The first few numbers all came back not possible to dial, and feeling that I was doing something wrong I called the help line, only to find out that if a phone is switched off, in use or going directly through to a voicemail the system will automatically give me the same unable to dial message, which was a bit of a relief as I then knew that I was doing it properly just having bad luck or timing.
Eventually I found someone that was in and enjoyed a natter with folks from back home, before I had to go and start the day properly.
As the hostel does not serve free breakfasts I was forced to go and search out a place to eat for myself, but this was harder than it sounds and in the end I resorted to a slightly upper notch cafe where a breakfast, tea and orange cost over AUD $19, a far cry from what I wanted and I wondered who on earth would want to buy one of their t-shirts for another AUD $25 and give them free advertising!
In no real hurry, I ate my big breakfast ( big in name if not in content ) and then read a few articles in Time magazine before I decided to go investigating the towns CBD a little more. However the second I left the place the rain came down, light at first but within minutes heavy enough to be overloading roof guttering and making a right racket on the corrugated iron roof I was temporarly sheltering under.
It passed almost as quickly as it had arrived and then I continued on my way through the town til I found myself back at my hostel and in need of the triple S, and as reception had once again shut up for the midday interval I had nothing better to do than watch a bit of ladies tennis.
Someone is famous for saying that only two things in life are certain, "death and taxes" - well as a fairly well seasoned traveller I can say that for anyone that goes travelling there are another couplet that are as certain as the sun rising or setting, which are "fliers and bugs".
Be they ants, fleas, flies, mosquitoes, scorpions, nits, grasshopers, moths, spiders or just those tiny mini crawlies that are too small to see properly but crawl all over just about everything, every world traveller will at some stage be irritated both from above and below by tiny things getting into places that they really are not needed or wanted.
I myself, mainly due to my destinations and my desire for cheap accomodation have been bitten just about every day from here to Brazil and even Europe was not entirely safe or free from the pesky biters, as my friend K' in Germany will no doubt attest to as she gave me an electronic swatter for just that reason.
While England does have ants, bees and other insects and fliying critters looking back it is a rare day when I was actually bitten or had to go around with inset killer to get ride of a mini invasion, whereas on a daily basis out here I have to suffer them and my poor arms and feet have been bitten so many times that now I have bites on my bites, especially round my elbows for some reason.
Today was the first day when the hostels new sky satelite was being installed and so although its range of channels was limited, it was so much better than watching tennis through a haze of cloudy interference and I can't even remember the last time that I was able to watch an episode of doctor who all the way from the beginning.
I remembered a chat that I had with the other Brits back in Cairns, about trying all the differnet styles of meat and fish over here, so I decided that for supper I would give a go to either Aligator ( or crocodile ), Shark or Kangaroo, with Shark being the eventual winner by random chance and the fact that three medium sized battered portions with chips was only around AUD $11. Shark was a white fish that tasted a bit similar to haddock, cod or place, not having too strong a flavour and going very well in batter with tartar sauce, though not wanting to get too greased or salted up I scraped most of the batter off and left half the chips.
After having something to eat I took a wander back through the main shopping street, wondering how such a small place with so few locals manages to have such a big name for itself and came back just in time to pay my bill at reception, being unable to do so yesterday as I had arived too late in the afternoon.
Looking through the brochures in the reception I was surprised that there was not that many places to visit that commemorated the great wars, and indeed apart from camping or safari trips into the middle of nowhere the only thing that really interested me on offer was to see jumping crocs, as i have never been a big fisherman which is about the only other big tourist industry it has. The main strip has plenty of backpacker hostels, but I saw only a few wandering around town, not even as many as I saw of aboriginal descendence, and even the minor red light district was so pathetic and open only a few days a week that it was almost not worth having one there at all.
With my back still a little sore, and still a good few days left in my trip to Darwin, I decided to have this final night as further rest and recovery for my back in the hope that by tomorrow morning it will be almost as good as new, safe in the knowledge that it will only stay so for a further two days before my entire back will start to peel.
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