What a pleasant surprise! Joni, Rossi and Rowan decided to turn their backs on Kununarra and travel with me to Darwin instead. They couldn't find any fruitpicking-jobs because it had rained so much recently and the fields were all muddy. So they decided that if they'd have to do something like waitressing, then they could just as well do it in a nice place (like Sydney).

So they said good-bye to Kununarra and hopped back into the car with me. And since there was so many of us to share the driving and since we all felt like going to a proper city asap, we decided to try and make the trip in one day. And we did, though we were all pretty exhausted by the time we arrived. It's only around 850 km but in the heat and with only nature around you, it's simply so fucking boring it drives you nuts. Compared to other parts of Australia it wasn't too bad though. There are quite a lot of trees up here so that you actually have something to look at while you are driving and not just endless, featureless plains. It's really hot here (around 30 degrees) but the nights are quite pleasant.

Darwin: Little, big city

What I've seen of Darwin so far I really like. It's a comaratively small place (70.000 inhabitants) but it's the biggest city within in a few thousand kilometers and so has all the things you'd expect in a regional capital. Streetlights, pubs, cafes and even a proper cinema! Oh the fruits of civilisation! Due to its proximity to Indonesia and Asia it also has a night market and in the streets there are a lot of food stalls, serving very good and reasonably priced asian food (like 9.50 AUD). And the beer in the pubs is cheaper than in the hostel I stayed in in Broome (4 AUD)! What more can you ask for? Well, you could of course ask for a beach. And Darwin has a beautiful beach - you just can't swim there. Why? Because they have stingers, crocs and sharks in the water here, so at least you wouldn't suffer for very long if you got bitten by a stinger.

Scary, scary reptiles

Speaking of crocs: I visited a crocodile farm in Wyndham, nearby Kununarra. I mainly visited it because of the Komodo Dragons they have there but unfortunately they had been flown to Australia Zoo to mate (bloody sex-tourists). It was still quite interesting, though, and I was not about to turn back after having driven 100 km. I don't think I have ever seen a mature male Saltwater Crocodile (affectionately called "Salties") in my life. THEY ARE HUGE! The biggest one I saw at that farm was 5.5 meters long and weighted around 900 kg. But they can easily get to aroudn 7 meters in length and apparently the biggest one they ever found was 10.6 meters long. Holy shit! From what our guide told us crocs don't attack humans here very often, but you are well advised to keep your dogs off the boats since they are "snack sized" and the crocs like to snatch them from the boats if they can.

If I go to the Kakadu National Park nearby I'll probably see hundreds of salties in the wild. That wil be quite an experience. But unfortuantely, due to the recent rain a number of the most spectacular sites within Kakadu are inaccessible right now - even with 4WD. Well, if I stay in Darwin for a bit longer I still might be able to get there. I'm currently staying in the YHA (18 AUD for members, 21.5 for non-members) but I think I might move soon. The place is a bit too big and unpersonal for my taste.

Oh, and btw: The Northern Territorry is 90 minutes ahead of Western Australia. So my current time difference to Germany is 7.5 hours.