Darwin

Monday March 8, 2010 Darwin
What a beautiful day to visit Australia’s capital of the Northern Territory. Darwin is located midway along Australia’s northern coast and it is situated on a peninsula surrounded by crystal clear turquoise waters. It’s culture is a melting pot of several nationalities as it is the gateway for several Southeast Asian countries. The city was completely ruined during WW11 and then again in 1974 by a cyclone. As we left the dock for today’s adventure, we saw several pearling boats. They look like our draggers. 65 % of the worlds’ pearls come from these waters. We left this vibrant city behind, following the Stuart Highway south toward Litchfield National Park. Along the way, we saw several road trains used to haul cattle. They are taken to holding pens before being loading on boats for Indonesia. Remember the movie “Australia”, these holding pens look like they did in the movie. Our drive was about 2 hours to the park. Along the way we also saw four WW11 airstrips that were used by the allies. Darwin also has the longest airport runway in the world. It is an emergency runway for the space shuttle and the US stealth bombers also land here. When we reached the park, our first stop was the termite mounds. They are found everywhere in the park and what an amazing site they are. Some are cathedral mounds which are the largest and some are magnetic and these are lined up facing the poles north to south. I was totally fascinated by them and I could not stop snapping pictures. We then visited two different falls. Florence Falls and Wangi falls. Wangi Falls was the largest and was a sight to behold. We had planned a swim in the pools beneath the falls but swimming was closed due to the high waters and strong currents. It sure would have felt good though. It was 97.5 degrees and 80 percent humidity. My glasses kept steaming up. While at Wangi Falls. It started pouring. The heavens opened and within 5 minutes we were completely drenched and then suddenly it was over and within minutes we were completely dry again. We saw more flying foxes in the trees hear. They are larger here than they were in Sydney. What an ugly creature they are. We finally left the park and arrived back to the ship just in time. Within minutes we were sailing away. Tonight I am exhausted and after our evening meal, I think I will call it a night. No wine tonight. The next 2 days are sea days. Good night.