For the first few days we asked in advance if there was a charge for bread. When the answer was 'no,' we were invariably given a quizzical look, so after a while we just gave up bread entirely and avoided the issue.
We also learned that tipping is simply not practiced, because service providers are paid real salaries and tips are meant to express appreciation for truly outstanding service. This is quite different from home where tipping is effectively a ticket to safe exit from a restaurant. Overall, we found restaurant service satisfactory throughout our travels in VK and ZL, but not as enthusiastic as we have seen in places where the financial incentive is more directly associated with quality of service. Enough said on that point. As a further note, though, I should warn that in VK and ZL the entree as I have known it is called the main course, and what they call the entree is what I have always known as the appetizer. The logic, of course, is unassailable, and I guess, after all, we should view 'entree' as signalling the course just prior to dessert!
Our final half day in Cairns was perhaps one of the most exciting parts of our trip -- our visit to Wildworld, an unusual and exceptionally well done animal park about 45 minutes by public bus north of the city. It was here that we saw the koala bears (up close!), fed kangaroos of several species, saw a crocodile 'show,' snakes of varying levels of toxicity, invading toads, emu and cassowary, and a long list of birds and other animals that you'll have to go to Wildworld and see yourself! One small kangaroo or wallaby seemed less interested than others in being fed. I offered it a handful of Wildworld cereal but it just batted my hand away from its face! Just to make sure I was getting right message, I again offered it food, but the kangaroo stood its ground and batted at me again. For some odd reason Nina thought that was quite amusing. For my part, it was the closest I wanted to come to sparring with a kangaroo. On reflection, maybe it just wanted a cheeseburger. I'll never know.
Darwin. The next afternoon we winged our way to the second stop on our journey down under, to Darwin. It was the first time I have changed my watch by a half hour to match local time, something I believe is done in Indonesia. If nothing else, it took about that much time to organize my digital watch, what with adjusting date (which I had forgotten to do in Cairns), daynight cycle, hour and minute readouts. We checked in at the Air Raid Motel, recommended as a 'best buy' by Frommer's Budget Travel Guide for Australia. Because Nina and I agreed at the outset that our lodging must at a minimum have air conditioning and private bath, the Air Raid was deemed acceptable. Indeed, our room had five beds and, we learned later, was used by visiting aboriginal representatives and their families when visiting Darwin on official business.
Darwin is a port on the Timor Sea and is part of the Northern Territory, which is not yet a state of Australia. The Japanese bombed Darwin during WW2. In 1974 it was again flattened by Cyclone (Hurricane) Tracy. It has the Diamond Beach Casino, which is the Northern Territory's answer to Atlantic City, and is adjacent to Kakadu National Park, one of the wonders of Australia and the reason for including Darwin on our itinerary. Darwin is also tropical, which means hot and humid, much like Washington, DC in August!
We had scheduled two and a half days in Darwin, enough time to visit Kakadu for two days if we wished, with enough time to see the war museum. On consultation with VK8HA and a travel agent near the hotel, we decided to forgo the possibility of seeing animals at dawn or dusk and spend merely one day at Kakadu. That approach proved correct for us. We later talked with folks who had spent one or more nights in Kakadu. Some had seen a few more animals in the wild, but not enough more to have warranted the additional time in the bush. Interestingly, the younger tourists felt that even three nights in the park was inadequate, so age might be relevant on this issue. In any event, we signed up for the 12 hour tour through Kakadu for the next day. Then we walked about two miles to the pier overlooking the port and had our first taste of barramundi, the Australian fish that is so well regarded -- and deservedly so. Because it was quite warm, the restaurant was open to the outside and the sea breeze gave us a feeling of being aboard ship, though the napkins and menus blew across the floor and not off the deck! There were no taxis to be found, so we hoofed our way up hill in the heat back to our hotel and readied for the next day's tour. The air conditioning was working, after a fashion!
On a map, Kakadu looks like it is next door to the hotel, but in fact it takes several hours to get there. We saw one wild kangaroo and enormous numbers of raucous birds whose species names went in one ear (of mine) and out the other. We experienced the 'outback' as a tropical area with enormous varieties of vegetation. We noted in particular the dominance of eucalyptus and malaluca trees. As in any tropical area, there is a dry season and a wet season. We were there during the end of the dry season, which meant dust and flies galore. It is interesting that the flies were annoying but did not bite. The insect sprays we used seemed to have no effect at all.
Part of the day tour took us to Yellow Waters, a river along which we saw dozens of large flocks of birds, fish, and fruitbats disturbed by our presence. An enormous crocodile, named Pluto by the tourguides, before our very eyes devoured a large goose it had caught in the brushes near where we had just boarded our small boat. The saltwater crocodiles are man-eating and warrant care when walking near any water. After that visit I even exercised caution when getting into the hotel shower. Sometime before our visit to Yellow Waters a policeman's dog briefly went 'knee deep' into water along one of the tributaries and was summarily swallowed by a large crocodile, just out of reach of the policeman. (I believe that croc is now one of the residents at Wildworld. The lesson, I suppose, is not to get caught eating a policeman's dog!)
Freshwater crocodiles do not grow as large as the saltwater variety and are not dangerous if you are larger than a small bird. I took this on faith because the next day we swam in waters reportedly inhabited by fresh water crocodiles. I tasted the water when I got in to be sure it was not salty, and encouraged Nina to go in first. You can never be too careful.
In Kakadu, we saw magnificent aboriginal petroglyphs, reminiscent of those we have seen in Alaska and in the U.S. southwest. It is amazing to think that people migrated to Australia, probably from Java during the last ice age, adapted to such harsh living conditions and still live, though with some difficulty in the face of a more dominant European culture. The aboriginal culture is replete with mythology, stories of interactions among god-like entities that give anthropomorphic embodiment to their environment. I suspect that were we alone in the Australian wilderness those mythologies would serve us well, indeed!
That evening we ate at the Capri, an Italian restaurant near our hotel that made the best focaccia we have ever eaten. By dinner's end we were barely able to walk the half block to our hotel. So much for the relaxation of holidays. Our day trip to Lichfield Park started with concern. The four wheel vehicle that arrived at the crack of dawn was driven by a very young woman. As we picked up the other eight passengers I became aware that we were the oldest by at least two decades. What were we in for, after all? What had VK8HA done to us? Fortunately, our concerns proved to be without merit.
Lichfield is a relatively new park which features fantastic waterfalls, rain forests and outback. We swam in some of the most beautiful pools I have ever seen. I even swam across one and floated under a 100 meter waterfall! Along the walks to these waterfalls were cycads, short palm-like trees that are throwbacks to the Jurassic period. We saw small lizards -- one called a frilled lizard that is about the size of a small cat and which our guide caught and held for us to see for a few minutes - and, again, myriad birds. We stopped at four waterfalls, but the last was the most glorious because it consisted of a series of cascaded pools. Everyone could pick his or her own small pool and repose for a half hour in the natural beauty and coolness of the Australian afternoon. It was a terrific day and VK8HA was quite right in suggesting we spend the day at Lichfield rather than a second day at Kakadu!
That evening we ate at a unique restaurant called the Genghis Khan, where for a price fixe one could select from among a number of meats, sauces and vegetables and have them grilled. This is where we tried crocodile, deer, buffalo, camel and (again) kangaroo. During the day we had eaten sandwiches picnic style. While visiting the rain forest I sampled -- under the instruction of our tourguide -- green ants, which had a very agreeable lemony taste. I would not order crocodile again but I would readily try more of those green ants!
When we returned to our room that afternoon we learned that the airline refuellers were staging a one day strike the next day. We called Qantas and managed to get seats on a flight to Sydney the next morning; our afternoon flight had been cancelled. This meant that our planned morning with Harry, VK8HA, had to be scrapped. Harry's car had problems which prevented him from driving at night. Fortunately, however, we had made arrangements with VK8TA, who we had met earlier on two meters, to join us over drinks at the Casino that evening. On relating the scheduling problem, Terry immediately volunteered to take us to Harry's QTH.
Enroute to Harry's place we stopped at a gasoline station and while there were approached by an aboriginal family that needed a hot shot, i.e., a battery assist, for their car, which was a few meters away and plainly immovable. VK8TA cheerfully assisted, after which one of the adult male members of the family came over to our car, stretched out his hand to me and thanked me profusely, blessing me with good 'dream sleep.' I was quite impressed.
Our short visit with Harry was exceptionally pleasant. While Nina chatted with Harry, I nonchalantly meandered over to the shack and managed to work EI3J in the CQWW CW contest, which was that weekend. (I subsequently submitted my log for zone 29 and expect to win VK8 hands down!) In a desolate and dark area along the highway back to Darwin I asked Terry to stop the car and turn the lights out. After a few moments, our eyes adjusted to the darkness. We gazed at a sky that I had only seen once before and which Nina had never seen. It was magnificent. For those who have never seen the southern hemisphere sky, there is a great surprise in store. It contains most of the stars visible from earth! The Milky Way extends mostly below the ecliptic, and the southern cross is plainly visible. We made another Milky Way stop later in the trip, but more about that later. It was by now quite late and we had to be packed and outside for the airport van at 5:30 a.m.. It had been another full and exciting day.
Sydney. The early morning flight to Sydney stopped at Alice Springs. As we descended, I scanned the surrounding landscape in an effort to spot Ayer's Rock, surely large enough to be seen if I was looking in the right direction. I didn't see anything so I assumed I was on the wrong side of the aircraft. The plane was just about to touch down when it abruptly ascended and circled for another landing attempt. This gave me an opportunity to look in every direction for Ayer's Rock. But I saw nothing. Glancing down at the tourbook in my hands I noticed that Ayer's Rock is 280 km from Alice Springs, a fact that I hadn't taken note of earlier because we had decided not to visit Alice Springs early on. As it happens, a two day stay at Alice Springs is required to visit Ayer's Rock. At least we saw the Alice Springs airport and witnessed the dry heat of this part of the outback. The terrain was plainly more desolate than we had seen so far in our journey. |
