Here we go again!

No crocodile story but an emu story for a change. Where else in the world do you have a newspaper relating such stories? 'Woman fends off horny emu', what a title really!? When you read the article it does not have much substance it leaves you with a feeling of being a non-story in fact. But the point is that the title seems to attract readers since this rag continues to increase its publication when the rest of the world newspapers are struggling.

Fisho

What do people do on Sunday? They fish? What do people do in the morning? They fish? What do people do in the evening? They fish? What do people do whenever they have 5 minutes? They fish? Well, that is true for the Northern Territory. Everywhere you see a paddle of water you can see fishermen (called 'fisho' in here). It is the number one passtime for guys, girls and kids alike.

Yeehaaa!

Today is the International Record Store Day but well... there are not many in the area. Instead I went for a very Australian experience tonight. The rodeo. The event that took place at the Litchfield Pub, an hour drive away from Darwin, is the first meet in an eight-round competition which will continue throughout the year. It was an interesting experience as seen from a tourist point of view but it was a bit like being in a parrallel world for me. All those cowboys and cowgirls, hat and beer culture are a thing that do not have so much connection with my interests but once more it made for an entertaining evening. I particularly enjoyed the bareback and bronco showdowns. And in case you wonder, the action was way too fast for my little camera so I propose a crowd photo instead.

Mindil

Tonight we parked the park at the museum and went for a nice walk from the museum grounds, over George Brown's garden and down to Mindil Beach. It was actually the nearest I found myself to the casino. The above picture was actually taken last week but it is a photo of the casino which has always looked like an ugly blockhaus from distance. I was actually surprised to see that it could probably be a pleasant place. I will definitely have to give some of its restaurants a try.

Build Down

Probably one of the last evening clouds of the season. Now that we are reaching the end of that cross season locally called the 'build down' (as opposed to the build up) the clouds are going to be a rare sight. We are in for a long 'dry'. The green of the nature will turn a bit yellow, the smoke will start to be a common sight in the evening sky and some of the birds will migrate to wetter pastures. In the meantime I continue to enjoy the view from my balcony...

Yurmikmik

It was a long drive for a short walk but totally worth it. Today we decided to explore another part of Kakadu and ended up in the Southern Part known as the Mary River area. We decided to go for a 4-hour trek from Yurmikmik. We were rewarded by a beautiful and peaceful fall and natural pool at the end of the track. It is funny though that you cannot help thinking about the crocs that might lure from below the water while you are swimming (even though it considered to be a safe place to swim). We also noticed how dry the nature starts to look like. It will definitely be a dry, long and harsh season for some of the wildlife in this park.

Box Jellyfish Safety

There are so many nice places to go walking to in Darwin. And we keep on discovering more and more of these pleasant spots. Tonight we went to the Casuarina Coastal Reserve. It features 13 km of sandy beaches, dramatic cliffs and casuarina trees. Unfortunately, as any beaches in the area, you can only walk or rest on them. But always remain alert in case of crocodiles. In the water the biggest danger comes from the deadly box jellyfish that can be present all year long really... so no swimming! That's frustrating.

Yellow River

After a wonderful sunset yesterday, we started the day with an even more wonderful sunrise cruising through the Yellow River. We did not regret waking up at 5 and enjoyed the very active fauna living along this floodplain. This had to be the highlight of our trip to Kakadu. Seeing all these birds in their natural habitat and most impressively a good number of crocodiles. We then headed for a walk to another amazing Aboriginal Rock Art Site at Nourlangie also providing commanding views of Kakadu's escarpment. Finally, we ended the visit via a 1 hour flight all the way down to the famous Jim Jim and Twin Falls which are still unaccessible by car at this time of the year. It gave us a very different perspective. A wonderful week-end exploring Kakadu overland, over water and from the air.

Nightcliff

Just the name is kind of exotic to me, or at least mysterious... It is somehow rumoured to be associated with one of the Beagle trips. Darwin is pretty small but it is only recently that I started to enjoy the Northern suburb of Nightcliff. It has a long footpath along its foreshore that is used for walking and cycling and it is particularly busy in the evenings after work. Along the footpath there is Nightcliff Jetty, Nightcliff Beach and Nightcliff Swimming Pool. All are very pleasants places to wander around.

Rapid Creek Market

The market season is approaching with the famous Mindil Beach Sunset market soon to reopen as it seasonally does every year in late April. In the meantime you can enjoy a few markets in Darwin, especially on weekends. Yesterday, we went to the Parap Market which is pretty small and a bit hippie but still enjoyable. Today, we were in search of organic fresh fruits and vegetables so we headed to the famous Rapid Creek market. It has a strong Asian influence. Coincidentally, a few people have been questioning me on Darwin's legendary Asian influences lately and I have to admit that I kind of see them less obvious here than in Sydney for exemple. But in between Thai massages, Indian spices and Vietnamese food stalls you could be mistaken for thinking you are somewhere in Asia.

A dragon fly can tell a lie on early Dry

The above was a title of the local newspaper (NT Newspaper) at the beginning of the month. It is true that the Dry season is not supposed to have officially arrived before mid-April. But it has been quite beautiful and dry since the beginning of March (to the exception of a couple of flash storms). I have also noticed that the reed beds in the mangroves are starting to lose their bright green wet colours in favour of dry browns. for the locals, one thing is for sure, the en masse arrival of the dragonflies clearly marks the end of the Wet (even if they can tell a lie). The one above was flirting with some others above my fish pond.

Saltie

Not a day in the Northern Territory without its croc story. And crocodile catching is a full time job for a wildlife ranger team in the area. Your typical newspaper front-page always carries one their sighting experiences. It was amazing to read that 58 crocodiles have been trapped in the area since the beginning of the year including three on this very day. If I have my statistic correct and if we continue with that trend it will make an average 250 crocs caught in the year. If I remember correctly it is more or less the figure that was also reported for the whole year in 2008. What happen to these crocs? They are sent to the crocodile farm with the nicest specimen kept in captivity and the rest probably end up in handbags, shoes or barbecue skewers.

Evening at the Esplanade

This was actually taken yesterday evening from the same place as the thunder at the Esplanade. The picture has not been edited from its original content (except cropped). Sunsets can be fantastic in Darwin, and if there is no sunset you can get scary colours before the evening thunderstorm!

Thunder Lightning

Back in the Northern Territory after an absolutely gorgeous week-end in New South Wales. And I am back in what Darwin is famous for: thunderstorms. After a beautiful day, the sky suddenly turned balck by 6pm tonight and the wind started to blow. It is very usual up here but not all the storms are spectacular and they more often than not disappear after a few minutes. I have never experienced such beautiful lightnings as what I was given to witness tonight. Spectacular! I parked the car on the Esplanade and joined the crowds trying to capture it on picture but it is far from being an easy task. At least 50 black or white pictures...

Life in the Top End

I have never been to the N.T. General Store but I drove past many times. It seems to actually store Army surplus supplies, boots, tents and that kind of things. It is located on Cavenagh Street, one of the three main streets forming Darwin’s tiny city centre. Like many stores they close early on weekdays and most of them are closed on week-ends. It is to keep with the Northern Territory pace which is not really a consumerist market. People prefer the outdoor. People prefer to go fishing. People do not like to waste time shopping and are not stressed about earning lots of money. They are happy as long as they have time for themselves. A nice philosophy of life if you ask me. A bit of a caricature of life in the Top End but a true observation nevertheless.

Rain Rain Rain

This week has been absolutely gorgeous. We did not have any rain and the skies have even been cloudless on many occasions. Unfortunately there is another Tropical Low coming from the East and it all suddenly changed a few minutes ago with the first heavy downpour of the week. Not a very good weather for barbecues this week-end. But it promises to clear up for a while before the Low passes overhead from Sunday night onwards. I really enjoy these heavy downpours. It is fascinating to watch the rain fall from the comfort of your home.

More from the Northern Territory News

When the rest of Australia is continuing to be under the bush fires shock and trying to forget and get hope thanks to the Sam and Bob koala story effect, the ever amazing Northern Territory News newspaper has nothing better to do than to bring a 10-year old story about a guy who got bitten 9 times by a King Brown snake. At least it is a change from the usual Crocodile story. That said we had a few snake stories in the past as well as some shark and box jellyfish stories. One of the best one so far this year has been the sighting of a flying car over Darwin (drinking is a big occupation here so that might explain some of the stories). Please also note the top story which relates the story of that woman who is outraged from having been banned from a Shopping Centre because she was wearing a bikini. I am always amazed to see all those people shopping barechest.

Back in the "Wet"

Back in Darwin. We are in the middle of the wet season. The nature continues to thrive. The birds of course, the ants as well and I have already started to spot quite a few grasshoppers which were not as numerous before I left for my holidays, that’s for sure. I wish I can get time in a couple of months to explore places like the Kakadu National Park that is supposed to be at its best in April.

Territory Nature

Darwin is a small city. From my residence to my office there is hardly any building. I drive through these expanses of wetlands and Northern Territory grasslands. The picture above (taken midway in between my house and my office) is very representative of the environment, at this time of the year, which is called "The Wet" (November to April). Green and Blue are two of the most common colours. It also sometimes is Green and Grey (when the clouds are heavy) or Green and Orange / Pink / Red when the sun rises or comes down. There are only two seasons "The Wet" and "The Dry" and I really wonder how it looks and feels like during "The Dry".

Mr Emu

After Mr Barra and Mr Croc, I bring you Mr Emu! We went bag to the wildlife bush out of Darwin on that fine Saturday and continued to explore the rich flora and fauna the wet season brings. The number of birds flying in the sky, resting in the trees or grazing on the ground is particularly impressive. Then you have the usual kangaroos and wallabies, the lizards, let's avoid the snakes and crocs and come face to face with emu. Much less agressive than its cousin the cassowary.