Week 8 of the DownUnder Tour

Please note that Weeks 9 and beyond begin at downundertour3.blogspot.com as the number of photos began slowing this site. (Also note weeks 1-4 are at downundertour.blogspot.com)

We have finally arrived in Darwin! For any of you who know Maree, you will not be surprised to hear that within an hour of being in the caravan park she had met the neighbours and started the music that turned into a bush band for the night, (see picture).

We also had other visitors such as this possum that Mariah took a liking to; at least until it climbed the tree over the clothes line and did a wee.
Speaking of native animals, both Mariah and Christian thought this baby croc was very sweet. Though they fancied having one of their very own, I pointed out that baby crocs are a bit like baby kittens in that they are very cute when small but then they grow up. Cats attack the native birds and animals but crocs attack anything they want to, including you, me and the neighbourhood cats. (Perhaps if it was just cats they would be very beneficial for our neighbourhood….)

It was a busy week with sightseeing during the day and watching the Arafura Games in the evenings. Darwin appears to be a very wealthy city with one of the fastest growth rates in Australia, a massive tourism industry, and public amenities second to none. If one didn’t know better they would think the public coffers were overflowing with massive areas of reticulated gardens, free access to many attractions (such as the museum), and state of the art facilities.

Even their public toilets are fully automated. When you want to use the facility (Exeloo) you press a button and the sliding stainless steel door opens, like on an elevator. You walk in and a voice tells you that you only have ten minutes and the door will automatically re-open, then the soft jazz music comes on. You may need to dry the seat as the facility self washes between users. When you are done, you move to the sink area and put your hands under the soap dispenser that dispenses a predefined (and adequate) amount of soap. Move your hands under the tap and it comes on automatically with warm water while you wash. Under the hand drier to dry and then back to the door that will open for you. When you exit, it begins the self clean cycle. The toilet rooms are designed for disabled access as well. Now if the possum above would just learn to use it…

One of the highlights of the week had to be the Arafura Games, reportedly known as the “leading international sporting competition for emerging champions of the Asia Pacific region”, though competitors were from far and wide, including the USA. It was certainly entertaining with Asian countries dominating some of the sports such as Sepak Takraw and the USA taking out the gold in the basketball, but it was the Chinese basketball team that made an impression on Mariah and Christian when they gave them small gold basketball pins to wear and sew-on Arafura Games badges. They certainly did a good job of representing their country well from a relationship perspective.
Many games require strength, skill and coordination but few more so than Sepak Takraw. This is a game similar to volleyball in some respects but it is played with only three people per team, uses a woven bamboo ball, (competition balls are actually a synthetic material), and the contestants cannot use their hands or arms to contact the ball. Yes, you read that correctly.

They serve the ball with their feet, (ref. first photo) and return it with their feet, (subsequent photos). As you will see they still “spike” the ball at the net as happens in volleyball but they need to get very high in the air to be effective. Have a look at the pic of the battle at the net and then the close up of the same, to see the position these guys are actually in.

One strategy is to do backflips and kick the ball when your feet are high in the air. This is a fast paced amazing game to watch and we saw most of the games, right through to the finals. We were in good company and even spotted one of the local celebrities, Jessica Malboy, (pictured below), who was in the VIP area. She sang at the opening ceremony but unfortunately we missed it.
We befriended a couple of the Malaysian referees who were kind enough to give Maree both a Sepak Takraw key ring and a brand new tournament grade Sepak Takraw ball, still in the box. They gave her this after the final as I expect they did not want to carry them back to Malaysia and knew that the children would put it to use. Christian is already trying to get the knack of it but has not yet mastered the backflipping spikes… but give him time. The halftime entertainment was also exotic and interesting with hula dancers at one half time presentation, irish dancing at another, and even Chinese Dragons to entertain the crowds. They even had a turn at playing a bit of Sepak Takraw! Oh, by the way, the cost to attend the Arafura Games?... You guessed it, FREE!

The museum in Darwin is terrific and varied, with displays ranging from information on Darwin’s role in the war, (did you know that Darwin Harbour had 3 times as many bombs dropped on them as Pearl Harbour?), to Cyclone Tracy, complete with a sound room that plays an actual recording taken when the cyclone was raging outside. There are exhibits of aboriginal art and history, a whole section dedicated to Maritime, including a couple dozen vessels that were noteworthy for specific reasons, a science area, geological information, and displays of everything from box jellyfish to “Sweetheart”, a 17 foot 700 kg crocodile that they unsuccessfully tried to relocate. It had a bad habit of tipping over boats but when they anesthetised it they overdid it and it died, so it has become a mounted stuffed display at the museum, accompanied by the video footage taken at the time they had tried to move it. There is so much to see and do at the museum that after three visits there are still areas that we haven’t seen very well. Another amazing fact about the museum….. admission is free!
We spent one morning walking along the waterfront, leaving from the city and working our way along the Esplanade, through Bicentennial Park, where we noticed this odd looking fruit, (pictured). If you know what it is, please let us know. From there it was down “Doctor’s Gully and back up the other side, around to Cullen Bay, then back up and farther along to Fannie Bay, past Sky City Casino, the Mindil Market area, the High School and to the museum. Even though it was a very long walk covering something over 10 kms, we had not seen nearly all of it. This harbour is much larger than Sydney Harbour and has incredible accessibility for boaters with good ramps in many locations. The seas are also very calm. They get a bit of wind chop at times, but no swell so the boats are relatively small. The seas are comparatively far shallower than at home with most fishing done in about 60 feet of water. Compare this to the fishing off of Ballina where most good fish are in 300 to 1200 feet of water and you would get far more time to bring up fish over the course of a day because they only need to come up such short distances. :)
I went for my first fish in Darwin the other day, but only caught the bottom of the ocean and couldn’t get it to come up regardless of how I tried to finesse it. I was fishing from a pier that juts out into to ocean alongside a boat ramp, (ref pictures). Mariah was gracious and suggested that perhaps it was a whale or croc and they just did not want to move. Two lures later I gave up but it was still good to wet a line.
We fit in some study time (see pic) with Maree and the children using both the Darwin public library as well as the Northern Territory Parliamentary Library. Now you wouldn’t see that possible in any other Parliament I am aware of but they are very amenable here in the Northern Territory! We also had a full guided tour of the Parliament Building, a cyclone proof structure that cost more than anyone wants to admit, but it is built to last. Please note the photos of the interior of the great hall and the aboriginal art assembled and titled “The Meeting Place”. As you can see, we had the place to ourselves. Out on the back steps one looks out at a fountain and then over the harbour, with the navy vessel strategically positioned to ensure the highest security is maintained within the Parliament building, even from approaches at sea.
May as well do some real exploring then and Mariah and Christian decided they could jointly manage the Parliamentary affairs and took over the chair of the speaker of the house. When they were not sure how to rule on an issue they would confer and come to consensus, in the same manner as normally happens in Parliament. :)

They even carried the official 4.5kg gold and silver mace, just to ward off any would be impersonators.
Following their brilliant job in this role they met with the Governor, (the Hon. Ted Eagan), at the Governor’s mansion, overlooking the harbour. Just the gardens would have cost many millions but what a superb spot! The home is located high on the hillside and the gardens are terraced with paths going through. The design of these is intertwined with retaining walls to keep it all in place. They showed us where the Queen stayed when she visited way back when and we went through the photo albums of the visit. Afternoon scones, jam, & cream served with tea fit for a Queen was superb but we had to decline dinner, which was a bit more formal than we had the attire for anyway.

I must say that I am really impressed with the openness and congeniality of those in the NT political system and the Hon. Ted Eagan has to be one of the friendliest and approachable politicians I have ever met, (no offense intended to other politicians reading this…)

One of the “must do” activities in Darwin is to attend the Mindil Markets, along the beachfront on Thursdays and Sundays, starting from around 5pm. We were told that the thing to do is to visit the food stalls, select a dinner, then take it to the beach to enjoy as the sun sets. We found that there was another step involved, and that was selecting an appetizer to enjoy as one browses through the incredible number of food stalls to see what one wants as a main course. There was everything from croc, emu, and kangaroo Australian delicacies to African, Chinese, Thai, and Italian cuisines. It takes about 30 minutes to preview it all and by that time you are drooling. The sunset was very nice (ref pic), and dinner was great as well. The shopping offers no great bargains but some items of very nice quality, including woodworking, aboriginal art and clothing.
Next week we explore more of Darwin including Frances Bay, Fisherman’s Wharf, watch the sun set over the Darwin Sailing Club, feed schools of fish on an incoming tide, visit massive barramundi at Howard Springs, and even fit in a game of baseball with the locals!

DownUnder Tour Week 7

"Here's lookin' at 'ya kid!" Much of this week involved crocs; both admiring them from afar and trying to ensure they stayed there!


There are two types of crocs in Australia, those they refer to as "freshwater" and those that are "saltwater" or "salties" for short. This is a bit of a misnomer since the "salties" can inhabit both fresh and saltwater, even travelling as much as 100 kms offshore. Crocs have been around for 200 million years and are very well adapted to survival, eating anyone and anything that moves. They have no conscience, are very aggressive, surprisingly fast (18Km per hour for short distances) and people in the Northern Territory are killed by them every year. Reportedly they remove 200 per annum off the Darwin beaches, not very enticing to those who may want to take a dip.

The beginning of the week we left Mataranka and went to Katherine Gorge, which is actually a series of 13 or so gorges, some of which were still inaccessible due to the high water levels. This area is another one of the national parks that has been turned over to the local aborigines and leased back on a 99 year lease and fortunately we can still get access because this is a beautiful spot! There are a couple of ways to view the gorge, from the elevated positions and from a boat. A two hour tour is not cheap and will set you back about $50 per head, or about $160 for a family pass good for 2 adults & 2 children. With 60+ people per boat and four trips per day, it is a very healthy business! The tour covered two sections of the gorge and saw some great scenery as well as this freshwater crocodile, pictured right. The freshwater crocs are typically not as aggressive as salties but we kept our distance all the same. Note the difference in both the colouring and the jaw shape between the two species. As we travelled the gorge you could also see where other crocs had been up and down the beach as the foot / tail prints are quite distinctive going up the beach and coming down the beach they leave slide marks as they move down into the water.

Upon departing Katherine Gorge, we detoured through the town of Katherine for supplies, stopping at their hot springs for a dip while there, (pictured right). We entered the water with trepidation as there were croc warning signs but we were comforted by the fact that there were a number of other people already in the water who we thought could not move as fast as us. :) These springs were not as hot as Mataranka but had a terrific flow and small waterfall, (another impediment for hungry crocs).

We then moved on to Edith Falls, which has to be one of my favourite places of all the spots we have been thus far. They have a waterfall fed lake that was pretty cool after the warmth of the springs in Mataranka and Katherine, but the scenery was incredible and there were BIG fish in the lake. (Fishing is banned and the fish know it so they just swim right up to you.)


The following morning we set off to do the hike up to the top of the falls, and were we ever rewarded! The views are astounding and once one gets to the top, there are waterfall fed pools that you can swim in. Even better is that due to the elevation and terrain, you (reportedly) do not need to worry about the crocs. There is a broad diversity in this area in many ways, from terrain to water features to the variety of plant life, as it has a mix of the foliage we saw in the Macdonnell Ranges (near Alice Springs) as well as what we later saw in Kakadu National Park. (Given that this is also a national park we refrained from digging for witchetty grubs for the BBQ.)

The next stop was at Cooinda in Kakadu National Park. There is a nearby river, "Yellow Waters" which is connected to a number of other rivers, most of which are branches of the Alligator River. Yes, that is right, not "crocodile river", but "Alligator River". This river was named by a foreigner (probably from Florida) who thought the crocs that inhabit the area are alligators. Once again we took a boat tour of the area to see the wetlands and of course, many crocs. If you have a look at the picture on the left you may not notice the 4 meter croc under the branches of the tree. The photo on the right offers a closer look. This fellow was twice as long as I am tall and about 7 times my weight. They can reach 6 metres and over a tonne in weight. Imagine coming across one that size! They have had trouble with them from time to time attacking and capsizing boats but when that occurs they usually relocate them to either a more remote area or to a croc farm to be used as a breeder. We were told that crocs from the wild are never (intentionally) killed. During the wetlands tour we saw crocs attacking their prey and they are lethal. One jumped from the water and picked a snake off a low hanging tree branch and another lunged out and grabbed a bird who ventured a bit too close to the water's edge.


The tour was interesting, with some remarkable birds such as Australia's second largest bird of prey, the sea eagle, who happened to have a nest we saw, and the whistling kites, also known as "bully birds" because they wait until other birds catch food and then terrorise the birds until they leave the food. They even do this to the sea eagle, (pictured left), whose defence is to take to the skies and then flip upside down to use its talons to attack the underside of the whistling kites. Amongst the other birds we saw was the black-necked stork, also known as the Jabiru bird, pictured right. The tour operator mused that though it is called the black necked stork, the neck is actually a very dark green, and can appear to be blue if viewed from the right angle.

This area reminds me so much of the Everglades in Florida, with the canals that open up into broad marshlands with a vast array of wildlife.

We saw a few fishermen on the water in small tinnies and according to the tour operators those from the Northern Territory have a tendency to become a bit casual about the presence of the crocs, which is often what brings them undone. To their credit, National Parks post signs near virtually every waterway, boat ramp, etc warning of the presence of saltwater crocs and reminding people that encounters have resulted in death. Pretty clear really.

We covered a lot of water during the tour, so much that the operator got a bit tired and Mariah took over at the wheel, (pictured right), and did a very capable job. (A chip off the old block.....)

It is admirable the way the Aborigines learned to use the land (& water) for survival over a period of tens of thousands of years. Even the water lilies provided food and tools for them. They eat the flowers and roots and then use the tube as a straw, not for drinking their milkshakes but as a snorkel to go along under the water and grab the magpie geese by the legs. I am not sure how they avoided the crocs, but perhaps they were not so numerous back then when they were routinely hunted.

One way to avoid swimming with crocs is to use the expansive pool at the Cooinda campground. Have a look at this! We thoroughly enjoyed the area with many water games in the pool leaving us all well worn and getting good sleeps.

Another "must see" sight closer to Jabiru is Nawurlandja Rock overlooking the Anbangbang Billabong. It is a short climb that Christian struggled with, which is why you only see Maree and Mariah in this photo, with the billabong in the background.

From there it is only a short distance to Nourlangie Rock, which is actually two rocks. The upper rock's correct name is Burrunggui while the lower area is Anbangbang. This is a beautiful area geologically as well as being an Aboriginal art site. The art is hard to date because artists used to paint over previous paintings and all that can be dated is the ochre (paint), which is not necessarily indicative of the date of the artistry.






The artwork is in a number of different areas and the walks between are easy and scenic. For many of the artworks there are signs outlining the meaning of the art. In any such situation one bears in mind that this message is from the interpreter, not the artist.

That evening we ventured out to Ubirr to watch the sunset from Ubirr rock. It took some doing to get there with the motorhome needing to do 2 creek crossings to get to its destination but in the end we made it. The climb is steep in areas as can be seen in the picture to the right, but the views are worth it. What was a little concerning is that the park closes at sunset and, according to the signage, they impose a $5,500 fine if you are not out at park closing. The logistics of this are that if one is on the summit at sunset, as we were (reference picture at left), how can they be out of the park at the same time? Once we got to the summit I realised that either I had nothing to worry about or I would be in very good company in receiving a fine, as there would have been more than 50 other people on the summit as well and certainly we could beat them getting down the mountain and out of the gate...


We left Jabiru and headed toward Darwin stopping along the way to take another boat ride, this time where they feed the crocs and show just what they are capable of when hungry. Have a look at the photo on the right for an idea of how well they come out of the water for a feed and the picture at the left gives you an idea of how brazen they are when people are around. When the croc boat goes out to entice them, they come from everywhere, from massive 5 meter ones to small ones, only a meter in length. I was embarrassing Christian by repeatedly asking him to come away from the side of the boat, where he would eagerly hang over the side so he could get a good look at any crocs!

At the end of the day, you just have to give these critters wide berth. They are surprising fast, very agile, and can come out of the water pretty much their body length if they want to. They have big teeth, powerful jaws, and will never go hungry.

Another great find near the crocs is a snake or two. Mariah once again had the chance to get acquainted with an "Olive Python" and Christian seems to be warming to them as well. I know Mariah will be a bit disappointed but I have already informed her that she will not be getting one of these for her birthday as they require a license to keep them in captivity. (Thank God for small favours.) Perhaps they are better than Christian's preferred pet at the moment, but more on that next week when we feature our arrival in Darwin. Just a sneak preview follows...


Just who is that in the chair of the Speaker of the House in the NT Parliment?

and...



Who are those children at the Governor's mansion with the NT Governor, the Hon. Ted Eagan?

Details to come in next week's DownUnder Tour update!