Dingos and Darwin and Stuff
The first and only time we've seen a dingo was a few days after we first picked up the rental car, on the southwest corner of Australia near the caves. We were driving late at night through an eerie forest, going slow because of what we had read about kangaroos being nocturnal and jumping onto the road at night. We were trying to find a camp site, but had somehow gotten off of the main highway, and into a national forest devoid of any other cars. The trees were very thick and we could not see beyond a few feet into them. Suddenly, leaping from the forest, some brown dog jumps out in front of the car, barking loudly and scaring girlfriend half to death. (We didn't know it was a dingo at the time, and figured it was just some dog.) Driving away the mangy thing tries to chase the car. Aggressive little bugger.
That same creepy forest during the daytime.
Anyway, dingos are basically wild dogs that were introduced to Australia long ago by the Chinese. Remember that episode of Seinfeld where Elaine says, "Maybe a dingo ate your baby?" Were you as confused as I was? Apparently it's in reference to a 1980's Australian news story. A two-month-old baby disappeared on a camping trip, and the mother exclaimed something like "A dingo ate my baby!" The police believed her story at first, but two years later she was arrested and convicted of murder. Then, many years later, she was acquitted after they found DNA evidence of a dingo on her child's clothes. Link here.
These are the kinds of things we learned from our personal Aussie tour guide, Faizah, whom we said goodbye to in Darwin after spending a few days with her and her grandma Fran.
Darwin
Darwin is a northern, tropical city whose rivers and beaches are swarming with crocodiles. Named after Charles Darwin, and known worldwide for its electricity storms. It is here that we met up with Grandma Fran, Faizah's grandma.
Grandma Fran is a lovable grandma figure who enjoys Karaoke and goes frequently. Our first night there she invited us to go out to a local pub and we agreed. Karaoke with Grandma Fran led to a couple of half-drunken duets with me and girlfriend, and me and Faizah (including "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" with yours truly doing falsetto). Fran also did a couple of solo ditties, and everyone there knew her by name. It was funny watching a grandma do Karaoke.
Darwin itself reminded me slightly of L.A., given the number of palm trees everywhere. Thoughout the city hordes of bats hung out in trees and made a constant and chaotic chirping noise. Thousands and thousands of bats with acidic poo. Fran said that if any got on the car we would want to get a car wash right away because it would eat the paint.
In Darwin we also.... visited a harbor, a museum and some historic sites (audience yawns), a twice-weekly outside street market, the greatest Aussie donut shop ever, and a marsh at a national park. The market is probably the most famous attraction in the city, and a lot of didjeriedoo playing bands put on free concerts just before sunset.
A booth that sells nothing but lawn gnomes at the Mendel Street Market.
Some weird clown game that Faizah says is commonplace in Australian markets. I have never seen such a thing before. You pay $3, and then drop a ball into the clown's mouth and it comes out in a random spot determining which type of prize you get.
Just before we left we did a `Jumping Crocodile Cruise'. There's a huge, murky river several hundred feet across called the Alligator River. The water is cloudy and brown, and you can't see more than a centimeter into it. Lurking on the shores and in the water are large flesh eating crocodiles looking to hunt their next meal. This is not a good river to go swimming in (nor is any body of water near Darwin, due to this and jellyfish). So given this, what better idea could there be than a river cruise where they dangle huge chunks of raw meat from a stick at the crocs, and trick them into jumping into the air right next to the boat?
Crickey!
During the cruise they also fed a flock of birds of prey, tossing squares of meat off the side of the boat as the hawk-things swooped down to grab them just before the meat hit the water. At one point a bird flew like 12 inches from my face, hmm..
Before and after the cruise they let people hold one of their many pet pythons:
And... on the drive away from the Alligator River, we came across this guy crossing the road:
A huge frigging Joanna lizard.
That same creepy forest during the daytime.
Anyway, dingos are basically wild dogs that were introduced to Australia long ago by the Chinese. Remember that episode of Seinfeld where Elaine says, "Maybe a dingo ate your baby?" Were you as confused as I was? Apparently it's in reference to a 1980's Australian news story. A two-month-old baby disappeared on a camping trip, and the mother exclaimed something like "A dingo ate my baby!" The police believed her story at first, but two years later she was arrested and convicted of murder. Then, many years later, she was acquitted after they found DNA evidence of a dingo on her child's clothes. Link here.
These are the kinds of things we learned from our personal Aussie tour guide, Faizah, whom we said goodbye to in Darwin after spending a few days with her and her grandma Fran.
Darwin
Darwin is a northern, tropical city whose rivers and beaches are swarming with crocodiles. Named after Charles Darwin, and known worldwide for its electricity storms. It is here that we met up with Grandma Fran, Faizah's grandma.
Grandma Fran is a lovable grandma figure who enjoys Karaoke and goes frequently. Our first night there she invited us to go out to a local pub and we agreed. Karaoke with Grandma Fran led to a couple of half-drunken duets with me and girlfriend, and me and Faizah (including "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" with yours truly doing falsetto). Fran also did a couple of solo ditties, and everyone there knew her by name. It was funny watching a grandma do Karaoke.
Darwin itself reminded me slightly of L.A., given the number of palm trees everywhere. Thoughout the city hordes of bats hung out in trees and made a constant and chaotic chirping noise. Thousands and thousands of bats with acidic poo. Fran said that if any got on the car we would want to get a car wash right away because it would eat the paint.
In Darwin we also.... visited a harbor, a museum and some historic sites (audience yawns), a twice-weekly outside street market, the greatest Aussie donut shop ever, and a marsh at a national park. The market is probably the most famous attraction in the city, and a lot of didjeriedoo playing bands put on free concerts just before sunset.
A booth that sells nothing but lawn gnomes at the Mendel Street Market.
Some weird clown game that Faizah says is commonplace in Australian markets. I have never seen such a thing before. You pay $3, and then drop a ball into the clown's mouth and it comes out in a random spot determining which type of prize you get.
Just before we left we did a `Jumping Crocodile Cruise'. There's a huge, murky river several hundred feet across called the Alligator River. The water is cloudy and brown, and you can't see more than a centimeter into it. Lurking on the shores and in the water are large flesh eating crocodiles looking to hunt their next meal. This is not a good river to go swimming in (nor is any body of water near Darwin, due to this and jellyfish). So given this, what better idea could there be than a river cruise where they dangle huge chunks of raw meat from a stick at the crocs, and trick them into jumping into the air right next to the boat?
Crickey!
During the cruise they also fed a flock of birds of prey, tossing squares of meat off the side of the boat as the hawk-things swooped down to grab them just before the meat hit the water. At one point a bird flew like 12 inches from my face, hmm..
Before and after the cruise they let people hold one of their many pet pythons:
And... on the drive away from the Alligator River, we came across this guy crossing the road:
A huge frigging Joanna lizard.
posted by Soggy Butterflies @ 3:23 AM
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