9/20 Last Day in Oz: Darwin's Sights

A lazy day ahead with no long drives planned as we were flying out at 8pm for Bali in Indonesia, the next leg of our adventure. Wonderful Steven did laundry while I worked on the blog; Whenever we have down time, every chance I get I am on the computer either trying to add photos into a blog entry, write up the text in a Word document, etc. At the moment I have 9 or so blog drafts all awaiting more time AND, above all, a decent wifi connection. At our hotel in Darwin, we had only very spotty wifi and it was only available outside the office, a fair hike from our room. There was only one, very dim light on outside the office and no plug to charge the computer. You should have see me huddled over the computer late at night outside by myself with my headlamp on the entire time - I was so lucky though that dear Steven took pity on me from time to time and brought me cups of tea to revive me!

I had so hoped to get a couple more posts out but that was not the case. I ‘lost’ all the photos in the 3 draft posts that were just awaiting the text – just a tad frustrating as you might imagine.

By 10:30 though we were both ready to explore downtown Darwin for the first time. The center (centre in Oz) wasn’t far from our hotel but we decided to take the car and delay the heat and humidity as long as we could.

Our first stop was at the Readback Book Exchange and Aboriginal Gallery located on the Smith Street Mall, a pedestrian thoroughfare. We’d first seen represented the shop at the Mindil Market when we arrived on Thursday. We wanted to wander through and see more of what they had available for sale without having to rush.

So many wonderful choices of local aboriginal art to choose from that we ended up staying there quite a while and sure didn't regret a moment of it.

This woman painting outside the bookstore/gallery didn't object at all to having her photo taken. I believe she would sell the completed painting for AUD 850.

The owner was a delightful woman who was a fount of knowledge about Aboriginal art in the Northern Territory. We had difficulty choosing what to buy but buy one we did so I hope you’ll see it for yourself someday. She generously gave Steven a small rock he was admiring that happened to be painted by the same artist and told him the story behind it.

Plaque on the Mall describing the Japanese bombing of Darwin.

 Walked over to the quite stunning NorthernTerritory Parliament House at the edge of Darwin’s sea cliffs.

Bicentennial Park, our next stopping point, is home to many WWII memorials. One commemorates the attack by Japanese bombers which flew over Darwin Harbor on 2/19/42 sinking 21 of the 46 US and Australian naval vessels in port and killing 241 people. It was the closest Australia came to war on its own soil. Above is the Cenotaph. Zachary: You called us right here to chat on your break from work!

When was the last time you saw a massive bush that appeared to grow on top of a park bench?!

Saw steps going down in front of us so of course we took them even though we had no clue where they might lead us. There were some moderately interesting plaques and tiny gardens honoring past generations of women who had made their mark on Darwin. What a shame though that the area was so downtrodden and inconspicuous.

Huh?

If we had had more time in Darwin, the Deckchair Cinema would have been great to go to.

This was as close as we came to visiting Darwin's Oil Tunnels which played a critical role during WWII.

Similar to the US Depression era Civilian Conservation Corps.

These flowers were part of the beautiful gardens at Government House.

Not too far along were steps thankfully going up which we took as we hoped we’d find Government House, the residence of the Administrator of the Northern Territory, akin to a Governor’s house in the US. The house is Darwin’s oldest surviving building dating back to 1871. It has withstood bomb raids, cyclones, earthquakes and infestations of white ants!

Stopped at the lookout first to read about how Darwin coped during the war.

Government House at last.

Do you remember my mentioning the Australian Coat of Arms in the first Sydney post? 
Here it is again.

The limestone ruins of the Old Town Hall lies at the bottom of Smith St. The council chambers, built in 1863, became a naval workshop and store in WWII, and then a bank and a museum before beig destroyed by Cyclone Tracy in 1974. Can now only see the curved brick paving built against the remaining wall.

Opposite the Town Hall Ruins is Brown's Mart which was built during the gold boom of 1865. The former mining exchange is now a small theater.

Oh, were these .40 cones from Mickey D's good!

We had had enough sightseeing by this point so we drove back to the hotel and read our kindles poolside for a couple of hours even though we had checked out hours ago – what a nice way to unwind before going to the airport and onto Bali, Indonesia!

Posted on 9/28 from Ubud, Bali, Indonesia.