Day 21. Kakadu/Litchfield National Parks

It was bloody hot as I explored the city of Darwin yesterday. For those who saw the movie "Australia" with Nicole Kidman and that hot hunk, Hugh Jackman, Darwin was the setting for that movie. It was the Australian port that was bombed during WWII. It also suffered a devastating cyclone in 1974, as evidenced by what is left of the town hall.


For lunch, I caught the bus over to the Darwin sailing club which a virgin blue flight attendant had told me about. It was a really nice setting for lunch.




I came back and took a dip in the pool to cool off. Then I went on a sunset cruise of the harbor. And it poured down rain! But we did see a sliver of a sunset.



So today, its off to the national parks for a three day 4WD safari, including some hiking. I'm not sure if I'll have wifi for the next three days, so I might not get to update my blog until I get back.

So, cheers, for now!

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Location:Northern Territory, Australia

Day 20. Darwin.

As my plane left Hamilton Island yesterday morning, the skies were blue and visibility was excellent. So all of the Whitsunday Islands were gorgeous, and as we hugged the coast up to Cairns, I was able to see many of the beautiful green/blue/yellow reefs that make up the Great Barrier Reef. Spectacular!

Then in Cairns, Naomi and Greg had recommended that I use my day of layover there to take the skyrail through the rainforest.















Oops, can't really see my face under the hat!









Then I could have taken the skyrail back or the old train, so for a change of pace, I hopped on the train.

















Then back on the plane for my transfer to Darwin, getting to my hotel late last night. Darwin was one of the places where it was hard to find many places to stay, but with Janet's help, since she had been here, I finally settled on the Holiday Inn Esplanade, which also seemed to be a traveler favorite on Tripadvisor. (I used that website a lot for this trip).

Today I plan to check out the city of Darwin before heading to the national parks for three days of exploring the parks

Travel tip for today:
The little plastic bags that Diana had recommended (container store) have come in quite handy. Use for my coins, my vitamins for each week, for small toiletries that may leak, and for small quantities of snacks (dried fruit, cashews, etc). They are smaller than snack bags, and so are just the right size! Also brought a few quart and gallon bags which have also come in handy.

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Location:Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia

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....




Above taken during the morning rain











Not me.......but someone with the same color stinger suit....


































Cheers!!

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Location:Hamilton Island Airport, Queensland, Australia

Day 18. Whitehaven Beach

Well, despite a forecast of thunderstorms, the weather cooperated again yesterday! Again, as we left the harbor, the sun started peeking through the clouds over the islands.





And so we were off. This time just me and 18 close friends, as I chose the small family run boat today to get a smaller group. So with Scottie and Bryan to guide us, our first stop was Hook Island for some more snorkeling. And more stinger suits...





But because of the rain, and because we were now snorkeling close to the mainland, there was too much fresh water run-off and so while there was lots of nice coral, not many fish. So I was glad I had made it out to the reef the day before. Meanwhile, it was just good to cool off in the water as the day was beginning to get hot.

Then Scottie picked us up on the little dinghy to get us back on our boat....






For our next stop, it was Hill Inlet Scenic Lookout, for a short walk up to get a view down to what the Australians tout as one of the world's top 10 beaches, Whitehaven Beach, named for its pure white sand. In looking this up, there are many different lists of best beaches, so not sure which list this is on, but.......

Wow, spectacular views....




For you Oprah fans, she brought her guests to this lookout and said it was the most beautiful view she had ever seen. Again, it's one of those views that is even more spectacular in person and difficult to capture in a still photo. These islands are listed as national heritage sites, so will never be developed.

We stood and oohed and ahhed for a while, and took photos of each other..





Then it was time to motor around to the beach itself for our picnic lunch...





And one of my fantasies met of having a man cart everything to the beach and then fix me lunch.... Two men actually....





(I'm just checking to see if any of my Bethany Beach friends are paying attention :-)

It was an Aussie barbq of steak, sausage and chili burgers. Plus salad and fresh fruit. Yum, after swimming and walking and being in the sun all day, it was great.

Then apparently sand writing is a big thing here....





So I made my mark in the sand!

Time to head back to the harbor, and again the waves started kicking up for an evening storm, so if I thought we had rocked and rolled the day before, take a boat that is about 1/5 the size. Whee...it was fun...like an amusement ride!! Reminded me of some exciting sails on the Chesapeake bay when storms started rolling in. but then again, we were all also happy to pull into the harbor.

Today I had tried to sign up for a half day of sea kayaking, but it was all full up. Bummer! That would have been fun. They go someplace to look at the turtles...although then again, the night rains might affect that viewing as well. So looks like I'll hang out by the pool here, go into Airlie Beach and walk along their 3 mile boardwalk, etc....because tomorrow it's goodbye to Queensland, and on to the Northern Territory.

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Location:Whitsunday Islands, Australia

Day 17. Great Barrier Reef!

Yes, the weather cooperated yesterday, and I made it to The Reef! It was pouring rain when I woke up; when I left at 6:45am to catch my transport to the harbor, it was still raining, although not as hard. When the boat left Shute Harbour at 8:00am, the sun was starting to peek between the clouds. And we were off to the pontoon which is moored out at the reef from which we would be snorkeling (when I say "we" that would be me and 50 or so of my closest friends :-).

The "gourmet" morning tea on the cruise boat meant white toast with jam. Luckily, I had ordered a "basket" of provisions for my cabin ahead of time, and I had cereal and yogurt for breakfast before leaving my cabin. so I was able to skip the line for "toast," buy a latte (ah, sweet caffeine), and enjoy the view as we passed through the Whitsunday Islands toward our destination.



As we approached the pontoon, I have to admit, I was a bit overwhelmed by the concept of snorkeling out in the middle of the open ocean.



I was glad I had signed up for the first scheduled guided tour of the reef. (For those of you who know me, I am not an extremely confident swimmer). So upon arrival, I had to pick up my snorkel gear, and then put on my stinger suit which is to protect you from jelly fish stings (although I didn't see any). It was a quite fashionable, full body suit :-)


(the full body view is not for publication--this one is bad enough!)

And into the water we went from the snorkel platform....



The platform was partly submerged, so you just sat on the edge and slipped into the water. And oh my, how spectacular! It was beyond description! Interesting coral formations, anemones and fish everywhere. Another good reason to go on the guided tour is because the guide showed us things I would have missed--like a species of clams that are unique to the reef, and are HUGE. And a fish that is very territorial. She went down and showed us how it "attacks" her when she got close (it was a little tiny fish, so harmless). Then she placed a shell on its territory, and it immediately picked it up and removed it.

Once I got in the water, it was clear they had a rope walk which you could follow, so for me as soon as I realized that I could stay close to the rope and the pontoon, my confidence level soared and I enjoyed the amazing spectacle.

They also had a glass bottom boat you could go on, but that wasn't nearly as impressive as watching it through your goggles. They served a fairly decent buffet lunch, which I ate out on the sun deck.



Then I took advantage of one of the lounge chairs on the deck until 2:20 when they rang the bell for all snorkelers to return to the boat, and that is when I felt the first new rain drop. So it cleared up for just the perfect amount of time.

We headed back, rocking and rolling, to the harbor. It got pretty choppy out there. I had on my wrist bands (I've never known if or how they work to keep one from getting sea sick, but figured it didn't hurt to have them).

It quit raining again when we returned to shore. After getting back to my resort park, I walked across the street to have a mixed greens with chicken salad for dinner. Immediately upon returning and locking my cabin door it started pouring down rain...so much so that the electricity went out for a brief time. So glad that it waited for me to get home so I wouldn't have been in the total dark walking home!

Off today on another adventure to Whitehaven Beach, one of the top 10 beaches In the world. Will the weather cooperate again?

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Location:Airlie Beach, Queensland, Australia

Day 16. GBR

OMG!! I snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef today!!


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Location:Shute Harbour Rd,Cannonvale,Australia