Spending 7 days in Darwin - caught up with Mango Dingo for a dawn paddle ( loaned me his 12 foot green Sunova Search ) - brilliant board for the conditions! Here are a some fotos - will add vids when I get home.

Was great to catch up Steve! Even. managed to score a few little ones too eh!
Had an absolute blast mate , great yarns, plenty of laughs and good times.
Yeeeew!!!!

Good Evans ,great to see some NT action ,looks nice and warm .

It is - driving along now at midday the temp outside is 30 degrees.

Wow that is quite a forest of SUPs!
Definitely wasn't happening when I was living up there. Yewwwww ya mad buggers!

Select to expand quote

Tardy said..
Good Evans ,great to see some NT action ,looks nice and warm .

Evans above! Was a good fun sesh Tards' , was small, but clean and great to catch up with Steve. Introduced him to the crew and he was like a teenager all over again on the Search!

Select to expand quote

Brenno said..
Wow that is quite a forest of SUPs!
Definitely wasn't happening when I was living up there. Yewwwww ya mad buggers!

Yeah Brenno , every bugger was out this morning- every wave was a party wave in true Top End style! I'm lookin' forward to the cyclone season. - that tends to thin out the crowds pretty quick smart. Sorts the wheat from the chaff.

Almost worth moving up here! But it is winter and the dry! I was here in late Dec 1974 and for first 3 months in 1975 - helping rebuild Darwin after the cyclone Tracy. The Rapid Ck pub - Lim's pub it was called then was on the outskirts of Darwin ( paddocks all round ) and next stop down the line was Berry Springs? Worked as a rigger/ scaffolder and it was bloody hot and steamy six flights up on the north side of the " Territorian "

"Green can, white can". Looking at any pics of Darwin takes me back. I've spent equal time in SA and NT (20 years in each and 10 years in UK), but I still consider myself a Territorian.

Was Lims the one with the cage in it for the bands ?. I only went in there once when I was 18. I got wolf whistled by a bikie, U-turned and left in short order.

Looking forward to the video

There are more people than Crocs in the water for a change!

Select to expand quote

jn1 said..
"Green can, white can". Looking at any pics of Darwin takes me back. I've spent equal time in SA and NT (20 years in each and 10 years in UK), but I still consider myself a Territorian.

Was Lims the one with the cage in it for the bands ?. I only went in there once when I was 18. I got wolf whistled by a bikie, U-turned and left in short order.

Looking forward to the video

After my time there, but the older sup crew did say there was a cage and bar - been ripped out now I have heard! New modern pub! Nathan could tell you more I think.

Yeah, the old Lims pub was fondly referred to as the rage in the cage. After around 11pm or midnight, they'd lock the doors, so no-one came in, and equally, no-one left. So you either got out of there when the bell went or strapped yourself in for a good old fashioned drink fest and punch on.

In the old days of Darwin (before Cyclone Tracy on Christmas Eve '74), the northern suburbs were still semi-rural , plenty of scrub and monsoon vine thickets around the joint. Which is not too dissimilar a description of the locals that used to frequent the place.

These days it's all braised quat quat on a rococo of couscous and craft beer. The secrets out and the crew from, what's commonly referred to as 'down south' (even if you're from Perth, Cairns or Broome - it's all 'down south') have landed. You can see the masses of sups in Steve's photo.

Thankfully the Rage in the Cage has been consigned to the footnotes of history and no longer exists. It's called the Beachfront Hotel these days, and it's the local haunt for all the trendys, hipsters and footy head bogans trying to impress the pretty young things. It's busier than Burke St most nights and standing room only for those who came in late.

But, it's a top spot for a refreshing beverage overlooking the ocean in the arvo - and they do a mean dirty chai which always goes down well after a few hours on the sup.

Just don't tell anyone.

not enough cages left... the civilized crew is even ruining civility

Looks like you boys had a good time on the green... perfect board for navigating the forest!

Select to expand quote

supthecreek said..
not enough cages left... the civilized crew is even ruining civility

Great call Creeky! Spot on.

Select to expand quote

DaveSandan said..
There are more people than Crocs in the water for a change!

Hey Dave, so true mate!
I remember Mark Warren saying, " as long as there's one other person out in the lineup, your chances of being bitten are reduced by fifty per cent."

With the amount of crew out on this day, I reckon we were down to long odds at 100 to one!

This popped up on face book today - Sunday morning visitor at Rapid Ck, day after dawn patrol - ( Casurina Beach). Fell off a couple of times and had to walk/ swim to board - hang on harder if there is a next time!

That's amazing. I suppose it floated in from the harbour ?. I used to see small ones floating out the back (in the tinny), but never big ones. The creek was a pretty safe place in the 80s as long as you followed a few basic rules. I never saw a croc in the creek when I was growing up.

Best of luck with the water sports. The most dangerous animals I have to contend here is curious sting rays and seals

Apparently it was on the beach - put on facebook by a local - who was very surprised to see it there!

Seems like a coincidence, day after? I am gullible, could I have been conned - how old is the foto - Sunday?

Somewhat related: I stumbled upon this article last week:
Darwin crocs were going to be extinct in the 70s but were saved by an invasive species: feral pigs.

"By 1971, there were barely 3,000, and the species was in danger of extinction. There are now an estimated 100,000 wild saltwater crocodiles in the Northern Territory"

www.nytimes.com/2022/08/15/science/invasive-species-pigs-crocodiles.html

Hey Colas
Yeah, they've definitely bounced back from the brink of extinction eh. It'll be interesting to see how crocodiles cope (globally) into the future as temperatures rise with global warming.
There's some early talk that croc eggs may increasingly be females with less male eggs as temperatures rise - crocodile gender is determined by the temperature during incubation - which will impact their population.
But for now, there's no shortage that's for sure.
That's a crazy photo eh!

Select to expand quote

colas said..
Somewhat related: I stumbled upon this article last week:
Darwin crocs were going to be extinct in the 70s but were saved by an invasive species: feral pigs.

"By 1971, there were barely 3,000, and the species was in danger of extinction. There are now an estimated 100,000 wild saltwater crocodiles in the Northern Territory"

www.nytimes.com/2022/08/15/science/invasive-species-pigs-crocodiles.html

Maybe because they stopped shooting them!