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After an early morning touch down in Darwin, we were now automatically a couple of 'pomies' down under.
After making our way through customs(this time smoothly) and catching a shuttle bus, we arrived at our hostel and attempted to check in.
In our entire time in Asia we never had an issue with checking into a hostel early, this was not the case in Oz. We were politely informed that there was a strict 1pm check in time and that there was a "cafe over the road that is open." Some reading this may think 'thats not too bad', however our plane landed about 6am. Despite us pre-booking and emailing twice, to let the hostel know of our early arrival, we were not allowed in our room.
We were however allowed to leave our bags in the luggage room and use the kitchen, this would only be possible when the supermarket opened at 7am (so we had some food to cook). We headed for the cafe and awaited the opening of Coles (the Tesco's of Oz) to open it's doors.
The prices on the menu came as a shock to us, we had been warned of the inflated prices compared to Asia (obviously) but it still took us back. We were soon to discover that it's not just certain items which cost the earth, it's near enough everything, from chocolate bars to shampoo. With our Uni heads now back on, we did some budget shopping,
headed back and cooked ourselves some food, the first time in three months. Our tasty menu was made up of a tuna sandwich and beans on toast, thank god for tinned food!
The rest of our day involved a long wait (until we could check into our room) in the sun,
attempting to stay awake. Finally 1pm rolled around (about bloody time) and the room was ours,
and two other peoples, it was a 4 bed dorm. Our room mates then informed us that no one had stayed in our beds
the previous night and the room was free all along. Nothing in Australia is free, or at least very little.
After some more Masterchef standard cooking, a much needed sleep was called for, so we turned in for the night.
Day two was the day to take in Darwin and see what she had to offer...In all honesty she doesn't bring much to the table.
There is a nice lagoon area with a little man made beach, which we had a wonder round, after that there is one
strip of shops and a couple of fast food places. We explored these as well, except the fast food and that's pretty much it from Darwin. Oh there were also a few bars on the same road as our hostel, but at about $8 a 'scooner' (glass of beer, just over 1/2 a pint) we stayed well clear.
Lady luck was looking down at us though, as earlier in the day a girl who was leaving for Cairns, gave us two packs of fresh chicken, this made eating a much more exciting prospect on our second day.
We also discovered a strange Northern Territory law, which is we could not eat in the smoking section of the communal area. Now, not smoking in the eating area I understand, but if (like us) there is no room
in the eating area and the only table available is in the smoking area, surely we sit there at our own discretion? Apparently not, we had to move and therefore enjoyed our dinner, of soup, balancing it on our laps on a sun lounger next to the swimming pool. It certainly wasn't the end of the world though, just a odd law we thought.
After a change of plans in England (no longer going to the red centre) we had to catch a flight across to Cairns, which involved leaving for the airport at 3am so again we opted for a early night, this time after a 'happy hour' beverage.
The majority of people we chatted to in Darwin were working or looking for work and if this was the case you
could see an argument for staying there. Unfortunately it is fair to say we would not choose this option and
although Darwin isn't a horrible place (by any means) a day and a half was plenty of time there, bring on Cairns.
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