The stay in Pine Tree Hotel in Katherine
was comfortable and I was in a happy frame of mind as the backlog of blogs and
all other documentation had been caught up on. I delayed the start for Darwin
as it was just a four hour drive away. I had breakfast of muesli and milk after
a cup of coffee. When I went to the reception to deposit the key I was told
that buffet breakfast is free with the room. I skipped it because I was quite
full. The Thai girl at the reception was surprised because she expected me to
take advantage of the lovely spread.
The drive from Katherine to Darwin
went off without any incident. The speed limit continued to be 130 kph and that has been the surprise package in the visit to Northern Territory. One of the sights
in Northern Territory are the large number of termite mounds on either side of
the road. I felt that the indigenes worshipped them, because some of them were
‘clothed’ and some others had markings on them.
I reached Darwin by noon and I
found to my consternation that there was no parking near the YHA. With some
difficulty I found a slot not very far away and, being Sunday, the slot was
free too. The young lady at the reception confirmed the booking for a private
en suite room; I changed to the private room from shared accommodation for
privacy and room to empty the car when I give her for service. The lady,
however, told me that the room would be ready only by 2 pm. I had almost two
hours to kill in hot and humid conditions. I was pouring with sweat. She told
me that the Crocosaurus Cove nearby would be a good place to spend some time
getting familiar with the most famous inhabitant of the Northern Territory –
the crocodile. I was keen to taste its meat too and the lady told me that The
Tap next door offered options with crocodile meat. Fortunately, it was not
difficult to find the free YHA parking after going through the directions given
at the reception.
The Tap seemed to be a popular food
and drink joint. The place was mightily busy at the time, possibly because it
was a Sunday too. I ordered a Croc Snitzel and waited with some amount of
unease for the order to mature. How would it taste? Would it be smelly? Would
the meat be tough? The girl who took the order suggested garlic sauce with the
Snitzel and I accepted the suggestion. The humungous portion, as is wont in
Australia, arrived with a mound of fries, a lot of fresh leaves(!) and two
large pieces of the crumb fried croc meat, which were arranged to look like the
jaws of the crocodile. The meat was neither smelly nor tough; it tasted just
like chicken, the same consistency. I was determined not to waste the food and
I sat there for nearly an hour to finish the meal with many glasses of cold
water. I normally avoid cold water, but the heat and the humidity was getting
to me.
Once the Snitzel was polished off I
walked to the Crocosaurus Cove and took a discounted ticket on offer for YHA
residents and members. The ticket was unique in that it permits one to walk in
and out of the facility till closing time at 6 pm. Besides going through the
displays in the Cove I was keen on watching the crocodile feeding at 2.30 pm. The
Cove has a large ‘collection’ of saltwater crocodiles and the manner in which
some of them came to be in the Cove is very interestingly mentioned. Myths and
facts about crocodiles and their interrelationship in the ecosystem are vividly
described. It is possible to get up close and personal with the crocodiles in
the Cage of Death. Most of the crocodiles seemed uninterested in the humans
lowered in the acrylic cage while the humans thrashed around trying to get the
crocs interested and give the humans close-ups. The Cove also boasts of one of
the largest display of reptiles and turtles. Various sizes and shapes of goannas
and snakes are displayed in their natural setting. The huge aquarium has large
sized Barramundis, Whiprays and Archer Fish. The crocodile feeding session was
most unprofessionally handled. The exit from the Cove is through a souvenir store
from where one can pick up stuff made of crocodile skin or other keepsakes.
By the time I finished the Cove visit
the room was ready for occupation. I was disappointed that Wi-Fi was not
provided free of cost with the private room. I was told that the communal
kitchen is on level 1 and laundry on level 2. The large sized room had a bunk
bed with a double bed at the bottom and a single on top. Lockers were provided
too. I put the bags in and took a snooze. The heat had exhausted me. In an hour
I was up, refreshed and ready to explore the city on foot.
At the reception I got a general idea
of what I could do in the next few hours. My destination was Stokes Hill Wharf
and I set out in that direction. The YHA is in the heart of the city with the
stately Hilton just a five minute walk from it. Further down the road was the
majestic modern building that housed the Parliament of the Northern Territory.
From the plaques on display I could make out that the building with most modern
facilities was built between 1990 and 1994. There was not a security guard on
display or anything else to show that the Legislative Assembly functioned here.
A stone’s throw away from there is the Supreme Court building. The Supreme
Court in a State or Territory in Australia is akin to the High Court of a State
in India, with full powers in civil, criminal and appeal cases with the
jurisdiction of the State. Here again, there was no security or trappings of
that office on show.
Just past these two seats of temporal
power was the spiritual seat of power, the Christ Church Cathedral of the
Anglican Church. The magnificent church was rebuilt, with donations gratefully
acknowledged by the church, after the devastation it suffered from Cyclone
Tracy in 1974. Almost opposite the cathedral church are three important sites.
One is the bronze casting of a frogmouth owl which, according to Larrakiya
legend, is a manifestation of the ancestral spirit that protects the Darwin
waterfront area. The next is the site where the first overland telegraph (OT)
pole was erected on 15 September 1870. The OT line was completed in 1872 linking
Port Darwin to Port Augusta (3200 km) and thereafter by undersea cable to Java
by August 1872. A stupendous achievement by any standards, particularly
considering the hostile terrain and the rudimentary implements available. The
third is the Administrator’s Office, which had in the past served as a court
house and a police station. The Administrator of a Territory is like the
Lieutenant Governor of Pondicherry or Delhi. While the State Assembly is headed
by the Chief Minister, the Administrator is appointed by the Federal
Government, which has a larger say in the functioning of a Territory. The
Administrator is normally from the Defense forces and lives in the Government
House, a magnificent building overlooking the Darwin waterfront.
The Darwin skywalk offers unimaginably
magical views of the Darwin Waterfront Precinct that houses restaurants, bars,
a wave pool, an artificial beach and the Convention Centre, which can
accommodate up to 4000 delegates and comprises nearly 23,000 square meters of
floor space. A short distance from it are the oil storage tunnels that were
built during WWII to protect oil from attack of the Japanese forces. Two of
them are now open for public viewing. Darwin suffered one of the worst bombings
in WWII in January 1942 by the Japanese. Sacrifice and heroism during and after
the attack are etched in stone and bronze all over the city, particularly in
Stokes Hill Wharf. The Wharf has some of the best eating places in the city and
was crowded, mostly by Asians at the time of my visit. Incredible India is one
of the eateries here, but none of those inside the restaurant seemed to be from
India!
Back in the room after a three hour
walk I was ready for a couple of bottles of beer. Being a licensed premise I
had to buy liquor from the bar and I couldn’t drink in the privacy of the room.
The bar and pool were far too noisy for my liking after the long walk. I
quickly had a bath and settled or a Heat&Eat item – spaghetti with chicken
mince curry. The AC in the room was not functioning well. When I spoke with Uzal,
a Nepali boy manning the reception, he changed my room. That was it for the
day; a long one.
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