|
| 4:59am |
An over-zealous desk clerk provided
the requested wake-up call 1 minute ahead of schedule. Goodie. |
| 5:03am |
As the human-based types rotated through the bathroom, I figured
I was due a quick duck nap. |
| 5:23am |
I finally was awoken with the uniform
sound of zipping up, and gathered up my bits and pieces. |
| 5:27am |
We settled our phone bill at the staggering cost of AU$3.50 (five
calls at 70c each). It seems even local calls incur a per-call charge,
but not a per-minute charge. Excellent. |
| 5:28am |
We arrived on the kerb to find we're
not the only ones waiting for shuttle, and also that we weren't the
only ones to be heading out. The view
from the street toward the pedestrian mall is quiet, to say the
least. |
| 5:38am |
Despite having ordered up our shuttle coach for 5:30am, nothing
yet. Fortunately, the flight is at 7:45am, and since there's no jumping
a second flight, I'm optimistic we will (finally) arrive on time at
our destination for once... dorsal feathers crossed. Walking down
the street, I passed the bar associated with the hotel, and wondered
if students, anywhere, really need
prompting to drink. |
| 5:47am |
Just as we were going to ring up the
shuttle service, it pulled up. Loading up, we found two lovely sheilas
on a backpacking holiday. It's a good day to be fowl. |
| 5:49am |
Safely nested into the shuttle, it was another 5 minutes before
we got under way, what with the driver making out cash receipts for
three of the other passengers, including the two sheilas in front
of me who appear to be backpacking about the country (although they
speak the Queen's English, of the Aussie variety). |
| 5:54am |
As noted, we finally pulled away from
the kerb bound for the domestic terminal of the Perth Airport. |
| 6:11am |
We were unloaded at the terminal, and made our way to the check-in
terminal to check in two bags, checking in at 16.6 and 13.3 kilos,
respectively. Not bad, eh? |
| 6:14am |
We cleared security, although Tubby
was selected for a random screening of explosives. We checked out
as No Alert - Green.
(I wanted to shout out, "We won!", but thought better of
it given the somber look of the Chubb rent-a-security guards. |
| 6:22am |
I managed to settle down next to Gate 2, giving me a marginal view
of the
runways to my right, and the two
backpacking sheilas having coffee in the distance to my left.
|
| 6:51am |
It's also a bit quaint that we have
two doors to load the plane, reminding me of the days where public
buildings had to have two doors, one for the common folk, and the
other for officials and royalty. I guess much still has regal roots
with the two
Gate doors. |
| 7:24am |
Boarding kicked off right on schedule (I guess it helps to be of
the earlier flights of the plane's day). Much to Tubby's delight and
my general disinterest, we were seated just across
the aisle from the backpacking sheilas, who are quite sleepy. |
| 7:52am |
After a taxi to immediate departure,
we were up and off the ground, and bound for Darwin in what the pilot
described as a southwesterly path before hooking to Darwin. (Looking
at the map, I admit not grasping the rationale, but I don't pilot
anything larger than myself, and that's only when absolutely necessary.) |
| 8:31am |
Breakfast was served of a biscuit and some hot dish, labeled"mushroom
egg roll." For reasons of identity and fear, I didn't delve into
that questionable dish. Further, I found the backpacking sheilas were
too sleepy to stir for the biscuit-based breakfast. |
| 10:30am |
We've been in the plane for nearly
3 hours, and Tilly, the toddler a row back has managed to scream throughout
most of the flight. Those about us were clearly annoyed, even if you
can't hear them rolling their eyes, you just know. (I personally question
why the child wasn't dosed with some sort of children's Nyquil, because
she clearly had a cold, nudge, nudge.) But, maybe that's just me and
my draconian perspective. |
| 11:20am (WST) / 12:50pm |
We landed in Darwin, and as one of the more interesting places in
the world, is a 1/2 hour time zone offset, so we're 90 minutes ahead
of Perth time. (The backpacking sheilas were heard to remark that
they felt Tilly was a troublesome lass, and suspected she was going
to grow into a serial murderer... a bit harsh, perhaps, but they're
entitled to their opinions here, too. Trust me, I looked it up.) |
| 1:01pm |
Luggage safely in hand, we made our
way to the shuttle bus area. |
| 1:08pm |
We were set to depart when a woman from the airport loaded up and
asked who Saffron was; it seems the silly girl (backpacking sheila
#1, the taller/window-seated one from the plane) took the wrong backpack
by accident. In glancing out the window, there was no mistaking it
-- they looked quite dissimilar... and her's had the bright orange
"HEAVY" warning because her bag was at 27 kg. |
| 1:11pm |
We were under way, as a bus with all
37 of its passenger seats full. Directly up from us was a lovely fraulien
from Germany, here on a work visa, wherein she essentially gets food
and board for about three hours of work a week; an agency places English
and German workers with places needing workers, often farms. (I suspected
she wasn't of this land when she whipped out a Siemens-brand mobile
phone when she began her text-messaging frenzy... which only included
two messages, actually.) |
| 2:31pm |
The shuttle is less than an efficient travel method, but at long
last, we arrived at the hotel, which is really more of a hostel. With
an excellent view of the
pool, and the markings of a college-age hangout (yes, they have
several beer specials if you buy the entire 6-pack or slab, get a
free t-shirt). |
| 2:54pm |
We headed out, sufficiently settled,
but having discovered no phone line connectivity. Alternative internet
access for the laptop will be scouted out as we wander about town. |
| 3:04pm |
Walking along Cavenagh Street in Darwin
toward the (more) downtown area, I got the impression that fishing
here is a bit harder than what I'm used to, and at least some of the
architectural ideas have been borrowed from the Old West, or vice
versa. |
| 3:11pm |
The first stop was the post office, where we armed ourselves with
50 postcard stamps, at a rate of $1 per. With this sort of bulk mailing
going on, maybe I need to start a mailing list or newsletter or something.
Or, perhaps not. |
| 3:28pm |
We made our way along Knuckui Street to drop us off by the water,
so I had go up and give
it a look... the water was a rather lovely, light blue colour. |
| 3:38pm |
After coming back from the beach,
we passed by some anorexic
palm trees. (They probably think they're still as thick as a sequoia,
silly tree vanity.) |
| 4:01pm |
A walk through the Darwin Cinema Centre revealed no new films showing
here in town, and the other cinema was a town away... and that seemed
a bit much for the time being. |
| 4:12pm |
Lunch seemed a fitting idea, so we landed in Subway. Yes, again,
but Tubby has to keep up his strength, lest he begin whining like
a infant girl (a la Tilly). |
| 4:33pm |
Bounding across the street to the Woolworths, I picked up a package
of Saltines (well, Nabisco Original Chipspread Premium, but basically,
Saltines), Diet Pepsi, and water... then off to lock those precious
things into the fridge (well, except the crackers). |
| 4:55pm |
Back in the room, and some bottled
water has been tossed into the chiller along with a couple of jugs
of Diet Pepsi. Mmmm, soda. |
| 7:03pm |
As promised several times throughout the day, the rain came pouring
down again, falling on the roof like a memory, falling on the
roof like a new emotion... |
| 8:02pm |
Another notch carved into the writing
project, and I felt like a walk-about. Fortunately, the rain has slowed
to a trickle. Thus, I'm off. |
| 8:58pm |
We got back just as it picked up in the rain again. Sort of to my
surprise, a good number of shops are still open at this hour, and
a Tuesday, no less. I'm going to chalk that one up to it being a touristy
area, and not a reflection of the usual trading hours. |
| 10:01pm |
Off to sleepies. Despite the hour,
it's really just 8:30pm (well, 8:31pm) "body time," but
given I'm not tall or old enough to be part of the co-ed backpacker
type congregating in the courtyard, Tubby is too old and socially
awkward for it, we voted that sleep is probably the best course of
action. 3, 2, 1, zzzzz... |
| |
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