We arrive at 2.30 am local time and make it through immigration without a hitch, although Sue is asked at Customs if she is smuggling Marmite. Apparently many Brits do. Outside the terminal it feels like being draped in a hot wet blanket. Despite the time of night it is about 35C and very humid. We take a taxi to Banyan View Hostel where a key has been left out for us, find our room which thankfully has air-conditioning, and fall into bed.
Later we take a bus a few kilometres to Parap market on the outskirts of town where there are dozens of stalls selling …. Oh no, Asian food! Actually this looks much more appetising than in Hong Kong and there is a distinct lack of pigs’ giblets and frog. We have brunch here and some superb freshly crushed juice (lime, mango and watermelon). Strangely to us, there is a stall selling ‘exotic’ fruit juice – strawberry, raspberry etc.
Back in our room we cool off for a while then walk into town down Mitchell Street. Darwin has a small town feel to it. Well it is a small town, although capital of the vast Northern Territory. We explore for a while and Sue swims in the small lagoon which is the nearest thing to a public beach that is safe to swim in. Despite the heat and the humidity and being surrounded by beaches, at this time of year it is impossible to swim in the sea due to saltwater crocodiles and lethal box jellyfish. No problem with sharks though – maybe the crocodiles scare them off.
