Darwin

March 6
Darwin

First, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!! Yeah, technically it’s on the 5th, but when I called home today it was the 5th there, so it’s going in this blog entry.
I was in Darwin today, a city known for its crocodiles (among other things I’m sure). There really aren’t many beaches in this area because of the salt-water crocs roaming the shores. I didn’t have too much in mind today, and after an 11:00 rehearsal, I didn’t have a ton of time. I was hoping to meet up with another local via Couch Surfing but was unable to elicit a response from anyone, so instead I got of the ship with Terry (who was doing his show tonight) and we just started walking through the city.
The shuttle dropped us off near the main pedestrian area, or The Mall, where the majority of the shopping was located. We walked through there for a bit, walked a good deal past it, figured out we hadn’t had lunch yet, and turned around to find something. We ran into some guys in the band who are notorious for getting off the ship at each port and finding fish and chips (by chips, they mean fries), and after a quick stop to talk, they pointed us in the direction of a fish and ships place that they decided was in the top 3 of all time fish and chips they’ve ever had. Now even me, not being a fan of fish, couldn’t pass up a recommendation like that, so we found the fish and chips place, a small outdoor place, aptly named “Chips & Fish” (those Australians are a creative bunch).
So we went up to the counter and ordered our lunch. The recommended fish that our friends spoke so highly of was barramundi, apparently some freshwater fish native to that area and not really anywhere else. Anyways, it was just as good as promised, and me not being a fish fan, ate absolutely everything on my plate. We also ordered ginger beer, a non-alcoholic beverage that tastes strongly of…ginger. It was pretty good I guess, carbonated ginger drink, but another one of those things you don’t really see in the states. But all in all, it was a successful lunch!
We left, Terry headed back to the ship, and I tried to walk down to the water. I made it to the shore only to find everything fenced off due to the crocodiles, which was kind of a drag seeing as I had my bathing suit on and it was 100 degrees outside. After a quick stroll through the park, I returned to the Mall to get internet access, made the “Happy Birthday” phone call home, and then meandered my way back to the ship.
I guess it wasn’t as exciting as 4 paragraphs might necessitate, but whatever, there’s my day. Darwin was nice, hot, had great fish and chips, and beach use was subject to crocodile attacks. And there you have it – Darwin Australia – Seeya!