Darwin

 

Darwin is an amazing city and was named after Charles Darwin a scientist and evolutionist who explored the harbour on his ship the "Beagle" in 1864. Because of poor communication and transportation plus the unpredictable weather the city was slow to grow. Then in the 1940's nearly 10,000 allied troops moved to the area to defend the coastline during WW11. In February 1942 the Japanese bombed Darwin. The city was bombed a total of 64 times during the war and needless to say suffered extensive damage. If that wasn't bad enough, then on Christmas Eve 1974 Darwin was devastated by "Cyclone Tracy", Australia's worst recorded natural disaster. Virtually evacuated for a time, it had to be rebuilt from scratch. Now it is a bustling, modern city and capital of the Northern Territory. The "Dry" season is from May to October and is so predictable that outdoor events can be planned years in advance. While in Darwin we visited the war museum and went on an outdoor adventure to see the "jumping crocodiles". There are some really big guys in this river and they literally jump out of the water trying to catch the dangling bait they tempt them with. We even got to see a croc with no front arms and some other slithery creatures which I had the pleasure of holding.
We also took a day trip out to Crab Claw Island but sadly we didn't have any crabs but the barramundi was really good. After we left Darwin we spent a few days with our nephew Simon who lives in the small town of Humpty Doo. Love that name!  After of couple days with him we left our caravan in amongst the mango trees and flew off the Bali for a change of scenery but that is a whole other story. Look for our next amazing adventures from beautiful Bali which we will post in a few days. Cheers for now...BB & MA