First Stop - Darwin

The 3rd December 2011 dawned clear and sunny in our home city of Cairns and we were finally off to the airport to start the first leg of our annual holidays.  This year we chose Vietnam with an initial few days in Darwin catching up to the last capital city we needed to visit to tick all the Aussie capitals off our list.  We had booked a Wotif special deal at the Novotel Atrium Hotel on the Esplanade in Darwin and it was a bit posh!  Bags in to the room and it was time to hit the streets of Darwin to get our bearings and have a squiz at the local eateries and sightseeing spots.

We sussed out the wonderful Crocosaurus Cove but as it was late we made a mental note to get back there the next day.  Our meanderings took us to a Sushi Train tucked away behind some business buildings and we had a great bellyful of assorted sushi and sashimi washed down with some ice cold beer and wines before heading back for beddy byes.

We slept in well past our usual working day wake up times, but still  made it downstairs for breakfast.  Thank goodness for that - as it was a sumptuous spread which we could have stayed at all day, but we had lots to do!  Walked down to the mall and as luck would have it, there was a guy with a heap of snakes.  He was only charging a buck or two and let us handle all his specimens.  He had a wonderful 3 metre Olive,  a Darwin Carpet about 1.5 metres and maybe a 2 metre long Diamond Python, plus a childrens.  We must have played there for half an hour or more.  We chatted about our new snakes (Xmas presents to each other - 3 metre Black headed python for Buzzy and a juvenile White Darwin Carpet Python for LJ), and left him with $20 donation for his wildlife park.

Then it was time to hit the croc park - and what an amazing place it is!  We've been to every crocodile park in Quensland and many others throughout the world, but the Crocosauraus Cove in Darwin takes the cake.  What a great facility it is.  We spent many hours in their exhibits, and marveled at the different perspective you get watching them in clean water through foot thick perspex rather than trying to peer into muddy ponds!!!

Then it was time to wander through the botanical gardens, and drive around the suburbs.  Saw heaps of good stuff.  Also wondered why we weren't seeing so much native wildlife such as skinks and lizards and frogs only to be told the ubiquitous and deadly cane toad has decimated local populations since it invaded the Territory several years ago.

Dinner at some mediterranean joint on the main drag then bed.  Ready to fly to Ho Chi Minh City - YAHOOOOO!!!