In the Wet

And we're back.

Year 2 of our Darwin working holiday. In January 2021 Ken and friend Garry drove north, taking a leisurely seven days to cover the 3000+ km. In January 2022 we flew. (An equally leisurely four and a half hours. Enough time to watch two movies, unless one of them is the new James Bond. Which was on offer, btw.)

Right now, our car is on a vehicle transporter somewhere between Melbourne and Darwin. We brought the bikes north with us on the plane.

It's been a year, too, since we began cycling to East Point every Saturday morning. The pretty route along the coast doesn't change, but the seasons sure do.

It's the Wet. Monsoon season. It's hot, humid and there are frequent thunderstorms. Look at the heavy rain falling from those clouds across the bay.

Always a pleasure being back in the mangrove forest in East Point, our favourite cycle destination. It was low tide when we arrived today, which meant we could see lots of little mudskippers and many, many small crabs.

I realise that these photos look like patches of mangrove mud (indeed, they are) but see if you can spot all the small crabs in each one.

The Wet brings the magpie geese back to Darwin. They love the long green grass. These big, fat, pied geese are traditional tucker for some Aboriginal clans but from what I hear, magpie goose meat is greasy and slightly smelly to eat. Despite their sturdy size and group protection, magpie geese are quite shy. These photos caused reproachful looks as they shuffled off into the bush. Worse, I disturbed one group of three in their courtship rituals. The two males flapped their wings, honked indignantly and looked decidedly ruffled as they moved away out of sight. The female carried on searching for That Perfect Blade of Grass.

The wallabies also love the long green grass. This mob is a permanent fixture on the field around the East Point landing strip.

At the top of one hill, we saw a brahminy kite circling overhead. We see them quite frequently — they feed along the coastline and in wetlands. Brahminy kites are common in the Top End. They're very distinctive raptors, quite beautiful, with their red-brown feathers and white head and chest. I took this video without being able to see what I was filming, straight into the sun. You can't see any details of the bird, but you can see its beautiful circular flight pattern (and lots of clouds).