Darwin - The Northern Territories

A short flight from Cairns over the red, Australian bush lands of the Northern Territories will land you in Darwin. Step off the plane and, even acclimatized to the tropical heats of upper Queensland, you can begin to feel your eye balls dehydrating and your hair strands singeing. Oh - it's winter in Darwin...
My Dad always spoke of Darwin in his travels of Australia. I wanted to go there to be able to reminisce together over a beer from time-to-time. I also wanted to see the crocs and was of course inspired (as unoriginal as it is) by the film 'Australia'. You know, that one with Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman. Hugh Jackman showering. Ehem. What was I talking about again? Ah, yes...

One thing we hadn't really expected upon booking our flights two months ago, was just how expensive Darwin was going to be. Plagued by rich miners flying in for the working week, the city has, inconveniently, raised it's prices to squeeze every last penny from them. And, every other unfortunate soul who ventures up north, budget backpackers included. Surrendering to the evidence that we weren't going to get a hostel room for less than $33 p/p per night, we elected the cheapest (and only available) one we could find - Dingo Moon, a converted motel circling a pool which is shaded by the hugest and most pungent frangipani tree I have ever seen!
Upon arriving in Darwin we were both handed booklets for all manner of tours and venues, so that same night we landed, clutching our vouchers, we walked to the waterfront where we got BOGOF glasses of red wine to accompany the fiery-red Darwinian sunset.
On day two we awoke to a banquet breakie... croissants, cereal, muffins, tea and coffee and fruit. All free! We fueled up then explored the city on foot, true to our usual reckies. In the evening we walked down to the much anticipated night markets where, after enjoying the magnificent sunset accompanied by a bottle of wine, we bought market food and perused the stalls.

Walking back from the markets we were handed free drinks and $5 pokies vouchers for the casino 'SkyCity'. We decided to take the casino up on it's generous and purposely enticing offer and poked (no pun intended) our heads in on the way back. One vodka soda, g&t, beffuzled pokie participating hour later, we each put $10 down on the blackjack table... Fortunately we left $90 up on the house. Although granted, we realised this wasn't the most reliable way of earning whilst, rather broke. He he he. Life's a gamble, as they (the gamblers) say!

On Saturday 27th we saw crocs!
There is actually a reptile zoo in the centre for which you can pay $35 each to see huge, lethargic and depressed looking crocs floating in small tanks. Needless to say, we decided against supporting that establishment and booked a river cruise on the Adelaide river instead.
In keeping with the rest of our independent travels, we hired a car for the day and booked up our own action-packed agenda...

Luke spear throwing (impressingly accurately!)

In the morning we went on an aboriginal cultural tour, 'Pudakul'. We had to drive a little way down a dirt track (shh - don't tell the hire company!) to reach a small open area next to a small lake, or 'billabong'. There we met another couple booked in for the experience and promptly waited together in the heat of the wilderness for our native guides. We were greeted by "DD", a young aboriginal girl of 18 who has been leading the tour since she was 12. She initiated the tour with a head wetting which blesses any non-natives to their specific Kakadu people and protects us from any malicious spirits or animals. The wetting entailed DD's skillful spitting of billabong water from her mouth onto the tops of our heads. From the opening, we were led down a small pathway through the native flora where DD educated us on some of the plants traditionally used be her people for medicine, food, water supplies, natural dyes and craft. The aboriginals enjoy a vast diet of fruits and vegetables alongside different animal wildlife. Some of the meats they consume are very high in oily fats which, when consumed regularly, coat the skin with a thick oily layer and act as a natural spf. These indiginous birds are protected in Australia and by law, only the native aboriginals can hunt them for their meat.
We were introduced to her father, Graham, further down the track who showed us how to play the digeridoo. They make them by seeking out termite-induced, hollowed trees - tapping trunks with a stick is the tried and tested method, then cutting them down, painting them and finally getting around to playing them. Digeridoo playing is considered a male past time.
We learnt 'dilly' bag weaving techniques, carried out by the women in the communities, in between meal preparations.
There is a very clear law system within the communities, regulated by the elders. One of the many that was explained to us was that of the discipline stick, used for, well... disciplining?!
We were shown how to throw spears using launchers. Luke proved to be quite the natural at this and went all Dundee on us, hitting the target spot on.

In the afternoon we boarded The Adelaide Queen and cruised down the Adelaide river marveling at the abundance of crocodiles looming up out of the murky waters. The ship's crew bring along enticing chunks of meat and hang them from rods just above the water. When a croc makes his first attempt at an easy snack the crew raise the rod as he sinks begrudgingly down again. On his second attempt, the savvy croc slithers up with momentum from directly underneath the not-so-enticing rotting fleash and easily clears the surface with his back legs. Splashing back down with his reward, he submerges once again into the muddy depths. Luke and I were amazed at the number of crocs awaiting their 3pm snack and, of course, relieved that it wasn't us...

Darwin was an educational and pretty impressive experience.
With our travels nearing an end we felt recharged and ready to dedicate time toward selling Autumn and making the long journey back to Sydney for some last-minute souvenir gathering!