I wish I had some spectacular story to tell you about day 3, but it was pretty tame. This was our last day, and we just visited a couple of cultural centers and saw some more rock culture AKA rock art. Honestly, when it comes to rock art, when you’ve seen one, you’ve seen it all.
The most exciting part of the day was when we were getting ready to leave a culture site we spotted a rock walleroo. I’m going to take a wild guess and say that it’s a cross between a wallaby and a kangaroo…and seeing a wallaby and a kangaroo all at once is a pretty good deal.
Cute little fella.
We got back to Darwin around 5, and our tour guide Darren got us a table and some VIP wristbands at Monsoons where they had a deal on pitchers of sangria, so we went there. The VIP wristbands didn’t really get us anything…but at least we were VIPs. We all decided to call it an early night, since we were so tired from camping. Never has a foam and plastic mattress felt so good.
The next day we went on a walking tour around town with Robert Mills, an aboriginal guide. He showed us different plants, fruits and insects that his people would use and still use in everyday life. He told us an interesting story about how the Australian Navy built a base on one of their sacred sites. The site was used as a ceremony spot for men. Now, to honor the Aboriginals, no women are allowed at the base.
Fun Story: Later that night, we went to the big casino in town, just to check it out. I put 3 dollars in a penny slot machine, and promptly lost it all in about 15 minutes. I’m taking that as a sign that I should probably never gamble again. I should’ve known it was going to go badly…the Teske family has horrible luck when it comes to gambling.
Our last day in Darwin was the 22nd. We had class from 1-5, and then around 7 we went to Hot Potato (yes, that’s the name of the club), where they had food and drink specials. I think I may have told you this before, but at Hot Potato, you have to buy a drink and then you get ‘free’ food. Yes, it’s kind of sketchy, but oh well. We ended up staying there most of the night, partly because our hermit crab made it to the finals. I know that doesn’t really make sense…so I’ll explain. At this club, they have hermit crab racing, where they number the crabs, put them in the middle of a ring, and the first one to make it to the outside of the ring wins. No joke. Anyways, our crab, “Freakin’ Rosie” (except it might have been slightly more explicit) made it to the finals, where she just sat in the middle and didn’t move at all. Way to go, Rosie.
(Sidenote: Remember our new roommate, Rosie, who showed up the day before we left for Kakadu? Well, she was in a different room when we came back, but that night, she keyed into our room at 4 AM, with a guy, wanting to sleep there. I told her that she needed to go sleep in her own room, and she left. We obviously went down to the front desk in the morning and told them about it. They said that she was being blacklisted, because she had apparently been causing problems while we were gone. So now, when something goes wrong, we use the phrase “Freakin’ Rosie,” but in the more expletive form.)
That about wraps it up for the city of Darwin. I had a great time there, Kakadu was amazing, along with all of the other little adventures we went on, but I was definitely ready for a change. Good thing we were flying to Melbourne the next day.
I’m leaving Melbourne for Sydney tomorrow morning (the 27th), but look for my post on Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road soon…here’s a teaser.
-Haley
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