Week 8 of the DownUnder Tour

Please note that Weeks 9 and beyond begin at downundertour3.blogspot.com as the number of photos began slowing this site. (Also note weeks 1-4 are at downundertour.blogspot.com)

We have finally arrived in Darwin! For any of you who know Maree, you will not be surprised to hear that within an hour of being in the caravan park she had met the neighbours and started the music that turned into a bush band for the night, (see picture).

We also had other visitors such as this possum that Mariah took a liking to; at least until it climbed the tree over the clothes line and did a wee.
Speaking of native animals, both Mariah and Christian thought this baby croc was very sweet. Though they fancied having one of their very own, I pointed out that baby crocs are a bit like baby kittens in that they are very cute when small but then they grow up. Cats attack the native birds and animals but crocs attack anything they want to, including you, me and the neighbourhood cats. (Perhaps if it was just cats they would be very beneficial for our neighbourhood….)

It was a busy week with sightseeing during the day and watching the Arafura Games in the evenings. Darwin appears to be a very wealthy city with one of the fastest growth rates in Australia, a massive tourism industry, and public amenities second to none. If one didn’t know better they would think the public coffers were overflowing with massive areas of reticulated gardens, free access to many attractions (such as the museum), and state of the art facilities.

Even their public toilets are fully automated. When you want to use the facility (Exeloo) you press a button and the sliding stainless steel door opens, like on an elevator. You walk in and a voice tells you that you only have ten minutes and the door will automatically re-open, then the soft jazz music comes on. You may need to dry the seat as the facility self washes between users. When you are done, you move to the sink area and put your hands under the soap dispenser that dispenses a predefined (and adequate) amount of soap. Move your hands under the tap and it comes on automatically with warm water while you wash. Under the hand drier to dry and then back to the door that will open for you. When you exit, it begins the self clean cycle. The toilet rooms are designed for disabled access as well. Now if the possum above would just learn to use it…

One of the highlights of the week had to be the Arafura Games, reportedly known as the “leading international sporting competition for emerging champions of the Asia Pacific region”, though competitors were from far and wide, including the USA. It was certainly entertaining with Asian countries dominating some of the sports such as Sepak Takraw and the USA taking out the gold in the basketball, but it was the Chinese basketball team that made an impression on Mariah and Christian when they gave them small gold basketball pins to wear and sew-on Arafura Games badges. They certainly did a good job of representing their country well from a relationship perspective.
Many games require strength, skill and coordination but few more so than Sepak Takraw. This is a game similar to volleyball in some respects but it is played with only three people per team, uses a woven bamboo ball, (competition balls are actually a synthetic material), and the contestants cannot use their hands or arms to contact the ball. Yes, you read that correctly.

They serve the ball with their feet, (ref. first photo) and return it with their feet, (subsequent photos). As you will see they still “spike” the ball at the net as happens in volleyball but they need to get very high in the air to be effective. Have a look at the pic of the battle at the net and then the close up of the same, to see the position these guys are actually in.

One strategy is to do backflips and kick the ball when your feet are high in the air. This is a fast paced amazing game to watch and we saw most of the games, right through to the finals. We were in good company and even spotted one of the local celebrities, Jessica Malboy, (pictured below), who was in the VIP area. She sang at the opening ceremony but unfortunately we missed it.
We befriended a couple of the Malaysian referees who were kind enough to give Maree both a Sepak Takraw key ring and a brand new tournament grade Sepak Takraw ball, still in the box. They gave her this after the final as I expect they did not want to carry them back to Malaysia and knew that the children would put it to use. Christian is already trying to get the knack of it but has not yet mastered the backflipping spikes… but give him time. The halftime entertainment was also exotic and interesting with hula dancers at one half time presentation, irish dancing at another, and even Chinese Dragons to entertain the crowds. They even had a turn at playing a bit of Sepak Takraw! Oh, by the way, the cost to attend the Arafura Games?... You guessed it, FREE!

The museum in Darwin is terrific and varied, with displays ranging from information on Darwin’s role in the war, (did you know that Darwin Harbour had 3 times as many bombs dropped on them as Pearl Harbour?), to Cyclone Tracy, complete with a sound room that plays an actual recording taken when the cyclone was raging outside. There are exhibits of aboriginal art and history, a whole section dedicated to Maritime, including a couple dozen vessels that were noteworthy for specific reasons, a science area, geological information, and displays of everything from box jellyfish to “Sweetheart”, a 17 foot 700 kg crocodile that they unsuccessfully tried to relocate. It had a bad habit of tipping over boats but when they anesthetised it they overdid it and it died, so it has become a mounted stuffed display at the museum, accompanied by the video footage taken at the time they had tried to move it. There is so much to see and do at the museum that after three visits there are still areas that we haven’t seen very well. Another amazing fact about the museum….. admission is free!
We spent one morning walking along the waterfront, leaving from the city and working our way along the Esplanade, through Bicentennial Park, where we noticed this odd looking fruit, (pictured). If you know what it is, please let us know. From there it was down “Doctor’s Gully and back up the other side, around to Cullen Bay, then back up and farther along to Fannie Bay, past Sky City Casino, the Mindil Market area, the High School and to the museum. Even though it was a very long walk covering something over 10 kms, we had not seen nearly all of it. This harbour is much larger than Sydney Harbour and has incredible accessibility for boaters with good ramps in many locations. The seas are also very calm. They get a bit of wind chop at times, but no swell so the boats are relatively small. The seas are comparatively far shallower than at home with most fishing done in about 60 feet of water. Compare this to the fishing off of Ballina where most good fish are in 300 to 1200 feet of water and you would get far more time to bring up fish over the course of a day because they only need to come up such short distances. :)
I went for my first fish in Darwin the other day, but only caught the bottom of the ocean and couldn’t get it to come up regardless of how I tried to finesse it. I was fishing from a pier that juts out into to ocean alongside a boat ramp, (ref pictures). Mariah was gracious and suggested that perhaps it was a whale or croc and they just did not want to move. Two lures later I gave up but it was still good to wet a line.
We fit in some study time (see pic) with Maree and the children using both the Darwin public library as well as the Northern Territory Parliamentary Library. Now you wouldn’t see that possible in any other Parliament I am aware of but they are very amenable here in the Northern Territory! We also had a full guided tour of the Parliament Building, a cyclone proof structure that cost more than anyone wants to admit, but it is built to last. Please note the photos of the interior of the great hall and the aboriginal art assembled and titled “The Meeting Place”. As you can see, we had the place to ourselves. Out on the back steps one looks out at a fountain and then over the harbour, with the navy vessel strategically positioned to ensure the highest security is maintained within the Parliament building, even from approaches at sea.
May as well do some real exploring then and Mariah and Christian decided they could jointly manage the Parliamentary affairs and took over the chair of the speaker of the house. When they were not sure how to rule on an issue they would confer and come to consensus, in the same manner as normally happens in Parliament. :)

They even carried the official 4.5kg gold and silver mace, just to ward off any would be impersonators.
Following their brilliant job in this role they met with the Governor, (the Hon. Ted Eagan), at the Governor’s mansion, overlooking the harbour. Just the gardens would have cost many millions but what a superb spot! The home is located high on the hillside and the gardens are terraced with paths going through. The design of these is intertwined with retaining walls to keep it all in place. They showed us where the Queen stayed when she visited way back when and we went through the photo albums of the visit. Afternoon scones, jam, & cream served with tea fit for a Queen was superb but we had to decline dinner, which was a bit more formal than we had the attire for anyway.

I must say that I am really impressed with the openness and congeniality of those in the NT political system and the Hon. Ted Eagan has to be one of the friendliest and approachable politicians I have ever met, (no offense intended to other politicians reading this…)

One of the “must do” activities in Darwin is to attend the Mindil Markets, along the beachfront on Thursdays and Sundays, starting from around 5pm. We were told that the thing to do is to visit the food stalls, select a dinner, then take it to the beach to enjoy as the sun sets. We found that there was another step involved, and that was selecting an appetizer to enjoy as one browses through the incredible number of food stalls to see what one wants as a main course. There was everything from croc, emu, and kangaroo Australian delicacies to African, Chinese, Thai, and Italian cuisines. It takes about 30 minutes to preview it all and by that time you are drooling. The sunset was very nice (ref pic), and dinner was great as well. The shopping offers no great bargains but some items of very nice quality, including woodworking, aboriginal art and clothing.
Next week we explore more of Darwin including Frances Bay, Fisherman’s Wharf, watch the sun set over the Darwin Sailing Club, feed schools of fish on an incoming tide, visit massive barramundi at Howard Springs, and even fit in a game of baseball with the locals!