The Joint Capabilities Tour began with a flight from Canberra to Darwin (with a brief layover in Brisbane) beginning at some ungodly hour in the morning.  I forget exactly when, but I know we woke up around 4:00a to get me to the airport on time.  Kimberly drove me in...

Once in Darwin, we took a pretty long bus ride to Tindale Air Force Base.  For comparison purposes, Tindal was a lot like Alabama in temperature and look (plant life).  We spent the night in what looked like troop barracks, similar to Grafenwoer or Hohenfels in Germany.  Sparse, by Air Force standards, but still comfortable enough.  We had running water (at the end of the hall), and two sets of bunk beds in each room.  We only stayed one-night, there.

Tindale was loaded with bats.  Without exagerration, it is estimated 50,000 to 75,000 bats in the area.  They were enough to kill off the tops of the trees as there weren't enough strong branches for them to land on.  Just so you'll believe me, here's a picture.  This isn't a swarm.  It's a normal shot.  If you look up in Tindale, this is what you'll see.

In the morning, we went out to see the RAF (Royal Air Force) F-18s and F-111s.  Both aircraft are US made, so nothing much for me to see, but it was still pretty cool to be able to crawl around them and talk to their crews.

After seeing the aircraft (and a small command post), we re-boarded the busses and drove back to Darwin.  We stayed in a really nice hotel right off the coast, which was nice, but it rained pretty much the whole time.  When it wasn't raining, it was extremely warm and exceptionally humid.  Darwin looks and feels a whole lot like southern Louisiana, complete with swamps and flood areas.  -And the people are similar.  While there, we visited an Army post and saw the First Brigade equipment set, and then a Navy base and got to crawl around on a Patrol Boat and see their ship yard.

Then we were off to Perth, which was basically Miami, Florida.  We actually stayed in Freemantle, which is a small (but wealthy) marine bay community built (obviously) right on the water.  While there, we saw some more of their Navy assets, to include an ANZAC class frigate, and some training facilities set aside for their submariners.  Then we went to a separate army facility and got a tour and capabilities demonstration from the Australian Special Air Service (SAS, their Special Forces).  Phenomenal...

While in Freemantle, we got a day off.  One of the guys in class (nick-named "Fluffy") set up a scuba diving trip for those that were interested.  I expressed interest, though I am not certified, and was told that they could give me a "discovery dive" which is to say that they would have an instructor with me for a few quick lessons and to make sure I didn't do anything stupid.  It was going to be an all day adventure, comprised of two dives, separated by a seafood BBQ lunch.  Once we got all of our rental equipment together, they handed out medical questionnaires, which I filled out honestly.  The end result was that I was told I couldn't go.  I told them that I would sign a waiver or something, since we were already there and the equipment was already loaded.  They said no, but agreed that no harm could be done it I just snorkeled, so off we went.

Snorkeling was great!  Just the few days before I had never even seen the Indian Ocean, and on this day I was in it, just piddling around!  Really a lot of fun!  We were off of Rottnest Island, if you care to take a look on Google Earth, or something.  While out there, we were buzzed by a news channel helicopter, which was fun.  Once the trip was over, we went back to the hotel and learned that the reason for the helicopter was that a 4-meter shark was sighted around the Island.  Great...And there I was swimming along the surface in a black wet-suit looking a LOT like a seal...Anyway, we didn't see him.

After Perth, we flew into Adelaide (which looked like New Mexico) and stayed in a nice hotel for two nights.  We toured an Air Force base, seeing their brand new C-17 and their somewhat older P-3 aircrafts.  The morning of the next day we saw some of their Customs air crafts used in maritime patrolling, then headed back to the airport for the trip home.

When all is said and done, it was a great trip.  It took ten-days, which could have easily been crammed into eight, but I'm glad it wasn't!  Since most of the equipment we saw was American produced anyway, a majority of the trip for me was seeing the cities and socializing with classmates.  We had PLENTY of time for that, which was a lot of fun.

Anyway, I'm back now, after Kimberly picked me up at the airport (God bless her...) and now we are back to business as usual.

I'll try to add some pictures as they get sent around amongst the class.

As for Kimberly and Jacoby, they got to go to the races!  Horse races, that is.  The Black Opal Stakes.  They got the tickets through a program called Live in Canberra which is the same organization that sent them to the cricket game and Old Parliament House.