Chapter 4 - More sightseeing

Water Gardens:
At the Parap Market, we got chicken satays from a vendor that Yas usually goes to, and he invited us to his daughter’s 21st birthday party, which was taking place at the Rapid Creek Water Gardens. On the day of the party, we got there late, and the party was pretty much over. We found the birthday girl and gave her her card, then spent the rest of the time strolling through the Gardens.



Litchfield National Park and Jumping Croc Cruise:
Elaina finally got here late Monday night, so we hired a car on Tuesday and drove to Litchfield, which is about 2 hours away. The prime activity here is simply wandering from one pristine swimming hole to another, or bushwalking. First we stopped at the Cathedral Termite Mound, and then walked the trail to Florence Falls, then lazed around the beautiful pool, which was surrounded by a monsoon forest. We also stopped quickly at the Tolmer Falls, which offers beautiful views of the valley (see pic).

We had scheduled a 3pm jumping crocodile cruise, and had to make a mad dash to make it. Thankfully the tour operator waited for us since there weren’t that many people going on it. It’s called a jumping crocodile cruise coz the guy holds out a piece of meat on a stick for the crocodiles, and they actually jump to get it. I was only able to get one good action shot.

Chapter 3 - Out and About...

I learned (in Karama) that the slang for an aboriginal person is "black fella". Darwin is supposedly more diverse than any other part of Australia, and I've seen a small mix of Asians and Aboriginis - not that many though. Most of the market vendors are Indonesian, Malaysian or Indian it seems.

Met up with Yasmin's old flatmate and her friends and learned how to fish at Buffalo Creek. Didn't catch a single thing :(

Going to the markets is the thing to do in Darwin, so we went to the Parap and Mindil Beach Markets. Watching the sun set at Mindil Beach is also a huge fanfare with hundreds of people showing up...

Chapter 2 - Karama

Darwin is in the Northern Territory of Australia, so it's actually very warm here as opposed to the rest of Australia. On the night I arrived, Yasmin and her flatmate James, insisted on going to a pub in Karama. Karama is a neighborhood in Darwin that was compared to the Bronx in the Northern Territory newspaper. So Yasmin, being from the Bronx, was eager to go check it out. We get there to find 6 people and the usual pub scene - pool tables, a few arcade machines, etc. For a Friday night, it was a slow night, and I'm still trying to figure out why this place was compared to the Bronx. We played a game of pool with 2 locals (they beat us badly), and then left.

Yasmin - Representin' the Bronx

Chapter 1 - The trip - July 19 - 21

So I'm off to Australia to visit Yasmin who has been interning there this summer. Her other friend Elena will join us in Darwin, and from there we'll go to Sydney and finally Fiji. This is my summer before going to b-school, so I wanted to go out with a bang :)

JFK -> LAX I didn't want to sleep on the 5 hr flight from JFK to LAX, since I knew that I would have to on the Sydney leg. So far so good; we have about half an hour left until we board. I'm kind of tired, but not yet restless. I sat next to a nice woman who lives in Melbourne, and who had been on a 4 month long vacation in US and Canada. 4 months! Her and her husband rented an RV and drove all over - that's definitely something I'd like to try at some point.

LAX -> SYD: 2nd flight - this was a looong a** flight - 14 hours! I slept, I read, I talked to the lady next to me, I slept again, and we still had 7 hours to go! The movie selection was wack, so I didn't even bother. I watched the news and a documentary on hypnosis. We got to Sydney 1.5 hrs later so I missed my Darwin connection, but they had booked me on another one that leaves in 20 mins. This one goes from Darwin to Mumbai so there are lots of saris floating around.

SYD-> DAR 4hrs later, I arrived without my bag, because of the change in connection. The Darwin airport is tiny and the forex office was closed. I was able to use an ATM though. I took a shuttle to meet Yasmin at the Marrakai flats which are right in the middle of town. The drive from the airport took about 20 mins, and there wasn't much to see in terms of scenery. Lots of palm trees, and low buildings

View from our flat (East Timor sea in the distance)

Just arrived