Up north. by DaveBassett

New experiences in the top end:
Have just returned from a week in Darwin and Kakadu National Park (Northern Territory – top end of Australia).
Fantastic place – have seen my first crocodile in the wild. On the debit side it was pretty hot and sweaty and not exactly my idea of the safest place to go for a swim. If the crocs don’t get you the sea wasps or the sharks will take you out. Now the crocs average about 4.5 to 5 metres when fully grown and after seeing a couple of these at relatively close quarters I even started getting nervous climbing into the shower. Needless to say the locals tend to restrict their swimming to the pool.
Had a couple of days in Kakadu, but as it was just at the end of ‘the wet’ most of the roads were still flooded. Photographically we were a bit restricted and the highlight was a day on a boat (special charter) at ‘yellow water’. The wet lands here are amazing with a large number of different water birds.
We did take a flight over the escarpment which was pretty impressive although the ‘coke bottle’ (Perspex) windows combined with a fair bit of turbulence made for pretty average photos.
Apart from catching my first Barra I was most excited to have seen that great Australian icon – the ‘cane toad’. If ever I move up north I will seriously consider taking up golf. The cane toad can actually sit right up on its hind legs and you wouldn’t even have to use a tee.