for their nightly meals. We had enough daylight left to observe them swimming and diving under the water for about an hour. They were a little tough to spot at first since they come out in the worst light and they are not that big (50cm at the very largest). Once we got the hang of looking for the ripples in the water and used the binoculars, they were much easier to spot. Staying at a cabin right at the river we were able to enjoy a delicious evening meal and I was able to get up bright and early (while everyone else slept) to view the morning antics of the little guys. I also had the opportunity to see the bright blue kingfisher bird which is commonly found around the platypus.

We also had the chance to go back to Great Keppel Island. Matt and I hadn't been there since the heat of the summer, so the cooler temperatures made it nicer for further exploration of the island. We started off with a glass bottom boat tour around the island when we arrived. This tour educated us on the names of the different types of coral found locally and the fish as they swam under our boat. Afterwards, we hiked over to Monkey Beach where there is reef not far off the beach. We snorkeled until we were thoroughly chilled by the water and saw some pretty amazing corals. We also convinced Mom and Dad to try snorkeling for the first time. They loved it!

The Dreamtime Cultural Center is Rockhampton's museum dedicated to educating people on the Central Highland Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders. The local indigenous are well known for their stencil art some of which was on display. The tour discussed the history of the people, their mythology and tools of their day to day life. We finished off with an education on playing the didgeridoo and throwing a boomerang.

There were a few other spots we checked out worth mentioning as well. One was the Cooberrie Park Wildlife Sanctuary where we were able to pet a kola, hold a Komodo dragon and take photos with a python. The Central Queensland Military Museum was full of memorabilia from several wars. There was also a good bit of American memorabilia here as General MacArthur chose Rocky as an important military base in the Pacific front of WWII. Finally, the Archer Park Station and Steam Tram Museum has the Purrey Steam Train, which they operate every Sunday morning, and interesting exhibits on the history of the station and the steam train in Rocky.

A Day at the Races

One thing that is fairly common in Australia is horse racing.  It just so happens that Rockhampton is home to Callaghan Park which is one of "the largest provincial thoroughbred racing Clubs in Queensland".  It is quite a popular way to spend a day for an Aussie, dressed to the nines at the track.  So, today Laura and I decided to put on our finest and go to the track to watch the the horses races ourselves.  If only we had proper hats to wear, then maybe we could have competed with the locals!

There were 6 races on for the day and we arrived with enough time before the first race to check out the horses and place our bets.  We didn't have a much of a clue about betting and still don't really, but we managed to do okay.  Laura had a knack for picking winners and came out on top for the day.  I didn't pick a single winner.  The picture of Laura here shows her with a winning ticket in her had waiting for the race to get started.