Darwin, Northern Territory

Today I said goodbye to Siall and took the bus to Hervey Bay. Tomorrow I will take a tour of Fraser Island. Currently, it feels a bit like being in the middle of nowhere, but that's because I've been so spoiled by visitors' centers, which are usually everywhere and not here. As a result, I'm tempted to book everything under the sun. Sunday night I will take a bus to Bundaberg and then make the slow climb north, up the coast.

Also, I caved in and got a cheap mobile phone, mainly as a precaution. Unfortunately, it means checking the phone every few minutes to see who or what has called me back, and it means calling random toll-free numbers on advertisements in brochures so as to look for budget travel options, of which there are few, because--let's face it--the U.S. dollar is weak. If only I had euros to spend! Young tourists have so much disposable income these days. When I was young and taking a break from uni, I was poor. Ah, "those were the days, my friend."

So, here are some more backlogged photos. These are the last of my Darwin photos. After the Kakadu fiasco, I went to Litchfield, also a waterfall and plunge pool haven. But first, here are some more photos of jumping crocodiles (and of me holding an olive python). FYI: this riverboat is the same one as was used in the upcoming and recently filmed thriller "Rogue," which is the Aussie version of "Jaws." It's about tourists getting eaten by crocodiles and stuff. On that note...





One would think that after thinking that one member of the cohort was bitten by a snake (we didn't find out until later that it was just dehydration and shock) that I wouldn't hold a snake, but ball pythons, I assure you, are not aggressive to humans. They're almost friendly, in that make-a-friend-with-a-scaly-untalkative-serpentine-thing way. Oh, and the picture above the snake one is of a kite. The whistling kites and the fork-clawed (or was it fork-fingered?) kites swooped over the riverboat, also eager to fly home with meat in their talons.

I became friends with two travelers from England, Jayna and Nicola, aka Nic. Here they are in front of a large termite mound.


At the Booley plunge pools that were beneath Florence Falls, we made paint from ochre (red, yellow, and white). Then we painted Nic's face in an Aboriginal style. She wore the look well.



The next day I visited the Darwin market, somewhat like Eugene's Saturday Market, since it includes merchants and food kiosks, but this market had lots of pan-asian food and papaya, more fish balls than tofu, more papaya than basil, and just as many chair masseuses. Then I burned my skin to a crisp while walking to the museum, washed off the memory with hard cider, and saw a gorgeous sunset.


My new friend Zephyr, a photographer who lives in a warehouse, made me a delicious fish dinner, which included freshly cut spices and kaffir lime, as well as risotto. I stayed with Zephyr and his roommate for two nights in the warehouse before flying to Brisbane on Sunday, the 18th.


Here is a view of part of the warehouse, taken from a high ledge.


Here is a view of the delicious fish and risotto.