Darwin, Australia - by Andre Neyrey

Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. With an estimated population of 147,255 as of 2019, the city contains the majority of the residents of the sparsely populated Northern Territory.

After seeing the beautiful sunrise as we approached Darwin, Australia we headed out to the city center.

It was a long walk past the tunnels used to hide oil from the Japanese during the war when we came upon the city city center. We were welcomed by ceremony by the The Larrakia people who are the traditional owners of the Darwin area and Aboriginal people make up a significant percentage of the population.

I found “cooling rags” for our necks which would become a “must have/ best purchase” for the rest of the cruise. Just soak in water and voila- I stand neck AC!

The area has a great downtown area with plenty of shopping but the main attraction we were looking forward to was the jumping crocodiles! After getting some local breakfast items and doing the requisite shopping for magnets we headed out to the Adelaide River where the crocodiles live. Sam booked the tour for our group of 8 and there were two companies to choose from- she picked the one that is run by and supports the Aboriginal people! “The Spectacular Jumping Crocodile Tour”

We were with our cruise friends and while waiting saw what we think was a Komodo Dragon running around. So when Sam went to pee before we got on the boat and saw the massive gap behind the toilet- you can imagine how “unsafe” she felt knowing Kimmy the Komodo could come up behind her and chomp off a piece of her butt!

We boarded the boat and headed out to find some “jumpers”. First off it was HOT AS HELL. We were all suffering in the heat but thank god the boat had shade. It wasn't long before we found the first crocodile who happened to be one of the biggest. After “feeding” him which is basically a guy with a long ass stick held over the water with a blob of raw chicken attached to it- we went from nest to nest and wound up seeing a bunch of them. Each one had a name and “story”. Each croc “owns” a part of the River and are very territorial so you’d only see one every 1/2 mile or so.

It's amazing that they can jump that high by swishing their tail under the surface. Their tails are all muscle and as you can see very strong.

Sam and our friend Collette were a little freaked out they were so close and those crocs could jump so high and were hungry!

After feeding and watching them jump we saw one of the boat crew feeding these hawks. They are very agile at catching food the only ones who can eat while flying. Amazing seeing this.

After we got back to town we went and ate at an Irish pub near Fort Hill Wharf we are were all exhausted (see Sam Photo), the only thing keeping her moving was a bubble tea I found for her- we headed back to the ship and caught a beautiful sunset on the way out.