I arrived in Sydney after leaving BA. The flight went down the east coast of Argentina and across the south pole. Over the sheets of ice and all... A quick overnight stop in Sydney where it managed to rain constantly and then head to Darwin where apparently the rainy season has kicked in early!!
Arriving in Darwin there were clear sky and beatiful warm trpoical weather. Darwin is the only city in Oz to have a true tropical climate and it was making itself well known to me, and me and the shower and swimming pool were becoming best mates!
Darwin has had some real hard times in the recent past. In WW2 they were hit by a Japanese attack where more bombs were dropped than on pearl harbour. This was actually kept quiet from the Australian public so as to not damage morale. The port had been caught by suprise and only 12 US fighters had been in the air to fight off an attacking force of over 500 planes. This led to over 200 lives being lost (although it is contested as to whether this was greater. The port was interesting and it was good to get into the shade of some massive oil tanks that had been built underground in the war. They were an impressive peice of engineering ( http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Oceania/Australia/West/Northern_Territory/Darwin/photo1087951.htm).
The other major event in Darwin history was that of Cyclone Tracy an unwanted Xmas visitor turning up on Xmas Eve 1974. This killed 71 people and left just 400 of the 11200 houses standing.
Whilst in Darwin I also did some familiar tourist spots. One was Fannie Bay Gaol. This was a jail that had been built in 1883, and had been largely an open prison with inmates washing themselves in the sea on the beach outside, and disposing of the nights waste buckets at the same time. Begs the question what was the point in bathing there!!! However it couldn't be that bad as sometimes there were more inmates than they had on the roll call.
Andrea my new Italian mate gave me a lift to the Aviation Museum where I was able to feel rather small against the B52 bomber which managed to have half the exhibits under its wings http://www.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http://www.nachohat.org/top_end_2001/PIC00030.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.nachohat.org/top_end_2001/darwin_air.html&usg=__S5hgC45jk7oFKh-CTIlmvY5QTIA=&h=600&w=800&sz=83&hl=en&start=7&sig2=cJIZv8MEOh8htp3oQMuOzA&zoom=1&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=3cJwYtfxba0W_M:&tbnh=107&tbnw=143&prev=/images%3Fq%3Db52%2Bbomber%2Bdarwin%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-au%26tbs%3Disch:1&ei=Br7DTOToA8ikcYugnIsN!! There were some other good exhibits in there including a mirage and Japanese Zero (or the remains of it).
At the Crocosaurus Cove I managed to see some of the largest saltwater crocs and they impressed (and scared most people) at feeding time. I was lucky enough to feed some smaller crocs and don't worry I still have all my limbs and used a fishing line rather hand handing it to them. I also handled a small Croc and was fortunate that it decided to soil itself on the next person rather than me!!
I have booked a trip into the Kimberleys for 10days - so I will be signing off and resorting to smoke signals for the foreseeable future. Heres is to hoping I sleep under the stars without being biten by snakes, spiders, scorpions or eaten by a croc!!
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