Tuesday, February 25^th, 2020

Darwin Day 2

It was still hot, but not quite so hot today. We have been very lucky with the weather in Darwin. There was a cyclone nearby a few days ago, and there is a tropical depression just off shore, which is why it’s so windy, but no really awful weather.

We took the shuttle bus in to town, and then took the number 4 bus to the botanical garden.

We spent hours wandering around the garden – even in the heat it felt OK there, especially in the tropical rain forest area where we stopped to have a drink near to a waterfall.

It wasn’t one of the better gardens we have seen, but it is always wonderful just to wander through the trees and flowering plants on a port day. We were especially impressed with the section on Madagascan baobab trees. We love to see baobabs, and to see relatively young ones with loads of leaves was a special treat.

We took so long there that we decided to forgo a visit to the Darwin Museums – the 2 most interesting ones we thought were the military and flying doctor ones. We will have to see them another day.

We took the number 4 bus and the shuttle bus back to the ship and walked to the water-side area and had a fantastic, and reasonably priced, late lunch at the Oyster Bar.

Then it was time to go back on board for our 4:30 PM sail away.

There were people and cars lining Stokes Hill Wharf to wave goodbye to us – it wasn’t as crowded as Fremantle, and much quieter, but it is always great to see people come out to see us sail off into the distance.

We had a great view of Darwin as we sailed away, but it was so windy out on deck that we retreated back to our cabin to watch from the shelter of our sheltered balcony. All you can see if you are seated on the balcony is the sky and clouds – so you have to stand up. But then it would probably have been too windy to be out on a glass-fronted balcony. However, you would have had a great view. Life is full of compromises alas.