Christmas 2012

Finally, after 11 weeks or 55 work days, we have made it to the Christmas break.  Now we have a week off to relax and get some much needed rest.  We will be in Sydney from Christmas Eve until 29 December and will spend New Year's Eve in Brisbane.  One year we would love to be in Sydney to see the big New Year's Eve fireworks show but we need to decide more than a couple of weeks in advance that we want do it.  Hotels are completely booked and probably have been since the middle of spring.

The storm blows in...

but it doesn't last long

We have had some crazy weather here ove rthe last few weeks: highs in the high 30s and lots of wind.  When it isn't windy it's humid so no matter what, it will be unpleasant.  Our spring had some crazy storms, with thunder storms moving quickly through the city and leaving behind flooded areas and blown down trees.  We are hoping to get some respite from the heat in Sydney, but they are certainly not immune to crazy weather.

Going to Sydney is one of our favourite things to do and we haven't gone there as much as we wanted to in 2012, so it is a great way to end off the year.

Tropical Christmas

This is our third Christmas in Australia and it still is a strange thing for us, to hear all the same Christmas carols and see all the same decorations that we would in Canada, but it is outrageously hot and just getting into summer!  (How hot is it?  We hit 38ºC on Tuesday, the hottest December day in 10 years in Brisbane!)

Six white boomers (the other two wouldn't fit in the picture)

The kids are getting out of school now, so our offices are a little less busy as parents take time off to spend with their kids, or to get ready for Christmas.  There are still quite a few kids group activities going on, and almost every day at lunch there is a group of kids from either a school or a club, singing carols on the Queen St Mall.  It is quite nice to hear the familiar music, but now our problem is sunburn, not frost bite.

Children's choir on Queen St Mall

We have seen some really amazing Christmas displays, including a sandcastle of Santa and his reindeer, along with an emu, a wombat and a fairly angry looking kangaroo.  The sculpture isn't finsihed yet, but it is most impressive and we hope they treated the sand so that the artwork doesn't all disolve into a puddle in the next rainstorm.

Amazing sand sculpture

Not all the decorations are man-made, this is also the time of year when many of the trees are in full bloom.  The frangipani trees are very pretty but the most impressive are the poinciana trees, with their brilliant red flowers.  The trees have a beautiful canopy shape and provide lots of shade over a wide area.  One of the most beautiful poinciana trees in our neighbourhood was recently blown over in a summer storm and they had to close two lanes of traffic just for the clean-up!

Poinciana Tree...this photo was taken just two days before it was blown over

Lovely and colourful frangipani trees

This has been one of the longest vacation-free stretches for us (12 weeks!) and we can't wait for the next two weeks of work to end.  We will have 10 days off, including spending Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in Sydney!

So many crocs!

We have saved the best for last in relating our trip to the top end: the crocs!  Last year when we were in Far North Queensland (FNQ) we took a Daintree River cruise.  The pilot on that boat was very respectful of the laws when it came to approaching crocodiles in the Daintree River.  He would only get within about 5 metres of a crocodile and only stay in one place for a short period of time, in order to not stress the crocs.  He told us that the laws in FNQ are unique and that in Darwin they have trained the crocs to actually jump out of the water for meat.  We thought he was joking...he wasn't.

The top end of Australia is crocodile heaven!  When we were in Broome we were told that they occasionally have to close the beach because a croc or two moves in.  We didn't see any crocs, but we were well aware that there could, at certain times, be crocs in the area.  Scary stuff, but not fully appreciated until we arrived in Darwin.

Years ago, when crocodiles were hunted, people actually used to swim in the Darwin Harbour and Adelaide River (the Adelaide River is a major river that concludes in the Darwin Harbour).  No one swims there now!  Since they have started protecting crocodiles in the early 70's, the crocs have had an exponential increase in numbers and no one would risk swimming in these areas (tragically, a couple of weeks ago a young girl near Darwin was eaten by a crocodile while swimming in a "safe" place...crocodiles really get around.)  Now the crocs and citizens are in a transitional time.  The crocs can't be hunted, but some of the captured ones are destined to become lovely purses, boots and shoes, sold both overseas and in Darwin.

Our first exposure to the wild crocodiles in the Northern Territory was on the morning of our trip to Litchfield National Park.  We started the day by heading to the Adelaide River and getting in a very low profile tinny (sort of like a beat up floating caravan).  We really didn't see any crocodiles at the very beginning of the boat trip, but we could see the signs of them on the riverbank.  The guide told us that it was only legal to feed once we got past a certain point in the river.  We envisioned it would be like one of those Koi ponds, where the fish gather near the food and then swim away.  Not so for these prehistoric beasts!

Leaping for food

The guide had a 2 - 3m long bamboo pole with a heavy gauge string on the end, to which he tied a raw piece of meat (mostly the leftovers from beef processing plants).  Far faster than you can imagine, a very large (3+m) crocodile swam up to the boat, leapt out of the water to waist height, and clamped onto the bait.  The sound of those jaws clamping shut was positively deafening!  (We can't imagine what it would have been like for early settlers, maybe thinking that they could outsmart or outswim these creatures...they have been around for millions of years and are more or less the perfect killing machine.)  This baiting of crocodiles was repeated more than 20 times and we saw far more crocodiles in the water, watching the action and hoping to be the next one to have a go.  The smaller crocodiles must move away from the food when a bigger croc comes into the picture, otherwise the little guy becomes the food.  We certainly saw enough crocs missing arms to know how much they like to bite.  (Fun fact from Wikipedia: a crocodile's closing jaw pressure is up tp 5000 pounds per square inch (psi) or 30 MPa for us metric folks.  Compare this to a great white shark, with just 400 psi (pfft!) or a human with a mere 120 psi (why bother?).  On the flip side, the muscles that open the jaws are so weak that the jaws can be held just by human hands...not that we'd be willing to experiment with that!)

Lurking Croc

Sometimes they don't bite right away...the other guy at the top is playing it cool

Note his missing right arm!

The little tinny that kept us safe

After seeing this display we were intrigued by a tourist attraction called "Crocosaurus Cove", right in the centre of Darwin.  We were a bit dubious because we thought that it was a place to catch a bus that would take you to a crocodile sanctuary somewhere out of town, but no, the crocodile park is a two level enclosure right in the middle of the Darwin CBD (central business district).  The backpacker's bar and several apartments look right into the park and we can only imagine how many backpackers have had drunken thoughts about climbing the walls to wrestle a crocodile...not a good plan!

All that keeps this croc at bay is the aluminum pole...we'd rather have a gun!

They had the biggest and oldest crocodiles here.  They had some that were more than 5m long and 80 years old, including the one that was in the Crocodile Dundee movie.  He was an angry croc who was missing his front leg and had killed every potential mate that he had ever met.  Needless to say, he was in isolation.  There is also a tank here where about 3 large adults and people can pay to get in the "cage of death" which is a plexiglass cylinder that is lowered into the tank.  We saw some people in the cage and it did not look pleasant.

Leaping little guys! 

We really liked seeing the tank ponds with more than a hundred juvenile crocs, all swimming around and jumping for food.  They get their entire bodies out the water and it is really something to see!  We took the opportunity to hold a baby crocodile, who was strangely cute but still ready and willing to attack, if only they would remove the elastics from around his snout.

Sort of graceful and kind of cute...from behind plexiglass

Overall seeing the crocs was the true highlight of our trip.  They are fantastic ancient creatures and they will be there, with cockroaches, for the next million years.  They have lived for millions of years before man and will likely live for many millions of years after man.  For all the amazing sights that we saw, the crocs are what we remember and have come to almost love.  But beware...these things are killing machines!!!

Litchfield National Park

While we were in Darwin we took a day trip to Litchfield National Park.   Litchfield was established as a national park back in 1986, on land that was previously part of a cattle station.  The geography isn't ideal for cattle, a lot of it is quite steep and there didn't seem to be too many natural paddock areas.  It is a beautiful park, however, so hopefully the original owners were paid a good price by the government!

After visiting the Adelaide River and seeing gigantic jumping crocs (a topic that deserves its own blog entry!) we started the hour and a half drive south to Litchfield National Park.  This is pretty rugged country and very different from the subtropics that we are used to.  Litchfield Park is known for waterfalls, swimming holes and really striking natural features.  One of the first things we saw were termite mounds...gigantic "cathedral" termite mounds, easily 4 - 5 metres high and fields of "magnetic" termite mounds, which look like tombstones in some kind of outback cemetary.  The magnetic mounds are oriented north-south and are very thin, potentially to have minimal sun exposure for the colony.

Gigantic Cathedral Termite Mound

Magnetic Termite Mounds

Each type of mound is built by a specific species of termite, which in turn has a very specific diet.  Mostly we saw individual cathedrals in one area and the magnetic mounds in another. 

Wangi Falls

After seeing the termite mounds we visited a mountain water fall and lake, called Wangi Falls.  Being Canadians and having visited the Rockies many times, when we see a mountain lake, we think "glacier" and "cold"...not in this case!  The water in beautifully warm and a joy to swim in.  The only draw back is that in years of big floods, the crocs can get in but they struggle to get out! 

Buley Rockholes

We ended the day by relaxing in the Buley Rockholes, and cooling down in the 39ºC heat!  Then it was another 90 minutes back to Darwin, where we drank champagne and watched the sunset over the Darwin Harbour.  Such a rough life we lead!

Sunset over Darwin Harbour

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!