Life in the croc lane

While in Darwin, we take the opportunity to sail around, exploring nearby islands and bays. The coastline is wild, beautiful and extremely inhospitable looking with vast areas of mangrove bordering scrubby bushland and miles of pristine beaches.

The red dirt sits in stark contrast to the golden sand and the whole place screams do not mess with me. It really comes as no surprise the North was so difficult to conquer for white colonisers. The knowledge of country held by traditional owners and honed over thousands of years of continuous habitation is not immediately apparent. It pains me to think how many indigenous tribes roamed this country less than 200 years ago and how much has been lost in the process of colonisation. 

This would of course be paradise if it wasn't for that ancient predator, the crocodile. It feels like one lurks in every bay while walking on the beach has never felt more exciting, not always in a nice way.

The fishing on the other hand is extraordinary and even novices like us catch more than enough. Graham goes out every day, trawling a couple of lines behind the dinghy and actually catching something on most days.

We mostly get queen fish, tuna, cod, barracuda and Spanish mackerel. We have never really eaten so much fish, and since we don’t have a freezer we have to give some  away one day when two large queenfish take the bait.

Since swimming is off the table, it’s hard to keep the kids busy in the middle of the day when the heat is at its worst. We usually go for a beach walk in the morning to collect shells and poke around.

Beaches with sand dunes are the best as far as the kids are concerned as there is something to climb then roll down. We're grateful we have our friends from Storyteller with us, friends we met in Indonesia and returned to Australia with.

Our kids have formed a tight little tribe with their daughter Maya and it's also great to have some adult company, especially such excellent humans like Dave and Cath.

Our favourite getaway is Bare Sand Island, a turtle nesting sanctuary where we spend days exploring new turtle tracks on the beach every day. A large 5m croc lives here too (named Graham!) but thankfully does not make an appearance on the beach until after we leave. Dave helpfully snaps a photo to show us, not a pretty sight.

At night we gather on the beach to cook dinner on the fire and toast marshmallows. It's the most serene part of the day as the day's heat gives way to a few hours of relative cool.

Getting back into the dinghy in pitch dark is not for the faint of heart, usually we throw a few large sticks in the water to check for any lurkers, then quickly jump in from the beach side while we keep watch around the dinghy. Safe? As safe as it gets probably.

This may sound very romantic and we do enjoy it but at least for me, the pace of life has slowed down a little too much. The fact that we can’t swim is especially jarring, jumping off to cool down, snorkelling or just paddling around is an inseparable part of boat life so going without it is really tough.

But adjust we must until the weather changes and the passage East to Queensland becomes an option.