Day 21, 22 - Leavin' on Jet Plane and Sittin' on Top of the World

Day 21 -

Today was a travel day. We were heading North to "The Top End." That is what Darwin and points around are called. Darwin was named by the captain of the Beagle after his friend Charles Darwin. It sits on the Indian Ocean in the Bay of Timor at the top of Australia. Beautiful harbor.

Two flights and a twisty turny bus ride later we arrived at our Novotel hotel, which faces the beach, but of course we had a city facing room. Well actually our floor was so low we had a parking lot facing room. No matter, it was only one night now and one at the end of our trip to the Kakadu National Park, and maybe we will get a higher floor. This being Thursday, there was craft/food fair at Mintil Beach. We took the shuttle bus to the fair and there we were on Broadway, Columbus or Amsterdam Avenues in the Spring/Fall, except this was on the beach. All kinds food and crafts booths. It was quite a treat for Maddi to be on the other side of the E Z up tents. There was a verity of international foods many Asian, we settled on Vietnamese and found a seat on the beach to watch the sunset, and a beautiful one it was. This may have been one of the least expensive and tastiest meals we had in a long time. Just two days earlier it cost us 25 bucks for ONE box breakfast of a breakfast bar, muffin, apple, OJ, a croissant, and a small bottle of water. For under 20 we feasted on two summer rolls and two boxed meals with spring rolls and some meat and rice noodles and greens with a terrific sauce. There was some kind of sports event going on all over Darwin and some were on the beach, relay races were what we saw.

Darwin Sunset

We returned to our room to prepare for a 5:00AM wake up call for the trip inland to the national park. Oh, and because we could, we did laundry.

Day 22 - Sittin' on the Top of The World

Ladies and gents, another spectacular day. Although we had to be up at 5 and on the bus to Kakadu National Park at the crack of dawn it was worth it. It was a long drive with 11 people on a 47 passenger bus. Most people on the bus were day trippers, we are staying through Sunday with an actual day off in a warm place tomorrow.

Our Kakadu Hotel - shaped like a croc - OY

A day off, you muse. How can that be? Because the wet season has not dried out, our Saturday tour was cancelled so no Jim Jim or Twin Waterfalls (known to be spectacular). No matter, we took an optional scenic flight over the park today, which included a fly over both falls. The flight, in an 8 seater plane with just three of us, flew all over Kakadu Park. Not only did we see the falls we weren't going to see tomorrow, we saw three other falls as well, the escarpment and so much more. There we were up in the sky just clicking away.

Egret

From there we took a cruise (use the term loosely) on the Yellow River which starts as a billibong and becomes a full fledged river before becoming too narrow to traverse. Crocodiles, egrets, both great and medium, bee eaters, cockatoos, kites (the bird type), and the Jabiru, an odd looking bird with a red beak and red stilty legs and for which the town is named, all kinds of interesting flora. The trip took about an hour and it was lovely to be outside in the warmth and sunshine.

Aboriginal rock painting

After lunch we went to see the aboriginal paintings at Nourlangie Rocks. Very interesting aboriginal art. What can we say. Off to the Crocodile Hotel for an evening and day of R and R. You may not hear from us tomorrow, we expect to be basking in the sun by the pool. So, see you in a couple of days.