We had a surprisingly good breakfast in the pub this morning. It’s been over a week of Nick’s breakfast of choice (high fiber cereal) so I was happy to have my favorite (very filling egg sandwich).

We filled up the tank and were on the road by 10. We drove straight through for 5 hours and made it to Darwin, completing the roadtrip. It was a lot of driving, but we’ve had a great time.

Nick and I started a new audiobook and it kept us engaged the whole time—Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China.

We had read about the many swimming holes and gorges along the route we drove today, and had originally planned to stop. But after a little bit of research we learned that they are all closed for the season because of crocodiles. During the rainy season the crocs hang out in the murky deep waters, making swimming too risky. So many things in Australia want to kill you.

We arrived in Darwin at 3 and checked into our Airbnb. It’s nice to have some space to spread out a bit. We are all on our last pair of underwear so we put on a load of laundry. Millie played and painted.

After a couple of hours of chill out time, we went out for a walk in search of food. The vibe of Darwin is interesting so far. Somewhat run down but extremely diverse, especially compared to Perth and Adelaide. We stopped for a simple but very good meal at a poke restaurant. My body needed fresh vegetables after so many fried meals in the bush. I plan to end every sentence referring to this week with “in the bush” from here on out.

We walked along the shore to find a playground. The entire beach is closed because it’s box jellyfish fish season, another animal that wants to kill Australians. We found a great, huge playground. Millie got lots of energy out after so much car time.

Eye update for probably the only person who cares, my mom: better but still red and hurting. Ophthalmologists won’t see me without a referral, so I’m going to try to walk in to an optometrist tomorrow.