Tiwi Tour

“It would be genuinely ironic if we stopped to take a photograph of the sign and a coconut dropped on our heads”, I said to one of my fellow travellers.

Though I’ve been to Darwin many times I’ve never been to Bathurst or Melville Islands before, which are located about two and a half hours by ferry from Darwin. But this week I decided it was time, and so I booked a day tour.

Tiwi Islands coconut warning
Crocodiles, stingers, and extreme currents, which explained why there was “no swimming”.
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Music and Art in Darwin

Three years ago when my friend, Sue and I were both here in Darwin, we were truly impressed by a busker we saw at the Parap Markets. He was a good-looking young man, with a good voice, and a good stage presence. We were both immediately convinced he was destined for “greater things”.

https://jamesobrien.id.au/2019/08/saturday-sight-seeing/

To my delight he was back at Parap Markets this morning, still busking, and still in the same place. It was wonderful that he’s “keeping it real”.… Read the rest “Music and Art in Darwin”

Thousands at Mindil Beach

Though it may seem I’m on a “holiday” right now, I’m actually working quite hard. The days haven’t been necessarily overly long, but they’ve been fairly intense. After two years of working from home, face-to-face daily interactions can sometimes be quite exhausting. I’m also juggling aspects of my “regular job”. Nonetheless, there have been many moments of extreme pleasure.

Today, for example, we did an outside broadcast of ABC Darwin from Mindil Beach. During the dry season, the regular Thursday markets attract many hundreds of people.… Read the rest “Thousands at Mindil Beach”

Art in the sky

“It’s pretty busy down here”, a bloke said to me as we walked down to the foreshore of Darwin Harbour. He was worried about getting a good seat/view, and to be honest, so was I. Fairly quickly, it was evident that wasn’t going to be a problem, as people were fairly well spread out for the show. Nonetheless, there was a large number of people, likely the largest I’ve ever seen in Darwin. And they were all here to see a show featuring drones.… Read the rest “Art in the sky”

Crocodile tour

When I asked recently on Facebook for some travel tips/suggestions for my trip to Darwin, a colleague suggested the “jumping crocodile” tours. This implies something very “touristy”, but my response to such dismissal is always, “It’s okay, I don’t mind, I’m a tourist”.

I had a brief moment of wondering about whether this was ethical, whether or not it was cruel. But in the end, I concluded it was probably okay since crocodiles lead a fairly “brutal” life anyway.… Read the rest “Crocodile tour”