Iain is paying for the curry - he's ill. Possibly, though, could be not washing his hands for three days before eating. I was extremely careful to wash with shower gel when I had the opportunity.

We've slept well as we're exhausted. We wake up at 9am, aching with tiredness. Unfortunately we've got to check out by 10am. We pack, and do so. Our laundry from last night isn't clean, and needs another wash, so we try the laundrette over the road. By the time we've got it clean, it's cost us $16 to wash and dry two loads. We also use the hostel book exchange, and sit by the pool planning our day.

We're starving, and eat a late, and big, breakfast out at About Coffee. We hadn't intended to eat so late, but the service was terrible. When our food arrived after half an hour, it was cold - it had sat on the counter for five minutes before a waitress bothered to pick it up. There were four people serving and they were all hopeless, to varying degrees. The food was good though, and there was lots of it.

[Aboriginal Fine Arts]

[More didges]

Today we're going to buy a didgeridoo. They're abundantly available all over Australia, many at rip off prices, many cheap and low quality ones. Darwin area is the home of the didgeridoo (it's disputed exactly where) and we're told it's the best place to buy one - I'm determined to learn to play. We've decided to buy a decent one for this reason. We find a shop with a huge selection and wander in. The owner is very helpful, and teaches me more about how to play. The didges come with certificates of authenticity showing the artist who made it, to show they're Aborigine made and not mass-produced. We look inside to check it's termite-bored and not drilled -apparently makes a difference to the sound. I try quite a few, getting recommendations on length and diameter. We eventually settle for a long thin one, it's so big I can rest my chin on it, standing up. Most backpackers ones we've seen are less than half this - we're not sure how successfully we'll be able to transport it. We're offered shipping for $40, but I don't want to part with it. We decide to go on our day trip to a museum, and pick it up later - the paint needs retouching, and it needs wrapping anyway.

We get a community shuttle-bus to the museum. It's $2.50 (1ukp) each, and you phone it for a pick up. Somehow the driver works out how he's going to pick up and drop everyone at different points logically. It's not bad, no slower than a bus (which there aren't many of today).

The Northern Territory Museum of Art and Culture is by the beach, it's a great setting - you can see the bay through the windows. There's an excellent display of Aboriginal art, which includes work from all across Australia. We see an exhibition of local stuffed animals, including "sweetheart", a 6m crocodile. His girth reached 2.5m. Sweetheart is named after the area which he patrolled. He used to tip over aluminium boats (like the one we were in yesterday - Damo didn't mention this), but didn't attack people. Nonetheless he was becoming a nuisance, so the authorities decided to rehouse him. Unfortunately in doing so, they accidentally drowned him.

There's an exhibition about Cyclone Tracey, which is largely why we're here. Cyclone Tracey wiped out 90% of Darwin on Christmas Day 1974. This shows what happened, and why, its impact, and the rebuilding. There's an excellent display of photos, and diary excepts from people helping the rescue mission - 30,000 people were evacuated in the aftermath, which took out the entire city's infrastructure. There's a dark room where you can stand and hear a recording made at the time by a priest. It's loud, shocking and terrifying. We're stunned to see the scale of the devastation.

[Beach by the NT Museum]

[Facing the opposite way]

There are a few more galleries, and we leave at 3pm. We sit and read by the beach - it's hot but not oppressive or humid. The sea is sparking, and there are dozens of boats in the harbour. I wish we had more time in Darwin, there are many things I'd like to have seen. We missed the daily fish feeding on the harbour, but we're off to the Great Barrier Reef today.

We get the bus back to town, pick up the didge, spod, and go to the airport. We only have half an hour before boarding, so grab a quick snack- we know how good Qantas food is now.

The flight is 2 hours, in the dark, over Outback - there's nothing to see. We arrive at 10.45pm, having crossed back over the time zone we left a couple of weeks back, and losing half an hour.

We get a taxi-bus to the hostel, as the bus doesn't turn up. The keys are in a safe outside, as reception is closed, and we collapse in our tiny and noisy room, around 11.30pm. We've not planned anything for this last leg of the trip - a two week drive 1100km to Brisbane. There's an enormous amount of things we want to do, and we have to prioritise. Tomorrow we're having a day off - we really need it.