BACKGROUND INFO:
After two days of cruising the Arafura Sea, we cruised into the Timor Sea last night and arrived at Darwin this morning at 8:00 am. Darwin sits right in the middle of the northern coast of Australia and is the capital city of the Northern Territory. As with most of the other cities we have visited in Australia, Darwin was originally a pioneer outpost. Back in 1839 the HMS Beagle sailed into Darwin harbor while surveying the area. Although Charles Darwin was not on board the Beagle this trip, it was still named in his honor.
The Northern Territory is sparsely populated and Darwin is its largest city with a population of 136,000. It has been almost completely rebuilt four times; once due to Japanese air raids during WWII, and three times due to cyclones. The last, Cyclone Tracy in 1974, killed 71 and destroyed over 70% of the town’s buildings. Mining (gold, zinc, bauxite, and manganese) and tourism are its economic drivers. There is also offshore oil and gas exploration in the nearby Timor Sea.
WHAT WE DID TODAY:
I have been looking forward to returning to Darwin ever since we were here in 2010. Today I will once again be reunited with an amazing aircraft that I was privileged to have flown for nearly 5 ½ years in the United States Air Force. More on that in a little bit. Our excursion, “Darwin’s Military Past”, departed via motor coach at 9:30 this morning. It is the same tour we did back in 2010 except then we also went to Crocodylus Park to see both fresh and salt water crocodiles. Another example of Regent cutting back now!! We even talked our friend, Susanne, into going on the tour with us. It was first time she has been off the ship since Jan 5th.
Our first stop was at East Point for some photos of Darwin Harbor. Also here was the extensive East Point Military Museum. It was initially an artillery museum and has photos and artifacts from Darwin’s war history during WWII. Many lives were lost here during Japan’s bombing raids on Darwin.
Next we drove to the Australian Aviation Heritage Center. This really is an outstanding air museum depicting the Northern Territory’s involvement in aviation, both civil and military. The museum was opened in 1990 and some of the aircraft on static display include a: Spitfire, B-25 Mitchell bomber, USAF F-111, US Army Cobra AH-G helicopter gunship (my cousin, Alan Weiler, flew this in Vietnam. He‘s my hero!!), several other aircraft, AND a USAF B-52G. I mentioned earlier that I flew one of these aircraft on display and it was the B-52! This G model was the same one I flew when based at Barksdale AFB in Louisiana and off of the island of Guam. I have logged over 2000 hours of flying this aircraft. In the spring of 1972, I flew a B-52G from a base in Arkansas non-stop to Guam which included two aerial refueling. From Guam I flew 78 combat missions over South Vietnam, North Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia (personally dropping nearly 1.6 million pounds of bombs). In fact the December 1972 bombings of Hanoi by us resulted in North Vietnam ending the war. Each aircraft has a “tail number” to identify it, and amazingly, I recall having flown this very B-52 on at least one mission. The B-52 has a crew of 6: Aircraft commander, copilot, radar navigator, navigator, electronic warfare officer, and gunner (it has radar operated guns in the tail). She will always be the love of my life as she safely always brought me home, shot up but not shot down! All takeoffs from Guam was at the maximum gross weight of 488,000 pounds (over 200,000 pounds was fuel). We could fly 12 ½ hours without aerial refueling and with refuelings behind a KC-135 could remain aloft indefinitely. After the war when back stateside, I sat nuclear alert living near a fully loaded B-52 for a week at a time. In the bomb bay were two 5000 pound nuclear weapons targeted for the USSR. I always was proud of the fact that my commanders entrusted a 25 year old with that responsibility as an aircraft commander. I grew up fast during my days in the Air Force! Anyway, this B-52 is on permanent loan to the museum by the United States, and is only one of two places outside the US that have one.
We were back on the ship by 1:00 pm. I started uploading photos I took today and ran up to grab a hot dog for a small lunch. We are going to Prime 7 (steakhouse) for dinner this evening. I will also be putting some photos I took back in 2010 of a tour we took here to see some jumping crocodiles.
Here is the link to today's photos:
https://goo.gl/photos/mNLjc8p28dfQ7tQB7
Link to some photos I took back in 2010 of jumping crocodiles:
https://goo.gl/photos/g8Zji8QxXZm4RGQcA
Good thing we do not have an afternoon tour as it's going to be raining soon. We will be sailing at 6:00 pm and at sea again tomorrow. Hoping the Timor Sea will be as smooth as it has been the past couple of days.
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