Smiling at Crocodiles Sorry to bug you but yet another amazing town and awesome trip. I am currently in tropical Darwin, and it is hot bloody hot. How hot, I hear you ask, well put it this way I am in public wearing a vest top, so it is really hot! Considering it is winter the temperature is a constant 32. The humidity is relatively low, and there should be no rain, but you guessed it Moyley bought a few tropical showers with her. Today there are a few clouds and a breeze just what the doctor ordered and I might venture on a walking tour of the city today. I am meeting Steph next week when she flies in from South America - so I will save the big trips until she is here. Meanwhile I thought I would take a day trip to Litchfield and smile at a few crocodiles. One thing about the Top End, as it is known, is there are crocs everywhere there is water. There are 2 types, the relatively harmless Freshwater Croc and the huge Estuarine or Saltwater Crocodile. These are most definitely not harmless and it was these I set off in search of yesterday. Another 06.50 start and 4WD coach, filled with a family from Melbourne up for a wedding and a Danish guy and his half Japanese son, who wlaready spoke 3 languages at the age of 6! First stop was the Fogg Dam, left over after a futile attempt to grow rice. These wetlands hold barramundi, birds galore and crocodiles ! We saw plenty of birds and barramundi jumping in the water but no crocs, not that we were going to knock on the billabong door and ask if he was coming out to play! These wetlands flood in the Wet season so much so the area is virtually impassable, luckily I am here in the dry. Then on the mornings highlights, a trip down the Adelaide River to see the crocodiles. The river is supposed to hold, up to 5,500 crocodiles. Infact there was a croc every 200 yards or so, so things are getting pretty cramped up there since it became illegal to kill crocodiles in the 1970's. The Adelaide River is perfect Croc water, the colour of mocha and fast flowing tidal. Although they are called Saltwater they can live in fresh or salt water. As soon as the boat pulled away from the moorings, five crocs came in from different directions, they know that the boat will be feeding them. They dangle a frozen pork chop from a pole, and the crocs jump straight up out of the water using their tales. We watched about 7 crocs complete this amazing feat. Some crocs had lost limbs to other crocs, others were going blind and had to guess where the meat was. But don't be fooled these are perfectly honed killers unchanged for thousands and thousands of years. We were treated to stories of how people, usually under the influence of alcohol, have ignored the croc warnings and sat with their legs dangling into billabongs and been killed by the awesome predators. The rule up here is stay away from the water, and his front room and it will all be OK. Occasionally the crocs would be distracted by someone on the lower decks, and you did get the feeling that if that safety glass has not been there then a tasting human entrée would have been on the menu. We also so a White Bellied Sea Eagle, swoop around the boat and snatch the chop from the string at the end of the pole. Quite amazing and impossible to catch on film, as it is just too quick. Then more driving through the kind of scrubby landscape that denotes the top end. Gum trees, cycads and then you notice some of the trees are in flower. They then powder the landscape with delicate purples, yellow and orange. Termite mounds taller than me, or Lee for that matter rise like cathedrals from the dirt. These take 50-60 years to develop and are impervious to the yearly burns that clear the undergrowth. But waiting for us after lunch were the crystal clear freshwater pools and water falls that draw people to Litchfield. I know I said stay away from the water, but these pools are checked for Saltwater Crocs at the end of the wet, and are cut off from the main rivers in the dry. So they are relatively safe! There are still warnings everywhere, but people come to swim in these pools in the hundreds. Waterfalls drop from a large red sandstone escarpments into deep emerald pools. Trust me on the hot days like we have experienced these are a welcome cooling off experience. So with cossie on, I venture into the deep pool, with the fish oh and probably some freshwater crocs somewhere. The water is crystal clear and just cold enough to freshen you up. Bliss! The thoughts of fish are ever present, but thanks to Josephine the overwhelming urge to scream and get out of the water have gone! Wangi Falls, Pronounced Wong-Guy, Florence Falls, and then the Water Holes were the perfect way to finish the day. As we sat with wet bottoms on the coach chasing the sunset all was right with the world. That was until the gear box went bang and we lost the ability select a gear. I now know how Kimi must feel when this happens in a Grand Prix. Our guide managed to find a gear and we drove in a straight line, thank heavens for Northern Territory roads, until we reached a set of traffic lights and thankfully a mobile signal. Help was called for and me and the family from Melbourne retired to the bottleshop for a beer whilst we waited for the cavalry to arrive. It arrived in the form of a replacement coach some 30 minutes later and we were home by 19:30..... Hope you are all well, send news from home always gratefull received.. Take Care Love Lynne PS My freckles are now joining up I think this is the start of a tan!