In late July, after a fifteen-hour Qantas flight to Sydney, Australia’s oldest and liveliest city, my wife, Jeanne, and I were invigorated by clear skies and sparkling weather; the Land of Oz was moving from winter to spring. The striking profile of Sydney’s Opera House, the billowing white concrete “sails” of which form one of the most recognized silhouettes in the world, beckoned as we walked along the harbor, bustling with commuter ferries, sailboats, and large freighters. From our window table in Guillaume, an elegant restaurant in the Opera House complex, we admired Sydney’s soaring skyscrapers.
The next day, we visited The Rocks, Sydney’s oldest neighborhood, founded in 1788 and site of Australia’s first store, hospital, and prison barracks. Later, we took a ferry ride from Circular Quay past the Opera House (cameras clicking all the while), under the Harbour Bridge (dubbed “the coat hanger” by locals because of its arching architecture), around a rocky promontory and into Darling Harbour, where we toured the excellent Maritime Museum.
By midmorning we found ourselves at the Queen Victoria Building, across the street from Town Hall. Constructed in 1888, refurbished in 1998, and rededicated by Queen Elizabeth, this three-story emporium houses numerous upscale shops. We loved our lunch at the food court in David Jones, one of Sydney’s leading department stores, where an ultra-modern noodle bar won out over the enticing counters laden with soups, wines, pastas, cheeses, fresh vegetables and delicious-looking pastries.
Although we had a magical time in Sydney, Jeanne and I are not “big city” people, so we were happy to fly the eighteen hundred miles to Australia’s Top End and the city of Darwin, Australia’s major port on the northern coast. We discovered a laid-back city where the locals were friendly and informal in their shorts, tee shirts, and sandals (clothing dictated by the tropical climate). Darwin has both drenching monsoon rains and a delightful dry season. We arrived during the “late-dry” and experienced perfect temperatures.
Our new Australian friends, Bert and Frigga Herold, with whom we connected through neighbors here in Las Cruces, met us at Darwin’s modern airport. Bert and Frigga took us to the Esplanade, a city park from which we watched ships glide across the harbor as spangled drongos chattered above in the frangipani trees. The four of us dined at Crustaceans, an outdoor restaurant at the end of Stokes Hill Wharf, where we feasted on barramundi, a delectable tropical fish. As we watched the sky slowly fade to black, the Southern Cross became visible in the sky above, reminding use that we were well below the Equator.
The following day, the Herolds, now fast friends, drove us out to the Territory Wildlife Park, 45 kilometers south of Darwin. Here, Jeanne and I had our first good look at kangaroos, wallabies and other exotic fauna, and we spent much of the day observing native birds and animals in their natural habitats.
Later, Jeanne and I visited Darwin’s Museum and Gallery of the New Territories overlooking Fannie Bay. This museum houses an extraordinary collection of aboriginal artwork as well as local history. We were moved by an exhibit dedicated to the survivors of Cyclone Tracy, which struck Darwin with little warning on Christmas Eve of 1974, devastating the city. Lunch at Cornucopia, the outdoor restaurant adjacent to the museum, followed; the aroma of fragrant bougainvillea added to our dining pleasure.
Meeting the Herolds again, we strolled through Darwin’s botanical garden, then adjourned to Mindil Beach where, every Thursday evening during the dry season, thousands of people - tourists and residents alike - crowd the open-air market to sample spicy ethnic foods, purchase local crafts, watch street musicians perform, or relax on the beach as the sun sinks slowly into the East Timor Sea.
The next day Jeanne and I headed out in a rental car for Kakadu National Park, a World Heritage Area. I was driving on the left...gulp!...but I soon became comfortable behind the wheel on empty roads. En route we stopped at Fogg Dam Conservation Reserve, where thousands of birds forage for food in the wetlands. We strolled along the boardwalk built through a paperbark forest, and Jeannie, an avid birder, was in her element.
There are few places to stay in the park, so months earlier Jeanne booked at Aurora Kakadu Resort via their website. Aurora offered a range of accommodations, from hook-ups for travelers in caravans (campers) to rooms with a view. From our second-story balcony we could see the swimming pool, a path leading to a nearby billabong (a short channel extending from a main river), and the occasional wallaby hopping across the lawn.
The following morning we headed off to Cooinda, at the confluences of the South Alligator River and Jim-Jim Creek, where we took the Yellow Waters cruise. Wild horses, or “brumbies,” grazed in the morning mist as we boarded a small boat packed with Germans, Dutch, and Aussies. On the two-hour tour we saw a wide variety of wading birds and several “salties,” estuarine crocodiles that grow up to twenty feet. An abundance of mangroves, water lilies and orchids underscored the point that we weren’t in New Mexico anymore!
Later, at the tiny village of Ubirr, also within the parklands, we hiked along a rugged escarpment to view rock art and archeological sites thousands of years old, evidence of Aboriginal culture millenniums before Columbus set sail. To the east beyond the escarpment we could see the distant Arnhem Land, to this day the traditional home of the Aboriginal people.
Leaving Kakadu, we wended our way south to the Katherine region and its famous gorges. At Nitmiluk National Park, Jeanne and I took a small, motorized boat to the first gorge, disembarked, climbed over the rocks to another boat waiting at the next gorge, and so on - surrounded by breathtaking scenery all the way. We stayed two nights at the award-winning Knotts Crossing Resort in Katherine and enjoyed a “tucker” in Katie’s Restaurant.
By the time we were scheduled to leave, I, too, was under Australia’s spell. Jeanne and I reluctantly said good-bye to Darwin and the Top End, and flew to Adelaide in South Australia, 1,500 miles due south, and to further adventures Down Under.
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