mybestkungfu's Diaryland Diary

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outback trip: part I

Sydney to Darwin by train (May14)...

dragged the washer and dryer into the
stairwell, gave the bed to Michael's
relatives, dumped the rest of the working
kitchenware in the lobby or the garbage,
sold the TV to the real estate agent,
and left Sydney.

i think i want to say that it was nice -
and it was - but if i had to do it over
i would have left after three months ago.
it IS a beautiful city mind you - but
it's a bit chaotic and run down.
(the opera house is actually a light brown),
people are generally arseholes -
which might be due to substandard
customer service combined with substandard
service providers (restaurants, transit,
utility companies, ISPs; you name it -
they're disorganized and unapologetic
about it).
i mentioned this to a few Sydneysiders
and they've admitted to noticing a lack
of national pride.
'We're out mostly out for ourselves'.
one dirtbag said.

the last hour in Sydney was spent
trying to fix a botch up with the train
tickets and it was lucky that the
travel agency was close by - because
the train people didn't/couldn't
fix it by CALLING the agency - so Michael
had to run back to the agency - all
because they wrote down the wrong
reference number on our train ticket.
both train and travel agencies
DID have computers but i think they
were using it to hold down scraps of
paper.

i guess the one thing i learned here was
to never ASSUME anything. don't assume
they have working phones/toilets/internet
access where you think they should.
and if they ARE available, don't assume
they're in working condition.
as well that staff can help you/advise you/
counsel you on things you THINK they
should know about (ie. their own services/
their own company).

but we finally boarded the train. hoorah!
the Indian Pacific.
it was equipped with toilets, showers, dining rooms,
and a small lounge with a couple of video games.
and every afternoon and evening a MOVIE is played on
teeny weeny tv's attached to the overheads.
after a day you are gripped with and urge
to gently remind/notify your cabin mates
that the shower facilities are indeed complimentary.
and they provide soap dispensers and towel service too.

we travelled on the daynighter seats.
this means you sleep in your chairs.
each seat fits a butt cheek comfortably.
i'm glad i took yoga.
the last night i slept on the floor.
i used our picnic blanket and the silk filled
doona (comforter) that i couldn't bear to throw away
in Sydney.

there were short stops in Adelaide, Alice Springs,
and Katherine - brief but we were going to come
back later anyway.
there was also a 3 hour stop at Broken Hills.
their main tourist attraction was their mines and
the they offered a tour that started at 8am.
passed on that.

every once in a while a pre-recorded tourguide commentary
is heard throughout the train speakers.
i remember the guy saying that the rain fell
'very occasionally during the wet season'.

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THe long awaited trip began in Darwin;
a good 5000 kilometres from where
we've been hiding out for the last 7 months.
Darwin is as close to Singapore, as it is to Sydney.

at the train station platforms
hostel reps hold signs up so you
pretty much get to take your pick.
some of them offer free shuttle service
into the city and free breakfasts etc.

we picked the YHA (Youth Hostel Australia)
part of HI (Hostel International) - because
you're pretty much gauranteed a certain
standard of facilities.

we piled all our luggage in (one 55L backpack,
two 27L backpacks, 1 small suitcase, and
3 green bags: one for toiletries, one for shoes
and one for the pillows and doona).

right in the center of all this quaintness.
right next door to pubs, cafes, and shopping.
i had also noticed that it was considerably
warmer here than Sydney. it is fall and
the temperature is still in the 30's.

the population is about 90 thousand
compared to Sydney's 8 million -
so the first thing i noticed about their
downtown was that it was SMALL and CLEAN.
walked down the block to the cinema to catch
'Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy'.
(were the bad guys modelled after middle management lifers?)

the evening was spent fighting in the lounge
overlooking the pool. we sat on squeaky chairs
while the staff mopped the floors around us and
battled via toddler-sized chess pieces.

3 hours later, i eked out a resignation and we
stumbled into our gloriously air-conditioned room.

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the plan was to drive from Darwin (northwest)
to Alice Springs (the center) in a rented campervan.
about 4200 km drive in 14 days -
most of it through the desert.
we had an extra day to spend checking out the city
best before we picked up the van.
incidentally, this place is named after Charles Darwin.

Ryan flew in late the night before and we met up
during breakfast (the statistician that
we met in Canberra - hanging out with the doctors).
we covered the downtown core in 20 minutes.

to the south eastern side of Darwin is a rocky
wharf and a small beach.
were advised not to swim due to large population
of box jellyfish and crocs during this time of the year.
had a quick lunch and the first of 108 peanut butter
sandwiches that we will we will cumulatively consume
in the following weeks.
i kidnapped 2 hermit crabs and we headed for another beach
on the other side of town.

on the pathway we ran into the biggest goanna (lizard)
i've ever seen outside a plexiglass cage.
it was at least a metre long. it sat there for awhile
doing nothing. and we sat there for a while watching it
do nothing.
then it hissed and i jumped up on the handrails.
we waited for it to disappear into the bushes before we passed.

waited for the sun to set.
set hermit crabs free.
ambled back towards town.

dinner was at a restaurant/bar Shenanigans -
right next door to the hostel.
had Barrumundi, Kangaroo, and Croc in a lemon pepper sauce.
Croc is pretty much like chicken - but fishy.
with the same chewy texture as squid.
Barrumudni tastes like any white fish.
but Kangaroo was pretty tasty.
not gamey like i expected.
as much as you can taste anyway past the lemmon pepper.

(i'm a month and a half behind on entries - but
we arrived in Melbourne last night and plan to
stay here for the duration of our stay so i'll
probably be able to catch up.
we haven't left the hostel yet.
our room consists of two metal framed twin beds,
one on either side of a small, white, concrete
and brick room.
it's cute - and it doesn't
smell like mold.
our own little jail cell! )

5:36 p.m. - Jun. 20, 2005

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