NT Museum

Tuesday 21st July 2009
First task for the morning was a quick trip to Bunnings where I bought a yellow tube for our outdoor light to make it less attractive to insects. On the way back we called in at the caravan dealer across the road to see what's happening with my new annex springs, but 8:30am was a bit too early for Tony. We hung around the caravan and got stuck into school work for a while, then rang Tony and organized replacements for our annex springs.
It was late morning by time we left for the city where our first destination was the "Museum and Art Gallery Northern Territory". One of the first displays just after the entrance is "Sweetheart", the 5.1mt Estuarine (Saltwater) Crocodile which was captured in the 70's and put 780kg on the scales - what a monster. It got it's name from the Sweet's Lagoon where it resided until it was captured. The reason for it's capture was that it was attacking fisherman in the tinnies in particulare the outoard motor.
It's strange how different crocs display quite different and unique behaviour. In yesterdays newspaper was a picture of a 4mt saltie which has taken up residence in Fogg Dam and is quite happy to be on the road in close proximity to cars and people.
The museum also had a remarkable display on cyclone Tracey which destroyed Darwin on Christmas Eve in 1974. A short movie on a big screen shows pictures of the destruction the morning after and a sound booth plays a recording of the noise experienced by residents in their homes during cyclone Tracey.
The marine section of the museum has a strong focus on maritime vessels from Indonesia, just to the north of Darwin. Many of the vessels have been seized by customs and are now on display in the museum. It is quite amazing (and surprising) how some of these ships made it across without falling apart or sinking.
After the museum we fetched some lunch from a local takeaway before proceeding along the coast to East Point where we inspected the rocks and the mangroves, but took great care not to disturb the sandflies.
The photo on the right was taken at East Point with the Darwin CBD skyline in the background.
We stopped at BCF to get a camping clothes line and check out the fishing tackle.
Tonight, back at the caravan park, it appeared to be a little bit cooler but once the breeze dropped it was back to aircondition weather again.