My first night in Australia was spent sleeping in the airport in Perth. I arrived at around 9PM and my flight to Darwin was not until the next morning, so I decided to just camp out. Not so bad, except for the fact that it was freezing! I at least had some company, as there were proabably a dozen people doing the same thing. The next morning my excitement to get on my way to Darwin overrode any signs of my restless night. The flight from Perth to Darwin was about 4 hours, but I got some excellent birds-eye views of the red sands of the outback, and even captured some really cool pictures of a riverbed, a brush fire, and finally the clear blue waters of the northern coast.
Brush fire from the sky
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First glimpse of Darwin
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I was happy to find that Darwin's weather was as warm and sunny as anywhere I'd been in SE Asia. I really
had no plans when I got into the small town, so I just walked into the first hostel I saw to see about a room. Booked. Okay, on to the next. Booked again. And the next, booked again. Okay, now I was getting
worried. Maybe I made a mistake not booking a place ahead of time. Just as I started to think I may be spending my first night on the street, I walked into the YHA and they had one space left in a female dorm...for $36! What!? In Asia I was paying no more then $15 for a private room, in most cases in a pretty nice home stay or B&B. If I was staying in a dorm I paid much less, so a $36 price tag was a bit of a shock. I knew it would be more expensive here, but damn! Once I regained my composure I booked a night and began feverishly contacting whoever I had been talking to on couchsurfers to see if I couldn't find a couch the following night. Unfortunately, one guy who I thought was promising stopped responding to me, a couple of others already had surfers, and another didn't get back to me until the day I was leaving Darwin. Oh well. So after a second scare where YHA said they had no availability for me to rebook, but then had a last minute cancellation just as I was ready to checkout, I decided to just book my entire Darwin stay with them.
The city of Darwin is really quaint and easy to navigate. It only takes about 15 minutes to walk from one end to the other so nothing is really very far away. On the opposite side of town from where I was staying there is an area called the Waterfront. You walk through a little historic area to get to it and it is almost like a modern resort area. Lots of grassy space for subathing or picnicking, a small man-made beach, and a massive wave pool that costs $5 to get into on the left and restaurants and small shops to the right. It's a nice area to spend a relaxing afternoon. While I was there they had a music festival going on with music and dancing performances through the weekend.
had no plans when I got into the small town, so I just walked into the first hostel I saw to see about a room. Booked. Okay, on to the next. Booked again. And the next, booked again. Okay, now I was getting
worried. Maybe I made a mistake not booking a place ahead of time. Just as I started to think I may be spending my first night on the street, I walked into the YHA and they had one space left in a female dorm...for $36! What!? In Asia I was paying no more then $15 for a private room, in most cases in a pretty nice home stay or B&B. If I was staying in a dorm I paid much less, so a $36 price tag was a bit of a shock. I knew it would be more expensive here, but damn! Once I regained my composure I booked a night and began feverishly contacting whoever I had been talking to on couchsurfers to see if I couldn't find a couch the following night. Unfortunately, one guy who I thought was promising stopped responding to me, a couple of others already had surfers, and another didn't get back to me until the day I was leaving Darwin. Oh well. So after a second scare where YHA said they had no availability for me to rebook, but then had a last minute cancellation just as I was ready to checkout, I decided to just book my entire Darwin stay with them.
The city of Darwin is really quaint and easy to navigate. It only takes about 15 minutes to walk from one end to the other so nothing is really very far away. On the opposite side of town from where I was staying there is an area called the Waterfront. You walk through a little historic area to get to it and it is almost like a modern resort area. Lots of grassy space for subathing or picnicking, a small man-made beach, and a massive wave pool that costs $5 to get into on the left and restaurants and small shops to the right. It's a nice area to spend a relaxing afternoon. While I was there they had a music festival going on with music and dancing performances through the weekend.
The Waterfront
On day two I decided to check out a crocodile park called Crocosaurus Cove. To be honest, I did not hold much hope for the place since it was right in the center of town, and it was called Crocosaurus Cove, but I've always had a fasciniation with crocodiles and aligators, since they are pretty much the only animals who have been around since the age of the dinosaur, with little natural adaption from then to now. The admission fee was a bit steep at $29, but I'm glad I bit the bullet because the park ended up being really cool. I thought I would spend maybe an hour or two tops, but I ended up staying all day. Every half hour they held activities such as feeding the crocodiles, or holding baby crocs, or feeding or holding several other fish and reptile species they housed. The park had at least a handful of massive salt water crocs, which the Aussies call 'Salties,' that ranged anywhere from 4 to 5 1\2 meters. For an additional fee you could help feed these monsters, but I was happy enough to just watch. I did however participate in the feeding of the adolecent crocs, which was free! Small pieces of raw chicken were attached to the end of sturdy fishing poles, and the little guys would launch almost their entire bodies out of the water for the snack. I also got to hold and do a mini photo shoot with a baby crocodile. As far as the cage of death, it looked pretty cool, but at over $200 I again was happy enough just to watch other people crazy enough to get face to face with these prehistoric beasts. The cage was made out of thick plastic, and attached to a pully system that allowed them to dip it in and out of several tanks. Once the cage was submerged they would lure the crocs towards it with pieces of chicken.
Besides the crocs there were other fish and reptiles. \one of my favourites was a fish that would spit water for its food. It is actually a natural instint for the fish, which in the wild would spit at insects flying above the water. When the insects fall, dinner is served. It was amazing to see how accurate they were. I also got to hold an olive python, a blue tounged lizzard, and some other spikey lizzard. At 5 o'clock, besides it being nearly closing time, the only other thing that dragged me away was the Mindil Beach and its famous sunset market.
Besides the crocs there were other fish and reptiles. \one of my favourites was a fish that would spit water for its food. It is actually a natural instint for the fish, which in the wild would spit at insects flying above the water. When the insects fall, dinner is served. It was amazing to see how accurate they were. I also got to hold an olive python, a blue tounged lizzard, and some other spikey lizzard. At 5 o'clock, besides it being nearly closing time, the only other thing that dragged me away was the Mindil Beach and its famous sunset market.
Crocosaurus Cove
The cage of death!
Friendly little guy
Fishing for crocs
Cutie pie!
Mindil Beach is only about a 20 minute walk from my hostel, but to he honest, I would have gotten lost without the help of a friendly local, who practically walked me right to it. While you can catch picturesque sunset any day of the week, the big draw during the dry season are the Thursday and Sunday night markets, which are held right off the beach from about 6pm to 10pm. I went to both days and I would definitely recommend checking out this market regardless, but Thursdays was better. I showed up at around 5:30 to first catch the sunset on Mindil Beach, and it did not disappoint. This is actually the first time that I saw the sun dip into the ocean without any cloud obstruction. Once the sun was well down, and the brilliant colors faded, I returned to the market which was a fantastic mix of international food, music and craft shopping. I was pretty excited about the food scene. Darwin is really close to SE Asia, which influences the culture...and food. You would think that after 3 1/2 months in Asia I would be sick of the food, but think again. I even found a little cart selling none other then my new new favorite food...LASKA! And it was good :)
There was a wide range of crafts at the market, but by far the most interesting were the aboriginal art pieces. I fell in love with this art the moment I saw it, simple dot work that creates beautiful, colorful and meaningful
images. I couldn't help myself, and splurged on a piece for myself.
I think the best part of the experience was a performance by a ridiculous didgeridoo player. He had something like 5 didgeridoos in front of him and was just making the most fantastic sound I have ever heard. It sounded like a DJ was scratching a didgeridoo record, and he was accompanied by a full set of rock and roll drums. When some aboriginal women started dancing to the beat it just completed the scene. Check out the video below.
I spent 7 wonderful days in Darwin all together and had some pretty interesting experiences, but I'll save those for another post, so stay tuned!
There was a wide range of crafts at the market, but by far the most interesting were the aboriginal art pieces. I fell in love with this art the moment I saw it, simple dot work that creates beautiful, colorful and meaningful
images. I couldn't help myself, and splurged on a piece for myself.
I think the best part of the experience was a performance by a ridiculous didgeridoo player. He had something like 5 didgeridoos in front of him and was just making the most fantastic sound I have ever heard. It sounded like a DJ was scratching a didgeridoo record, and he was accompanied by a full set of rock and roll drums. When some aboriginal women started dancing to the beat it just completed the scene. Check out the video below.
I spent 7 wonderful days in Darwin all together and had some pretty interesting experiences, but I'll save those for another post, so stay tuned!
Sunset at Mindil Beach
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