DARWIN (17/10/09 & 18/10/09)
Rather sad to leave Olie and family in Melbourne we caught a flight from the cold far south of the country to the sweltering far north- Darwin. Not really accustomed to the intense heat and humidity (+36ºC every day) we spent a couple of days acclimatising and visiting cool, shady places. The Museum of the Northern Territory has some fantastic Aboriginal Art displays (which you're not allowed to photograph) as well as natural history exhibitions; one of which included this gigantic extinct crocodile skull. This monster was more than twice the size of the largest crocodile alive today- 14m (42ft) long and 8 tons in weight!
We also visited the old Darwin Gaol which was in use until 1979.
It was fascinating wandering around getting a feel of what it must have been like for the inmates being in here so recently, especially in the intense heat. They certainly didn't get any privacy.
The main cell block. The Gaol was eventually closed due to unacceptable overcrowding, not hard to imagine looking at the cramped cells.
Liz slightly over enthusiastically grabbing hold of the gallows trapdoor lever.
One of the two solitary confinement cells.
Due to the intense overcrowding temporary blocks were built in the early 70s. The prisoners apparently preferred these due to the increased air flow and the fact that they could see and communicate with inmates in other cells. Adam wanted Liz to lie down on one of these original camp beds with original unwashed sheets for the picture but for some reason she wasn't keen.
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