So, hows it going so far?

A bit of deviation from my usual ranting and raving about Life.  As promised, I am going to use my blog, Facebook and emails to make contact with everyone about how the move is going.  This posting is going to be more about facts and events as opposed to fanciful philosophical prophecies.

After driving almost 3500kms over a 5 day period, we finally arrived at our new home in Darwin.  The house we are living in is little more than a renovated shed, divided into thirds making up 2 small bedrooms and a larger kitchen/living area.  It is cosy, but comfortable surrounded by 7 acres of land including lots of areas of lush tropical gardens full of palm trees and ferns.  There are also two large verandas which act as outdoor rooms and are great for relaxing under and eating meals outside.  All up, it is enough room for the two of us and considering it is rent free due to some very generous cousins owning the house, we have nothing to complain about at all.  The property is about 30km outside of the city surrounded by similar properties and native scrub. It still feels like we are ‘visiting’ but with time, it will become home.

The dogs are coping with the heat OK.  A bit of a shock for them, although the two weeks down south did give them a taste of 30 degree plus heat.  Their fur shedding has gone in to overdrive since arriving up here though, leaving a trail of hair as they walk around.

It is still the ‘wet’ season up here so there have been daily storms and showers, keeping the humidity at a premium level of discomfort.  Nigh time temperatures get down to 25 and then back up to 33-34 during the day, so the trackies and jumpers have all been relegated to the bottom drawers of the cupboards.

As expected, Darwin has grown since we last visited 10 years ago.  There are a number of new high rise apartments which have transformed the city from a low tropical city to a modern metropolis.  Entire city streets which were once backpacker strips and vacant lots are now decorated with cafes and restaurants of all nationalities.  While never really been a sleepy village, it has apparently livened up in recent years.  There is also a large development at the old wharf which is now a fancy residential and restaurant district.

One of the great things about living here is the amount of native bird life in Darwin.  There are no feral black birds and starlings up here.  Instead we have flocks or Red-tailed Black Cockatoos alighting in our trees, Rainbow Bee eaters swishing through the air in search of insects and Red Winged Parrots dodging the tree tops on their way to the nearby lagoons.  These are but a few of the number of native bird species I see from our property here.  There are also a myriad of different coloured butterflies, possums, bandicoots, reptiles, spiders (some as big as my hand) and snakes. A few minute ago a tree snake fell from one of the palms about 2 metres from where I am sitting with a gecko in its mouth!

I recently took up a position with Conservation Volunteers Australia as their NT regional manager.  It will be a bit of a change for me and be more administrative than my previous positions but I am really looking forward to the change.  The role is overseeing all the conservation projects which are underway in the Northern Territory plus to seek funding and resources to expand.  There are a few big new exploration and mining projects about to start in the region which are always looking to contribute positively to conservation projects, so I am hoping to hit them up for some cash!

So that is the gist of things at the moment.  It has been really busy and will continue to be so for sometime no doubt.  I will write a similar 'dull narrative' again in a month or so as an update, but for now, time to get to back my fanciful philosophical prophecies........