Here and there: Eighteen - Northern Territory, Australia

Australia is a very diverse country and due to its size has many different climates all at the same time which is pretty cool. One can go snow skiing in one part while someone else is basking in the tropical sun and heat somewhere else; it is also very diverse when it comes to terrain, with everything from deserts and arid lands to mountainous peaks, lush and verdant pastureland, tropical rain forests, scrubland, vast pine forests, amazing coastal areas and everything else as well. It's all very cool.

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I took these pictures in and around Darwin, Northern Territory (mostly at a place called Katherine Gorge, a series of thirteen massive and ancient gorges) all situated right at the central top of the country. It experiences only two seasons: The wet season when it's fucken hot, humid and wet and there's a high likelihood of destructive cyclones and then there's the dry season when it's hot and humid but less wet.

It's beautiful though, as you may see in my images, and look at those amazing swimming holes...glorious right?

The problem is, in the wet season they're infested with crocodiles and if you enter, or even get too close to the edge, the chances are you'll die a pretty horrible death - many do. You can see a heap of crocodile food in the image below swimming on what was a really hot day. I was swimming in there myself prior to taking the photo.

Australian crocodiles can grow to over 6 metres (21 feet or so) and there's been much larger recorded. They eat whatever they like as long as it's meat and they're not afraid of anything...at all. These apex predators have remained unchanged in millions of years, why evolve from what is already a perfect design?

In the wet season all the waterholes, (billabongs), creeks and rivers link up through the sheer amount of rain and the crocodiles are free to move about pretty much wherever they want swimming from place to place. As the dry season comes the water recedes back to normal levels and the crocodiles become locked into the creek, pond or waterhole they were last in due to not being able to move away from water for long. Then in the dry season along come the tourists and they want to swim and fish and the dumb and careless ones get eaten; not a good way to die.

Darwin is an awesome place to visit but entering the water (at any time of year) is a risk. The inland billabongs are (generally) safe in the dry season but the ocean is never safe as saltwater crocodiles are as comfortable in inland fresh waters as they are in the ocean and they don't discriminate when it comes to what's on the menu...with something like 5,000psi of clamping force in their jaw and their don't give a fuck attitude along with expert hunting skills they're not an animal to be messed with.

The place in the image above was part of an amazing wetland area and looked like a beautiful place to swim...but I counted over fifteen crocodiles lazing on the bank or moving about in the water...big ones too, there would have been loads more I didn't see.

Anyway, because this is a post about my photos I don't want to make it long...so...the end.