This blog is about our trip to Timor Leste (East Timor). We also decided to visit Darwin as we'd never been there before. The map at left shows the relationship of Timor Leste to Australia. It also shows Bali on the left, the subject of a couple of
other trips.
The trip started with the usual drive from Stanmore to the airport to board the flight to Darwin. The plane was almost full, with only a few spare seats. After a nice lunch we settle back to watch the new Star Trek movie. It was actually quite good, although watching planet destroying explosions and far-reaching galaxies on a 7" screen, at nearly 2m away, loses some of the impact.
Around 3pm we arrived at Darwin airport and picked up our car - a silver Toyota Yaris. We were actually surprised by the spaciousness of such a small car and the number of storage pockets. 15 mins later we arrived at the Mantra Pandanas in central Darwin.
Darwin is an interesting city with a small CBD with a number of tall buildings concentrated in a small area - much more built-up than I expected. The dress codes are quite different to the southern states though, with t-shirts, shorts and thongs predominating. Although quite warm, the heat was not unpleasant, and the humidity was bearable.
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| Eating out at the Darwin Festival |
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| Fish-shaped lantern in the trees |
After unpacking we set off to explore Darwin and discovered that we've arrived in the middle of the Darwin Festival. The main park had a food fair so we indulged in some Malaysian and Japanese food (best gyoza we've ever tasted) washed down with champagne, and listening to the singing and music from the singer in the open air theatre.
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| Darwin harbour and beach |
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| Aquatic pool with artificial waves |
After dinner we went for a walk and discovered the Darwin Harbour area - a cross between Darling Harbour/Homebush Bay/Brighton-le-Sands!
There's a small manufactured beach, a aquatic centre with artificial waves and lots of apartments being constructed. A nice touch is a covered walkway out from the higher level of the city and a lift down to the lower harbour area.
