17th August........... We went for a tour with the Duckabout Tours. This was on a Big Wheels on Water a 1063 Model American Larc (This was used by the American Army in the Vietnam war for transfering cargo from ships to shore) and it has been slightly modified to carry people.  We cruised around Darwin Harbour, just beautiful.
By the way Darwin Harbour is 5 times the size of Sydney Harbour.

 

After about one hour we emerged from the water on the beach outside the famous Mandorah Pub, where we enjoyed a light lunch and the view of Darwin.

After about 1 1/2 hours we were back in the water and headed for Mica Beach where we saw the woods Mangroves and collected mica from the beach, chased crabs and enjoyed the surrounding views. After 4.5 hours we returned to land. As they say we splashed, cruised, explored and had a very relaxing day, it was just magic.

19th August......... This morning we drove to Howard Springs Nature Park. The park covers 280 hectares and features diverse  habitats including monsoon forest, extensive swamps and riverine areas providing valuable wildlife habitats for an extensive range of bird life including Magpie Geese, Whistling Ducks and Pygmy Geese.

      we were watching several people feeding the Barramundi and turtles in the spring-fed pool.

                           This one is 1.2 mtrs long.










This reserve was built back in WW2 by the Royal Engineers, mainly for a swimming area and later into a nature reserve.