Hong Kong & Australia 2006 (2/6)
2006 found us on a big trip to Hong Kong and Australia. I say "big" because we took 3 weeks instead of our normal 2 and we had a lot of flights getting from A to B to C etc. We had help with the booking this year in the form of Karen and team at Bon Voyage. Our itinerary was:
Red Centre
Port Douglas & Barrier Reef
QLD - North of Port Douglas
QLD - South of Port Douglas
Our next stop was Darwin - a long journey as we had to fly via Sydney. No photos for that day - only a few strange people we know would be interested in plane photos - but just in case you're interested we flew from Hong Kong to Sydney in a Jumbo and from Sydney to Darwin in an A330-300. The Qantas beds didn't seem to be as good as the BA ones!
Our hotel was the Holiday Inn Esplanade and we had a sea view, albeit across the road and through a few trees. We had 3 nights here so a free day on our first full day when we sat by the pool, went in the pool and generally did nothing other than relax for most of the time.
Once the heat had gone out of the day a bit (about 4 p.m.) we took ourselves off through the tree park and onto the walk round the sea wall. There is no beach for playing on and sea doesn't look inviting at all being mud and mangroves but it was an interesting walk nonetheless.
A lot of the space around this walk is taken up with memorials of one kind and another, particularly re WW2. There are a lot of plaques like the one shown on the left below to all kinds of organisations, regiments etc.
One memorial is to the USS Peary which was sunk on 19 February 1942 in a Japanese air raid on Darwin. This ship was the one that suffered the greatest loss of life in the 188 aircraft raid. The 4 inch gun on the right was rescued from the shipwreck and points towards the wreck in memory of those who died.
Day 2 in Darwin and we went on a day trip to Kakadu National Park with Australian Pacific Touring. It was an all day trip - 13 hours so a long day (pick up 6.15 a.m.) Quite a few people told us that Kakadu is a "must see" - they were right.
On the left is a kingfisher - hard to tell but very pretty in real life!
As you can see from the pictures above, it was a real haven for birds. We decided to take advantage of an additional extra and took a flight. It was well worth it as we got a really good view of the colours and patterns which you couldn't really see from the ground/river. The photos don't do the colours justice as they were taken through a plane window but they should give you a general feel for the place.
From one mode of transport (8 seater plane called a GA8 Airvan) to another as our next treat was a cruise down Yellow Waters to admire the scenery and view the bird life ....
... and the star attraction - the crocs. These are saltwater crocs so they're big!
The one on the right is called Pluto apparently - he's been around in these waters for a while and is the dominant male. He was cruising around quite happily but I wouldn't want to test him by moving into his territory!
We didn't get as far as first name terms with this one - she was sunning herself not far from Pluto's patch and seemed enormous.
From there we went to Nourlangie to admire some Aboriginal Art from many years ago.
The white was "touched up" a few years ago as it was starting to fade and disappear (the black has already disappeared). The red and yellow colours are the originals as far as anyone knows.
From the left, we have dancing people. The Aboriginal people enjoy dancing and often use it in ceremonies accompanied by clapping sticks and didgeridoos. The middle picture is of Nabulwinjbulwinj - a dangerous spirit who eats females after striking them with a yam (this is seen as a warning to women not to stray too far from home) and lastly (right and below) we have whole collection of people with the Lightening Man on the above right. The Lightening Man used to signify the start of the wet season (it usually thunders and lightens before the rains come) so a very important person.
On the way home we called in to see the Cathedral termite mounds ...
... and from there to enjoy a sunset from Windows on the Wetlands. It was a great day - a lot of driving but worth it. If we go back to this part of Australia then we'll probably spend more time in Kakadu and Darwin as they both deserve much more exploration than the short time we had there.
From here we went to the Red Centre so a complete contrast moving from Coast and Wetlands to the arid zone.