The Park was a pretty cool place. We had to take a lot of notes to write a short report, which sorta dragged things down, but the animals we saw were pretty neat anyway. Western Quolls are really cute... sort of a possum type critter with a slightly pointed face and lots of spots (he was in the nocturnal house). Very nice weather, and a cool landscape. 10 minutes out of town, and there were basically no signs that there was a town back the way we'd come at all. After the Desert park, we went back to the hotel and just sorta wandered about.. I caught sunset on top of Anzac Hill, a war memorial, which was really cool to see with all the mountain ranges about. It was a person's 21st bday in our group, so everyone hung around the hotel bar and talked/played pool and such, it was a good ime there. I found a Baskin Robbins nearby, which was great given how long ago the only one I remember near me at home closed... hmmm, ice cream.

I'm sitting in the UNSW study abroad student lounge, and there's a line for the computers so I won't fill in much now... Basically, we did Uluru and Kata Tjuta, which were great, and then got to Sydney last night. I managed to find Mike and Jen for a few hours, which was awesome, and today is just devoted to exploring the campus and maybe downtown a bit more (got down there last night for a bit, pretty cool). Anyway, more and more detailed updates will follow later today or tomorrow as I get to the library... So far, I'm in the "laying out the calendar" stage, keeping track of all the classes and sidetrips for our classes and excursions (like the Opera House and what not) so that I know what time I have free to meet up with people, and do random side trips... I'm looking at a Jervis Bay day trip (119$) that includes a cruise with the local Dolphin pod, cuddle-a-koala and various other awesome like things... it might even be worth it, I mean... everyone in the group is talking about coming back here, and I definitely want to, but I might as well do as much as I can while I'm here now, right? Anyhow, getting off the computer now (it's a filthy MAC anyway... I feel soiled just for touching it). Catcha later!

The last day in Darwin was a pretty full one.  I went to my elective class in the morning, then walked around a lot and finally ended up at the local aquarium.  It wasn't all that impressive (I guess I'm spoiled by Baltimore's) but there were some nifty things to be seen anyway... Stone fish, a barramundi, and one of those crabs that decorates it's shell to disguise itself.  After a bit of sitting around/reading, I headed out to the Mindil Beach Markets, which were about twice as big Thursday as the two I'd been to before on Sundays. There wasn't much different though, since it was basically twice as much of the same old stuff.  There were a ton more people too, and that's a definite negative in my book... The fireworks display was also pretty lame, so I wandered home fairly early.  Spent the evening taking blackmail pictures of drunk people at the pub before falling asleep around 1.

Friday, we had to be out of our rooms by 10 despite not leaving for the airport till 12.  We solved this by sitting around the pool playing Hearts and reading for a good while.  The flight was nice and short (only 1.5 hours) so that was good.  We got into Alice and settled pretty fast.  However, except for food service, just about everything was closed cause of the equivalent of a state fair happening just outside of town (close enough for townsfolk, not for us with no cars).  I got the distinct impression, though, that Alice isn't that happening of a place even when it's all open.  Nice enough little town, but only for a visit I think... so today we're going to the Alice Springs Desert Park, there to see some cool critters and write some stuff in our field notebooks for an assignment.  Should be pretty interesting anyway.  Hopefully Mike and Jen have actually checked their email and such and might try to come by tonight, but it's looking doubtful... we really should have organized better before I left home, but that's my fault... No worries.  Anyhow, I have to leave for the park now, so I'll see y'all later.

Following on that typical Aussie attitude, we wildlife folks had a nice potluck cookout last night around the pool.  After that, I went out with some folks (~10 PM) to the Pig and Whistle, a nice little pub... it was pretty quiet, but I managed to get some funny pictures of the folks who were wasted BEFORE we left... some of them ended up pretty blind by the end of the night.  After the pub, we went to a place called Nirvana which was basically a few rooms and a stage where anyone could get up and play. We went there cause the guys from Demmob were there.  Demmob is the tour group of guides that took us through Kakadu, and they're all awesome guys. (sidenote: Aussies sometimes say "you mob" like "you all, you lot" so Demmob is a version of that used as a name).  So we hung out with the guides, then a few of us went down to the beach to see some stars before going home and collapsing around 2 AM.

Today, we had our first elective class. I'm taking Aussie Environmental History, and it started off pretty interesting.  We talked a bit, got lectured, then watched an X-rated movie (lots of kangaroo and platypus sex). It was nothing you wouldn't see on Discovery, but it was funny to see the people from the business program going "eeew, that's nasty" at the part where the kangaroo gave birth... All the wildlife folks were like "eh, so what?" though we all thought it was pretty cool too.

After the elective lecture, we headed to the Northern Territory Museum again, this time focusing on the Cyclone Tracy exhibit. Cyclone Tracy LEVELED Darwin in 1974, Xmas Day to be exact... the city, through an airlift and ground movement, lost 36 thousand people of it's population of 48k or so, who evacuated and didn't want to come back. It was a miracle that only 60 or so died, but the place was totally flattened (it was mostly cheap mass-produced housing stuck up after WW II rebuilding from the Japanese bombings). The exhibit was pretty interesting, and I took lots of notes since I need to write a paper on how it changed Darwinians view of their environment.

After the museum, we went back to the hotel and sat around a bit.  Around 5, we started up the second barbie in two days, but this one was even better than the first:  The Duke group hadn't gotten to eat the kangaroo and croc in the park cause of a supply problem, so the Demmob guys came to the hotel to cook and party with us.  I helped slicing up the kangaroo and croc, and they grilled it all up with some buffalo burgers on the spot.. It was a great time for everyone. 

At 6:45, some of us who were required for our elective class left to go to the Deckchair Cinema.  Basically, it's an outdoor movie theatre with rows and rows of deckchairs... The movie was called Yolngu Boy, and it was an Aboriginal coming of age type story.  Pretty well done, and nicely culturally insightful (especially as it has to do with interactions with environment, which was why my elective required it).  Walking back from that, I stopped to update for y'all and then I'll probably go back and crash...

Tomorrow is our last full day in Darwin.  I plan to hit the local Aquarium after class, and then the Mindil Beach Markets at night.  I've only been to the Sunday Markets so far, and Thursdays are supposed to be twice as big. Plus, tomorrow is some random contrived local holiday (Territory Day or some such) so there's going to be a fireworks display too, so that should be fun.  Friday around 2 PM we fly out to Alice Springs, where we'll spend a day before going out to Ayer's Rock for 3, then on to Sydney.

Pretty slow day... easy class in the morning (9-1), then played some tennis with a roommate and went to the beach for a while.  Several folks were riding horses in the water, so we figured it was safe to swim as any crocs that were around would go for the bigger meals first...  Now, just quick checking email to keep up with Mike and Jen and try to make plans for Sydney, then heading off to the local market for BBQ supplies, as the wildlife folks are plotting a cookout for tonight.  That's about it for now... nothing big is gonna happen till Uluru, so probably no more BIG updates till then....catcha later!

After returning from Kakadu, we had two days (Sunday/Monday) off. Sunday I mostly used sitting around reading.  I walked around Darwin a bit, hit Woolworths for supplies (we have kitchenettes, so cereal and milk is far cheaper than even coffee/toast at the hotel shop every morning) and laundry detergent.   I went to the Mindil Markets that night, the same that we went to the first Sunday in.  Found some cool souvenirs, but I can't tell you about them... Y'all have to wait, bwhahahaha.

Monday, I booked a tour of Litchfield National Park.  It cost 86$ Australian, but it was entirely worth it.  It was a bus load of older tourists (I was the youngest by at least 20 years in the closest case, far more in most others) and it was a lot of fun to talk with them along the way... One couple from Chicago, a bunch of folks from Perth, one from Melbourne.. One guy who'd been in the Aussie Air Force in WWII, and was coming back to Darwin to see what it was like today, since he'd been there when the Japanese bombed it in the war.

We started off driving to the Magnetic Termite mounds.  Saw some brumby's on the way, much closer than they had been at Yellow Water, which was excellent.   The story on the magnetic termites is this: They build tall, sail-ish shaped mounds, and they are always, ALWAYS oriented along magnetic north/south within 10 degrees.  No one is quite sure why, but the theories involve temperature regulation (the 'mites hang out on the west side of the mound when the sun is rising/heating the east, and move to the east when it gets hot on the west).  There were some Agile Wallabies (or maybe Antilepine, they were far off) hopping about, so that was cool too.

After the termites, we went to Florence Falls.  It was pretty nice, two falls into a pretty shaded pool.  Not much to really report on these, not magnificent/impressive on the scale of Jim Jim or Twin, but great anyway.

After that, we hit Wangi Falls (pronounced Juan-Guy), which was a prett double fall into a deep and crystal clear pool.  Unfortunately closed for swimming because of (what else, really?) the crocs.  However, there was an AWESOME Merten's Water Monitor wandering about the camp tables.  Think: three foot long lizard, like a scaled down Komodo Dragon.  I got some great pictures, including one of his tongue flicking out and one that looks zoomed but isn't at all.. I was two feet from his face when I took it (I went between him and the woods to get front views before he disappeared, and he turned towards me unexpectedly... not aggressive, just meandering along).  Seeing that in the wild might alone have justified the cost of the trip to me...

We then ate at Monsoon Cafe, a buffet lunch provided by the tour company. After this, we headed on to Tolmer Falls.  It was pretty nice, rather high up with some excellent views of the Arnhem Land Escarpment.

Finally, we ended up at Buley Rockholes, which is basically a stream going around a curve with some deep pools and small falls.  Did a lot of swimming, jumping into the deeper holes and going against the current up to the falls. Sat on the falls, and got pushed off the the water and slippery rocks (for a total push/fall of 2 feet :p).  That was a great end to the day.  Got back to Darwin and headed to the Netcafe to inform all y'all of my doings recently...


Tomorrow classes resume, and then on Friday we ship out to Alice Springs.  I may update from there, if not I will when we get to Sydney on July 7th.   Thanks for all the comments!  Also remember: unless you asked me specifically for some souvenir, I'm only really looking for immediate family etc since it'd get bulky/expensive otherwise... if you really want something and are willing to reimburse, leave a comment (specific as possible) and I'll see what I can do.  Catcha later,

-Pat

We woke up and immediately after breakfast (~8AM) headed out to Yellow Water again, this time to observe the goings on of diurnal critters waking up and nocturnal ones wandering off. The kites stalking us during breakfast didn't follow...

We saw some Brumby's in the distance (wild horses) and a bunch of other stuff up close.  There were magpie geese, whistling ducks, and more egrets and such around.  We saw three large cranes (called Brolgas for species) fly by, and one giant Jabiru, Australia's only stork. It was probably a good five feet tall, though tough to tell from the distance.  I saw an egret catch and eat a snake, and one of the sea eagles nail a fish and take it back to it's nest for their young.  There were also some Agile Wallabies on the road out... cute little things.

We started off driving a long way, including some serious offroading (water up almost to the windows of our land rover, for one) out to Twin Falls.  It was a beautiful waterfall and beach, as we arrived there after a short boat ride and hike over rocks.  The guides said people used to just swim the part that we covered with the boat (through an impressive gorge) but that liability got too high (what with the frequent crocs in the area) so they gave that up this year.  We couldn't swim there, but there were many pics taken and great fun for all.

After Twin Falls, we drove to Jim Jim Falls.  Another long hike over rocks got us to a wonderful clear pool where we could swim, this time.  The water was bloody freezing though (estimates ~55 degrees or so).  There were some rocks on the other side of the initial pool, and then a massive plunge pool.  It was roundish, probably a few hundred yards from land to rock wall directly under the fall.  No one knows how deep it is either. Police divers got down to about 70 feet searching for a drowning victim once, and hadn't seen the bottom yet.  A bunch of people swam the whole way out to stand under the falls.  I went with one other person and we got about 3/4 the way there before she started tensing up and we went back.  Truth be told, I was happy for the excuse... swimming in freezing water with no bottom was rather terrifying, if exhilirating at the same time. 

After Jim Jim, we went over to Yellow Water Billabong for sunset. For those who don't know, a Billabong is an area formed where a river changes course over a long period and leaves a body of standing water, even when the river may get shallow or dry up during the dry season. They're home to tons of species, so great to see for an animal nerd like myself.  We watched sunset over the water (beautiful) and saw some herons, egrets, and white bellied sea eagles with a massive nest. It was here that I learned that, for some reason, "billabong" is a really fun word to say... Go on, try it. You know you want to!.
We then headed back to camp for dinner.

We started off our trip with a cruise down the Adelaide river, seeing the jumping crocs... Basically, they dangle meat off the side of the boat on a string attached to a pole, and the smaller crocs actually get the majority of their body out of the water going for it. We didn't see any get THAT much air, but there was some pretty good height on a few of them. We met Hannibal, the 16 foot long 1-ton + old man of the area... Pretty impressive from just a few feet away. At the dock where we started, they had some snakes out for us to hold/have photos with.  The water python was beautiful, all rainbow colored up close (gray w/yellow belly farther away) and I got pictures with her and the olive python too..  We saw quite a few cockatoos on the river, and plenty of kites,  both whistling and fork-tailed.

We stopped to eat lunch at the park entrance, where we then got some closer views of the cockatoos in the trees around the picnic ground.  We were also attacked by a whistling kite (hence the title of this post). I was sitting down with my sandwich when the bird swooped out of a tree, struck at the hand of the guy next to me, and flew off again.  There was no harm done to the guy, and we were all just sorta shocked at the bird that was so close to us. It sat in the trees watching us the rest of the time we ate, occasionally going for scraps on the ground.

After lunch we hit up Ubirr, a famous Aboriginal art site, with paintings on rock overhangs and suchlike.  Some of them are up to fifty thousand years old, so that was impressive.  Of course, I was far more interested in the occasional rock wallaby hopping around... At the top of the walking trail, we got some incredible views of the floodplain and the park as a whole. (as a point of reference: Kakadu National Park is a slight bit bigger than New Jersey... whole lot cleaner and more interesting, though).

Went out to the local wildlife park today... it was pretty cool, walking in the enclosures with the kangaroos (they COULD come over to us, they just chose not to) and seeing several other neat critters and an excellent aquarium.

Last night after posting, I went swimming for a bit at the hotel, then hit up Mindil beach with some folks from my program and some of the Dukies. We had a hardcore game of Ultimate Frisbee, in which my team got hammered... however, to make up for our athletic deficiencies, we named ourselves "Team Aussie Love", and every time something went wrong we just looked at each other and said "no worries mate... we're in Australia" and all was again right with the world.  We took a few ocean breaks, but kept them short and shallow due to the crocs...  After that we jogged up a hill to a pavilion on a cliff to watch sunset, which was spectacular.  Went out to dinner at Ducks Nuts, then studied at the pool with some of the engineering folks (We had a quiz today).