Darwin Day 2 - Nightcliff Beach

By the afternoon of Day 2, we felt a little better recovered from our all night journey getting to Darwin, and ready for a swim in the ocean.  Growing up, I thought it was pretty clear that it's dangerous to swim in the ocean in the wet season, because of sea wasps (ie deadly box jellyfish), but it's ok to swim in the dry season, when there are no sea wasps.  I had "do not swim between October to May" ingrained in me, especially since I knew kids at school with terrible scars on their legs from sea wasp stings.  However, with a five year old, we thought we had better play extra safe, so we decided to go to Nightcliff Beach, where we thought we had heard there was a sea wasp net.

Nightcliff is the beach where Mama and Uncle Bert had picnic dinners on the rocks on Sunday nights while watching the sunset.  Katy and Dada enjoyed exploring the rocks together.

Nightcliff did not have very many shells, and the ones it had were very different from the ones at Cullen Bay.

But to Katy's and Dada's delight, Nightcliff did have lots and lots of coral of all shapes and sizes.  Katy started building little homes out of the coral.

Katy was not so keen on swimming that day as Dada and Mama wanted to go out to the deeper water.  I LOVED being back in the ocean again.  Apart from one or two junk trips and trips to South Bay in Hong Kong, we have not been swimming in the ocean since our honeymoon in the Maldives in February 2006!!  And I miss it!  There is something particularly refreshing, invigorating and therapeutic about swimming in the ocean.  The water was a little cool, which is a pleasant change from the warm bathwater that we often get in Asia.  I was a little concerned though why we were the only people swimming apart from one couple who were in the water for about five minutes.  This was compounded by the fact that I could not remember ever swimming in the ocean as a child, even in the dry season.  Was it just that the water was too cold for Territorians?  Was there something I was missing?

As we left the beach, I noticed a sign warning that sea wasps can be found at all times during the year, although most prevalent between October and May.  Eeeeeeeek!  We're to wear protective clothing and carry vinegar in case we need to wash off the stings.  Now, the question is how much of that is a real and present danger and how much is a liability caution.  I'm the first person to shake my head at the tourists who come to Darwin and swim in the waterholes without concern for crocodiles, or who swim during the wet season...but this water is just too tempting to pass up!