The winner of this week's jackpot is Laura Lewis with the answer Kookaburra. Congratulations to Laura.......and what has Laura won?! A package from Darwin Australia full of local merchandise! Would you like to see whats behind door number 2? Guess what kind of creature this little guy (girl?) is. You want a hint you say? Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, eat gargantuous portions of mosquitos at night and fly blind without running into things. YES my friends it is the tiny only in size fruit bat. This one is a girl, three weeks old, will fly at six weeks and help rid Northern Territories of the hated mosquito hoards

Anybody know what kind of bird this is? Its a famous one here in Australia and there is a song about it. This one is a little different because of its blue wings. I will wait for any guesses posted before I tell you what it is called. But it was very naughty. A man had a plateful of food that he was taking to a table outside of the visitor center of Katherine Gorge where we went last Sat. and he was minding his own business when this bird had the very bad manners to swoop down and land on the man's plate and scatter the food and steal as much as he could carry off. Cheeky bird! I got a photo of him eating his stolen fries. I think it scared the bejeebees out of the man and now I wish I had taken a photo of his face. The look was priceless

There I was minding my own business having breakfast out on the deck when I look up and see this submarine coming into port. As it got closer to the wharf where the navy ships are docked, two patrol boats went screaming out to meet the sub. If you magnify this photo you can see the people standing on the patrol boat and the sub. It moored next to the navy ship and then was gone the next day. I don't know if it was Australian or American or Russian or something else. My eyes are upon them!

This is a water buffalo. Its hornspan must be more than 3 feet across. Buffaloes are unpredictable and have gored people to death that have gotten too close and spooked them. This one was happy to have his photo taken because a lady was feeding him bread and watermelon rinds. Notice what side of the fence I am on. Safety first.

See how tall these termite homes get. They must be the equivalent to our 100 story highrise apt. building.

This looks like a graveyard full of headstones doesn't it. Well, its not. Each headstonelike monument is really the home of a group of magnetic termites. You might be wondering why they are called magnetic and I'm going to tell you my children. These termites like climate control and achieve a nice balance between hot and cold by situating their hills in a north to south position so as to create a home that picks up the heat during the day and slowly releases it at night. They also have to deal with living on a floodplane so they get covered with water during the rainy season. If you get up close it looks like a mud sculpture, but you never see the little creatures that live inside it.

This little fellow is called the death adder and is one of the most poisonous snakes in Australia. He was sleeping all curled up in the rocks and dirt next to the pathway we had just walked to look at the waterfalls. This one's for Max and Wally......not a good pet, children.

These are the most beautiful sunsets because of the grass fires that are lit in the dry season. When the smoke enters the atmosphere this is what happens.

Here is one of the first crocodiles we saw on the Yellow River cruise. We encountered 8 more in a very short distance and one who was the whopper called Waters and he was huge. One croc swam under our boat and came up on the other side. Scary! Those ducks should be afraid but maybe they know he just ate.

This photo is for Max and Wally, the snake lovers, only this one isn't the kind to snuggle up to or let wrap around your neck or crawl up your arm. He's called the "Death Viper" which should give you a heads up about
This is the view from my 25th floor deck overlooking the harbor. Food tastes better when eaten on the deck with a slight breeze blowing by. How can I even think about complaining about spending a few months here.

Look who's in the swimming hole. He looked around first to make sure there were no crocs swimming with him. This is Litchfield Park, just outside of Darwin. It features waterfalls and swimming holes like this one. During the rainy season saltwater crocs make their way into this fresh water area and the croc patrol checks everyday to make sure people aren't swimming with crocs.

This is the view from my deck on the 25th floor of the hotel Mantra Pandanas. I see lovely sunsets and we eat out on the deck because the weather is so temperate and mild right now. I'm told it will get unbearably hot come Dec so am glad we won't be here then.