We arrived in Darwin at 4 am and had to spend a few hours lying on the floor of the airport until we could catch the bus to our hostel.
Disappointingly, we were in Darwin at the worst possible time apparently - the 'build up', just before the rainy season proper. As a result it was incredibly hot and humid. Bob kept explaining to anyone he met how he was sweating his own bodyweight every day - needless to say we made few friends in Darwin...
Our first expensive 'excursion' to Litchfield National Park was not entirely as I had envisaged. Lots of the key sights are closed at this time of year because of the rain, and we picked the only day where it actually rained torrentially more or less incessantly all day. We stood patiently in the rain while Barry (call me 'Bazza' - no, I'd rather not if it's all the same to you, thanks) explained the intricate workings of the termite mound. The best bit of the tour by far though was the crocodile cruise - in a small boat on the Adelaide River (don't lean out , don't stand up, if you want to retain your limbs) Barry dangled chunks of meat over the side and a couple of huge crocodiles appeared and jumped out of the water to feed. Was very impressive.
We spent New Year's Eve at an outside bar in Darwin, which was populated primarily by locals. We were joined by a fairly young local couple and he was very keen to tell us about his happy family holidays on his grandad's farm when he was a youngster and used to help out with the sheep slaughter using a circular saw to decapitate the sheep... which was nice...
We cycled to the races on New Year's Day - sat sweating for a couple of hours, lost both our bets quite spectacularly, then cycled back when we couldn't take the heat any more. It wasn't quite ladies day at Ascot..
After Darwin, Cairns was a real shock to the system - much sunnier and just as hot but absolutely packed with backpackers and holiday makers. the reality of backpacking down the east coast of Oz finally hit us at our hostel where we were quite possibly double the age of most of the other guests. Apparently they had lots of fun staying up til 5 am drinking and 'getting naked' in the pool - I wouldn't know, I was in my tiny bunk bed trying to keep one eye open for the variety of insects getting in through the gaps in the shutters at my feet! Bob had to sleep on a matress on the floor as I was convinced that the top bunk would give way and crush me to death in the night if his rather considerable weight was up there. I'm fairly sure they were designed for children.
We spent a day, in a very middle aged kind of way, on the Kuranda scenic railway, coming back to Cairns over the rainforest and bay in a cable car, which was excellent. Then it was on the Greyhound, heading for Townsville, and some accommodation slightly more befitting of our advancing years.
