This is the blog of Mark Wordsworm, the travelling worm. I’m a 25-year-old bookmark and can proudly boast my own Hallmark serial number, 95 HBM 80-1. You’ll probably want to read all about me and my Travelling Companion (the TC) .
Today’s travel notes
Peg, the TC and I have all been in Darwin, in Australia’s “Top End”, for the past week. The TC, bless her cotton socks, booked herself on a Spectacular Jumping Crocodile Cruise. As is her wont, she took me along. I consented to pose in front of the bus for the obligatory snapshot, then retreated to the safety of my book nestled deep in the TC’s bag. Peg was nowhere to be seen. She’s a very together type of gal and knows when to keep herself out of harm’s way.
My impressions? The Northern Territory’s salties are horrifyingly beautiful.
Travel tip
Believe it when they tell you not to put your arm out over the side of the boat.
The book I’m in
Past Caring, by Robert Goddard. Definitely a “the thot plickens” type of book. This worm recommends it whole-heartedly.
The photos
Me and the only type of jumping croc that I allow anywhere near me:
Jumping crocodiles near Darwin
We were lucky enough to have the one and only Rod as our bus driver and guide. He knows a great deal about the bush, the swamps and the history of Darwin. I was sorry when the tour ended, because he’d only been able to relate a fraction of the stories he knows of Darwin and surrounds. The photo below shows us driving over the dyke at Fogg Dam. Rod told us all about the doomed Humpty Doo rice project, of which Fogg Dam is part. People built the dyke to control the water in the Adelaide River wetlands, so that they could grow rice. Alas, after the first big wet season most of the rice ended up in the Timor Sea. Did you notice the crocodile toys on the dashboard? We were very soon to see the real thing!
Jumping crocodiles near Darwin
A pretty little Jacana bird wanders through an idyll soon to be shattered:
Jumping crocodiles near Darwin
A late-blooming Lotus lily lures and lulls the unwary:
Jumping crocodiles near Darwin
But wait. Take a closer look at those low-lying dark humps at the middle right:
Jumping crocodiles near Darwin
Oh yes, the TC has spotted her first crocodile.
Next stop, the reception room for the Spectacular Jumping Crocodiles Cruise:
Jumping crocodiles near Darwin
Then out onto a reassuringly solid-looking boat:
Jumping crocodiles near Darwin
Gotcha! We walked straight on through that boat and onto the much more intimate craft that would ferry us around the croc-infested banks of the Adelaide River:
Jumping crocodiles near Darwin
The TC, of course, was delighted. So much more real. So much more opportunity to get close to the crocs. Better photographs. Yada yada yada.
Sure enough, we were but a couple of metres off the mooring point when this charmer hove into view:
Jumping crocodiles near Darwin
That was when yours truly, the Travelling Worm, huddled deeper into my book and did my utmost not to attract the TC’s attention. It’s at times like this that she’s apt to whip me out and parade me in front of whatever’s going on, to snap that killer photograph. (Aah, bad choice of words on two counts, worm!)
From this point on it’s all go:
For the faint of heart, here’s a still of the same crocodile:
Jumping crocodiles near Darwin
For the tender of heart, here are some baby crocodiles. They’re hatchlings, about 6 inches long:
Jumping crocodiles near Darwin
Aah, so cute! Beware, mum is not far away:
Jumping crocodiles near Darwin
Isn’t she gorgeous? Here’s the video:
So, if you ever see a footprint like this:
Jumping crocodiles near Darwin
Then look out for a poser like this:
Jumping crocodiles near Darwin
Now I’m back home in the arms of my loved ones. Drool has had his nose put out of joint by my tale of creatures more prehistoric even than he. Peg is, as so often, my anchor:
Jumping crocodiles near Darwin
That’s all for today dudes.
