Stephen Blyth's Blog

A cool refuge

Wednesday, May 12th, 2004, Australia, Travels, whanau, life

I’ve found a quiet corner of the Darwin Public Library that’s cool and peaceful. It’s a relief to be out of draining heat. The seasons are on the turn, from wet to dry, so it’s still very humid. I must say, I’m moving really slowly – trying to take the advice on the tourist pamphlet to avoid all movement between 11am and 4pm.

Darwin seems like it’s in a different country to Melbourne and other eastern cities I’ve visited. It’s laid back and slow moving. Languid almost to the point of ennui. Instead of cosmopolitan sophistication (or pretense) there’s a rough and ready feel. Of course, the city has been almost entirely rebuilt since Cyclone Tracy destroyed most of the buildings and infrastructure in 1974.

It’s self-consciously touristy too. You trip over signs advertising tours and souvenir shops. The multinational hotel chains have grabbed the best views from the esplanade overlooking the coast. It’s difficult to find a reasonably priced place to eat. In contrast to the Halls Gap YHA, where I stayed last week, Darwin City YHA is party city: piped rock music beside the pool starts early.

I’m struggling to find anything attractive about Darwin. The number of bars suggest it’s a hard drinking refuge from the tough interior. It’s as though it’s back is turned to the country surrounding it. This quote in Saturday’s Age from Matthew Parris sums it up: “They are round the edge of it, trying to keep it out: their bungalows are scattered, wrote D H Lawrence, as though dropped from a pantechnicon on a circumnavigation of a continent whose interior filled them with dread.”

I’m off camping in Kakadu National Park tomorrow. We’re on the trail of crocs, aboriginal rock art, billagongs and birds. It’s an early start: I’m being picked up by the Wilderness Company 4wd at 6.30am morning so I’m hoping we have a siesta scheduled in.