WARM LAZY DAYS IN DARWIN 24 MAY-5 JUNE 2008

As my friend from HR days in Melbourne was not due to join me to show me around the new Darwin until 2/6, I had a week to kill.First I got a feel for the centre, taking in the sights of wartime bombing and finished the day watching super 14 rugby and drinking Guinness at an Irish pub.My first impressions( which didn't change during my stay) were of a very bland, characterless place. A sort of Canberra in the tropical sun.I couldn't recall the "old' Darwin of the sixties but the new one was as disappointing as I found Vladivostok in that although in the tropics and facing Asian shores it had no Asian feel and was rather as asceptic as I find Singapore.
Despite this I was happy to give way to the tiredness that had accumulated in my body over the past few weeks and just mooch around. Lots of mail and financial admin to transact.
TO LITCHFIELD NATIONAL PARK-27 MAY.
whilst holding back on kakadu for Shelley's arrival,I decided to make the one and a half hour drive down to the Litchfield National Park. The key features here were waterfalls and giant termite mounds built by spinifex termites.From here on, unfortunately my camera began to over-expose my pictures, but here are the best of them.
The termite mounds are amazing in that they are designed and aligned to make the most of the sun's warmth, yet allowing the inhabitants the opportunity to retreat to the shady side on very hot days.Consequently they provided early pioneers with a useful way of pinpointing directions in daylight without resorting to a compass.


GIANT TERMITE MOUNDS

FULL FLOWING WATERFALL
The first signs of travel fatigue were beginning to gnaw at me and so having seen the falls, I overlooked the park's other offerings and headed back to Darwin to search out the public library and an internet service.
WELL MET IN CLIFTON
That evening ,in the campsite, I offered a man with a very smooth English accent my copy of the Australian and in return was invited to join he and his wife over glasses of red wine.Bev and Peter had met in Bristol in The Clifton Wine Bar-which was quite a coincidence as I had spent much time in Clifton ( lived there for three months) when I first returned to England in 1971 and during recent working trips.It's a fabulous Georgian suburb( in the style of Bath) high on the brink of the gorge and leading on to the glorious downs.Bev, an Australian from NSW had persuaded him to come out to Australia, 2 years ago, and they were touring Oz before his 80th birthday.Peter was an ex RAF pilot and flight instructor and had a fund of interesting stories to tell.She had 6 children from her previous marriage and he 2. They were a truly delightful and inspiring couple.Somehow we finished a whole cask of red!!
Over next few days drifted around Darwin in the listless manner that is so easy to get into in a city where the winter temperature seems permanetly set at 30c or above by midday.
On the way to the library I spotted an outback cycle tour bus with all the mountain bikes mounted on the roof and reflected that this way of getting about would have been right up Rae's street.

OUTBACK CYCLE TOURING
I breakfasted at the marina, enjoyed oysters on the pier overlooking the Arafura sea, read books and snoozed on park benches, like a true "swaggy", along the Esplanade,kept up email correspondence from the library,rode my mountain bike a lttle but I am afraid it was too hot for me.Found a good pub at Nightcliffe for an early evening drink and a private club(rather like a Sydney leagues club) which allowed temporary membership to visitors and where I enjoyed tolerable, economically priced food whilst watching international Rugby Union on the giant plasma screens.
After a few days of this I began to get restless and looked forward to Shelley's arrival on R&R from her HR management job at the Ok Tedi mine in PNG.

KAKADU FOR THE DAY.
Shelley arrived on 2/6 suffering still from the after effects of a bad dose of giardia. Poor thing she looked so thin and pale.But she was determined to get going and I soon found myself accompanying her to galleries where she spent serious money on her art collection interest.She wanted to fly into some of the Aboriginal art centres but the available flights did not suit our needs.So we decided to drive to Kakadu for a day and see what we could find.
We made good time on a fast sealed road to Jabiru-the centre for uranium mining-and lunched at the Gagadju Crocodile hotel( built in the form of a crocodile)which was very quiet so early in the dry season.Oenpelli-one of the outstation art centres Shelley had wanted to get to was inacessible by Honda Jazz and so we settled for a kilometre walk to a rock art gallery.The afternoon was very hot and I even needed to lend Shelley a hat.
It was worth it.The paintings were very impressive-some thought to be some 20000 years old, others a mere 10-and there was even a rendition of a European sailing ship in such detail that it included an anchor chain and a long boat in tow.Alas a combination of reflected sunlight on light coloured rock and my camera's sudden propensity for flashing at inappropriate moments, washed out most of my shots, but I have included a few tolerable ones.




KAKADU ROCK ART
On return to the Crocodile hotel we discovered a large display of Oenpelli art in its long corridors and Shelley purchased a great picture of two Mimis
(playfull/mischievous spirits)On the retun road to Darwin, the rural fire crews were at work and burn-off activity produced this impressive conjunction of the sun and a towering plume of smoke.

FIRE AND SUN
The rest of the week was spent relaxing in Darwin-we discovered that the Yacht club along from Mindil beach was a great spot for an aperitif whilst watching the sun set and the food was good.

SUNSET FROM YACHT CLUB

SHELLEY AT YACHT CLUB
We dined on the pier on a balmy night-the setting was great but alas the food indifferent.The high spot was being treated to a final night dinner at a super Nonya restaurant which must have been one of the best in Darwin.