In 1997, although Pacita had lived and painted in Latin America, Asia and Africa, she had never been to Australia. She was anxious to visit the country and join with the 72 Indonesian and Australian artists. Pacita was particularly excited to not only see Darwin, but also to travel and visit local artists in a number of remote communities of the Northern Territory, including the Tiwi Islands of Melville and Bathurst, Kakadu and Arnhem Land, as well as Alice Springs and Uluru.
Crocodiles are hard to avoid in Australia's Northern Territory, and Pacita first noticed them once she arrived in Darwin and went to visit the museum, which is located on a beautiful bay. At MAGNT she was shown the famous 1.7 ton, 16-foot saltwater crocodile ironically named 'Sweetheart", which was stuffed and mounted for display. Later Pacita wandered down to the shore to get a better view of the bay when she heard someone shouting at her to get away from the water. She was surprised until she noticed that he was pointing to the sign, " No Swimming - Beware of Crocodiles".