Up in Darwin

Well after a week of cooling weather in Sydney, I am up in darwin where it is hot and humid and how they lived without air conditioning and fans I do not know. My friend Terry has made me most welcome at his unit in Fannie Bay, only a short walk from the waterfront where every evening most people seem to gather to watch the sun go down and enjoy the slight sea breeze. It is lovely and green up here after the wet and coming in to the Dry season.

After working for 6 hours on Saturday we went for a drive to Litchfield NAtional Park yesterday to admire waterfalls, huge termite mounds, swim under a waterfall ( in the only place approved as crocodile free). It is really odd to see hundreds of people gathered on the beach and not one in the water! But apparently it is the stinging jellyfish which are more of a problem at the moment.

It is not easy to work in the heat and humidity but thankfully there is a bit of a breeze today. Iwill be visiting the local uni and engineering department to gather data and get feedback on the NT perspective.

Went to the local night market last night. It is only held in the "dry" season, right by the beach, and last night was the first Sunday night so it was full of people eating admiring crafts and listening to a variety of buskers. Quite fun! Didnt buy the crocodile belt ($150) or get the tattoo Terry was trying to convince me to get. He thought it might be fun to get me a temporary one and shock the socks off Peter!

Amazing mementoes of WWII here - most people dont realise that Darwin got more bombs on it than Pearl Harbour ! Airstrips everywhere beside the road where they parked fighter aircraft ready for faster simultaneous deployment than they could have from airport. Lots of stories up here that I had never heard before. Lots of interesting wildlife also - little (geckos, ants) and big ( dragon flies that look like mini helpcopters) etc...

Hope you like the selection of photos