November 4, 2025
AUSTRALIA marks our 6th Continent of this trip around the World! I visited Australia & New Zealand for the first time back in 2016, but we didn't make it to Darwin then - so I was excited to see this time.
The Port is a fairly quiet place. They get 160 cruise ships on average in their winter months - because of their warm climate ( they are the Florida of Australia). But in their summer season, as is now, they only get roughly one ship a week. Cyclones are common here and on Christmas Eve 1974 Cyclone Tracy devastated the City of Darwin, and practically everything had to be rebuilt. The waterfront area where we docked is loaded with mid rise Condo's, Bars and Restaurants. You can't swim in the ocean here, because it is loaded with Crocodiles and Box Jelly Fish! So the government built a FUN Wave Lagoon Pool in their Harbor, as a center piece for the Condo's and Restaurants that is very reasonable priced.
It took us a couple of hours to clear customs when we arrived in Australia. They are extremely strict and thorough at checking everything on the Ship environmentally and this is the first time they have ever allowed a Ship to arrive with residential cats on board. It was a hugh deal for our management team to figure out. We currently have 11 cats on board, spread between 6 or 7 owners / Villas, and they had to be checked out and quarantined in a separate area, down on level 2, away from their owners. Lots of drama.
We went on a harbor sunset cruise, our first night here, with several other residents. We saw some lighting in the distant sky, but got lucky with a lovely sunset, as late afternoon thunder storms are also common here, in their summer months.










