Darwin - Mindil Beach

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Sun 20th July

Still very hot. The information we were working on indicated that today is the big day - the Darwin Beercan Regatta! However, a local brochure indicates that we have missed it - it was last week apparently. Not sure if we were looking at the wrong year, or just got bad information from somewhere. But it looks as if the whole trip to Oz is a waste of time... ;-) . Just in case the brochure is wrong, we decide to walk to Mindil Beach, which is the location of the Regatta.

Sure enough, when we reach Mindil, there is no sign of anything going on. Still, we hand around on the beach for a while. Although it is a sandy beach, it seems to have large numbers of assorted types of crabs. We find some sandy coloured ones that like digging holes and making little balls of sand, a sandy pool which is simply teeming with little hermit crabs, and large numbers of small and very round crabs that go around in gangs. When you follow one of these gangs, one by one they disappear either into a little hole that they find, or they just melt into the sand. After a while reading, we decide to go for a swim to cool off. When we walk in, though, the water is about as warm as we are! We walk out probably a couple of hundred metres, and still the water only reaches just above our knees - I guess that's why it is so warm too. Here it is at least a little cooler. However, we give up on the idea of a proper swim and return to dry land. A bit more crab chasing (this really is the crabbiest beach ever...), then we decide to walk back. On the way, we spot a flock of red-tailed black cockatoos! They are just lounging around (which we of course approve of), pretending they are just wild birds that are at liberty to flock wherever they so choose (which we do not). They ignore our protestations that they are meant to be pets, and eventually tire of us and fly away.

On the way back, we get a quick sandwich and a drink. Well, that was the plan at least. But the girl serving us is not the quickest mover in the world. After about 20 minutes, we have what we ordered (which was very nice in the end). Then it's back to the hotel for some swimming pool lounging. I should mention that we are in some kind of proactive shock, as tomorrow we have to rise mighty early to begin our Kakadu tour. So all this lounging is justified. Honest!

Okay, I'm just going to go off on one here. It just has to be said... why do hotels insist on folding the toilet rolls every time they make up your room? Every hotel we have been to engages in this bizarre ritual, and I just need to know! If you are not familiar with the practice, they fold the last sheet of paper at a 45 degree angle, then again at 90 degrees to that fold so that it forms a point... but, I mean what is the point exactly? Is it by government mandate in an effort to increase employment? Or is pointy loo-roll just in vogue at the moment? Or could it perhaps be secret signalling mechanism used by members of some strange cult? Is there any actual functional benefit for someone? If you know, please do tell!

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