Fish Feeding

Doctor's Gully is a picturesque little bay lined with mangroves, which was home to the Darwin Catalina Flying Boat during World War II.

At high tide each day hundreds of fish gather there waiting to be fed. The previous owners of the property fed them for fun and soon the numbers of fish grew.  It is now run as a torist attraction.  Our children were delighted to have so many fish swimming around their ankles!  There were many different kinds of fish to be seen- milkfish, bream, catfish, mullet and barramundi.  We also saw a couple of long thin fish called Long Toms and some spade nosed stingrays.  A pair of blue herons came to watch the show, too- I don't think they could read the signs saying that fishing was strictly prohibited!  We saw a mangrove heron's nest with one blue egg in it.  The parent and a young chick were sitting among the branches nearby.

We drove to Stokes Hill wharf next where we went for a walk, looked at the boats and had some lunch. 

Everywhere I come across sights, sounds and smells that stir childhood memories- pandanus fruit, unripe mangoes, green ants, voices speaking in local languages, houses on stilts with the laundryy underneath, the clouds rolling up over the horizon... and yes, SANDFLIES!!! I am covered with bites and look as though I have chicken pox! 
A tree just near our caravan has dropped dozens of blossoms overnight.  I picked some up and their fragrance also brought back half forgotten memories! I threaded some of them onto a piece of cotton for Esther- and had to think of a photo we have of myself wearing a similar garland, made for me by one of my aboriginal friends in exchange for some mangoes!