Unfamiliar becomes familiar; A "lizard" walking on 2 legs

The unfamiliar is becoming more familiar. The stress of all the "new" is decreasing. The apprehension of driving has also decreased. My subconscious is starting to become useful again. But it still thinks it is smarter than it is. Got the windshield wipers going already today. Its before noon. Its not raining.

Also starting to figure out the roads, rules. The craziness of all the round-a-bouts seems a little more sane. Starting to figure out the grocery store too. Darwin is slowly and quickly becoming "home". Of course nothing will ever replace Alaska. That will always be HOME.

It really is amazing how quickly we can adapt. Still not acclimatized to the heat, though. The kids and I went out exploring in the car yesterday for a little while. We stopped at a beach to have a quick look...it was the heat of the day and it was scorching. We were out probably 3 minutes and it was almost unbearable.

This morning it has been pleaseantly "cool". In Darwin that means somewhat overcast, a light breeze and only 30 C (86 F) and humid. The kids and I went to a large play area that is shaded. It was great for 20 minutes, then everyone needed to get back to the car, cool down and rehydrate. It will be low 30's today (90 F) with a UV index of 13 (extreme).
Walking Lizard
Yesterday, while the kids and I were driving around, we saw lots of wildlife. There are so many different types of birds here...it might take longer than 3 years to get them all straight! Of course we had to stop by one field of large birds so Ryland and I could take a run at them to see if they were the flying type. I know...not very nice. But I have to admit (not to Ryland, though!) that it was fun. We then drove by a field of horses...it was nice to also see something we are used to. We ARE on the same planet! On down to a boat launch to see if we could see any crocs...too hot for them too. On our way back we saw this 'lizard', about the size of small cat, crossing the road in front of us. He was moving out...on TWO legs. His front two legs appeared to be tucked behind his back. He hit the grassy area on the side of the road and kept on going, kind of hopping back and forth from one hind leg to another because the grass hadn't been cut in probably a month. I swear I hadn't been drinking anything other than water up to this point in the day. And Ryland also saw it, so if there was some hallucinating going on we were doing it together.

More later from planet "Top End'.