Day 20 –Darwin

This morning we left Darwin at 7.00am to head the hour south to the edge of Kakadu via the Arnhem Highway. Then it was an easy 10km drive along the dirt road to the Corroboree Billabong to join the hour long wetland river cruise. As we drove in, we passed many small (deliberately-lit) fires which were nearly always enveloped by circling black kites (raptor birds), waiting for the all the small scurrying rodents fleeing from the slow burning flames. The NT people have a very well managed cycle of burning off the undergrowth regularly, thus regenerating the landscape, and almost removing the threat of bushfires.

Having experienced a similar cruise years ago at the other end of the park, we had high hopes. Before we had parked the car we were surrounded by kangaroos, very small and pale in color.

 

As we joined our cruise boat, and headed off, very soon we spotted birdlife. A whitebellied sea eagle sat patiently on an old tree, before gliding off majestically looking for a fish. We were also able to spot his nest off large branches up in the nearby tree.

 

Looking through the trees we spotted a wild buffalo at the waters edge, with a white egret perched on his back. There are thousands of wild buffalo roaming through the wetlands.

 

My favourite bird of the day was the spectacularly beautiful, although quite small, Azure Kingfisher, aptly named for his bright blue plumage – just stunning in the sun, flitting from lily-pad to lily-pad.

 

We spotted quite a few crocs, both in the water, gliding silently by, and sitting on the muddy banks, sunning themselves, without a care in the world.

After our cruise, we made our way back to Darwin, stopping after a short distance to view the Windows on the Wetlands Information display. It had quite a good display about all the local wildlife and habitat.

 

Back in the outskirts of Darwin, we called in at the Barra Shack, a rural property (in every sense of the word)to look at some locally made items (wallets, handbags, etc) made out of barramundi skin (it was so leathery it looked like croc skin), crocodile skin (farmed), and buffalo horns. Sam was most taken with the croc skin, and bought himself a small key ring.

We called in at the Howard Springs Park Reserve for lunch, and ate our picnic by the bubbling hot springs. This one had a sign not to enter the water due to bacteria, but was a most attractive place for lunch and the kids had fun on the flying fox and play equipment.

 

Tonight we headed off to the famous Mindil Market, held on the parkland adjoining Mindil Beach right in the city of Darwin. The market operates every Thursday evening from 5pm to 10pm and every Sunday afternoon.

We wandered around the stalls, and after careful selection (you know my children and their attraction to food), we settled on some Indonesian and Indian food, while Sam chose a massive lamb kebab. We then wandered the short distance and sat on Mindil Beach watching the firery red sun (“mum, it looks like a big fireball”) set over the beautiful sandy beach. There were a few brave souls paddling out in the water (not for us, as we had been warned about the jellyfish stingers, not to mention the crocs that reside there).

 

We then watched some of the free entertainment on offer – a man juggling firesticks, a country whip master who entertained us with his funny songs, and fast whip cracking, and a fantastic modern didgeridoo player.

 

And, of course Michelle couldn’t pass up the opportunity of buying a little bit of jewellery as  a reminder of this wonderful day.