A Stunning Sunset In Ubirr

We spent last week exploring the Northern Territory with our good friend Missy.  She lives in Singapore, and Darwin seemed like the perfect halfway point to meet and see some truly Australian scenery.  I had spent quite a bit of time between Darwin and Katherine for work and was looking forward to showing them this weird and beautiful part of Australia.  Two years after we started planning, we finally went on our trip.

We landed in Darwin and started the trip with a tour of Darwin City.  5 minutes later.... we headed to Cullen Bay for lunch.  Then we went for a wander around the tide pools at East Point.  After several months of Melbourne winter, the sunshine on our shoulders felt glorious.
Exploring the tide pools
Darwin City in the distance
Beautiful crab in the rocks
On our way to dinner, we noticed that it was nearly sunset and stumbled on a crowd of people gathered on the grass to watch the sunset.  Who knew it would be such a party!  It was a great way to start the trip, and this turned out to be the first of many amazing sunsets.
First sunset in Cullen Bay, Darwin
On day 2 we set out on the 2.5 hour drive to Kakadu.  We stopped at a didgeridoo shop so Missy could get herself a new instrument.  She had a quick lesson, though I'm sure she'll need a bit more practice. Her neighbours will be so thrilled!
Didgeridoo lessons
 For lunch we stopped at the Purple Mango Brewery.  It was down a dirt road a bit and an enjoyable stop for these two.  The mango beer was quite tasty!
sampling the beers at Purple Mango Brewery
Dirt road to the Brewery
 We hit the road again and decided to wander down another dirt road to explore Mary River and the Mary River National Park.  It was dirt and not many trees, but then all of a sudden we saw a beautiful blue river covered in lily pads.  We were well and truly in croc country now, so were a bit terrified of getting too close to the water.
Mary River
Mary River
On again we went to Jabiru, where Missy was super excited to find out that we were staying in a hotel shaped like a crocodile.  
Our Crocodile Hotel
That afternoon we decided to drive out to Ubirr, where we had read was a great spot to watch the sunset.  First we checked out the rock art, and then we took a short hike up the mountain to the top of Ubirr.

Rock art at Ubirr
There was a surprising amount of people on the rocks waiting for the sunset, but there was plenty of room.  Everyone settled into their spots and sat quietly waiting for the show.  As the light started to change, what a show it was!  It was absolutely gorgeous, different light in every direction, a truly 360 degree sunset.  We all sat quietly, and it just kept getting better.  Finally we reluctantly headed down the hill as it got almost too dark to see where we were going.  We all agreed that it was the best sunset we had ever seen.
Getting ready for the show
That backdrop!
The light starting to turn pink
Some of the crowd watching with us
Getting darker 
A variety of colours
So pretty
Even we look good in this sunset!
Getting even prettier
And then it got even better!!!
My favourite picture of the trip - Phil taking a picture of the best part of the sunset






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