On our last day in Singapore we took a guided bus tour around the city (it was very good and we ought to have taken it on the first day) which finished at the Botanic Gardens. We knew that Linda (nee Burkill), with whom we are going to stay in Perth, was the daughter of someone who had worked there. When we alighted at the Burkill Gate and walked up to the VIP orchid display next to the Burkill Hall, we found out he had been the Director and that his father had also been Director - but no red carpet for us.
The VIP orchid collection shows off the orchid varieties that they have bred which are named after visiting dignitaries - popular, like Nelson Mandela, middling, like William and Kate and ... Margaret Thatcher. The orchid collection is spectacular and the rest of the gardens look very interesting but we were running out of time and (for the first time) having to dodge some heavy showers, so we only saw the stuff on our route to the gate where we took the public bus back to our hotel.
We arrived in Darwin at 5.35am, found our room key in a key-coded box by reception and stumbled across the yard to flake out until mid-morning when we were woken by the RAAF jets returning from an exercise. Met the extremely friendly and helpful staff who sorted us out for use of the washing machines, buses to and from the centre of Darwin and a suggestion of where to go for tea, which we followed.
Darwin is a small (120,000) city which had more bombs dropped on it by the Japanese than Pearl Harbour, and it was also flattened by Cyclone Tracy in 1974, so almost everything is newly built. They seem to be doing a good job, certainly back packers seem to like the place, and we had a decent meal on Stokes Wharf, a food court made from converted dock buildings on the Waterfront where we watched the sunset while eating. While walking back we noticed that several trees on the waterfront had fruit on them, when a large black shape fluttered past and then hung upside down in the tree above our heads and started munching - a flying fox.
Next day we were picked up at 6.10am for our overnight trip to the Kakadu National Park. It was a wonderful experience, despite many hours of driving in a 4WD bus - inevitable as its twice the size of Switzerland with 1500 indigenous inhabitants. Our guide/driver/chef was Josh an early 30s part-time musician who had spent several years in Africa and Europe as well as working all over Australia - he also had a degree in indigenous studies which meant he was well qualified to talk about the indigenous art we saw at Ubirr. But first we went on a boat tour of Rock Point Billabong (which means "always water"). We saw a saltie and freshie croc in the first few minutes, then white bellied sea eagles, lots of egrets, whistling ducks, more salties up to 4.5m long (probably about 50 years old) and a Jaribu - a stork with a huge bill so fearsome it bullies crocs into giving up their food.
After staying in a fixed camp over a fairly cold night (I should have hired the optional sleeping bag) we struck out for Gunlom Falls. It was one of the locations for Crocodile Dundee and in the wet season offers a spectacular 30m waterfall, but this is the dry season so there was only a trickle. However there are still beautiful pools at the top where our bus companions (3 Brit girls from Wakefield, Bradford and Macclesfield, 3 male and one female Italians, 2 German girls and 2 very French mesdemoiselles - all in their early 20s) went for a swim. It was a long hot climb up, but we made it with only one slip and bruised knee (for me) - we declined the swim not wanting to get burnt before the start of our long trek to Broome, which starts at 6.15 tomorrow.
Orchids used as bedding bring out Louise's Japanese side:
Sunset over Darwin waterfront:
A Freshwater Crocodile (freshie) smaller, less dangerous:
A Jabiru, about as tall as Louise, and capable of worrying a croc:
White-bellied Sea Eagle on its nest:
A 4.5m saltie (Saltwater or Estuarine Crocodile), well capable of killing cattle, or people. They open their mouths to stop their brain overheating and have a 4 chamber heart which they can change to 3 chambers to allow them to stay underwater for two hours:
Indigenous rock art, some of it is thousands of years old:
View over the East Alligator River, a month ago most of it was under water:
Rock Wallaby keeping cool:
Cathedral termite mounds:
Pools at the top of Gunlom Falls:
The falls themselves, we survived the climb to the top, and the way down:
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