Australia Days 4, 5, and 6

Sorry for the late posting and formatting/bold issues; I cannot &*(&*&-ing correct it, and we're paying by the minute for internet access.

Day 4

Thanks to a determined Qantas reservations specialist in, of all places, Tucson, AZ (and his connections to the Airport Duty Manager at LAX), our bags are apparently on a plane to Sydney set to arrive tomorrow morning at 6am. They will then have to be transferred to Darwin, since we leave at 7:40pm for Darwin, Northern Territory.

Got a slightly earlier start this morning, due to the (appreciated!) phone call from the AZ Qantas guy. Broke our Hungry Jack’s tradition and had breakfast at Café Rimini, one of the many cafes and espresso bars around Sydney. Seriously, one would think all Sydneysiders partake of are sushi and espresso. At Café Rimini, we had a slightly ADD waiter who had traveled four times to the US

– Vegas twice, LA, and NYC. Jay and I both had pancakes (8.90 AUD), which were basically crepes—thin but dense and chewy. Delicious. We each had eggs as well (1 AUD/ea); diet coke for me and Earl Grey tea for Jay. Upon leaving, it dawns on me that this one place we keep passing and I keep salivating over, Cupcakes on Pitt, is right down the street. Gourmet cupcakes, beautiful eye candy! We stop in to indulge. I contemplate Dark Chocolate, but figure I’ve had chocolate cupcakes—go for something different. I end up with

Passionfruit, and Jay gets Honeycomb. Both were delicious, a little piece of art.

Next, we stop at the Opera House to use the TOILETS, and decide to pick up a few trinket

s as well. A Christmas ornament in the distinct shape of the Opera House (7.95 AUD) as well as a couple of gifts.

Our primary destination for the morning is the Royal Botanic Gardens, a beautiful park a

nd vegetation-rich walkway around another side of the Harbour. We enjoy even more views of the water, the Opera House and Bridge—plenty more photo opportunities. I marvel at all forms Sydney offers: water, rich vegetation, concrete, sand. It’s all there in perfect balance. We stop at Queen Macquarie’s Chair, a “bench” carved from stone that the governer carved for his wife in the early 1800s. The street was named after her because she took her walks on this road. Very interesting piece of Sydney history.

As we continued to walk to our next activity, the National Gallery of New South Wales, we see many exercisers—runners primarily, but also those engaged in football “matches”, sparring withboxing gloves, etc—and it’s evident how much athletics are a part of Sydneysiders’ lifestyles.

We spend about an hour and a half at the art gallery—the most interesting exhibits to me are the depictions of Australian landscapes throughout its rugged history, as well as the aboriginal art. Very moving, simple.

Jay finally had his “pies” – we got two type of meat pies and a sausage roll and spinach and cheese roll with Cokes for lunch. Typical Aussie street fare. Really good, really filling.

To close out our afternoon (we needed to be back at the hotel—where the concierge are graciously holding our bags even though we checked out at 9am—by 5pm to leave for the airport) we caught up on more Sydney shopping. Truly, it is a shopper’s paradise in Sydney—everything from Cartier and Louis Vuitton to the tiniest of girly boutiques sandwiched in QVB. I picked up a much-needed change of shoes (boots simply would not do in Darwin)—Bright green Billabong flip flops on sale for 5 AUD (down from 17.95!) I also picked up a cheap pair of cargo shorts (12.95 AUD) to tide me over in Darwin until our clothes arrive. I must say, I have been very low-maintenance—or should I say, not very whiny about our lack of frills—while our baggage has been missing. Wearing the same jeans for 5 days, washing the couple of changes of clothes and underthings I packed in the carry-on—I am proud of myself! Ha!

We had plenty of time at the airport to sit and relax—no red flags or long lines at Sydney airport. Our flight to Darwin—during which I snoozed as best I could—was 4 and ½ hours. We got another meal—yay! I have gotten very excited each time Qantas has served us a meal—must be the novelty of it. I don’t think I have ever had a meal in the US traveling domestically. Everything is so cute and compartmentalized. Love it.

Arrived in Darwin about 12am. Took a taxi out to our hotel—can already contrast this seemingly sleepy beach town with cosmopolitan city. Here’s hoping we have a fantastic time in the real Outback!

Day 5

Already a marked difference in the scenery and lifestyle, now that we’ve entered the Northern Territory. This morning we called our parents on a phone card (bought specifically to track down our luggage—speaking of, it should arrive tonight around midnight). We departed for the CBD, the Darwin city district, around 10:30. Found a breakfast place and enjoyed a huge meal: “The Big Foot” for Jay (15AUD): a veal cutlet, a lamb shank, two fried eggs, bacon, sausage, two pieces of toast. What can we say? We’re on our honeymoon! Jay enjoyed each bite topped with barbecue sauce. I had an omelette with ham, onions, peppers, and tomatoes. We continued our walk into town, peeking into shops of all kinds. Definitely a simpler way of life here! We did encounter a really cool find, Palspaley Pearls, an exquisite boutique that supplies Tiffany and Cartier with pearls! The pearls were absolutely exquisite (earrings and pendants start around $780 AUD!) One of the associates told us some fascinating stories about the company’s beginnings, who has worn Paspaley pearls, and even let me try on a pearl necklace (baubles the size of jawbreakers) worth $472,500 AUD (or $354,375 American dollars!) Probably the most expensive piece of jewelry I will ever wear!

Unfortunately, I had forgotten to put the memory card back into my digital camera, so the only pictures I have of me wearing it are on a Fuji disposable camera.Walked all around town, which apparently proved exhausting, because we came back and laid around at the hotel for a few hours in the afternoon: Jay watched rugby, and I napped.

For dinner, we went to Charlie’s for dinner, an Italian place that’s been in Darwin for 42 years. If you think about how long the Northern Territory has really been “civilized” (according to history, only about the last 60 years or so), that’s pretty remarkable. It was interesting, to say the least. Old Charlie and the service definitely moved at a snail’s pace – even for Darwin time. (Which is ½ hour time zone behind Sydney time. One of our taxi drivers said they often refer to slow people as “Adelaides” (as in the city) b/c they’re always running a half hour behind!) My pasta dish was excellent: Penne with bacon, tomatoes and onions. Nice little peppery build to it. Jay was less than thrilled with his filet (which seemed a bargain at 23AUD)—the cut was not good and it was overcooked. We dropped by Woolworth’s on the way home to pick up Coke Zeros, water, some breakfast bars, and some Tam Tam’s (Australian cookies). Then turned in for the night. About 12:40am, we received a phone call from the front desks that our BAGS WERE HERE!!!!!!!!!!!! Hallelujah! Six days into our honeymoon, we finally received our luggage. I hugged mine when Jay brought them upstairs.

Day 6
It’s Territory Day! Got up and headed down to Doctor’s Gully around 10 a.m. for the Aquasense Fish Feedings. This is one of the most popular activities in Darwin; for 8AUD you have the ability to hand-feed milkfish, catfish, and mullets. It was a lot of fun! The mullets ate pieces of bread right out of our hands. We saw bigger fish by throwing it out farther in the water. Lots of fun.

Next we headed down toward the beaches. By this time,

it is definitely getting warm! H

ere is that tropical weather we’d been wishing for. We walked down to Mindil Beach, site of the famous markets which we’ll visit tonight and possibly Sunday. The water was absolutely beautiful; very clear and
tranquil. Luckily, wemissed prime “Box Jellyfish Season”, which is May through

October. Apparently

a sting from one of those can literally kill you. There are signs everywhere. We didn’t venture too far into the water, just collected many shells, took
pictures, and absorbed the beautiful scenery. It was not crowded, just a few couples and families laying out and playing in the water.

We stayed at the beach for about 45 minutes, then headed back up the way to Cullen Bay. Cullen Bay is definitely a more upscale area; plenty of nice restaurants and beautiful yachts and boats on the water. Jay and I had lunch at Bella Amore, our favorite meal to date. We ate on a shaded deck overlooking the boats; the temperature was perfect. I had coconut-dipped prawns with mango dipping sauce, rice and bread, Jay had pizza, salad, and beer. It was nice and leisurely. We definitely want to come back down to Cullen Bay and look around some more. I will post about tonight’s activities later on, I wanted to go ahead and give an update.