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American Spirit II - Day 236; Touring Litchfield National Park Outside Darwin; Friday, August 29, 2014



Up at 6:00 AM; breakfast at 6:45 AM. Coffee tea, scrambled eggs, chilled fruit cocktail and raisin bread.

Boarded our tour bus at 7:30 AM and departed the Tipperary Waters Marina at 7:40 AM en route to Fannie Bay to pick up the catamaran crews going on the tour. Departed Fannie Bay at 8:03 AM. On a large bus that seats 50 and has a toilet. Like our tour in MacKay Bay, our driver is a female. Named Stephanie. The first thing she said on the PA system was that we're supposed to wear our seat belts or she is subject to a fine of $420. The nanny state lives in Australia.

The road to Litchfield National Park was single lane, with a maximum speed of 130 kilometers (80 miles per hour). Usually the speed limit is set at 100 kilometers (62 miles per hour). There were occasional signs referencing World War II sites along the way. Typically the sign would direct you to an airfield built and/or used during the war. Along the roadway there were also 'measuring sticks' with a length of 1.4 Meters at the top. The purpose was to let you know the water's depth during the rainy season when you came upon a low spot in the highway. That's one reason why a lot of cars in Australia have snorkels. So they can drive thru waster up to 5 feet deep and not stall out. The rainy season was a ways off and occurs in their summer (our winter) in the Southern Hemisphere. According to our driver, it won't rain, at all, until this January. The temperature today is 90 degrees and the humidity is low. Its like Arizona. Very dry. When passing another vehicle the signs say 'overtaking lane' instead of 'passing lane' like in the US. And like the UK, driving is on the left side of the road, not the right.

We stopped along the way at a little store for coffee, and a light breakfast if one was so inclined. Jeanine bought a banana nut cake and made the mistake of asking the lady at the register who I believe is the proprietor, if the cake was any good. Her reply was: "No, we just sell shi_ here." (Fill in the missing letter). I believe her response was a sample of dry Australian humor. If I could transport myself into Jeanine's place I would have responded: "That's OK, as long as it's good shi_!" Unfortunately, unless your a comedian your mind doesn't work that fast in rapid fire response scenarios.

Darwin is in a part of Australia called the 'Northern Territories.' And our driver referred to the area we are in as the 'Top End.' I guess the 'Top End' of the continent. Our driver also imparted to us the fact that the highway we were traveling on, the Stuart Highway, was the longest in the Southern Hemisphere. She didn't give us its length. Maybe Jack can check on that? (Jack is Joel's step-father and a research Google mastermind!).

Our first sightseeing stop was at a termite park that had two types of termite mounds, Cathedral and Magnetic. The former 'grows' up to 5 meters high (16.4 feet); and the latter is oriented magnetically so that its longitudinal axis runs north and south. Its 'disposition' is lined up with the earth's magnetic field so that the effect of the dry season sun can be mitigated. The termites in the magnetic mounds even move from one area of the mound to the other depending on where the sun is. For example, late in the afternoon the termites will be in the east side of the mound away from the west side and setting sun side. The mounds themselves are made feces, urine and saliva from the termites. An interesting tidbit regarding the Cathedral mounds is that they used to be used for making clay tennis courts. Also, the Queen in the Cathedral mound lays an egg every 3 seconds; a mound can last for 50-60 years; and once the queen dies the mound dies.

While at the termite mound area we noticed a group of kangaroos. One darted away after staring at us for a while. When it ran away it hopped on both legs at the same time and leaned way forward with its head down. Like a running back in football leaning low with his head down and driving himself thru the line.

Our next stop was Wangi Falls. A very nice swimming area there at the base of the falls was closed because 2 days previously a tourist was attached by a 'freshie.' A freshie is a fresh water crocodile that grows to half the length of a 'saltie,' a salt water crocodile. We were told by our driver that the tourist sustained only small injuries, scratches, etc. What else is she going to say?

We ate a box lunch at Wangi Falls. Sandwiches made by Jeanine, along with carrots, kiwi, chips and chocolate chip cookies. The kiwi we ate by cutting them in half and then using a spoon to spoon out the fruit. A very efficient way of eating this fruit. Eating lunch with us were the crew of Folie a Deux (Tim, Tracey, Brian and Lucy) and Brian and Lauren from Nexus.

After departing Wangi Falls we arrived at Florence Falls at 1:35 PM. There was another swimming hole there at the base of the falls that was not closed. The water was quite cool and required a 20 minutes walk to get to.

We headed back to Darwin at 3:00 PM, and after dropping off our catamaran group at Fannie Bay arrived back at Tipperary Waters Marina at 5:20 PM.

Dinner consisted of left over lunch: sandwiches, kiwi and carrots; along with a salad that Jeanine made up. A very good salad.

We started watching a couple of movies at around 8:00 PM: 'The Conjuring.' A true horror movie. Creepy. If you haven't seen it I'd recommend it. Followed by 'Impossible,' about a family's tsunami experience.

Lights out around midnight.

Brian Fox

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