Top End, Down Under

We just got back from a trip to the top end of Australia, where we spent two incredible weeks in Broome and Darwin.  Broome is in Western Australia, in The Kimberley region.  It is a remote and beautiful area, best known for the pearling industry and the second largest tides in the world (7 - 10m, second only to the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia).  This was an area that we learned about shortly after arriving here two years ago, when we caught a documentary about a recently deceased conservationist, based in Broome.  We got hooked on the Kimberley right away and planned to make it to Broome as soon as we could.

Shoreline in Broom (check out the beautiful blue water of Roebuck Bay, in the Indian Ocean)

The second part of our trip was to Darwin, the capital of the Northern Territory.  There was so much more to see and do in Darwin than we imagined and we were so impressed by this little city in such a harsh climate.  It was severly bombed in World War II and almost completely destoyed by Cyclone Tracy on Christmas Eve, 1974.

Darwin Wharf Precinct

This was a trip that was filled with as much activity as we could find time for.  This is such a remote area that we really wanted to make sure that we did everything we wanted to, just in case we don't go back.  We rode camels on a beach at sunset, went sea kayaking, toured a pearl farm, took a sea plane from Broome to see the amazing horizontal falls, went deep sea fishing, hiked out at low tide to hunt for dinosaur tracks, took a tour of Darwin's massive harbour, saw jumping crocodiles, swam in a mountain lake, held a baby crocodile and, in the midst of all that, had our wedding anniversary!  It was an action packed trip and we will be doing many posts about it.  Now we are back at home and getting ready to go back to work, and reality, tomorrow morning.  Don't worry though, we have already started to plan our next trip!

Spring Arrives

We have, by Brisbane standards, had a very cold winter.  The overnight lows have been single digits and we have had windy days that keep the temperature down.  But finally, as of September 1, Spring has arrived.

Irresistible blue sky

We have had a complete turn around in our weather, from cool and grey to warm and clear, and we are having trouble keeping ourselves focussed.  On weekend mornings we make all kinds of plans for what we are going to do, but we seem to peter out later in the morning, and we end up cutting our plans in half.  Instead of a day of activity, we have a morning of activity, followed by an afternoon down by the river and an evening barbeque or dinner out. 

William Jolly Bridge

Jet skiers on a surprisingly green Brisbane River

This spring fever could also be due to the holiday that we start on thursday, spending two weeks in Broome and Darwin.  We only know a few people who have been to Darwin and only know friends of friends who have been to Broome.  We are really looking forward to this trip.  We are going to go to the Horizontal Falls in the Kimberley, ride camels on a beach, visit Litchfield National Park and about a hundred other things, or so we have planned.  This is our first real Australian vacation (of more than a week) and we might just find ourselves with big plans in the morning that turn into afternoons at the beach or the pool.  That's not so bad, is it?