There were a lot of people on the coach who were staying at the Central. On the way into town Michael and I planned our strategy. As we were sitting in the front seats, as soon as we arrived at the hotel I would jump out and go and register, he could then wait and collect our bags off the coach. It worked perfectly - by the time I'd registered he was waiting by the lifts with the bags, and there was a long queue of people waiting to register.
The Central Hotel also charges for wifi (do all Aussie hotels?) They charge $2 for 24 hours, $2 is hardly worth arguing about, but then again it's so little it's not worth charging. Right next door to the hotel is McDonalds, so there's our wifi connection.
We familiarised ourselves with the room and then around 7.30 walked around the corner and walked along the main street, Mitchell Street. There were lots of places to eat and drink but we opted for Indian. At the Darwin Tandoor. It was only a tiny take away place run by a young couple, assisted by their young toddler, son. We sat on some outdoor tables nearby and really enjoyed our meal. Very, very good. Then we walked around the block before heading back to relax in front of the telly.
The next morning, after breakfast we confirmed that we had a pick up arranged for the afternoon city highlights tour and then walked down passed the Parliament House to the Esplanade and Bicentennial Park, overlooking the Harbour.
The Cenotaph is in Bicentennial Park and flanked by memorial plaques dedicated to those who were killed in raids on Darwin in WWII.
It was a very pleasant park but unless in the shade was very hot.
The humidity was increasing too so we walked up through the Mall, bought some sandwiches for lunch and went back to the hotel.
I had the clothing all planned for the next few days, but with the humidity it was nice to change clothes a couple of times a day. Maybe this is why the hotel has a mini laundrette for guests. I did a load of washing whilst waiting for our tour pick up. Much nicer to feel fresh during the day.
We were waiting in the lobby, in the a/c when our mini bus arrived. It was going to be a full bus, so Michael jumped into the seat up front next to the driver. I sat in a single seat a little further back, much better to be comfortable rather than cramped together.
We stopped at a few other hotels, and crammed in the other passengers. It was a tight fit. Then we were off around the city. We drove down to the Harbour, passed the WWII Oil Tunnels, that we had thought of visiting but were happy to have this 'drive by'. Then we drove out of town to Charles Darwin National Park, to the South East of the city and had a great view of the city of Darwin. It's really busy, with lots of building happening, mainly high rise apartments. Don't know where all the people are going to come from to buy these apartments, some priced around $800,000.
Also in the Park were some WWII munitions storage bunkers.
We drove up the Museum and Art Gallery, and had an hour to explore.
The most famous exhibit is 'Sweatheart' - oops, sorry about that should be 'Sweetheart', (it was very hot and sticky.)
Sweetheart is the Northern Territory's famous icon. In the 1970s he gained notoriety for attacking dinghies at a popular Darwin fishing spot. On 19 July 1979 he was trapped, but unfortunately drowned in the attempt to move his bulk ashore.
He weighed - 780 kg
Total length - 5.1 m
Length from snout to vent 2.4 m
Maximum girth - 2.3 m
After staring at Sweetheart for a while we explored the rest of the exhibits, there was a very interesting area showing the devastation caused by Cyclone Tracy, on Christmas Eve 1974. There was a totally dark room where they played a tape of the sound of the cyclone raging outside. Outside the room there was a sign advising that it may cause distress to anyone who actually experienced the cyclone.
Then we looked around the Art Gallery. Michael missed one exhibit but it was so good that I went and fetched him back to see it - these wonderful pots.
Then it was time to continue the tour - we drove out to Fannie Bay (passed the gaol) and from the East point reserve looked back at the city.
Then we drove back towards the city centre and went into the George Brown Botanic Gardens. We had about 20 minutes to wander, but the gardens are quite vast and so interesting, it was only a taste of the wonderful garden. Which had to be replanted after Cyclone Tracy, the head gardener responsible for the replanting and the care of the garden was - George Brown.
Then as the sun set and the bats started flying overhead we got back on the coach and headed back into the city centre, and our hotel drop off. We headed straight out to Mitchell Street and decided on pizza for dinner. Then we could completely relax all evening, in front of the telly.
The next day we were feeling quite jaded, and decided to cancel our trip to Lichfield park due the following day. The thought of sitting a whole day in another coach and just a few minutes at each Park stop had lost its' appeal. We wanted to relax, try and clear our sinuses, get rid of our coughs before getting on the plane in a couple of days time. Lichfield Park and Kakadu are on our list of places to visit in the motor home, and have plenty of camp spots so we can visit them at our leisure. I contacted the tour company and cancelled so that they wouldn't be looking for us tomorrow morning.
We had a very lazy day, just a short walk through the Mall stopping for lunch at for Chinese in the food court. It was very, very hot, even some locals were complaining about the heat. There are 2 cyclones to blame, Nathan is over northern Queensland and Olwyn is over the coast in northern Western Australia, between them they are apparently sucking the air out of the Northern Territory.
Our day of rest seemed to have worked and we were both feeling a lot better.
We were up in our room reading and noticed big black clouds over the harbour.
We sat and watched the cloud move over the city, the little rain that fell, fell heavily but only for a short time. It started to rain outside our hotel at 5.58pm and was over by 6.04pm. So, we had experienced 'The Wet'!
We knew when we booked the trip that it was still 'The Wet' in Darwin and would be quite sticky and humid, but the timing of the trip on the train was right and we do have only a few days in Darwin.. If we'd been in the motor home, spending weeks in the area we'd be limp, sodden wrecks by now. We are definitely coming in 'The Dry' next time.
The next day we were able to have a late breakfast because we'd cancelled our day trip. We had a long breakfast, chatting to a lovely couple from Canberra who we'd met on the Ghan. Then we ventured out into the heat and walked a couple of blocks to the Chinese Temple and Museum. There was a lovely little temple, which was a cool, peaceful oasis in the high rise concrete jungle and humidity.
Then we went to the museum, next door. The gentlemen at the museum were very nice and friendly and very interesting to talk to. One of them had been evacuated to Claremont in WA during the war. When the Chinese returned to Darwin, they found that the old China town area was no more - it has been levelled. The houses and shops may be gone but the community spirit is as strong as ever.
We had a snack lunch at a shopping centre and then sat in a cafe on Mitchell street watching the world go by until returning to the hotel in the late afternoon.
Another shower came over the city that evening but was just gentle rain, not the heavy (but short) downpour of last night. On our last night in Darwin we opted to return to the Indian place, we were not disappointed, another brilliant meal.
The next morning after breakfast, it was time to check out. Check out time was 10.30 so we had time to kill before heading out to the airport. We sat in the air conditioned lobby reading the paper before calling for a taxi.
Our drive out to the airport was uneventful, and interesting to note that like nearly ALL drivers in Darwin, our driver didn't stop at STOP signs either.
We were early so went and had a cup of coffee whilst we waited for those on earlier flights to complete their check in. When things quietened down, we checked in. The flight was not full so we were given 2 seats in a row of 3, with the seat between vacant so we could spread out. Then we found some comfortable seats and relaxed with the rest of the paper.
It was a smooth flight back to WA, out of the window we saw that lovely red dirt under us.
We actually arrived back in Perth early. We collected our bags, had a coffee and people watched until our due collection time. As Julia was driving down from home there was no point in phoning her, she was on her way and would be on time. It was actually raining again.
It was raining when we left, has it rained in Perth all the time? (The answer is - no).
Julia arrived right on time and by early evening we were back home, relaxing in our favourite chairs in front of the telly.
A fabulous holiday. We both really enjoyed the trains, the service, the staff, the food, everything was excellent. The hotels were 4 star, pity about the wifi. It gave us a taste of coach touring, and we found it quite tiring, but not onerous.
Now it's only about 8 weeks before the next adventure - a coach tour and river cruise in Europe. How tiring are we going to find that?
Not at all - it's all too exciting!
No comments:
Post a Comment