Darwin Australia

SPECIAL REQUEST - Turn up the volume for the croc video

Yes, Darwin, Australia was named after Charles Darwin. Instead of evaluating evolution we decided to go on the Jumping Croc outing followed by a Hop On Hop Off Bus in Darwin.

We learned Darwin (the city) was attacked on Feb 19th 1942 (10 weeks after Pearl Harbor ) by the same Japanese fleet that attacked Pearl harbor. They dropped a lot more bombs on Darwin than Pearl Harbor and the area was devastated.

Going back to the tour, like other cruises we found you can purchase an excursion privately for half the price of the cruise ship offering.

The tour provider was ~20 minutes late, but the ship was in port all day, so we didn't have any time concerns. The driver was both informative and funny going to and from the location. We're told a good percentage of the roads are flooded during the wet season, so we're happy to be here during the dry season.

Moving on, we boarded a pontoon boat that looked like it was from a Mad Max movie. As you can see it has a metal frame around the boat for our protection.

We were told not to hang anything over the sides; as you'll see that is one warning to not take lightly.

We saw a lot of crocs including the alfa male named Brutus. Seems males are considerably longer than females and, aside from sheer size, their behavior is what helps you know gender (b/c who would try to look underneath!)

Our guide did a great job making them jump.

You can't see it, but our croc captain had a nasty croc scare on his right arm after a croc pulled him into the water years ago.

On the way back we drove to Fogg Dam -- it's a huge reserve, but they try to keep the croc population controlled by trying to trap & relocate them from the area. We're told 200 to 300 crocs make their way back to Darwin and have to be trapped and returned to the wild.

Then we hopped on a Hop On Hop Off Bus, but unlike other tours, near then end of the trip they dropped us off at a bar on the water with a gift shop.Read more