Saturday evening

We went to Sonya and Joes house to help celebrate young Robyn’s birthday.
Some interesting characters there, including “Stretch”, “Bones” and “Curly”. Even Joe it seems never uses his birth name having always answered only to Joe!
I asked Curly to allow me to photograph the very impressive mural on his bar next door. It was created by a friend from an original photograph of one of the local drinking spots at Nightcliff

Saturday morning

Barbara arrived this morning at 2am on the flight from Adelaide with her daughter Chloe. Barb is in Darwin for a week for training with the law fraternity in the Top End. We had a touristy morning with a visit to the Parap market and then to the Art Galley and Museum. Had my usual lovely brunch at the Cornucopia Café of Eggs Royal.
Chloe enjoyed seeing the crocodiles big and small and also the dressups etc





This is Sweetheart, all 5.1 metres of him....

Interesting to think about the 4 metre monster at Fogg Dam..

A visit to Fogg Dam with James, Jayshree and Peter..

I promised James via email that on his first weekend here I would take him out to Fogg Dam. Peter and Jayshree joined us as well.

James Duncan at Darwin Sailing Club

I just spent a few pleasant hours introducing the new CDU Liaison Librarian, James Duncan to Darwin, I drove him around the town and we enjoyed a meal and a few drinks at the Darwin Sailing Club. I first met him in Brisbane a few years ago at an ANZILL Conference. Big change for James, yesterday he was a resident of Wellington, New Zealand.

Dinner with friends

I was invited to dinner at Margaret and Rich's house with colleagues from CDU library and it was great to catch up socially with some of the team. Jessie and Rod, now living in Alice Springs were passing through Darwin on their way to a holiday in Bali with Jessies daughter and grandson.
It was typically for Darwin an 'al fresco meal',and I enjoyed the conversation, food and wine. This salad was lovely:

Hugh has got his Harley back

Hugh put his Sportster in the workshop in December to have a lot of work done on it to make it street legal and he got it back today. It's actually had a series of about 4 owners in recent years and he has been the first to have it registered.

Baby Kingfisher found at the gate

I was about to leave for work this morning and found this little creature under the front gates. It is a fledgling Kingfisher. I asked Hugh to take it to the Veterinary Clinic

Another trip to Fogg dam

Still have not really seen the monster, but lots of evidence today... the sign and the trap.

Motorcycle Swap meet at Humpty Doo

Took a trip with Hugh and his friend Christy to the Village Green at Humpty Doo to see motorcycle swap meet.
Ahhhhhh the sound of Harley-Davidson's on a Sunday morning!

Monster Crocodile at Fogg Dam

I was warned last trip to Fogg Dam about the big crocodile lurking at Fogg Dam.
This photo was taken by a local Brian Hammond and appeared in the Sunday Territorian with this story today: [Note the surname should be Hammond]



Monster croc at popular NT tourist spot

NADJA HAINKE

March 22nd, 2009

A MONSTER croc - believed to be at least 4.5m long - has been spotted lurking near a walkway at a popular Northern Territory tourist reserve.

NEWSBREAKER BRIAN HANNOND, 66, took this picture when he discovered the beast at Fogg Dam Conservation Reserve - about 70km southeast of Darwin - on Friday evening.

Mr Hannond, of Stuart Park, said the saltie was sitting only two metres from where he stopped his car.

"I've never ever seen a croc that size out of the water," he said.

"I didn't get out of the car. But to sit there that close you know why you wouldn't have a chance in the world against him. It's the ultimate killing machine.

"He would be the king of the swamp out there."
r Hannond, a wine seller, said the croc was sitting on the left side of the dam wall walk at the entrance of the reserve - about 100m from the car park.

At the other end of the causeway, he said he spotted another croc.

The reserve is a popular stop for tourists.

Signs warn visitors not to swim in the water because of saltwater crocodiles.

Parks and Wildlife rangers put a trap in the swamps last Friday after they received reports of crocodile more than 3m long in the area.

Croc catcher Robbie Risk urged visitors to be cautious.

"It is a bit of a worry," he said. "People have just got to be wary when they are in the area."

Mr Risk said crocs could enter the dam from Adelaide River during the wet season when waterways flooded.

The sighting comes five days after 11-year-old Briony Goodsell was taken by a crocodile in the access prohibited Black Jungle Conservation Reserve.

Her horrific death and an apparent influx of crocodiles in to Top End urban centers have sparked strident calls for culling.

An NT Government source revealed on Wednesday Parks and Wildlife would cull crocodiles, in particular in the rural area where there is more risk of interaction between crocs and humans.

But Labor MHR Damian Hale in Solomon yesterday opposed plans to immediately cull crocodiles in the Territory.

He said the Government's crocodile management plan had to be reviewed.

Mr Hannond was also against culling the reptiles.

"The crocs have been here before us. People just need to use their brains," he said.
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An update Saturday March 28th , in an email from Fiona Douglas today to NTBirds , a mailing list I am on:
"...Later, on the Fogg Dam wall, near the start in the tree'd section, the most
ENORMOUS crocodile. Don't ignore the warning sign about the dam wall being
closed to walkers. The croc was a good 5-6 metres.
Fiona"

Planning Days

Our team met over two days in what was a quite useful team building exercise. It was great also to meet socially after work at the Darwin Sailing Club.

ALIA tour of Casuarina Library

On Wednesday evening, our ALIA Top End Group had an official tour of the Casuarina Library that I briefly managed in 2008 before moving to the Health Library.