Off to do some more exploring in Darwin today. Thought I would have breakfast at one of the Restaurants on Mitchell Street this morning for a change. Then I will plan my day. My handy NT Guide iPhone apps provides a list of cool things to do in Darwin. A great suggestion for this afternoon is feeding the fishes at Aquascene. Looks like a fun thing to do.

The front desk advised me I should go shopping at the Casuarina Shopping Square, the biggest shopping centre in Darwin. It was about 10km away but as I had the hire car I thought "why not". Darwin is so easy to drive around. There is so much open space and so little traffic. I found the shopping centre easily and spent about an hour looking around at similar shops that can be found at home. I am not a big shopper so tired of this very quickly.

On the way home I visited the Darwin Indigenous Art Gallery. So pleased I did. They had a brilliant display of aboriginal art and crafts, both traditional and contemporary. I would have so loved to buy a painting however the prices were way out of my league. So I just enjoyed looking at this spectacular collection.

At lunch I stopped in to pick up a Mango madness juice drink from the little asian eatery I visited yesterday. I bought a large juice drink and took it back to the Travelodge to drink around the pool. Darwin is so incredibly hot. Thank goodness we didn't come in the summer. A dip in the pool was just the thing and then a little nap before the conference dinner tonight.

At high tide I visited the Aquascene fish feeding at Doctors Gully. It was worth the effort although the $11 entry was a bit steep. The fish that visited every high tide didn't disappoint. They were huge and very hungry. I stayed for about an hour and saw about 6 different varieties of fish. I am sure others may have arrived on the top of the tide but I needed to get back to the motel in time for the conference function.

The final social function for Tim's Plant Pathology conference was held at Crocosaurus Cove, a crocodile aquarium in the centre of Darwin. Cool place for a function. I didn't have a ticket and because it was too hard to issue me with one they just let me go in without one. Saved $66!!.While we drank and ate nibbles we could watch the crocodiles in the enclosures being fed. I felt so sorry for the crocs that live there. Although the aquarium was clean, the enclosures were very small. One enclosure held approximately 50 small crocodiles. This display did not compare to the wonderful facilities at Australia Zoo. Their enclosures are huge and mimic their natural habitat. Steve Irwin really knew what he was doing when he built Australia Zoo. He certainly had animal welfare at heart.

Fortunately the function finished quite early. Many people had to catch early flights home. We farewelled all the Toowoombites and went back to our lodgings to pack our bags for Broome.