Having succumbed to the temptation of Pine Creek what’s another 200km? And when it comes to additions to the year’s tally of birds Darwin has a few absolute gimmes.
Darwin is the capital and most populous city of the Northern Territory but still a modest sized town of about 140,000 people. Charles Darwin visited Australia on the Beagle in 1836. In a subsequent voyage (1839) the Beagle visited what would become Darwin. Captain John Wickham named Port Darwin after Charles Darwin long before he became famous. On the origin of species was published in 1859. The name of the city followed in 1911.
I believe Mark Twain made a visit to Darwin and I have read that Charles Darwin was fond of Twain’s writings for bed time reading.
The Overland Telegraph and Pine Creek had a lot to do with Darwin getting off the ground. The telegraph had to reach the coast somewhere. In 1872 gold was discovered in Pine Creek and that somewhere suddenly welcomed a major influx of people.
I have visited Darwin quite a few times and have a well worn track around the birding spots. This is the first time I’ve brought a dog with me and sadly half my regular places do not allow dogs. Add to that the persistence of the wet season and a few changes had to be made to the routine. The first afternoon saw a storm deliver 35mm of rain in about 20 minutes followed by another 25mm over night. Nonetheless the list was made to grow and a few nice photos have followed over the last few days.
Now we must head for home. Cyclone Errol may or may not complicate the journey to Broome. Predictions vary so greatly they are to all intents and purposes useless. We shall find out.
bobmcgee 