WEDNESDAY MARCH 13: PORT 4; DARWIN, AUSTRALIA
Our first port on the entire cruise that was not good, very good, or some degree of great. It was not because Darwin is not a nice place or that the Australians living in Darwin were not nice, or that Darwin does not have anything important or is ugly. Everything can be summed up immediately below:
HOT TIP: IT WAS JUST TO DAMN HOT AND HUMID TO BE ABLE TO ENJOY ANYTHING. EVEN THE OFF AND ON BUS WAS STIFLING.
We walked from the ship for about 20 minutes and were soaking wet even though we dressed for hot weather. The combination of the high temperature and the humidity made it too hot to walk around. We got on the off and on bus (35 AD per person) but it was not air conditioned and there was no breeze. There is an art museum and a military museum but it was just too hot to do anything. The entire route t00k 90 minutes. Our friends the Farrens were on the bus. Paul, who may be one of the fittest people on the planet, did not seem to be bothered by the heat and so he and Pat got on and off and saw much more than we.
We saw some nice residential areas and parks Darwin was heavily bombed during WW !! and also devastated by a cyclone so we learned some interesting things, but went back to the ship by a little after noon. Generally, when the ship is in port, the only people who go back to the ship for lunch are those who are compelled to so for personal reasons or think “why pay for lunch when it is free on the ship?”. However, today, the restaurants were all very busy. Most of the passengers came back to the ship early.
We give our experience in Darwin at C with the caveat that we would not mind going back if we could have milder weather.
Renato Marzan, Photographer (Unsplash)