Day 1 in Darwin

It's hot ... it's tropical ... I've dipped my toe into the Timor Sea! It's very exciting. I really didn't know what to expect at all on this trip. I woke much too early, packed and walked to Epping station. On the train I got into a long chat with an elderly lady all about Darwin (she used to be an air hostess) and she was the first person who didn't tell me that I was crazy going in the wet season. We were chatting away so much that I almost missed my stop, but I still managed to get to the airport about three hours early! I had even checked in 24 hours earlier over the web and so I had nothing to do except buy a magazine and have a relaxing breakfast and watch a Christmas tree walk around the airport playing carols on a saxophone!

The 4.5 hour flight was as wonderful as ever. I spent the entire time staring out the window at the red landscape below. About an hour out from Darwin it got much cloudier and the landscape beneath became greener. We landed on time, I grabbed my bag, got into a taxi, went to my hotel and then immediately grabbed my camera and went out for a walk. I got lost! But it was wonderful. The temperature was 32C, but it was (still is!) humid. I don't recognise any of the birds! They're stunning (see photos). I walked down to the bay, around the harbour area, into the town, got chatting (for a short time) with an Aboriginal chap about Christmas (he's going back home "to the Kakadu" and needed a permit for something). Like Alice Springs (and unlike Sydney) there are a large number of Indigenous people around the centre. In fact, I hardly saw anyone else. Darwin is incredibly quiet (at least during the middle of the day at this time of the year). I had an entire, stunning beach to myself where I picked up all sorts of shells and worried whether cone shells existed in Darwin or not (see this page).

I then walked through some mangrove swamps (including leaping over a creek which I carefully checked for crocodiles) to the incredible botanic gardens (and rested under a Calabash tree!) before heading back to the City (having walked about 15km in the heat by this point) to have a beer. I must have been dehydrated as the beer went straight to my head, but I did manage to stagger across the road, order another beer and a huge Barramundi from "Outback Jacks" opposite.

I then watched the sun set over the harbour with huge fruit bats flying overhead. Wonderful!

P.S. There has been no rain! I'm very confused.