GlobeDOTTIng: Day 19. Darwin, Northern Territories, next stop

First, some big news! I've known for a few days, but just got permission to post this......my nephew, Scott, and his wife, Jenna, are now expecting their first baby!! How cool is that!!?

Ok, onto the travel news!

I had a somewhat leisurely day yesterday, with a jaunt into town for a light lunch at the Whitsunday Sailing Club, with a wonderful view of the Airlie Beach harbor. Then last night had a delightful dinner with my hosts, Naomi and Greg, the couple whom I had met in Chinatown in NYC (see previous post for that story!). Plus their three kids, Jack, Josh and Molly. What fun! Hey, hope the three of you are following my adventures around the world!! We had curried Spanish mackerel with mango (yum) as well as a special crustacean which is a delicacy here. Looked sort of like a combo of a crab and a lobster. After dinner, we went outside and saw a tree bat (jack, is that what it was called?), a good sized green tree frog! And their pet parrots. What a lovely family and a great property that they have here. Very lush and not like anything we have in the states, with the combination of RV's, tents and cabins. When we would pick up others at their "motel" to go on our excursions, I was thrilled that I was instead staying in this park.

But now it's time to say so long to Queensland, and head up to Darwin in the Northern Territories, where I will explore the Kakadu and Litchfield National Parks. It's going to be another long day as I am catching the 6:00am bus to the ferry, the 7:15am ferry to Hamilton Island, and the 9:15am flight to Cairns (pronounced cans). Then I have a long layover there before heading on to Darwin this evening. Not easy to get around in Australia as the flights are few and far between.

So, some parting shots....