Our last days in Brisbane sped by, filled with last walks along the river, a last visit to “our” coffee roaster, final cleaning of our dear apartment, a last day at the University to listen to student presentations and a goodbye lunch, wrapping up (literally) of art projects.
All the while, dealing with a new complexity, our elderly cat Cashmere seems to be suffering from something. We’re thankful for our tenant – now SO much more than that – Diane who has lovingly cared for Cashmere, made many vet visits and consultations with us.
Yet, we managed to leave, catching a flight to Darwin – the end of our “living” in Australia, back to “traveling.” Darwin (named that because Charles’ ship, the Beagle, anchored in the bay there in the 1830s) is the northern outpost of Australia, evidenced by the ramparts built to repel the expected Japanese invasion during WWII (it was bombed heavily, but the end of the war averted the incursion). It is the capital of Australia's spiritual core, the Northern Territory, the area with the highest proportion of Aboriginal people in the country.
We arrived two days before our tour of Litchfield and Kakadu National Parks was to begin. So, we had time to visit the Thursday evening market at Mindil Beach for music and a beautiful sunset, sunset watching with a few hundred others, and some decent food truck curry.
The next day we explored the excellent Darwin museum, a compact gallery with superb Aboriginal art:
We then strolled through the botanical gardens, which offered some shaded respite from the mid-day sun as well as some good bird sightings.
The following morning began our 3-day, 2-night tour. We had connived a bit about this trip – we had arranged to rendezvous with Seattle friends Helene and Terry (who we had dinner with in Brisbane on our last night there), but had not told our other Seattle friends Robin and Bill, who would also be on this tour (they knew we would be traveling together after Darwin, first on in Port Douglas near the Great Barrier Reef, then in Fiji on the way home).
So we enjoyed the surprised looks when the Robin/Bill boarded our truck-bus at 7am.
The wonders – and terrors – of our tour in the next post.
All the while, dealing with a new complexity, our elderly cat Cashmere seems to be suffering from something. We’re thankful for our tenant – now SO much more than that – Diane who has lovingly cared for Cashmere, made many vet visits and consultations with us.
Yet, we managed to leave, catching a flight to Darwin – the end of our “living” in Australia, back to “traveling.” Darwin (named that because Charles’ ship, the Beagle, anchored in the bay there in the 1830s) is the northern outpost of Australia, evidenced by the ramparts built to repel the expected Japanese invasion during WWII (it was bombed heavily, but the end of the war averted the incursion). It is the capital of Australia's spiritual core, the Northern Territory, the area with the highest proportion of Aboriginal people in the country.
We arrived two days before our tour of Litchfield and Kakadu National Parks was to begin. So, we had time to visit the Thursday evening market at Mindil Beach for music and a beautiful sunset, sunset watching with a few hundred others, and some decent food truck curry.
The next day we explored the excellent Darwin museum, a compact gallery with superb Aboriginal art:
a fascinating display on Cyclone Tracy that flattened Darwin on Christmas Day 1974, and a room filled with stuffed specimens of every animal that will kill or cause you major pain (snakes, spiders, jellyfish, and - of course - the saltwater crocodiles, including this fine 18-foot specimen with the cute name!
The following morning began our 3-day, 2-night tour. We had connived a bit about this trip – we had arranged to rendezvous with Seattle friends Helene and Terry (who we had dinner with in Brisbane on our last night there), but had not told our other Seattle friends Robin and Bill, who would also be on this tour (they knew we would be traveling together after Darwin, first on in Port Douglas near the Great Barrier Reef, then in Fiji on the way home).
So we enjoyed the surprised looks when the Robin/Bill boarded our truck-bus at 7am.
The wonders – and terrors – of our tour in the next post.
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