By Bob Van Leer

  (DARWIN, Australia - Jan. 12, 2002) - This is the northernmost city in Australia with a population of about 90,000. The locals refer to this part of the state as "The Top End".

  This is tropical country. We took a tour to a Kakadu National park, a 19,000 sq. km. park 103 nautical miles east of Darwin. We flew there in a twin-engine Beechcraft Baron with just one other couple. There were four other planes on the trip.

  The area east of Darwin is a flat swamp. The Adelaide River flows through it in a series of sinuous bends. About 30 miles east the country rises straight up in sandstone scarps.
Rivers drop over the edge, making some dramatic falls. Two we flew by were Jim Jim Falls and Twin Falls. They are not much visited as the only practical way to view them is from the air.

  From the air we could see the Crocodile Hotel, built in the shape of a crocodile, but this is visible only from the air. Mostly the landscape is deserted and there is one paved road through the area.

  We landed on a dirt airstrip at Cooinda and, after lunch, were taken on a boat ride called, so help me, "Yellow Water Boat Trips." This whole region is a tidal swamp and we tour through sloughs called "billibongs" here. We saw a few of the saltwater crocodiles but they didn't put on much of a show. The region is rich in bird life.

  The boat trip was on the Alligator River and I asked our guide why it has this name when Australia has crocodiles, not alligators. The guide replied, "The Englishmen who named this river were naval officers, not biologists".

  Back at the lodge we toured the Warradjan Aboriginal Culture Center before returning to Darwin. Two episodes in the 20th century defined Darwin.

  The first was the sustained bombing of the city by the Japanese starting in Feb., 1942. Darwin was bombed 64 times with 243 persons killed.

  The second was Cyclone Tracy, which struck in the early morning hours of Christmas day, 1974. The town was literally flattened with 64 dead and thousands wounded. In the largest airlift ever, more than 30,000 people were evacuated leaving only able-bodied men to clean up. As a consequence, for practical purposes, there are no old buildings in Darwin.

  Touring around town we saw a few wallabies, a small kangaroo and more birds Tonight we head east through the Timor and Arafura Seas and then through Torres Strait, the closest points between Australia and New Guinea.