Australia: July 2005 Archives

We're back in Darwin now, after enjoying a week in Kakadu National Park. We had a great time, and a big part of that was because we had Chris and Tilde there to point out and identify lots of animals and plants that we probably wouldn't have even noticed. We saw several Agile Wallabies (kind of like kangaroos) right on our campsite (okay, we probably would have noticed those, but we wouldn't have known what they were, or noticed the uniqueness of a certain part of their anatomy), lots of big fruit bats (for David) and the glittery green eyes of night-time wolf spiders (for Zuzana). We also saw dozens of different bird species and were excited to spot a few crocodiles in the river without even having to attract them by going for a swim as Chris suggested.

We were guaranteed lovely accomodation every night in our rented campervan (Danke Omi!). It was really comfy and easy--everything we needed without having to set up or pack up everything all the time. It got us thinking about possible future trips with a similar van through parts of Europe that we haven't seen yet.

But before we do that, we ARE coming back to the States. We bought our last series of tickets yesterday when we got back to Darwin. We'll be flying to Auckland, New Zealand on August 16th, spend 3 weeks there, then 2 weeks in Hawaii. We'll arrive in San Francisco on September 20th. In about half an hour we're headed to the airport for our flight to Brisbane on the east coast. We hope to get some pictures of Kakadu up soon!

For the past two nights we've been staying at the home of our Servas hosts - Margi and John. They're originally from the southern city of Adelaide but moved to Darwin with the intention of staying for only 6 months. They liked the town and area so much that they've lived here ever since.

Our first night together John cooked a popular local fish dish of barramundi. It was very delicious. We sat out on their balcony overlooking the nearby marina and enjoyed our dinner with a sweet South Australian white wine.

Yesterday afternoon, Megan and I went to the Darwin Museum and Art Gallery. They had lots of interesting things on display - aboriginal artwork, an exhibit on the effects of Cyclone Tracy that completely leveled the city of Darwin on Christmas Eve back in 1974 and a (stuffed) 17 foot saltwater crocodile named "Sweetheart." The mueseum was well organized and the exhibits seemed quite modern.

Last night Megan and I were in charge of preparing dinner and decided we'd treat them (and ourselves) to a Tex-Mex dinner. We served nachos with refried beans, fresh spinach, guacamole, sour cream and homemade salsa as an appetizer. For the main course we had vegetable and chicken fajitas. The local liquor store recommended Taylor's Shiraz, another South Australian wine that went nicely with the spicy Mexican food. After dinner we sat out on their balcony enjoying the warm evening air and talking about Australia's past, present and future.

This morning we said goodbye to Margi and John just before they left for work. We thoroughly enjoyed our time with them and hope they'll come to the U.S. someday so we can return the hospitality.

Megan's aunt and uncle - Chris and Tilde - arrive in Darwin today. Henni flies in tomorrow and then we're off to Kakadu national park for a week. We should have lots of great photos when we get back.

Our flight from Bangkok took us to Singapore and then Bali. Megan slept for a few hours during our layover in Indonesia but I didn't get more than 1 hour's sleep all night. My legs were feeling cramped and restless which kept me awake and I was engrossed in the book I'm reading about the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia called "Surviving the Killing Fields". Our plane touched down at Darwin International Airport this morning at 7:30AM and we rubbed our tired eyes and gathered our carry-on luggage.

We deplaned and made our way through the Immigration and Customs procedures. Australia is very, very strict in its restrictions on food, plants and organic items entering their country. We had some wooden chopsticks with us from Thailand which they pulled out of our backpacks but thankfully they weren't confiscated. We caught the shuttle bus outside the airport and headed for downtown Darwin.

We're staying at the Gecko Lodge which is about a 10 minute walk from the center of Darwin. We'll be here for 2 nights and then we're hoping to spend 2 days with Servas hosts. The only time we've stayed with a Servas family was on the island of Mauritius and we enjoyed the experience.

Megan's aunt Tilde and uncle Chris arrive in Darwin on the 21st and Henni flies in from Austria the next day. We're spending about a week exploring Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory by camper. Chris and Tilde are nature photographers and videographers and also write books on wildlife. We're very excited to be meeting up with all three of them (for me, it'll be the first time meeting Tilde and Chris).

The folks at our guesthouse informed us that the annual Beer Can Regatta festival was taking place down on the beach. We spent a few hours walking around looking at these big boats made almost entirely from beer cans. It was an interesting bit of Australian culture to witness. Tomorrow we're going to organize the rest of our travels through Australia. We have to decide how we're going to make our way down to Sydney - bus or airplane?