February 28

Darwin

A good amount of sleep, followed by a good amount of organising photos, paperwork etc.

It had rained again overnight and was very humid outside. I wandered around the waterfront, watched people in the lagoon and waited for the condensation on my lens to evaporate. I'm only used to that in Singapore.

A lovely morning by the lagoon	They were advertising breakfast
Very good - but unsuitable for the climate	The view from the lift

The Italian café supposedly did breakfast but the sign on the door said it only opened at lunchtime. The Irish pub was open, however, and advertised breakfast.

I joined a couple of dozen others sitting under the very large fans on the terrace. Very civilized. The bacon and egg roll, when it arrived, wasn't at all civilized. Large quantities of unhealthy things all over the place. It tasted good but was completely unsuitable for this climate.

The lift took me up the hill again and then the path took me past the Cathedral to the Information Office, where I had to join a lengthy queue. I learned that stamps couldn't be bought on a Sunday, that I probably could be collected from my hotel by the train company and that I could get a bus to the market. In the City centre, the coach office was open so I confirmed arrangements for tomorrow and ensured that I had everything that I needed.

Into the city centre

The bus arrived after about a five minute wait and the friendly driver assured me that he would tell me where to get off - doesn't everyone!

After about a 20 minute drive through a mixture of green areas and modern housing, we arrived at an ordinary looking shopping centre, Nightcliff.

It was very busy, with stalls selling fruit, frocks, artworks, fripperies etc etc. None of it was wildly exciting but it was full of life and fun. There were people everywhere, mainly circling the food stalls, which seemed to cover every sort of South East Asian cuisine and lots of varieties of freshly blended fruit drinks. I availed myself of a large fresh lime juice, watched it being made and found it helped me to survive the humidity.

Nightcliff - not an inspiring place

Lots of sparkly stuff	Fresh fruit drinks and salads
Fruit	Excellent lunches
I caught the bus back towards the city and disembarked a seven minute walk from the Museum, passing a huge bowling club en route. By the door was a sign warning of all the things which weren't allowed into the collection. As this included almost everything that I had, I stuck it all in a locker. As a result, there are no photos. Right: I passed a huge bowling club
In the middle of park land ...
... is a huge & ugly museum	It's almost on the beach
The verandah restaurant	Beautiful views

The main feature on my first explore was the display on Cyclone Tracey, which destroyed the city in 1974. It was detailed and frightening. A reminder of nature's ability to overcome almost anything that man can do.

Feeling thirsty, I abandoned to the café for a large jug of cold water, a water melon juice and a prawn salad. This was a huge mound of leaves, tomatoes, bocconcini and balsamic dressing. Perched on top were three large and juicy grilled banana prawns. Quite excellent. I ate them on the verandah with fans circulating overhead.

My second attack on the collection included lots of stuffed birds and animals, a huge crocodile which died while people were trying to remove it from a waterway where it was eating boats, some interesting art from one of the local art schools and some boats displayed in a huge and very hot shed.

On the way out I asked the man at the desk how far it was to walk into the city. He said about one and a half hours or seven kilometres. I instantly decided to take the bus. That sort of distance in this heat and humidity would be fatal.

I had a brief walk in the grounds so that I could photograph the café and the area around the museum. It is in a beautiful location just a bit too far out of the city.

I donned my waterproof, not pleasant in the 100% humidity, and continued on my way for another ten minutes or so, when a bus shelter hove into view.

The rain had been very warm and as I waited, it became heavier and heavier. After a few minutes, the bus arrived and I hailed both it and a taxi simultaneously. Luckily, only the bus actually stopped for me. We drove into the city in a downpour.

I disembarked and squelched my way up the street to the supermarket. There, I bought some ingredients for breakfast and emerged to find a bright, sunny and dry afternoon. By now, of course, all of my clothes were soaked so I decided to return to the hotel.

I didn't quite make it, deciding instead to pop into the pub for a cold beer. In this climate, cold fizzy beer is wonderful. Real Ale just wouldn't hack it.

Once that was completed, I walked back towards the hotel in glorious sunshine. My route took me past the Old Town Hall and the new Christchurch Cathedral. The old cathedral and the town hall were both destroyed by Cyclone Tracey. The lift down to the waterfront offered glorious views.

The old Town Hall	Christchurch Cathedral

I washed my damp clothes, had a good rest and set off again in surprisingly bright sunshine. I wondered about returning to my room for a hat, even at 5.30.

Surprisingly bright sunshine	Smith Street Mall

On the edge of Smith Street Mall, I found a plaque commemorating the Japanese bombing of the city in 1942. Apparently, they dropped twice as many bombs on Darwin as they did on Pearl Harbour. This, and Cyclone Tracey, explain why almost all of the city is new.

I found Hanumans at the far end of the city centre. It was reasonably formal but most of the diners were in jandals and shorts. My Thai food was OK but a different style to what I normally find. Sweeter but with less lemongrass and lime. I prefer it the way I cook it. Right: I prefer it the way I cook it

On the way back, I heard lots of noise in the trees. I wondered if it was bats. A closer look revealed hundreds of parakeets or similar parrot type birdies. In the darkness, I completely failed to produce any decent pictures of them so you will have to take my word for it. I decided to walk along the Esplanade to see the last throes of the setting sun, not to mention what looked suspiciously like a mushroom cloud. At that point, I did see some very large bats cruising silently around.
Some grand hotels	The trees were full of biirds
The setting sun	An eerie sight
Fire on the horizon	The Parliament Building

I returned to the hotel, passing the posh hotels and the Parliament Building en route