Australia is a land of such extremes – we arrived in horrendous gale-force conditions and are now leaving Darwin in less than 5 knots of wind. Darwin has been a unique stopover full of gritty Australians happy to give a hand to us “yachties“ traveling through. It is called the outback state and is known as the “Top End”of Australia. 

Sunrise over the Top End

The locals use airplanes like Ubers to cover the massive  expanse of outback area.  It is the home of the Royal Flying Doctor Service where emergency medical care is provided by airplanes.  The Northern Territory, of which Darwin is the capital, covers 521,000 square miles with a population of only 249,000 people. About 48% of the Northern Territory landmass is Aboriginal Land. It has two seasons, wet and dry and during the wet many of the roads are impassable. 

Darwin from the air

Being a tourist has been fascinating. Having long heard of the famous National parks of Kakadu and Nitmiluk, Lizzy and I did what the locals do – we hopped on a single-engine plane and flew to visit them.

Single-engine uber

This adventure was amazing highlighted by a helicopter tour of Katherine Gorge and river cruise in crocodile infested water in Kakadu.

Helicopter with no door

Jumping crocs

It was surprising to see the plentiful birdlife and beauty of the rivers in this dry-red land.

“Jesus bird” with enormous feet

The marinas in Darwin are in locks meaning they are mini Panama Canals – we were not prepared for smashing into the side of the lock when we entered and the casual lockmaster (gatekeeper) just laughed at our ineptitude. The benefit of the locks are that the crocodiles stay out! 

We bid a sad farewell to Lizzy  – who flew all the way for just 3 nights. It took her longer to get home than the time she was with us! This was an unforgettable birthday celebration.

We have now embarked on leg 9 of the circumnavigation and a new ocean. We are heading west-north-west from Darwin to Indonesia across the Timor Sea. We completed numerous boat repairs and a massive  provisioning for the the long journey ahead. The next few months will take us to remote places, Lombok, Christmas Island and Cocos Keeling where provisioning is very limited. 

This leg is approximately 920 miles and we are excited to have another Sutherland on board. Chris has joined us from Perth. He is quite an experienced Sutherland with some not too shabby credentials – world championships, Sydney-Hobart races and America’s Cup experience. Sadly, the wind is predicted to be very light.

Matilda getting ready for the start