Chosing some flipflops I managed easily to cope with the snail pace traffic here and I think if anyone from Darwin wants to drive anywhere outside of the town then they should have to retake their test as the pace of life here is so slow and sleepy that otherwise they would probably have heart failure the first time they left the city limits and reached anywhere that the general driver attempts to get near, or dare I say reach, the speed limit.
After being here for a couple of weeks now, which feels like a couple of months, I can understand why the local youngsters go travelling as with or without spending money, there just isnt that much to do around here. The clubs, bars and restaurants are dead for almost the entire rainy season, with the bigger ones actually closing down with signs saying " you can find our staff and girls in hotels in and around the suburbs if you look close enough", but then why would anyone bother!
Many people might condemn me for living off fruit gums, chocolate and cans of fizzy drink but when a vending machine can of coke costs AUD $1.80 ( which isnt cheap in itself ) but a tiny glass of orange costs a whapping AUD $4.00 and i am afraid to even ask what a proper glassful might cost then I say, can you really blame me!?! I am sure my teeth are screaming at me, taking in all this sugar, but I need something to keep my energy levels up and awake without having to go find a cashpoint several times a day.
The weather here is changeable, which means that while it is hot, humid and muggy at any moment it could still chuck it down with rain for anything from a minute to an entire afternoon.
The mood of the hostel is little better than from outside of town and despite me sharing a room with three others I have yet to even be awake and in the same room with any of them even long enough to know their name let alone get a good story out of them, the kitchen and tv room are vacant most of the time and the only time we even rub shoulders with each other is when we are queuing up to use the free internet computers.
There are still plenty of places where you can visit to see boomerangs, didgeridoos, aboriginal art and crafts but taken away from their normal surroundings they look even less impressive than animals in zoo cages, and when you see a whole line up of them ruled over by a white Australian shop owner I just can't help feel that things have gone wrong somehow and that I will just be buying into more tourist nonsense.
The way to visit Australia is not like this, you need to drive, to rent or own a big 4x4 jeep and take a couple of weeks holiday and go off driving off into Arnham land, but if you want to do this I'd be quick as in the local papers I saw plenty of notices of intending mining rights in Aboriginal land, so sooner of later they might not have any land left to call their own.
The Darwin that I have visited is far removed from that of the film Crocodile Dundee, or even of the recent epic Australia, and being the rainy season just makes it ten times more sad and depressing. Even the McDonalds is not worth mentioning, which is a shame especially as those in New Zealand are, or were, exceptional.
Maybe if you visited Darwin not during the wet season you would have seen everything that this place has to offer. Berry springs, Mindal Markets, pubs full of backpackers and people everywhere. you just chose the wrong time to come here.
ReplyDeleteMaybe next time you travel you should try something other than macdonalds.
Regards from someone who has travelled as much if not more than you and currently calls Darwin her home
Anonymous
ReplyDeleteI am well aware that my timing was very off for much of my trip, and in other posts I have said as much time and again.
Trying a McDonalds once per city is for me the same as collecting postcards or keyrings. Would you chastise anyone who came to Darwin and only bought a keyring but not a boomerang or didgeridoo?
I was very happy to have tried both Crocodile and Shark while in Australia, and even thought it a pity that I missed my chance to have some Kangaroo when I spotted it the first time, but that's how things go. You can't do everything you want to and some things you don't realise til its too late.
Travel is not about how many places you have been to but what you chose to do when you are there.
Personally, I prefer quantity over quality, and this explains why I have visited some small places in Spain, Malaysia and Colombia several times and regard them highly.
With proper travel, every trip is different and everyones experience is unique and personal to them.
I am sorry that you didn't enjoy my post on Darwin but I am glad that you have found a place to live in Darwin.
From my experience there and from reading your words I feel that you will fit in with the locals perfectly.