Wednesday, January 1, 2025

MONSTER RESURFACES

 LIttle Darwin  is surprised  by  the   fact  that  there  is  renewed interest  in  stories  it  ran  years  ago  in  the  blog  about   a  strange apparition  off   Darwin known as  the  Mandorah  Monster. One of  those  posts , with  its heading,  is  rerun below .  

MANDORAH MONSTER MYSTERY SOLVED?

It is surprising that nobody in the Top End media thought to link  the recent  sighting of humpback whales way  up  a Kakadu  river  with  Darwin's  baffling   Mandorah  Monster of  yesteryear.  Back in the l950s and  early l960s , the   Mandorah Monster  was  as  famous locally as  the Loch Ness Monster. 

The tropical Nessie  was sighted  from time to time off   Mandorah, just cross the harbour   from the  Northern Territory capital.  There was a holiday resort  at  Mandorah with a  honeymoon suite  which  featured  Cupids in a big way .  The   monster was seen  during  nuptial  ferry  trips across  the  harbour, one of  the crew  named  Roy  Big  Foot .

While some people said the scary  object was some kind of  fast moving  giant  sea  creature, others  believed  it  mechanically driven  , even Russian !

The  Russkie  connection  could have been inspired by a highly dubious  report  in the  Northern Territory News   quoting   Mr  J. G. Slaggert, said to be a self employed businessman, as having sighted  a flying saucer  land  at the  Darwin Golf Course , its occupants speaking perfect English , questioning  him  about  Darwin ,  announcing   they   were  Russian !!! 

Viewed below are l959 photographs taken  on the  ferry trip to Mandorah, including the honeymoon cottage, the wartime tower and gun emplacements. 

Seriously, it is just possible that  the  Mandorah Monster was  actually  a  humpback  whale / whales  frolicking  off  Darwin . Meanwhile , our roving cameraman , Vallis, has handed in the following  shot of  a  sea monster  in  North  Queensland  waters.  


(Monster, Mandorah , Russian.)