Mataranka

Contrast always makes things more interesting. For example, when I visited Iceland, despite a light snow, we could go swimming, because there are geothermally heated springs. At Mataranka, the contrast is crisp and bleak vs. wet and lush—and the contrast is just as striking as the cold vs. hot of Iceland.
Every day, several million gallons [...]

Darwin’s Courthouse and Police Station

After Aquascene, Judy and I headed off for a brief walking tour of Darwin, before we had to catch our bus to Katherine. I acted as tour guide, having been around the town the day before. On foot, I was able to get photos of some sites I’d passed by bus previously, and among the [...]

Pandanus spiralis

Pandanus is a genus of plants common to tropical Asia and Australia. There are about 650 species, most of which have a lot of stilt roots that help support the slender trunks. Pandanus tends to grow near water, either along coastlines or in marshy or wetland areas. (That was a clump of pandanus in the [...]

Aquascene

After the adventures in Kakadu, I spent a couple of days in Darwin. One of the sights I had been told was a “must see” was Aquascene at Doctors Gully. Decades ago, someone started feeding the fish at this spot, and today, at high tide, fish show up in the hundreds for free food. However, [...]

Water Buffalo

The water buffalo found in the northern part of Australia are impressive and fascinating, but they are not indigenous—and they are, in fact, something of a menace. Introduced into Australia in the 1800s as work animals and as a way to supply milk and meat to settlers in remote, northern settlements, these heat-tolerant mammals from [...]