Monday, June 13th, and I'm at the Alice Springs airport, waiting at. gate nine, for my flight to Uluru.... with over an hour til we load, so a good time to blog.    My last blog was from the Cairns airport after my visit to the great barrier reef and tropical rain forest, and on my way to Darwin.  Landed there about 9:30ish, and followed my instructions to get the shuttle to my hotel in Darwin...  following my instructions, I exited the main airport doors, turned left, went a short way and found the shuttle stop sign, but no shuttle. I waited, and waited, and waited some more.  No telephone number on my instructions, or on the sign, nor did anyone I asked knew anything about the shuttle, but repeated person after person that the shuttle shows up after flights where they expect arrivals needing transportation to the city, and the next flight expected was the one from Melbourne at 1:30 am,  on three hours.  So I hopped a cab for the expensive way into the city.  The folks at the desk had a complete explaination, the shuttle company went bankrupt six weeks before, and refunds were to be processed thru the booking travel agent.  There was another company picking up the shuttle business, it was the tour company I was scheduled to be on a day tour with the next morning, and the desk folks made a reservation for me.  Next morning I showed up in the lobby at 5:58 am and there was a smiling fella from the tour company, and I was his first pickup from eight different hotels.  Those were done quickly, and we met a second coach were told from both coaches switched according to which tour they were taking.  Five minutes later we were on our way to Kaduru Natl Park...    the guide was talkative explaining what we were going to see, what we were passing at the time etc.  The land is quite different from my expectations.  Everything was green, but mostly stunted trees and under brush, not all brown, dry, and desert.  This is far northern Australia, which floods annually and then is dry the rest of the year.  So everything was still enjoying the water in ground, but the dry season was well underway.  At every river crossing under the highway were bright yellow signs, all identical, instructing those who left their vehicles of the dangerous existence of crocs at all waterways.  At the park we visited an Aboriginal cultural center/ museum for twenty-five minutes, I was the last one out, a couple minutes past the deadline, and I didn't read everything, but was reading and looking at the exhibits longer than most other folks.  This museum required at least an hour, if not more time to do it justice... that's my opinion anyway.   So for the next couple of stops I tried to be one of the first folks back to the bus.  We had an hour and a half boat tour with an Aboriginal guide, who was funny, energetic, !knowledgable, and enthusiastic about HIS land, customs, history, food...  he covered all topics and showed us crocs, plants, trees, birds, flowers, and eatibles.  So interesting, could have stayed on his boat all day...but the tour schedule prevails, you know.  We walked along cliff overhangs where Aboriginal drawings still existed because of the overhang protecting the cliff drawings from the weather.  Had a good lunch, included, and I was surprised that people used the tour busses for transportation, to jobs at hotels and various other sites, to the regional airport for flights further afield and also for tourism flying...  was a good day, from six am to eight thirty pm.  That was my stay at Darwin, arrival at tenish pm, sleep, whole day tour, eat and sleep, then pick up at 5:45 for the airport.