Darwin, Australia - Nov 06, 2014

Ah, we are back in Australia, beautiful, mystical Australia and for us a new port, Darwin, on the very Northern tip of Australia and in the Northern territory - we have now been to all the five Territories in Australia. Darwin is a small, but cosmopolitan city of about 60,000 inhabitants. It is a conglomeration of many different nationalities and cultures weaved together to create a lively and affluent city. Darwin is the only Australian city to be bombed in WWII and you can still see remnants of the old Coastal Defense Battery that once protected it. Darwin has seen its fair share of disasters both by man and nature. The bombing pretty much wiped out Darwin and after the rebuilding of the city, Hurricane or Typhoon Tracey all but wiped it our again in 1974. Darwin has since been rebuilt in two city sections about 10 kilometers apart, this is strategic so that the city will not come to a complete standstill should another disaster happen again.

Our on board friends from our last cruise, Cam and Susan rented a van for the day and took six of us on an amazing tour through their homeland. Cam and Susan live just outside of Brisbane but through business, Cam knows Darwin pretty well. Darwin's main attraction is the stunning nature and and landscape that surrounds it. So out of town we go, Cam, Susan, Yolanda, Alex, Debbie, Ron, Jan and I head to the vast amazing landscape of this area of Australia. We are headed to the real main attraction here, as Darwin and the Adelaide River is the home of the Giant Saltwater Crocs, upwards to 5 and half meters, that is 16 plus feet these reptiles are fierce and foreboding. Our guide tells us to keep our hands and everything else in the boat - everyone did as leaning out to get that picture may just be your last. You think, yah right, then you look at one of these monsters heading towards you and quickly understand why.

This was a special and amazing day, from the Crocs to the Bird Sanctuary wilderness area to the Humpty Doo Hotel and pub, thank you Cam and Susan for such an incredible visit for us. Yes, very interesting characters at this outback bar.

The night closed off with an incredible sunset followed by an incredible full moon. We had a tour of Cam and Susan's room with all the masks they have purchased so far and then it was off to the Australian Outback BBQ on the Lido Deck. Yes, life is pretty good.

Hope you enjoy out two parts of pictures...