This is the first time in one of our trips that we do an internal flight during the trip but this is the only way that we can see multiple areas of the country due to its enormous size. In comparison to an US internal flight it is luxurious with food even in coach, TV for every seat and in general treated like a human being not cargo. There area some nice views of the Outback during the flight and we even na a bit during the flight as we left quite early from Melbourne so it feels a bit too soon when we land in Darwin. In fact it is too soon as we have to wait a bit before renting the car in order to ensure that when we return the car we do not pay an extra day. We want to be extra careful as here it seems that the car rental agencies have decided to fleece the tourists however they can including something that we haven't seen for a long time...not giving unlimited kilometers per rental. In fact it is only 100 km per day which with the distances here is laughable and the extra charges are steep. There is no way around it but it leaves us with a bitter taste in our mouth as it is a blatant way to basically double the price of the rental (at least that's how it was for us) and also makes us stress whenever we take a sidetrip (should we do it now or tomorrow - but tomorrow we have to drive an additional 30km which means additional taxe and so on = not fun on a vacation).
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| Domestic flight food | View from the plane |
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| Australian interior lake | Landing in Darwin |
Taking the car out of the parking lot is also not easy as there is no one that we can talk to in the car parking lot and do the car inspection so we have to go back into the terminal building and we lose precious minutes of sunlight doing this. Finally exiting the airport we find the well known Route 1 that goes from Darwin to Adelaide and start on it. First stop is a Cole's supermarket to buy food and water as we couldn't get that with us on the plane. After finishing with the shopping we exit Darwin and soon we encounter what seems an impassable road block - black smoke is going over the highway with zero visibility - is the road on fire or what? But after we see a car coming out we decide to go in also and we exit safely on the other side after passing near the roadside fire. In fact that is another interesting feature here during this period - there are fires almost everywhere and almost every hour we see one but usually farther out from the main road. Also for hundreds of kilometers the road has a companion - a pipeline carrying oil from the north to the south of the island. One thing that we have read about before and been warned about are the road trains - basically a truck carrying two or more trailers instead of one which makes for difficult passing as you need to have clear view for a long straight portion of the road. We encounter quite a few but usually we have no trouble overtaking them as the road is almost always straight with good visibility during the day.
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| Main highway out of Darwin - can we pass? | Fire near the road |
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| Pipeline running near the road | Passing a road train |
Our first stop is the motel where we are going to stay the night as it is on the way to Litchfield National Park our goal for the day. While most motels in Australia do not offer breakfast for free (and it is a hefty additional fee if you want it) they always offer a carton of milk - no idea why but it is welcome. After checking in and admiring the caged parrots we drive as fast as we can legally towards the park - we are in a race against the sunset and of course we don't want to drive the 50km the next day also as we try to keep the mileage to a minimum.
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| Motel entrance from outside | Motel Room |
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| Ubiquitous complimentary milk | Testing the australian breakfast food - vegemite |
Like most National Parks in Australia this is a free National Park which is nice from our perspective however that can reflect a bit in the availability of services and information. We were happy that we had a printout of the park from home and another sheet of information from the hotel which helped us navigate the park. The first stop is the magnetic termite mounds where if you get close with a piece of iron the termites will stick to it - not really - in fact they are called magnetic as they are built on a north south axis offering as little surface to the sun (north) as possible so they can be used as a compass. We do not see this alignment but they are impressive some of the mounds being bigger than an average person.
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| Huge termite mound | Litchfield NP - Magnetic Termite Mounds |
The next stop is in the Florence Falls area first at the Buley Rockhole which is quite popular for swimming it seems as we barely can find a parking spot but else there isn't a lot to do. Then we drive a bit further to Florence Falls which is quite impressive from the top and again quite a few people try to escape the heat by swimming in the pools beneath the waterfalls. And yes even now in the evening it is quite hot - we are after all in the Tropics now.
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| Buley Rockhole | Great for bathing |
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| Trail to Florence Falls | Impressive Florence Falls |
After the multitude of people at Florence Falls we enjoy the next stop Tabletop Swamp with no one else around. We eat here a quick snack and watch the swamp for birds - and there are quite a few. Besides the usual waterbirds there are some black parrots that we haven't seen yet on our trip and also a beautiful multicolored beeater that we identify using the helpful information plaque nearby.
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| Tabletop Swamp | Birds in the swamp |
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| Egrets - what you expect | Parrots - not expected |
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| Beautiful beeater | Parrot on top of tree near marsh |
The sun starts to set so we have time for one more major stop which is Tolmer Falls. There is a short trail to it and this late in the day there is no one else on it which makes it easy to appreciate how unexpected the waterfall appears while walking along on the trail. This time you cannot descend to take a bath in the pool at the base which likely also limits the attractiveness of the area. We watch the sun set and the moon come up before we return to the car and leave.
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| Tolmer Falls | Canyon downstream |
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| Common plant in the area | Australian sunset |
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| Moon over the bush | Close up of moon |
But we don't go back to the motel yet - we decide to go a few more kilometers to Wangi Falls another known stop in Litchfield. The waterfall is close to the parking lot and we use our flashlight to light our way as this has the possibility to be a crocodile zone and that is not something we want to encounter in the dark. The waterfall is beautiful in the light of the moon but we are more intrigued by the things flying over our head. Are they birds that we scared or what else - they are quite huge - and then we find a sign that explains everything, they are flying foxes one of the biggest bats that we have seen and there are hundreds of them flying all around us. It is quite surreal and we are really happy that we made the effort to come here. After this it is back to the motel (carefully as we encounter two kangaroos and a weird bird on the road) and well deserved rest as tomorrow we will drive further south to visit Nitmiluk national park.
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| Wangi Falls | Bats at Wangi Falls |
After a good night sleep we check out of the motel and start towards our next accomodation in Katherine, one of the few cities in this remote area. But before leaving Batchelor, the small village we are staying in we have to check out the Karlstein Castle miniature - interesting and out of place. Soon we are out of civilization and we decide to stop on a side road and just walk through an area that looks recently burnt. It is an interesting mix of green and black and we even find a lake used previously for mining a bit further up the road. Returning to the main highway we break the drive with a stop at a rest area where the point of attraction is a rock in the shape of Australia - weird thing.
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| Batchelor - Karlstein Castle Miniature | Contrast: burnt and green |
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| Close up of fruits | Unexpected lake |
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| Rock in the shape of Australia | Common trucks in the Northern Territory |
Our next stop occurs when we see a sign pointing on a side road to a WWII airport, MacDonald Airport. Not ones to resist the challenge we start down the paved narrow road that soon becomes one lane due to the vegetation growing in from both sides of the road. And then just about when we wanted to give up we find the airport - in fact a single long runway still well maintained. In fact it is so well maintained that we can drive the car on it - always wanted to drive the car on a runway so why not here in the middle of the Outback?! We stop for a quick snack also and then discover some WWII antiaircraft position hidden in the jungle - it feels like we are explorers stumbling onto the ruins of an old civilization.
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| Driving to an WWII airport | Bush on the side of the road |
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| Driving on the runway - exhilarating | Defensive position against Japanese aircraft |
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| More fortified antiair position | Close up of WWII antiair position |
Returning to the main road we settle in the same routine - drive empty road, catch a road train, find a place to overtake, overtake and so on. After about an hour of this we arrive at one of the entrances to the Nitmiluk NP specifically the north one to Edith Falls. We still have lots of time so we drive in fast the usual burned and smoldering trees to arrive at the parking lot. One of the things which we find interesting is the number of trucks with snorkels to pass through deep water - we haven't seen that many in any other country we went.
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| Road train | Entrance to Nitmiluk NP |
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| Everything seems burned | Impressive jeep with snorkel |
We take the trail to the Upper Pool and this time we decide to be prepared and take with us also bathing suits. The trail is about 1.5km long and goes uphill first which is quite a challenge in the heat and humidity. We stop quite often but there are things to see almost at every step - weird flowers, interesting birds and termite mounds.
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| Trail towards Upper Pool | Termite mound? |
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| Nice flower | Attentive dove |
Soon we notice that what we thought was dust is actually smoke coming from across the ridge and when we crest the ridge we can see the flames in the distance. We are a bit surprised that the trail is not closed but it appears to be safe so we continue on. Soon we have a first glimpse of the Upper Pool and after finding a place to change we descend in our swimming trunks to the pool find a quiet spot and take a refreshing swim through the cold water. After finishing drying our plan was to continue on the trail which is a loop trail from our parking lot going to the Upper Pool. However as we want to continue we notice that the trail further is closed likely due to the fire so we have to return the same way.
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| Fire in the distance | OK - not that far away |
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| Upper Pool View | Close up of waterfall from Upper Pool |
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| Nice place for a bath | Trail to the other side is closed |
At the bottom of the series of waterfalls are a couple more pools a bit more popular as they are more accesible. There are a lot of very loud kids here so we are happy that we did the hike and could enjoy the Upper Pool in relative quiet. As we walk we manage to scare a kangaroo hidden after a rock who in turn gives us quite a scare. Before leaving we buy two cold sodas to recuperate after the heat and then continue to Katherine which isn't far away.
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| View of Plunge Pool from above | Edith Falls Plunge Pools |
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| Nice channel out of the pool | Trail is blocked also from this side |
The motel is quite average and a bit noisy due to some workers talking loudly in front of the room however it has a restaurant which is important given the lack of choices to eat. When we look at the menu we know immediately what we want to eat - who can resist kangaroo and crocodile meat? The food is good and filled we retreat for the night in our room.
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| Katherine motel from the outside | Inside the motel room |
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| Crocodile dish | Kangaroo dish |
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| Katherine Gorge View |
Today we start with another part of Nitmiluk NP this one protecting the Katherine Gorge for quite some length. The visitor center and start of the hiking trails is about 40km from Katherine so it takes a bit to arrive especially with the low speed limit. The visitor center has a small exhibit and a more interesting children game outside the visitor center where you have to combine cutouts to create animals - we have fun creating weird animals. They also have pontoons for swimming and for launching a boat but what most people do is take a cruise up the river. We do not have time and decide on a hike to a viewpoint even though it is quite hot outside for hiking.
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| Children game at visitor center | Pontoon for swimming? |
As we start towards the hiking trailhead we notice something that looks like weird fruits on the trees in the distance. After getting a bit closer it starts to smell and then we notice that the fruit move - they are not fruits but actually bats, flying foxes to be precise, the same type of bat that we have seen in our first day in the Northern Territory. This time we can take better pictures as the only thing they are concerned is to hide in the shade from the sun. On the grasslands near the trail there are also some kangaroos - quite a few animals to see in 10 minutes of walking.
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| What are those? | Ahh..bats during the day |
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| Flying fox close up | Unconcerned kangaroo |
Soon we arrive at the river and look at one of the many ships leaving for the easy way to see the canyon. But this is not for us of course:). So we continue on and we soon arrive at the trailhead.
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| River from the bottom of the canyon | Leaving on the canyon tour |
The trail is quite steep with lots of stairs mostly metal which is not that comfortable to walk on when it is heated by the sun. We are happy when we get on top of the plateau and there is a tarp set to provide shade where we rehydrate and recuperate a bit before walking to the overlook.
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| Trail to the top | Nice root on the trailside |
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| This is getting serious | Very welcome sight - some shade |
The views are nice but not that breathtaking - that is of course after seeing the canyon of Arizona :). We watch for a while the tour boats going through the canyon and even a few kayaks. After relaxing a bit we go down the stairs to our car and start our drive to Kakadu National Park the major reason why we came to the Northern Territory.
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| Katherine River Gorge entrance overlook | Katherine River Gorge |
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| Interesting plant | Inquisitive bird on the ground |
There is a bit of distance to cover through unending forests and there are just a few sights to relieve the boredom. The most interesting one is a plane either set to mimic a crash or that really crashed relatively closed to the road. To our surprise there are not that many kangaroos on the main road (in fact none) as we have seen in Victoria previously. Also after we take the road towards Kakadu there are no more road trains - in fact there are almost no other cars on the road which is not what we expected given how well known Kakadu is.
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| Trucks with snorkel are everywhere | Not the best landing |
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| Not that many here for some reason | Large road train in front of us |
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| Katherine street | Entering Kakadu |
For Kakadu we have a map printed from home with the different attractions but we first stop at something that is not on the map but we found out online. It is a hidden waterhole and as we don't trust our car do go down the road we start the short hike to the waterhole. As we arrive at the official parking lot for the waterhole we see there is a car which is weird as it is open and there is food on the table but no one around - like an episode from X-Files. We pass carefully and after going through what looks like a jungle for a short while we arrive at the hidden waterfall and waterhole. It is beautiful and quite calm but we don't dare swim due to the risk of crocodiles almost everywhere in the Northern Territory.
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| Road to hidden waterhole | End of road |
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| Jungle like area | Is it safe? |
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| Nice pool with waterfall | Fish in the pool |
After returning to the car we recuperate in the cool breeze of the AC (it is still really hot and sticky) until we arrive at the first point shown on our map - a viewpoint of Kakadu. It is a short hike and the viewpoint just shows us the vast expanse of Kakadu which is impressive.
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| View from Kakadu viewpoint | Not really that much to see except brush in all directions |
There is still quite a bit of road to our accomodation as they are really sparse and we decided to stay in the only village of note in the area Jabiru. Just to give an idea of how sparse the Northern Territory is populated - Jabiru is the eight largest city in the territory with a population of 1.5K people from the total of 250K while the size of the territory is fourth times larger than Germany. The road is mostly empty and as usual there are quite a few fires near the road so overall it is a nice drive and we can maintain a good speed. The one stop we make is at Cooinda to book a Yellow River boat cruise - we wanted today but none are available and even tomorrow we can book only at 1 PM in the middle of the day which we wanted to avoid. It is relatively expensive $65 per person but it is something that we wanted to do here. Besides this we have to pay $25 per person for the park entrance which adds up to quite an amount so we are happy they accept credit cards.
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| Not many cars | But quite a few fires |
Our accomodation here is a bit unusual - a trailer - which is quite cozy actually and it is great that we have our own porch from which we can watch the bats flying at night while eating dinner. We go soon to sleep afterwards as we have a long day tomorrow.
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| Living in a trailer | Cozy inside |
Today we wake up early and buy breakfast from the downtown bakery (the only food establishment in town) before driving to our first point of interest for the day in order to avoid the heat of the day and also because we have a river cruise book at 1 PM. The area that we intend to visit is on the way to the cruise dock so it is convenient for us. After starting on the side road we find a hidden lake that we examine for a bit for crocodiles but the only thing that we see are ducks so we continue down the road a bit to the trailhead.
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| Are there any crocodiles in there? | Nope...only ducks |
The first trail that we intend to do is the Nourlangie trail that goes to one of the two major rock art sites in Kakadu, Nourlangie rock art site. There are already a couple tour buses here and given that the trail is short we heard the description from the tour guide most of the time which made up a bit for the fact that we had to move around quite a bit to avoid the group. The trail is easy enough and soon enough we see our first painting and they do not look that impressive.
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| Trail to the Nourlangie rock art site | Old rock painting |
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| Hands are common in rock paintings in all continents | Either very old or done by a child (or both) |
Soon however the paintings become more interesting with a focus on kangaroos and spirits. The kangaroos are done in different styles and here we see the first examples of X-ray art which is exactly what it sounds - an animal shown with bones and ligaments drawn - it is an interesting art form.
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| Kangaroo in X-Ray style | More normal kangaroo |
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| And a white one too | Spirit(?) |
A bit further a different panel has an interesting representation of ceremonial dancing with people and spirits. It is quite involved and it looks retouched as the colors are quite vibrant.
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| Ceremonial dancing | Close up of dancing scene |
The most important gallery here is Angbangbang gallery and we can easily see why that is the case as it is a quite complex painting representing an Aborigene story. Again it seems that it was retouched as the colors are really vibrant but the paintings done in X-ray style are quite interesting so we enjoy them until a tour bus group arrives and we have to leave.
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| Anbangbang gallery - most well known Nourlangie art site | Very busy painting |
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| Detail of Angbangbang Gallery | X Ray style figure |
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| Wife of the lightning man | Popular fish in the area |
As there is still time before our cruise we want to take one more hike. While it is hot it is still early enough that a hike would be bearable so we decide on a 2 km one way hike to another art site - Nanguluwur. It seems we are the only people in the parking lot which is welcome after the previous walk. Maybe this has something to do with the large Buffalo bull spotted in the area? The trail is actually more like an access road that probably is still used by rangers. The good thing for us is that there is shade as least in a few places so we proceed at a good pace.
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| Parking lot for Nanguluwur hike - no one around | Wonder if the bull has anything to do with it? |
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| Trail is an old road | Any shade is welcome |
On the way we find multiple flowers and fruits that we cannot identify but at least can admire while walking past them.
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| Nice contrast | Colorful flowers |
The trail is level until right before the gallery where there is a short climb to the rock face on which the gallery is. We are in luck as the area is shaded so we can look around without being beaten down by the sun.
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| Arriving at the rock gallery | We are there - and we have shade |
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| Relatively common flower | Is this natural? |
The main panel looks to us on par to Angbangbang with a lot less people around which makes it a lot more enjoyable. Besides the usual x-ray paintings there is even a painting of a sail ship from more modern times which is interesting to see.
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| Nanguluwur main panel | Close up of X Ray paintings |
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| Turtle X-Ray painting | More modern painting |
There are as usual a lot of spirit paintings which are quite imaginative and if you would be an UFO enthusiast could mistake for aliens - similar to what happens to the Anasazi paintings in Utah. We examine them in detail and look at the comprehensive interpretative panels that explain what they mean - there are lots of myths and stories regarding to the land and good and bad spirits.
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| Spirit paintings | Close up of spirits |
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| Another nearby spirit | More than 5 digits on a hand = spirit |
There are also a variation of the usual hand paintings we have seen countless times which is an interesting innovation - this time it is an arm painting. There are lots of them so it seems that this is the style for this location. We notice that it is getting late so we have to leave in order to get to our cruise in time. The return to the car is uneventful and then we drive as fast as we can towards the cruise location.
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| Arm paintings - more unusual | Close up of arm painting |
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| More usual hand paintings | Your guess is as good as mine |
It seems we still have time when we arrive in the cruise area so we decide to visit to Warradjan Cultural Center, an aboriginal museum with some exhibits regarding their beliefs and some artifacts from different periods. You cannot take pictures inside which is disappointing as there is no reason not to be able to take pictures of texts on the wall for example but we respect the request.
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| Warradjan Cultural Center | Inside the Cultural Center |
To reach the cruise ship we leave our car at the resort and we take the free provided bus to the launch area. We are only 5 people on the bus so it seems like a leisurely cruise but then we see the tourbus waiting at the dock..guess it will be full. Luckily it seems individual passengers have priority so we have our choice of chairs and we sit in front which while bad from a heat and sun perspective is good from a photography standpoint as we don't have anyone in front of us when taking pictures. Soon our cruise on the Yellow River starts and the question on everybody's mind is whether we will see saltwater crocodiles - that is why most people take a cruise in the area.
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| Leading the way to the Yellow River "cruiseship" | This is the cruise ship |
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| Water near the ship | Starting the cruise |
That fear is dispelled almost immediately as right after the boat turns we see our first one - a log with eyes it seems. The guide is quite good and shows us the different animals as we pass them by as he steers the ship on the river through the marshlands.
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| First bird we see | And the first saltwater crocodile |
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| Thickets on the rivers edge | Marshlands beyond the river |
One of the most common birds in the wetlands is the egret. We see them everywhere - flying, wading, relaxing on trees and on the ground.
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| Egrets coming in | Just relaxing afterwards |
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| Some of them are on top of trees | Just cleaning themselves |
But egrets aren't the only birds around. Everywhere we look we see something new, from anhingas to eagles, ibises and ducks almost everything with wings is represented here.
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| Air walking | Drying out |
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| Just sitting there | Australian white Ibis searching for food |
Then we pass an area with waterlilies - very nice and a good hiding spot for crocodiles as we soon find out after looking a bit more closely.
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| Waterlilies are everywhere | Close up of waterlily |
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| Lurking in waterlilies | Close up of lurker |
Some mangrove forests on the side of the river are full of whistling ducks and a few geese. Also in the forest is a crocodile which looks to be quite close to the ducks which have to careful.
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| Lots of whistling ducks | Close up of ducks |
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| Any reason to be careful? | Yes |
And then we arrive at the return point of the cruise as the river gets narrower and cannot be safely navigated using the ship we are on. Everyone is looking in all directions which is good as with so many eyes there are few birds that escape detection.
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| Canal is getting shallower | Point of return |
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| Anhinga like bird | Waiting for fish |
Far in the distance the guide points a buffalo and next to it in a tree is a jabiru nest. Jabiru are the storks of Australia, they look both similar and different from the storks that we are used to. Looking more carefully we see also some brolga in the same area - brolga are the cranes in Australia.
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| Buffalo with a hitchhiker | Jabiru nest |
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| Jabiru searching for food | Brolga on the plains |
The tour continues with lots of interesting sightings - right when we think we have seen them all we see a new species of bird. The comb crested jacana or the Jesus bird is one of the most interesting ones as it seems to walk on water which is where the name comes from. We also see a juvenile eagle that has some fun relaxing and makes different interesting poses.
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| Comb crested jacana coming right at us | Is it walking or floating? |
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| Little heron | Huge eagle |
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| Resting (or escaping the heat) | Attentive whistling ducks |
The guide shows us an lotus flower expanse and explains that the initial one have been imported from Asia and have since then expanded quite a bit and taken over areas of the river. He also cautions us that for every 1 crocodile we see there are 9 we don't which makes at least some people who stood up to take pictures to sit down again quickly. And then we are back - even though it was a short trip it was quite eventful and we are glad that we have taken it.
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| Imported lotus flowers | Close up of lotus flowers |
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| Pictoresque river | How many crocodiles in this picture? |
Back in Jabiru we decide to visit the most expensive hotel in the area - a hotel run by Aborigenes and which is in the shape of a crocodile. We drive around it and there isn't really a good spot to take a picture of the shape due to its size so we have to do it piecewise. But at least while driving around we find a green area full of small white parrots. We are really surprised as we haven't seen them before and there are lots of them but it seems they like to flock which is the reason for their numbers. Back at home we identify them as little corella - they are quite cute and active and playful. And then it is time for the batwatching and dinner on our porch before retiring for the night.
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| Head of "Crocodile hotel" in Jabiru | And one of the legs |
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| Little Corella flock | Clowning around |
Today we have to drive back to Darwin as tomorrow we are leaving towards Sydney. However we still have a couple attractions left in Kakadu that we want to see and we start in the morning with the one that has an actual hike attached to it, the Ubirr rock art site. It is quite close to our accomodation so we are there early but not early enough to avoid the tour buses. Here according to the informative panels are some of the oldest rock paintings in Australia with some dated to be over 30,000 years old.
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| ~30,000 years old Ubirr rock art (Mabuyu figure) | Interesting rock art |
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| Fish eating fish eating fish | X-Ray type fish |
The main panel is quite busy similar to the one at Nourlangie but it is dedicated to animals done mostly in X-ray style. Likely these are the ones that were hunted by the Aborigenes some of them even too extinction as we find out from the next panel.
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| Main Ubirr Panel | Fish, turtles and humans overlapping |
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| X-Ray kangaroo | Long necked turtle - maybe |
As we walk to a different panel we notice that it is showing tasmanian tiger. These are long extinct in Australia likely due to the Aborigenes - this shows in my mind that no culture no matter how primitive can live in true harmony with nature; there is always at least one animal or plant that conflicts with the humans directly or indirectly which will be exterminated.
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| Yellow fish | X Ray red fish drawn over older yellow fish |
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| Tasmanian tiger - long extinct | No idea what they are but interesting |
The trail is mostly level except for a side track to a viewpoint from where you can view the Aborigenes land which you are not permitted to enter without jumping through a lot of hoops. We have no time/desire to do that so decided to avoid it - probably not the best way to get money from the tourists if that is something that they desire. Returning to the trail we arrive at another important panel which has the famous Ubirr rainbow serpent painting. The spot is sacred to the Aborigenes as it was visited by the Rainbow Serpent during the creation of the earth.
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| Ubirr trail | Dove searching for shade |
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| Trail to the viewpoint | View from viewpoint |
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| Some older rock art | Famous Ubirr rainbow serpent |
After leaving the Ubirr rock art site we move to a different trail area where we want to walk a bit to see the boundary between the park and the Aborigene land. In the parking lot we notice a burnt car which is surprising and a bit scary as we have to decide if we want to leave our own car even for a short while. In the end we decide to run to the viewpoint where we see the only good crossing between the park and the lands beyond and then return to the car that luckily is still in good condition.
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| Truancy patrol - sounds scary | This is unsettling - trail parking lot |
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| Trail near the river | Road crossing to Aborigene lands - cannot be entered |
After this we drive through Kakadu for quite some time passing the usual fires from time to time. It is surprising how easy it is to get used to going through fires if you do it day in day out.
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| Fire again? | Yes - another fire |
Our last stop in Kakadu is at the Mamukala bird hide which is close to the parking lot and promises the one bird that we didn't succeed seeing yet, the magpie geese.
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| Mamukala bird hide | View of the Mamukala marshlands |
And it actually delivers on it as almost the first bird we see is a magpie geese taking a bath in the distance. Besides it we see the usual assortment of heron and egrets and other waterbirds and we are constantly looking at the signs trying to identify them.
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| Magpie geese taking a bath | Egret looking for lunch |
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| Just walking around | White necked heron ready to pounce |
We watch especially a group of swamphen and ducks that play around and are quite funny to look at for a while.
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| Purple swamphen group | The whistling ducks are bored |
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| A bit of stretching | Bird preparing to takeoff |
There are beautiful waterlilies on which jacanas are walking, on the few trees at edge of the water there are lizards and ibises are wandering all around. It looks almost like a nature documentary which is nice for us.
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| Field of waterlilies | Lizards are quite common |
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| Straw necked ibis | Jesus bird (jacana) - as it is walking on water |
Then we notice a disturbance in a part of the swamp as the birds gather around something. We look a bit more carefully trying to see what is happening and then we notice the crocodile that is mobbed by the birds. After a few minutes of this he gives up and slinks into the bushes towards our trail which makes us a bit apprehensive when we return back to the car (nothing happens:)).
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| What is happening here? | The mobbing of the crocodile |
After exiting Kakadu National Park where we spent the last couple days we drive towards Darwin however we still plan to stop at several attractions along the way. The first one is a local nature preserve, Leaning Tree Lagoon, which while right next to the main road is empty of people but full of birds especially magpie geese that we so wanted to see. They are also quite wild and whenever we exit the car they flock and start to fly away so we do whatever we can to avoid scaring them.
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| Nature reserve | Geese in the distance |
Our next stop is at the Window to the Wetlands visitor center which is impressive as a building but doesn't offer much besides it. Also weirdly while the building is open there is no one else inside not even a caretaker as we walk through the exhibits and take a look through the panorama window before moving on.
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| Trail to the Window to the Wetlands visitor center | Part of the Aborigene lands |
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| Modern visitor center | View from visitor center |
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| Buffalos with egrets | Exhibit in visitor center |
Our last stop is at the Fogg dam conservation reserve which has a few trails that we intend to explore. However when we arrive there all trails are closed due to a crocodile that has been seen in the area. We can still wander around in the car but we cannot exit the car due to the danger according to the signs.
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| Really? | Yes it seems they are serious |
The marshland near the dam is teeming with birds from magpie geese to herons to jacanas. The only thing that we don't notice are crocodiles which makes us much more careful.
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| Wetland view | Magpie geese with herons |
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| Taking a bath | Jacana searching for food |
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| Checking for crocodiles | One of the many ibises |
At the end of the road is a tower that we climb to look around and we notice a jabiru coming in. As we haven't seen one close up we stay still as he moves around searching for food and take quite a few pictures of the jabiru as well as the herons and egrets that are looking for food all around us in the marshlands.
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| Are there any birds in these area? | Jabiru (black necked stork) coming in |
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| Jabiru on the ground | Lots of water |
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| Congregation of herons | Lonely egret |
From there we drive straight to Darwin where just finding the hotel is a bit of adventure and for parking we need to get a card from the office and in order to get there we have to drive backwards for some time...yep quite an adventure. The room is quite spacious with both a bedroom and a living room with a kitchen.
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| Darwin hotel interior | Sleeping room |
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| Living room | Kitchen |
For dinner we go to the Indian restaurant downstairs and take takeout and then eat it leisurely in our room. It is acceptable especially as we are quite hungry after our long day. After that we watch the news for some time before going to sleep.
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| Food from indian restaurant | Appetizer |
As our plane leaves in the afternoon we have some time in the morning to visit Darwin. Finding a parking space is not easy as everything is full but in the end we find something in front of the Government House administrators office a building that survived the Japanese attacks while being badly damaged by hurricane Tracy afterwards.
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| Darwin - Government House | Entrance to Government House |
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| Good to have shade | Back of government house |
Next we stop to take a look at the docklands which were rebuilt as a shopping/leisure area and look interesting but unfortunately we do not have time to descend and visit the area so we return and continue along the waterfront promenade.
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| View of the docks | Waterfront is full of sport opportunities |
Soon we pass the real governor's house which is where the Northern Territory governor resides and then the visitor center housed in a former bank building as it can be guessed from the austere facade. On the sea we can see quite a few ships including a liquid gas facility/ship which looks quite big even from a distance.
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| Governor's house | Visitor center - former bank |
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| View of the ocean | LNG related ships in the sea |
In the oceanside park that we walk in there are birds everywhere from fruit doves (that we really wanted to see) to ibises and quite a few other birds that we cannot identify.
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| Dove on the ground | Fruit dove in the tree |
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| Colorful bird | Even in Darwin there are ibis |
We walk back towards the car through the downtown shopping area window browsing and even buying some souvenirs from a tourist shop.
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| Central shopping area | Old building with modern roof |
The next stop is the site of the former Town Hall also destroyed by cyclone Tracy. What is left has been stabilized and is kept as a reminder of the potential fury of nature.
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| Old and new | Entrance to old town hall ruin |
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| Inside the ruin | Aborigene statue outside |
Nearby is the Christchurch Anglican Cathedral which is a new building constructed on the remains of an older church from 1902 likely destroyed also by the cyclone.
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| Can you spot the old part of the church? | It is the entrance - not used anymore |
Next we drive to the airport and return the car - a last weirdness is that they refuse to give us a receipt showing that we returned the car in good condition as the guys have to check the car?! This never happened before usually they check the car when we bring it in and provide us the proof and even though in the end it works out it leaves an additional bitter taste in the mouth besides the large additional cost due to the additional kilometers driven (and the fact that they applied the tax including the airport tax on base + surcharge not as quoted on the base only).
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| Colorful airport shade | This is the small waiting area of the airport |
The flight again is luxurious for an internal flight and we arrive in the evening in Sydney. We take a taxi from the airport - no rental car here and the fare is quite reasonable to our hotel close to downtown Sydney. Our room has a great view and we enjoy it until we go to sleep.
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| Kitchen and bedroom in the distance | Bedroom with lots of windows |
In the morning we wake up to rain but after eating breakfast it stops a bit so we decide to start our walk in Hyde Park right in front of our hotel. Close to the entrance is the ANZAC memorial - a memorial for the soldiers killed in wars and we enter it and tour the exhibition which has artifacts remaining from the different wars.
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| View of Hyde Park from hotel room | View of the hotel from the park |
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| ANZAC Memorial in the distance | Memorial from close up |
The garden is quite popular as it sits right in the downtown area and is surrounded by skyscrappers. We don't have a plan for our walk so we decide to simply go towards the skyscrappers and the downtown area.
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| Is there a place where you cannot find pigeons? | Pathway through Hyde Park |
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| Sydney Tower | Another view of the skyscrappers |
Soon we arrive at a place that we recognize from our guidebook - Queen Victoria Market and decide to enter it. It is much bigger than expected with lots of shops some of them quite interesting so we spend some time walking through it buying stuff (but mostly window shopping). The clock in the middle is quite impressive size wise and has lots of statuettes moving with the passing of time.
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| Queen Victoria Market building | Luxurious interior |
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| Looking down | Looking up |
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| What is that in the distance? | What an interesting clock |
Next we continue on the main street to the Strand Arcade which is again full of stores but this time we don't find anything that exciting so we exit relatively fast and continue down the street towards the docks.
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| Entrance to Strand Arcade | Inside the arcade |
On the way there we examine the different street sculptures they are quite fun and the majority are animal and bird based which of course we like.
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| This looks ripped off from Brancusi | Interesting sculpture |
The harborside has some beautiful views of the harbor bridge and the Sydney skyline. We buy some streetside food and coffee from a vendor and sit on a bench while enjoying the view and eat our lunch before continuing towards the Opera House.
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| Sydney Harbor Bridge | Can you see the people on the bridge? |
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| Sydney harborfront | Full promenade |
If there is any sight that is iconic for Sydney it is the Opera House and it is really impressive from up close. It looks almost like an alien building from the outside while inside it looks a bit more familiar but still impressive.
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| Sydney Opera View | Close up of Opera House = Alien Eyes |
From the Opera House we continue on to the nearby Botanical Garden which is a nice stroll and much more quiet. There are not yet many flowers but there are birds and nice views of the harbor.
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| Ibis in the Botanical Gardens | Noisy Miner - Common Bird |
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| View over the harbor | Skyscrapers from Botanical Garden |
There are also interesting sculptures especially one made out of seashells to resemble a wave. Right next to it is the Government House which should be visitable but when we try to enter we find out there is a state function and all visits are cancelled for the day.
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| Very interesting sculpture | It is made of shells |
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| Government House in the distance | Close up of Government House |
Somehow we get back to the harbor area but this time we are going on the opposite side trying to find the Contemporary Art Museum. From here there are great views of the opera house and of the docks and we can see the ferries coming in and going out almost non stop.
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| Opera House from across the harbor | Dock area |
The Contemporary Art Museum is free to enter and has some interesting exhibits. One of the most interesting is the one where a room is full of objects that breathe it is very sci-fi like. Other ones have moving lights or objects it is a quite fun visit.
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| Contemporary Art Museum | Interesting exhibit |
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| Museum hallway | Another fun exhibit |
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| The breathing exhibit | Colorful room |
After this we go shopping in the downtown area where we find quite a few good stores to buy boomerangs and other Australian mementoes. We also find the city museum however we decide that we had enough museums for the day and skip it and decide to return back to the hotel.
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| City museum | Old houses downtown |
After resting for a while we decide to visit the area to the east of the hotel - it is another known shopping area and we hope that we might find something cheaper to buy here. The neighborhood is called Darlinghurst and we soon notice that besides the promised shops it has a lot of nightclubs and quite a few of them are geared towards same sex couples. Many shops are closed and the few that are open do not have better deals than the downtown area so we soon return towards the hotel after buying some provisions from a supermarket.
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| Pink house in Darlinghurst | Darlinghurst church |
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| Oxford street old houses | Shops on Oxford Street |
The one thing that we couldn't resist on our walk where some sweets and back at the hotel we eat dinner followed by the sweets that are quite good even though they were expensive. Then it is TV news time and then sleeping time as tomorrow is our last day in Sydney.
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| Who can resist this? | Not us |
Today we start with an adventure - we want to reach Lane Cove National Park at the outskirts of Sydney and for that we have to change a few trains which is more confusing than we expected. But in the end we arrive at our station and exit but now we have to decide which way to go to arrive at the park.
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| Old subway station | New subway station |
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| View from the Sydney Harbor Bridge (from the train) | Central Station |
First we try to go through the cemetery however all other exits are closed so we have to return to the same exit and go around the park to arrive at the park entrance. At least we see a pair of galahs in the park looking for seeds quite conscientiously.
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| Macquarie Park Cemetery | Galah in Park |
Following the wall of the cemetery we walk on the road that goes in our direction however suddenly it ends and we are perplexed until we notice the sign next to it announcing the entrance to the park on a hidden trail that goes between the closed road and the gate and then suddenly we are in the park. Except for one party there are few people in the area that we entered and so we can enjoy the nature and the flowers while walking towards the creek that is protected by the park. We find a nice overlook where we eat lunch and watch the birds all around us.
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| Entrance to Lane Cove National Park | Trail a bit further in |
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| View of the protected river | Beautiful flower |
The most interesting bird that we see is however a brushturkey that we notice after descending from the overlook. We follow this colored turkey from a distance a bit until we see him stop at a mound of leaves which likely is his nest - very exciting.
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| Lizard resting | Australian brushturkey |
After this we return to the train station - on the way back the most exciting thing is a plane writing words in the sky even though we are not sure what is written as the letters disappear faster than he writes them.
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| Rabbits are not really welcome | Writing in the sky |
We take the train back towards the downtown area but exit at the docks as we plan to visit at least one of the two famous beaches in Sydney, Bondi and Manly. Bondi is really difficult to get to so we decided to try for Manly which is accesible by ferry using the same day pass we use for the train system. To our surprise there are long lines at the Manly ferry so we have to queue and hope we can enter on the next ferry. We are however relatively in front so it is not an issue for us but it seems like the ferry is overflowing when it is leaving the harbor.
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| Ferry to Manly | Leaving the docks - line for next ferry |
From the ferry we can see all the sights that we have seen the previous day during our walk but now from the water and from a bit closer in the case of the bridge.
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| Sydney Harbor Bridge from the ferry | People on top of the bridge |
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| Downtown skyscrapers from boat | North side of harbor |
The waterways are quite busy with boats crossing the channel and harbor in all directions. They are of all shapes and sizes from private yachts to frigates and whatnot - it seems that sailing is a very popular activity in the area.
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| Boats are everywhere | Tourist yacht |
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| More traditional ship | Fortress in the middle of the harbor |
A bit further out the coastline becomes wilder but there aren't that many times that we do not see at least a house somewhere. After 1/2h we arrive at the Manly ferry station which seems to be as busy as the one on the Sydney wharf - we can barely move independently in the traffic until we are disgorged in the main street.
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| Popular coastline | Wild coast on the way |
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| Waiting to board the ferry | Sooooo many people |
The main street links the ferry terminal with the beach and is lined by shops and restaurants. As we are quite hungry we stop to eat at one of these tourists traps - the location is nice and the food is average so overall it was ok for lunch/dinner.
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| Central Manly street | Popular eating place |
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| Reasonable prices | Table that we sat at |
On the beach there are some interesting signs referencing pollution in the water which would have made us a bit circumspect regarding entering the water while some house signs are talking about barking residents which is a bit scary.
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| Not encouraging | Those are some scary residents |
The beach is not full today as it is cold but there are still some hardy souls who even swim in the water. Some of those hardy souls are human and some of them are gulls which really don't seem to mind the cold.
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| Manly beach - not that many people today | It is quite big |
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| Not sure the water is for seagulls | But they certainly enjoy it |
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| A few brave souls entering the water | Manly Monster? - no a diver |
We have still some time before it gets dark so we take a hike to a cape we see in the distance. We also are of course interested in the wildlife and hope against hope to see one of the few rare penguins in the area.
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| That is where we are going | Diving bird |
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| Looking back towards Manly Beach | Land meeting the sea |
The walk is along a seaside promenade which is quite busy with people taking a stroll or returning from one of the many beaches in the area. On the promenade there are some interesting iron sculptures from time to time all of them relating to the sea but some of them being quite whimsical.
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| The promenade | Flowers near the promenade |
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| Funny sculptures | A kraken |
We climb the headland just in time to see the sunset over Manly and then descend back through some interesting flowers to the promenade. There we notice our only penguins - unfortunately they are in statue form and not real ones.
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| Ocean from the hill | What an interesting flower |
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| Sunset over Manly | Only penguin for us |
Returning at night Manly looks like a different city - much calmer as everyone has retreated into the bars and hotels lining the main streets.
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| Nighttime view of Manly | Main Manly street at night |
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| Impressive building at night | Place to rest on the beach |
For the return trip on the ferry we stay outside to try to take some pictures. Soon we see something that looks like ghosts appearing from nowhere in the ship lights and then disappearing back into the darkness. We watch for some time assuming that they have to be bats but we are wrong - they are seagulls. It seems that these seagulls have learned that the ship and the lights are scaring the fish who seem to be jumping out of the water into the mouths of the seagulls. At halfway point they move to the ferry going back to Manly that we meet - quite smart.
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| Leaving Manly | Ferry going back |
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| What is flying next to us? | Seagulls - quite a few of them |
Soon we catch a glimpse of the Sydney skyline and this is what we were waiting for as we try to take nighttime pictures of the city. THis is easier said than done with the ship moving at high speed but given that we take a lot of pictures under different settings there had to be some that came out right :). We play with multiple settings on our new camera and there are some fun options that we haven't seen before while others are classic like the sepia tone photos.
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| Sydney in the distance | Getting closer |
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| Playing with photo options | Sepia view of Australia |
The opera house is also quite a sight at night from the water - this time it really looks like an alien building with two huge eyes. After this we arrive at the docks and then take the train home where we fall asleep quite fast as we are tired.
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| Opera house and city at night | Looks like an alien with two huge eyes |
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| View from the side | Ferry arriving at dock |
The flight home is much less eventful than going there with seats allocated correctly and good and plentiful food. So we have time to think about the trip and the good things and bad things. Overall we enjoyed ourselves but we had very high expectations of Australia (maybe even unrealistic ones) which led to us feeling a bit let down due to the many instances in which the services where not what you would expect from a developed country. Still the good (varied and interesting animals and birds, Sydney, Kakadu, Ocean Road) outweigh the bad so it was a successful trip in the end:).
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| Leaving Sydney | Dinner |
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| Vegetarian option | Yep really vegetarian |
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