Darwin

We really had no idea what to expect from Darwin, other than that it would be hot.  Everyday when they show the national weather Darwin has a high of somewhere between 30 - 35C, sunny in the winter, rainy in the summer. 

Darwin is the capital of the Northern Territory and is the furthest north of all the capital cities.  The population is ~150,000.  That may seem small for a capital city, but it is quite impressive when you consider that the city was completely destroyed by Cyclone Tracy on Christmas Eve, 1974.  At that time the city had a population of ~45,000 and almost 2/3rds of the popluation was left homeless.  The city residents were forced to relocate during the demolition and rebuild, and it is impressive that so many people moved back.

Plaque with details on the bombing of Darwin

Darwin was also bombed severely during World War II, a fact that we were completely unaware of.  Growing up in Canada we got most of our news from the US and the focus on domestic WWII bombing was always Pearl Harbour.  Darwin was bombed on 19 February 1942, just two months after Pearl Harbour.  Darwin was a massive port with good proximity to Asian targets.  The Allies, including the Americans, had ships there, which were seen as a threat to the Asian theatre and so the city, focussing on the harbour, was severly bombed.  Around 250 people died in the bombing, although there are poorly kept records of casualties...propbably because the records office was destroyed in the bombing!

Darwin Harbour with enclosed swimming area

We stayed in the main part of the CBD, which is really quite small and has a very rough charm.  There is actually a crocodile enclosure right next to the backpackers' hotels!  We couldn't help but wonder how many backpackers thought, after a bit of liquid courage, that it might be fun to try and break in. 

JT checking out the outdoor cinema

Overall we were really impressed and reluctantly charmed by the city.  We took a harbour tour, had a couple of gret city walks and took the other highlight tour of our vacation, a trip to Litchfield Park.  It might be a little place, but it packs a big punch!

Bits of Broome

Our time in Broome wasn't spent just riding camels and flying around in sea planes.  We tried to see as much as we could, while still trying to take it easy. 

On our first day in Broome we went to Cable Beach for a swim.  The beach was gorgeous and the water was clear and warm, with nowhere near the riptides and waves that we have experienced in Queensland.  The downside, however, was that the water was absolutely FULL of red jelly fish, also called sea tomatoes.  These jelly fish are not highly toxic like the blueys that we get in Queensland (JB actually got stung by one and she ended up with a small welt that stung slightly, and disappeared after about half an hour) and have pretty short tentacles.  We opted to go swimming in the pool instead, but experienced a sea of them again the next day when we went sea kayaking.

Lots of sea tomatoes!

Sea kayaking was great fun.  We paddled very little but seemed to get all around the harbour near Gantheaume Point.  We saw sea turtles, discovered little pools in the rocks and, a few days later, realized just how high the tides get around here.  On our last morning here we walked almost the same route that we kayaked.  Where days earlier we had floated well above the rocks, we walked on the exposed beach.  One goal on this walk was to find some preserved dinosaur tracks that were underwater on our kayak trip.  We missed seeing them as the tide had already turned by the time we got to the site, but it was a great walk on the beach anyway.

The beach at high tide

And at low tide

The most relaxing part of our stay here was our hotel.  It had a beautiful pool area and an amazing spa.  All the rooms are little cabins, with their own kitchens, barbeques and a fabulous outdoor shower.  The first time we used it, we noticed that the drain was populated by some green frogs.  They would grab onto the top of the drain and stick their snouts out.  We didn’t think there was any way they could possibly escape through those little openings in the drain cover but, sure enough, the next time we used that shower one of the frogs made good on his escape.  The others followed over the next couple of days until there were no frogs remaining.  We have no idea where they went once they got out, but we weren’t too sad to see them go.  Having a frog pop out of the drain while showering is a shocking and unwelcome experience!

Froggy getting ready

Freedom!

Horizontal Falls

The highlight of our time in Broome was a trip that we took to Horizontal Falls.  Horizontal Falls is an area in Talbot Bay, about a 90 minute flight from Broome.  We took a very small sea plane, which flew along the coast line to Willie Creek, then headed inland to Cape Leveque and finally headed over to Talbot Bay and the Horizontal Falls.  The plane flies quite low on the way to Talbot Bay and we definitely felt every little bump and bit of turbulence, especially when transitioning between water and land.  The flight was really amazing, and well worth the little bit of shaking.  The scenes from the place are really striking, especially the contrast between the different colours of the water and the white beaches.  We really had no idea that this kind of landscape existed anywhere in Australia!

Willie Creek, just north of Broome

Blue water and white sand

We saw hundreds of little tiny bays and islands.  The tide was high when we flew in, so we saw all the mangrove trees up to thier necks in water and all kinds of things in the water.  The pilot spotted a couple of pods of sperm whales and flew out over them so that we could get a good look.  The whales are so massive but move so gently through the water.  It doesn't take long to get your eyes used to seeing whales from that height...they are the only things that are moving and not blue!

Valley at high tide

We didn't really know what to expect when we arrived at Talbot Bay, but the pilot made a couple of fly-overs to get us familiar with the area.  The geology of the area has long linear features and, where there is enough relief between these features, inland briny lakes, connected to the ocean, are created.  The water here can have 12m between low and high tide.  Horizontal Falls has two narrow inlets, 20m and 10m wide, that are the only opening through which all of that water can travel.  Since that volume of water cannot flow through such a narrow opening at once, a 'waterfall' is created from the high water on one side of the inlet to the low water level on the other side of the inlet.  The directional flow of the water changes with the tides.

Inland lakes

The Horizontal Falls

Once we landed in Talbot Bay we had lunch aboard a large houseboat that is moored there as housing for the staff and as overnight accomodation for tour groups.  There is also a feeding cage where the staff feed nurse sharks, although they sometimes get bullsharks, hammerheads, and crocodiles coming in for a little look, too!

Feeding nurse sharks

Our little 14 seater seaplane

After lunch we got in a little speed boat that took us through the Horizontal Falls as the tide was flowing out.  There was about metre difference in water level between the two inlets, so we really had a fun ride as the boat bounced along, up and over the water.  It is definitely not the kind of place to go on your own, this water is rough!

Horizontal Falls

Water levels

After touring the Horizontal Falls we zoomed around the rest of the area and saw a tiny old pealing boat where two of the boys from the houseboat live.  It had everything a couple of young guys could want: hammocks, a big screen television and a neighbourhood crocodile that hasn't yet figured out how to climb up the three steps from the pontoon to the boat deck...not exactly a dream home.

"Dream home" on Talbot Bay

We got back in the plane and flew back to Broome, inland the entire way which made for a much smoother flight.  We really couldn't believe how much we saw in a day.  This was really the most amazing place that either of us had ever seen.  We highly recommend that everyone make this trip, it is worth it!

Broome

Broome is at the northern (top) end of Australia, within the state of Western Australia.  It has a semi-arid climate, with highs in the mid-30s throughout the year.  We experienced pretty typical weather when we were there, with the temperatures in the mid to high 30s during the daytime and dipping to the mid 20s at night.  Even though we are used to warm temperatures in Brisbane, the high temperatures and dry heat that we experienced in Broome was really exhausting for both of us.

The town of Broome is quite small.  The town was established as part of the pearling industry in the late 1800s, which at that time was really about oyster shells and mother of pearl, rather than pearls.  Today it is well known for cultured pearls and the high street has mulitple really high end pearl shops (JB spotted a necklace priced at $95 000 AUD!)  We stayed near Cable Beach, on the west side of Broome, about 7km from the main town.

Broome high street

Cable Beach is named so because the telegraph line that connected Australia to Java was laid here.  It is famous for its high tides (up to 10m at certain times of the year), the beautiful sunsets, preserved dinosaur prints and camel rides.  On our first night here we took a sunset camel ride, which is definitely a unique experience.

There were two people to each camel and we were assigned to a camel named Muscles who, as the handlers told us, was "a little high strung".  Sure enough, as soon as JT got on the saddle, Muscles bolted upright and had to be forced to kneel back down so that a not entirely willing JB could get on his back.  He managed to behave himself for most of the ride, but he definitely had a mind of his own.  He kept trying to walk beside the camel that he was following and would hop from side to side, jockeying for a better position.  At the end of the ride, Muscles kneeled down before he was supposed to, JT leapt off and the handlers had to drag Muscles back to his knees before he bolted away with JB.  This camel was a handful!  The ride was fun though, and the sunset was gorgeous.

Muscles, trying to overtake the camel in front of him

Sunset on Cable Beach

We went for a high tide kayak trip the next day, and paddled around Gantheaume Point, which is where the dinosaur prints are visible at low tide (we saw casts of them).  The water was beautiful!  The seas are blue-green and look so striking against the red rocks that line Roebuck Bay.  Before we moved to Australia we really thought that the entire country would look like this!  We went back a few days later and walked on the beach in the same area at low tide and couldn't believe that the water really goes up as high as it does.  This is a truly striking area of the world.

Brown Jellyfish (fairly harmless)

Red Rocks

Gantheaume Point

Our biggest impression of Broome had to do with the colours of the landscape.  Everything is so stark and contrasting.  This is really different from what we are used to.  The heat changes how quickly one walks and how a day gets planned out.  Shade is a highly valued and often sought substance, and it isn't possible to drink enough water when you first get there.  This place with dry you out!  Broome is a 4.5 hour flight from Brisbane and we felt like we were at least in another country, if not on another planet!