Australia

Our original plan was to go from Fiji to Australia via Vanuatu, then on to Brisbane. As we looked at the miles of sailing involved, we changed our path to the more northerly Cairns, with the possibility of skipping Vanuatu. After the repair time for Moondance stretched on, we decided to go directly to Darwin, with no stops (about 3000miles). It turned out that we did stop in Vanuatu for some fresh fruit, veggies and fuel, but made our way to Darwin in pretty good conditions, sailing through the barrier reef, north to Cape York and through the Torres Straights in the Timor Sea, and west to Darwin. A total of 22 days sailing, along with our buddy boat, Windflower.

The trip to Darwin also had the unique excitement of the developments in nearby East Timor and Jakarta in Indonesia. As Darwin was the staging area for the Australian-led peace-keeping effort, we listened with interest to the regular reports over the radio of the arrival and deployment of troops from the US, Europe and Asia. By the time we arrived, the last of the troops departing Darwin had just left, and we arrived to find almost no sign of the big show. The exceptions included the frequent take-off and landing of military aircraft, the sighting of support folks in military fatigues at local restaurants, and the fact that we were told we couldn't possibly rent a car, as they were all taken, along with all hotel rooms, by military support folks.

We found Darwin surprisingly cosmopolitan, with as many expresso and internet cafes as we've seen anywhere. It is also a major tourist base. We explored the town on foot and finally lucked into a rental car, which gave us the opportunity to drive through a bit of the outback to Kakadu National Park. At the end of the dry season, the Park's billabongs (seasonal ponds) had shrunk to their smallest size of the year and consequently we saw the wildlife amazingly concentrated in these small watering holes. The air and water were thick with birds of all varieties. We next toured the Yellow River by boat and saw amazing plants, many crocodiles, and huge numbers of birds.

Crocodiles are a true hazard in all waters of the Northern Territories. When we arrived here, we were warned by customs officials not to swim in any "non-chlorinated" waters, and during our stay, we read two reports of croc attacks on kyakers and fishermen.

From Darwin we arranged a flight down to Sydney to take a break from our voyage to visit our other home in the US and see family and friends. It was a great visit, if a bit hectic and exhausting. While there we were re-acquainted with many of the things we missed, and we were also reminded of some of the reasons we took a break from that other life (traffic, consumerism, over-scheduled lifestyles, narrow perspectives, traffic).

Back in Sydney, we decided to rent a campervan and tour the outback as we made our way back to Darwin. The van turned out to be a beast to drive (took Jill both hands to shift it into first gear), but we got used to it. Ben and Cam loved their bunk beds in the camper, and we enjoyed being able to seat the boys a good 12 feet away while on the road - they could yell at each other to their hearts content! At first we were truly concerned about the fact that the cross country highways in Australia are all two lane. As we headed out, it was clear that four lanes would have been a true waste of resources, as the number of vehicles was way outnumbered by the kangaroos encountered on the road. Unfortunately though, despite the small amount of traffic, many roos were seen as roadkill. In fact, we encountered one that abruptly stopped hopping away and turned directly into our path. It was really sad to hit a roo, especially for Ben, who was sitting up front when it happened. The other major road hazard was "road trains", which are semi's with up to three long trailers behind. Passing these in the narrower stretches of road at night was especially harrowing.

While on our journey we got a good introduction to the many aboriginal groups of Central Australia from south to north. We visited the famous Uluru (Ayers Rock), which seems to be about the most sacred of Aboriginal sites. We also saw Katherine Gorge, an area not unlike the Wisconsin Dells, but perhaps more extensive. About ten years ago, Australia agreed to give vast pieces of land back to what were identified as the "original owners", including many of the most popular tourist destinations in Australia. These places were then leased back to the National Park system, but with much control of the parks retained by the aboriginals. As a result, the emphasis in the Parks has shifted more to the cultural aspects, which we enjoyed.

Having arrived back in Darwin we are arranging some last repairs to engines and sails while trying to beat the heat (100F and afternoon thunderstorms every day) and get out of town before any major storms develop. Meanwhile, most boats have already left for Bali or Singapore, a decision that we're still working on. Bali is part of Indonesia, and before the recent elections, there had been demonstrations complete with fire bombing, even in this tourist haven. Also, Australians have been hassled due to disagreements with Aussie policies toward East Timor. Still, the conventional wisdom is that there are really no serious threats to cruisers arriving in Bali and also none in Borneo to the north - and recent visits by round-the-world rallies were uneventful. We will make our decision in the next few days (end of the first week of Nov) and move on as soon as possible.