Thursday, February 28, 2019

Darwin, Australia – February 27

Darwin, Australia – February 27

We had a Humpty Doo day here in Darwin! 

This was our first time here and I booked a tour with Wallaroo Tours to take the Jumping Crocodile Cruise, Litchfield National Park & Prawns & Bubbly at Sunset overlooking Darwin Harbour. http://www.wallarootours.com/private-charters-available.html

Today we were joined by Bob & Phyllis, Stacey & Wally, John & Toni, Kris, Lou, Horst & Mark, Tom & Cathy, Harriet & Charley and Judy & Phil. It was a great group today. There was only 1 person I hadn’t met before. (plus 2 people the tour company added)

A couple of days ago Kris asked if we could add Ed to the tour. The boat/van held 20 and so I said no problem. I emailed the tour company to add him and they emailed back they had filled the last 2 spots. I emailed back to say “you added 2 more people to my private tour?” It was booked over a year ago and it was private since their regular tour left too early for us to make it off the ship in time. I knew I needed 15 people to get the price break. So, I got that months ago. So, imagine my surprise when I was told I couldn’t add anyone to my tour. I felt really bad that I had to tell Ed he couldn’t come.

The tour company said the couple contacted them and knew of the tour and were from our ship, so they thought it would be OK. I have had tour companies email to ask if they can add someone. Sometimes I say yes and sometimes I say no. If they had told me I HAD to have 20 to do the tour, I wouldn’t have turned away people that wanted to join. We generally like to keep a few seats open for comfort. In general, we prefer small groups of 6 to 8, but some tours have a minimum that require a larger group.

I like smaller groups, but we needed to “fill the boat” to get the special time that fits our timeframe. It was a great group today. Anyway, nothing I could do about it since our tour was in 2 days.

My group of 18 met in the casino lounge to get off together. We made our way out of the terminal and found our van. Tony, our guide for the day checked us in and I said we are all here except for the 2 they added. (he used their names which I’ll leave out for the blog) He said where are they? So, I said they weren’t part of my group and I don’t know. They actually had already gotten into the van without checking in with the guide. Since I’m last to get in, I didn’t have anywhere to sit. There was 1 seat left and the person sitting next to it wouldn’t get up so I could get in. Finally, we all got situated and we were off.

 sunrise






Our guide was stereotypical Aussie and was great! He was very knowledgeable and gave us a lot of history and explained the sites as we passed by. He had a great sense of humor.

We stopped at a convenience mart where we could use the restroom, get snacks etc. I was hoping for a magnet, but they didn’t have anything like that.

 Masked Lapwing
 Blue-faced Honeyeater
Blue-faced Honeyeater

 White-bellied Cuckooshrikes
 White-bellied Cuckooshrike
Blue-faced Honeyeater
Pied Butcherbird

Our first stop was the Adelaide River where we boarded their purpose- built boats to get us right up close to the really big crocodiles for our jumping crocodile cruise; a must-do Territory experience! There are only 4 licenses in all of Australia to “interfere” with crocs in the wild and so there are limited boats that can do this. It is not a show and they don’t feed them. They change where they tempt them to jump so they don’t get used to it. They do give them the chicken carcass after everyone on the boat has gotten a chance of getting good photos.

 Pat & Tony


 the group



Here we met Pat, our guide & boat captain for that portion of our day. He was even more stereotypical “outback Aussie”. He gave us our safety briefing and gave us a lot of information on crocodiles. Then, we walked the short distance to the boat where he told us we could only cross the raised walkway to it a couple of people at a time. There was a croc that lives under it (he was missing a hind and a front leg) Pat chased him away with a stick and then we could continue. Once everyone was on board we started off down the river in search of crocs and Pat gave us our final instructions for our croc encounter. 
 Pat leading the way
 croc boat


he moved really fast when Pat coaxed him away

 

croc tracks where they lay on shore 
 Cathy & Tom getting on

 Phyllis & Bob getting on
 John & Toni getting on the boat


We found a large male and Pat ties a chicken carcass onto a stick and they react. They move so fast! What an awesome experience. Then, we moved on and came across a female. She was smaller, but still huge. 


















 flood levels
 Rainbow Bee-eater




Whistling Kite
Next, we found another female that had a nest and she was more interested in protecting her nest than eating. Then, her mate shows up to help protect the nest. She positioned herself to submit to him and he then comes to our boat. It was great to get photos of both of them together. The male jumped for us and the female went back on land and later Pat threw her a chicken carcass before we moved on.




























 Whistling Kite







 Radjah Shelducks
 Radjah Shelducks
 Radjah Shelducks










































































There were also lots of Kites there. Sometimes, they tried to steal the chicken from the crocs, but Pat also tosses them food and they swoop down onto the water to get it. There were 3 different kinds of Kites and Pat said most had been injured and he had rehabilitated many of them and returned them to the wild. 


















All too soon, it was time to head back to shore. We got back in the van and we stopped at The Humpty Doo Hotel & Pub for a cold drink. Most had the local beer (yes, it was before noon) Still no magnets to be found, so I got a Humpty Doo sticker. We also ran into a Princess tour that had stopped there. 





driving to Humpty Doo











We continued on to Litchfield National Park via Bachelor Township. He pointed out some things that we would stop and see on the way back if there was time.

Our first stop in Litchfield was to see some very impressive magnetic and cathedral termite mounds. They were HUGE. We had a little time here before moving on to where we would have lunch.


 magnetic termite mound



 Cathedral Termite Mound
 Greg

 Annette


We had our lunch near Wangi Falls. While Tony set up the Tropical lunch, we walked down to see the falls after checking out a Bower Bird courtship area. This was a different kind of Bower Bird than the one we saw in Sydney. This one likes to use anything shiny. So, there were lots of shells and pieces of aluminum out front and back of his dancing area made of sticks. The sticks seem to be the same amongst all the types of Bower Birds. Greg got a nice shot of the male working on the area. Once it is ready, he will attract the female. She will then decide if it is worthy. If it’s not she destroys it and leaves. There was a small store with cold drinks and I did find a magnet, though I wasn’t crazy about it. There were no other shopping stops the rest of the day. We left too early in the morning that the vendors in the terminal weren’t open yet and got back too late at night and they were closed. I asked about a possible stop on the way back to the terminal, but Tony said everything would be closed. 
 Bowerbird  courtship area
 Bowerbird  courtship area
 Bowerbird  courtship area
 Bar-shouldered Dove
Great Bowerbird - male 
 Great Bowerbird - male
  Bar-shouldered Dove
 Torresian Crows

 Bowerbird - male
 Bowerbird - male
 Spangled Drongo
 Spangled Drongo




 Wangi Falls
 Wangi Falls
Wangi Falls

Tony set up a nice picnic of cold meats, tuna, cheese, salads, fruits and more. We found a shady picnic table and enjoyed our lunch. Then, Toni noticed a Wallaby very close by. Many of us got some photos of the them. There were two of them, but I never saw both of them together. One was larger and so it was easy to know there was more than one.





























After lunch and some free time, we continued to the swimming spot for those that wished to do that. It was hot and steamy so many were eager to get cooled off. We got photos of Florence falls and then walked on some short trails looking for birds. It was quite a walk to the bottom of the falls for a swim, so most opted to just swim in the creek. 


 Shining Flycatcher
 White-gaped Honeyeater
White-gaped Honeyeater



 Florence Falls





 Toni, Cathy & Tom


Torresian Imperial-Pigeons 
 Pacific Reef Heron
Double-barred Finch

We stopped to take photos in Bachelor of a castle replica and then one last refreshment stop. We got some soda and an ice cream. Bernie Havlik built this replica of Karlstejn Castle after he retired. He was a major influence in forestry and mining at the Rum Jungle Uranium Mine. He later came the town’s gardener and then worked on this replica in his retirement. He originally was from Czechoslovakia & Yugoslavia and was beloved in the community. The towns people finished the replica after his death.


We then had a long ride back to Darwin City and East Point Reserve to take in a legendary Top End sunset over the ocean. We had managed to dodge the rain all day, but it probably wasn’t the best sunset ever, but it was quite dramatic with all the clouds and then bursts of blue sky and the yellows and oranges that formed. It was photo worthy none-the-less. Tony set up a picnic table with a bowl of prawns, crackers, chips, dips and cookies and champagne for all. YUM! 


 Charley, Harriet, Horst, Mark & (Don & Bev that the tour co added to our tour)
 Charley & Harriet
 Charley, Harriet, Horst, Mark & Bob
 Horst, Mark, Bob, Kris
 Tony
 Little Friarbird
 Double-barred Finch

 Little Friarbird
 Masked Lapwing
 Little Friarbird
 Pacific Reef-Herons

 John & Toni
















What an awesome day, and it seemed the whole group enjoyed it. (except the added couple, she seemed to have a lot to complain about)

We got back on the ship and had a quick shower and went upstairs to have a bite to eat and then off to the evening entertainment at 9:30 of David Copperfield. We have seen him before and he is hilarious as well as a talented opera singer. It was a fun show after our long, but fun day.

1,306 birds (19 new here today) for our "life list".

Darwin photos will be posted in a few days. 

All videos will have to wait until we return for all ports.

We have 2 sea days before Komodo Island.


Photos of Darwin
Darwin, Australia – Part 1
Darwin, Australia – part 2 https://photos.app.goo.gl/XSuDYrANfosXDJmF6

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