My dear family and friends

 

thank you so much for every email, i love to read them and i am sorry i can not reply fast,

 

from Cairns i flew to Darwin- the capital of the Northern Territories-  NT, frontier city closest to equator, Japan and Indonesia, named after famous naturalist Charles Darwin  by his friend- captain of  the ship "Beagle " who discovered  this harbour in 1839 because Darwin sponsored his expedition and was on this ship but did not get out on the shore,

 

i learned thar during  WW II it was heavily bombed by the same Japanese  pilots which bombed our Pearl Harbour,  even now it is first line of defense for Australia being so close to the biggest muslim country Indonesia,

 
i had a tour of this pleasant  lively tropical green city with booming economy [ ratio men to women  4 to 1 ] and a famous Kakadu national park which is one of the few World Heritage Areas that have been listed for both their cultural and natural heritage, it is  a spiritual place for aboriginal people, i saw ancient paintings on the rocks, they manage this land , many tribes continiue their ancient way of life,

 

we had bush walking ,saw salt and fresh water crocodiles, big black birds-darters, small kangaroos- wallibies and many more tropical animals, birds and plants, it was extremely hot and humid and a lot of flies around, i bought a net to survive.

 

The most pleasant and interesting experience for me was  to be a guest of my Servas hosts - Margi and John-  an australian couple with 2 adult  daughters who are so hospitable, warm and helpful that they even  do not require  prior notice, just "pop in "

 

they create a very comfortable and easy going atmosphere,  Margi is a talented  artist who discovered her talent for painting  7-8 years ago, John beside being a good busenesman is a good cook serving dinner for us on the balcony while we are watching spectacular  tropical sunset,  i am emailing photos.

 

I am traveling already 2 month, went through 7 countries: 1 Germany, 2 India, 3 Nepal, 4 Tibet, 5 China, 6 Japan, 7 Australia

 

i have another month and 3 more countries to go: 8 New Zealand, 9 Equador, 10 Peru

 

i miss my family , my friends, my apartment, my New York, but by emailing my travel journal, receiving your replies and calling

i keep in touch with everybody and do not loose connections inspite of being away for so long,

 

thanks to internet and all of you,

 

much, much love,    Inna