Last day in Darwin......for now

A bit of housekeeping today washing the bed linen and clothes before we take off again. The last thing on our list of things to do was the Darwin Museum and Gallery, so off we headed to have a look around. The lower gallery was full of aboriginal and Tiwi Island art and artifacts. Once again you can’t help but be amazed at the work involved in the paintings. But it isn’t just a picture that is presented, it’s the history and story of the artist and their clans. It is so much more than just paint and canvas/bark/wood hanging on a wall. The image that we are allowed to see in the paintings has so much more significance to the indigenous people that we are unaware of but they allow us a glimpse into their stories. There are other galleries included a huge area full of various Indonesian and Island canoes, outriggers, fishing boats and pearl luggers. There is even a Vietnamese refugee wooden boat that arrived in Darwin in the 70s with 9 people on board. You couldn’t help but think that there would have been a lot more people on board if it came in now. There was also an amazing Cyclone Tracey exhibition that showed the extent of the destruction with before and after photos and survivor’s stories. Extraordinary. We also saw “Sweetheart” a 5.21 metre croc that was attacking fishing tinnies in the Finnes River locally and was captured. They were going to relocate the croc but unfortunately gave him an overdose of anaesthetic and he ended up at the Museum after some “scientific research” on him. There was also displays of the flora and fauna in the top end. We had a lovely lunch in the café at the Museum on the verandah overlooking the water It seemed to be a popular choice by the locals and was very busy. We kicked back, relaxed and fitted in with everyone else, just like a local.

Well the time had come to pick up the truck and take my little Corolla back. A Pajero awaited us and after filling in all the paperwork and going over the checklist, off we went. I followed Brian to the airport to drop back my car to Avis and then back to the van park to ensure all the fittings, chains etc were compatible with our van. All looks OK so tomorrow we hit the road again to Katherine and then on to Kununurra.