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Free & BrEasy - Natural Selection in Darwin



We continued to make good time to Cape Don across the Arafura Sea but ran in to strong tidal rip currents entering the ominously named, Van Diemen Gulf. Our speed over the ground was reduced to 0 knots and the current produced an unpleasant disturbed sea. We decided on a more leisurely route around Melville and Bathhurst Islands rather than fight the moon! This added nearly a day to our passage but with the benefit of hind sight, we should have considered anchoring, as other World ARC boats did, and going through the narrow passage between the islands and the mainland with a fair tide. In any case we were enjoying the cruise and Annabelle's company so why rush and make life difficult?

We arrived in Darwin early in the morning and anchored in Fannie Bay, off the Darwin Sailing Club but a few miles from the city centre and Tipperary Marina where all the World ARC monohulls were moored. The catamarans could not enter through the lock gates into Tipperary Marina as the lock gates into Duck Pond Marina which could take catamarans, were being repaired. We were still in plenty of time for Annabelle and Alejandro to get their flight to Bali so job done! Access to the Yacht Club is via a slipway which at low tide leads to a slowly shelving beach. The dinghy grounded someway off the beach and we nervously pulled the dinghy realising that we were walking through crocodile infested water! After a strenuous heave up the beach we were in the very pleasant Yacht Club and almost immediately met a wonderful off duty policeman who drove Roger to refill the propane bottle for the stove. We then had 1 hour to get to the town centre for customs and immigration. Alejandro and Michael opted to walk. We marched along the dual carriage way in blistering heat wondering how anybody could survive without a car but relief was at hand in the shape of the Darwin Botanical Gardens where beautiful trees shaded the road. After seeing Roger and Annabelle in the customs office, we walked through the city centre down to the Water front. Darwin is now a busy metropolis and a lot of investment has been made into the park and waterfront amenities including a swimming pool with artificial waves big enough to surf on down to a sandy beach!
That evening we joined the rest of the World ARC fleet for drinks and nibbles at Tipperary Marina and so to bed, exhausted. Getting sufficient exercise is a problem in sailing boats so plenty of walking is a good idea when in port!
The next day we were up early for the fleet tour to Lichfield Park some 90 miles into the "Outback". There are numerous tours of the outback at the "Top End" of Australia but this was the only one we had time for so we set out to enjoy it! First off there were the termite mounds made of termite pooh but hard enough to be used in road construction! Giant mounds some 5 meters tall are built by "Cathedral" termites, to catch the breeze and many of them are over 50 years old. Nearby there appeared to be a cemetery which turned out to be flat grave stone-like mounds built by "Magnetic" termites. Yes you have guessed it. The magnetic termites build their homes along a north-south axis, lined up with the earth's magnetic field, to maximise the sun's heat in the morning but minimise the heat at noon! Both types of termites are designing homes to give ideal living temperatures and even migrate from one side of the mound to the other during the day, to get the best conditions. Wonderful examples of Darwin's Theory of Natural Selection. I wonder if they will evolve further to deal with Global Warming!
The "bush" in the top end, outback was endlessly flat and populated by arid soil, small eucalyptus trees and the odd bush wallaby. You would need to be a highly evolved species to survive here and it is a tribute to the skills of the aborigines that they were able to do this. There is water in a few streams and we were taken to three spectacular waterfalls. Tolmer Falls is an enormous gorge which appears to swallow up the water. Wangi Falls fell directly into an idyllic bathing pool but we were warned against this as there had been a crocodile attack (on a human) two days ago! Bathing was allowed at Florence Falls but only after negotiating 120 steps! At each of the waterfalls there was the opportunity to go for extended walks which mindful of the flab, we partook thereof. No wonder we were all asleep in the bus on the way home. To round off a perfect day we watched a red sun sink into an azure sea while having a few beers in the Darwin Yacht Club. And so to bed but only after pushing the dinghy out into crocodile infested waters! We learnt the next day that a fisherman had recently been attacked and his remains found inside the crocodile. Maybe the crocodiles are evolving as well!
By now Roger had obtained a weather forecast for the next passage to Bali. Little or no wind for at least 4 days! We decided to leave Darwin earlier than planned to make sure we don't miss Bali. Roger and Annabelle kindly offered to do the provisioning and allow Michael to walk and run to the East Point Reserve, a beautiful peninsula north of Darwin. We were early up the next morning to get diesel and water and after a fond farewell to both Annabelle and Alejandro, we were Bali bound. We shall see them soon in Bali unless we are involved in a natural selection event on the way!

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