A zoo just out of Darwin and a famous beach market

Today (31 August 2018 here in Australia) is a special day for me. Exactly 180 years ago today, the ship bearing a brave young farming couple from Sussex, England, sailed into Sydney Harbour. There they were interviewed by landowner from Melbourne, then known as Port Philip,  and appointed to manage his large estate in what is now known as Hawthorn, along the Yarra River.  They arrived there by ship on 3 January, 1839. Eventually they had their own farm. 

They were two of my forebears. Now there are thousands  of their descendants living in Australia. I belong to our family history committee and we have held some major family reunions, which have been simply wonderful. My readers may remember I visited the little village of Etchingham in Sussex on my last day in England last year. 

My other forbears also arrived in Australia in that era from England and Scotland, and also were free settlers. In its early days, Australia was a penal colony. However, many of the convicts sent to Australia by the British government, under the most appalling conditions I might add, were only guilty of things like stealing a loaf of bread to feed their starving children. I would not mind in the least having desperate people like that, who did their utmost to save their family, as my forebears. 

But I digress. Back to my travels . . . 

Before I left Darwin, I did a little more touring around, travelled to a zoo  and also had a great time with friends at one of Darwin’s famous beach markets. 

The tour to the zoo was a fascinating experience. We travelled a couple of hours by coach to the zoo, then were free to wander around. It was, as is usual for Darwin and its surrounds, very hot and humid, so it was quite exhausting walking around to see the many exhibits. Unfortunately, most of my photos did not work, but I did at least manage to capture photos of a small number of the birds and snakes.

To return to Darwin we had to catch a boat along a major river that flowed near the zoo. Boarding this proved to be quite a challenge - all the waterways around here are full of crocodiles. Even Darwin Harbour has hundreds of them. Protecting ourselves from vicious little insects was equally challenging, as it turned out. It took days for all the blisters that suddenly appeared all over my skin to disappear! Nevertheless, I was glad I had this experience, as we saw the incredible importance of mangroves in this ecosystem, just as we had seen in some of the waterways along the Kimberley Coast.  

The beach market, which gets going just before sunset, was tremendous fun, with many stalls. I was delighted to be able to buy some unique gifts to take home, as well as a CD from a group of South American musicians, whose vibrant music added great joy and excitement to the atmosphere of the market. This was a very multicultural market, as is Darwin itself, with Aboriginal people mingling with people from all over the world. And before we left we joined many others on the beach to enjoy a brilliant sunset.  

I loved this sculpture inside the Aquarium. Unfortunately my photos of the fish and turtles on display were all out of focus for some reason.  

A very timely warning to any visitors to these parts. 

I am not sure what species all the birds were, but I think this is an ibis.

I assume this is a wild duck. 

I only know I was glad this snake was behind glass. 

Ditto!

A gorgeous very tiny bird.

A kookaburra, known for its hearty laughter.

How well camouflaged! 

Some of the zoo setting. We were only given a couple of hours to race around before catching the boat. 

I saw this along the river bank on the trip back to Darwin. See the roots of the mangroves. 

Making music at the beach market.