Darwin, AU I (8/31/2025)

Sunday, August 31, 2025

At the Cairns Airport we had breakfast at Hungry Jack's;
note the familiar-looking logo: when Burger King expanded
to Australia, that name was already trademarked so now
Burger King operates under the name of Hungry Jack's

Jack's Brekky Roll (a sausage patty, premium bacon, freshly
cracked egg, BBQ sauce and melted cheese on a buttery
brioche bun, with  hash browns); 'Brekky' means breakfast

This morning we had a 9:55 flight from Cairns to Darwin, capital of the Northern Territory, which took 2 hours and 40 minutes.

In Australia, we flew Qantas or its affiliates

In Darwin, we stayed at Vitina Studios

Vitina Studios room

Vitina Studios room

Vitina Studios bathroom

We had a chicken and spinach wrap for lunch...

...while sitting by the swimming pool

Grallina cyanoleuca/Magpie-lark

Now to walk through Darwin.

Flag Bearers (2024, by Fintan Magee)

Elsie Stuart (2019, by Lisa King) of an
independent indigenous woman

A crocodile skin on display at Arley Rae,
a shop next to Crocosaurus Cove

We visited Crocosaurus Cove to see the second and
third largest crocodiles in captivity, as well as the largest
display of Australian reptiles in the world

Plus a juvenile crocodile (KSS)

A man paid big bucks to sit in
"The Cage of Death" to come face to
face with one of the larger Crocodylus
porosus/Saltwater Crocodiles (KSS)

At the Turtle Billabong/a stagnant pool or lake - often
an oxbow lake, featured the long-necked
Carettochelys insculpta/Pig-nosed Turtle

The crocodile nursery

Silhouette of the Oedura filicipoda/Kimberly
Fringe-toed Gecko who is suctioned to the glass

Aspidites melanocephalus/Black-headed Python

A variety of reptile eggs

Well,, hello! ...Varanus beccarii/Black Tree Monitor

Pogona vitticeps/Central Bearded Dragon (KSS)

Varanus mitchellii/Mitchell's Water Goanna (KSS)

Varanus acanthurus/Spiny-tailed Goanna (KSS)

Varanus varius/Lace Monitor

Oxyuranus scutellatus/Coastal Taipan is an
extremely venomous snake!

Northern Territory Parliament House (1990-1994, by
Meldrum Burrows in modern tropical style)

Supreme Court of the Northern Territory (1991,
by Peter Doig, Ron Findlay and Roger Linklater with
elements of classical and tropical design)

View of the Darwin Waterfront with an Aqua Park (2016)

We visited the World War II Oil Storage
Tunnels (1943-1945), which were built after
the devastating surprise attack on Darwin's
harbour and airfield on 2/19/1942 by 188
Japanese aircraft, making it the first and largest
of more than 100 attacks against Australia

Pipes run the entire length of 
tunnel #6 where we entered (KSS)

Digger Man is constructed from WWII items
and artefacts to commemorate the
Civil Construction Corps who built the tunnels

Tunnel #5 was lined with display boards and posters
detailing the history of Darwin during World War II;
however, the tunnels were not used to store oil during the war

A timeline of Darwin history...

...continues with the Japanese invasion, then the gold rush...

...to today as a resort destination

The far end of tunnel #5 opens out to the sea

Megapodius reinwardt/Orange-footed Scrubfowl
were digging a hole in moist dirt

A view toward the Convention Centre (2006-2008)

Christchurch Anglican Cathedral (1977, after the
1902 church was destroyed by Cyclone Tracy in 1974);
the cyclone occurred on Christmas Day and
destroyed 70% of the buildings

It was hot, so we decided to take a bus back to the hotel. Asked the driver if he went to Daly Street, which he did. We then learned that the government was subsidizing all fares - the bus fare was free! Just before Daly Street, the driver stopped the bus, got out of his seat to walk back to where we were sitting, to let us know we should now disembark, since he was turning on Daly Street. We then had two short blocks to walk to the hotel.

A crocodile mural (2025, by filthyratbag)

Next: Kakadu National Park.