Darwin

After a first look around, Darwin seems to be a small lovely city, very clean in compare to similar sized towns along my way in South-East-Asia.

Darwin offers plenty of parks for sport activities and relaxing, a very nice esplanade at the edge of the CBD and Darwin is crowded of partyfolks. It seems that more than 50% of the tourist ownes a "work and travel"-Visa. I was also suprised about the big amount of  Australian guys living in hostels. They told me, Motels and Hotels are too expensive. During their stay at one place they prefer this cheap way of living, either for working or only relaxing between two jobs.

If you like to save money, try www.couchsurfing.org It's a good way to get in contact with locals and additonally you can save money, because no need to pay for an overprized accommodation.

As I mentioned in the "Arrival posting" before, the food at the supermarket, the restaurants and to book some tours are also quite expensive. Take it or leave it. Welcome in Australia! :D

I met one CS-Member in Darwin, but didn't surf her couch, because she moved a few days before to Darwin and stayed at the same hostel as me.

It seems here is not a CS-Scene like in Singapore or Bangkok.
Internet is mostly for free in SE-Asia, but not in Australia. Some hostels offers free Wifi, mostly you have to buy a pass for internet.

You have two options:
Firstly you use a local sim-card and add a data-option which is really helpfull in case you use your smartphone for Google-Maps as well and it is cheap. Depending on the provider you will get a good value for the money in compare to the Internet pass of "Global Gossip". Looks like they are having a monopole at the hostels. (More details to prices of sim-cars following next. The two cheapest providers I used were Woolworths and yes optus. Keep in mind, cheap is not everything, espacially in Australia. )

The other way how to save money and enjoying Internet is to choose a restaurant with free Wifi. There are plenty of them around. Just ask them before order only a glass of water ;) They have a minimum amount for consumption.

Australia the land of the Aborigines - yes,but they are definately not welcomed everywhere, even not  accepted in the society yet,

In Darwin and Alice Springs I saw them often acting in a negative way. In Darwin for example, I was quite early confronted with them. Darwin is full of rioting drug-addicted Aboriginies, throwing empty bottles on the walkway and public places, crying in public or begging at the evening in front of well visited restaurants, while producing terrible monotone noise with sticks beating on poles of street lightning. The police is present but they act only in case of difficult situations.

If you like to explore Australia by a booked tour, you will love this country. The choice of bookable tours in Australia seems to be uncountable. I guess, Australia is the land with the biggest amount of tour companies in the world. For plenty of money is everything possible.

It is terrifying to see the big discrpance after a 650km flight between the first souvereign state of the 21. century, so called Timor-Leste and his neighbour Australia.

In case you are planing to make Darwin to your first destination on the 5ht continent as I did, you will find plenty of usefull informations on the next few postings.

Let's start with Darwin: This small city with 120.000 citicens is part of the subtropical zone and cyclones are not rare in the rainy season, which started now. We remember Cyclone Tracy roared through Darwin at Christmas Eve 1974. As I wrote in the beginning, right now it is very hot and here is a high humidity......


First a few pictures from the walk around the city:

Parks for relaxing.

The esplanade

Plenty of people are doing sport in the park. 

Free filtered water is a welcome feature in Darwin. Also tourists participate and are happy in compare to the high priced bottled drinking water at the super markets.

There is also a memorial monument for the World Wars and the fight for Borneo.

Memorials of several wars.

Walking a few steps further along the waterfront and you will see the small harbour.

Plenty of birds at the esplanade.

Wickham Point at the Esplanade and the harbour is a place which is important for the industry and the flora and fauna will be conservated and protected as well.

First time that I hear about the Larrakia Saltwater people. The Aboriginal people of the area around Darwin.

Yes, alcohol in public is at public places in Australia often not allowed. This is a very usual sign.

Somebody shall say in Germany is everything regulated and forbidden. ;)

Australians are very creative, espacially in case of names for designated spots and locations.

The first Cockatoo and not the last. It seems the Australians love endings on "too" 

(Kangaroo, Cockatoo....lol)

I promise better pictures next time :)

Plenty of Cockatoos at the water well.

Just a few more impressions of Damoe-ra Park, close to the esplanade in Darwin.

An outdoor cinema. Unfortunately it was closed in december when I was there.

Larrakia people are the traditional owners of the Larrakia country around Darwin. There country reaches about 50 km inland. They are called "Saltwater people".

Flora in Darwin

Plate on a car in Darwin.

A new traffic sign for me.

Sounds like in Europe.....don't do this, don't do that..... ;)

Hopefully everybody knows what a 90 degree angle is......

Here at the harbour is the point of the first survey camp in Darwin.

Hughes Avenue is the oldest road in Darwin.

On the other side of the pier: Wave lagoon, you can spend a day at the beach,

Nice......hmm....but what happen if I wear shorts???? Is it then forbidden to cross the road?

Looks nice this interesting architecture

From a different angle. The Christ Church Cathedrale.

The old cultural area of Darwin. "Browns Mart" (1885)

Town Halls ruins after a cyclone.

In front of a building in Darwin. Former the Reserve Bank of Australia, today the Tourist information.

Other views on some different architectures in Darwin.

"Ride the Croc"? It is an amphibious vehicle. Yes, adventure sales in Australia.

Hanuman? I heard several times about this Hindu deity. Is there any relation?

"Chelsea" is a very popular and often used word in Australia.

If you want to read about the next picture, just press CTRL and + for zoom-in and CTRL and - for zoom-out. It is a Chimes Conservatory.

Some art in Darwin streets.

Another interesting architecture, once again a church.

And at the end of my walk around Darwin another new sign.

I hope you enjoyed this snapshots around Darwin and next will be Kakadu-National Park. "Wanna see wildlife of Australia"........lol

And let's see, if you are finally also so fascinated from this continent and may be you will have the same thinking about Australia and why it is the "more" of money worth it, to discover Terra Australia.´