Dispensor's Northern Vacation.
So I've been a bit absent lately, and not just from travelling around the country. Been a bit down lately, and I've been neglecting friends
and family because of it.
I've never really looked forward to my birthday, or had too many that I have fond memories of, even before I lost my mother when I was 10. This
year I wanted to turn that around by travelling around the country as a birthday-present to myself, and try to spend time with as many friends as
possible on and around my birthday. That way, even if I can't spend the day with relatives, I can start spending it each year with my (family of)
friends (and it would help distract me from the stress of my new duties at work).
Aside from a few things getting in the way to change my original plans, I managed to meet up with Brisbane fans on my Birthday, and quite a few
of my Sydney friends the week before.
Now that it's over for another year, and I get over some stuff that had me down for a bit, I should be getting back into the swing of things soon, or
at least, try to catch up on things.
Sorry about the neglect though. :(
Moving on...
Dispensor's vacation, part 2.
The first part had him visiting Hobart (Tasmania), Melbourne briefly (Victoria) and Sydney (NSW), which was documented here in his
Southern Vacation report.
The second part had him in Brisbane (QLD) and Darwin (NT), allowing us to cover 5 of the 8 states and major territories in Australia during my
birthday 'month'.
First up, the local adventure.
Saturday 28th November.
A day like any other really, except Chermside was going to feel the wrath of Dispensor...
Okay, maybe not.
But he did drag me along to a fan meet, comprising of Tinyjazz, MV75, JustOwen, Maxiwolf, Doubledealer and Deonasis.
We hunted to for more plastic soldiers for Dispensor's grand scheme of taking over the world (in other words, we toy hunted), and had lunch at a
nice cafe while playing with our spoils.
http://www.otca.com.au/brismeet0911a.jpg
That was the third weekend in the month long adventure around the country.
The fourth and final week was to the last Capital City I had yet to ever go to - Darwin. It was also the only State or Major Territory I had never been
to either.
Friday 4th December.
I didn't need to work today (my master, Dispensor, forbid me to distract myself, while I needed to prepare for the final phase of exploring this
country for conquest).
It was a 9pm flight from Brisbane Airport on Virgin Blue. From Brisbane, VB fly in and out of Darwin around midnight, while QANTAS fly in and out
during the middle of the day - for me, the direct midnight flights were the most convenient.
I was aiming to leave home around 7pm in case traffic was bad, but ended up getting away at 7.45... :o
Had to use the new road to the airport, which had me a little lost at first, but managed to check in at 8.20 for my 9pm flight (just 10 minutes to spare).
Since I hadn't had a chance to eat anything all day, I was hoping the HJs at the airport was still open. It wasn't, but Red Rooster was, so grabbed 3
burgers, and was so hungry, they were all eaten in the 10 minutes I was waiting at the departure gate.
Strangely, I was one of the last to check-in (most seats were already taken when I checked in at the check-in kiosk), but ended up with a row
of three seats to myself.
I was about to slide across to the window seat when Dispensor quickly said, 'look, it's miss Universe'.
I turned and looked, and saw no one, but when I looked back, Dispensor had already grabbed the window seat...
http://www.otca.com.au/nt01.jpg
It was a four hour flight to Darwin, and a 3 1/2 hour flight back.
For 2 hours I worked on my computer (until the power ran out), and slept a little the rest of the way.
The three burgers made me really thirsty, but when I asked for some water, the VB flight staff told me that they only sell water, they can't
give me any. Not very friendly of VB, that they make you pay for everything, including something that should be free, like water. They
don't even play music through the headphones, as a simple free frill.
If I had a choice I would have flown QANTAS, which doesn't charge you for such simple basics.
It might be okay with a 1 or 2 hour flight, but 4-6 hour cross-country flights aren't something you want to go through without the option of
water, because the cool dry air in the plane can be rather dehydrating (which is one of the causes of DeepVeinThrombosis).
With the difference of half an hour timezone (9pm in Brisbane = 8.30pm in Darwin, which is 10pm for the eastern daylight saving states), it was just
past 12.30am when we landed in Darwin.
Learning from my mistake with Hobart, I had pre-booked a car, which worked out to be about a sixth of the cost of my non-pre-booked car four weeks earlier.
After I had grabbed some Red Rooster (most of Darwin airport is open for business because of several nightly midnight flights), I checked in for my hire-car.
Stepping out of the airconditioned airport to go to the carpark, I was hit by the humidity. It was the middle of the night, but it was so muggy and
humid, and felt like I was wading through honey.
I had the airconditioner on all the time when in the car. Even during the middle of the night, I was sweating, because it just wouldn't evaporate
with such high humidity.
Ironically, the second song I heard on the radio was by Yothu Yindi, which really got me into the spirit of the Northern Territory.
I drove straight to the hotel, as there wasn't much open at that time of night, and got there at about 1am. The hotel was easy enough to find,
and I even picked the right one first up (the owner of the Holiday Inn had bought the hotel next door, and decided to rename it the Holiday Inn as
well... yes, very clever of them to confuse the tourists like that).
I suppose I can't complain, as my late check-in or lack of computer access at that time of night, I was given the Seaview Suite (the
equivalent of the penthouse - it was the best room on the top floor, and even had a name plaque next to its door), and all at the cheapest rate
when I booked it. I paid $99 for a room that I think was $300 a night - for a spectacular view, a double room of a bedroom and an entertaining
room, each with a TV, and there was even a safe in the room.
No, that is not a mint on my pillow... Dispensor made me sleep on the couch...
http://www.otca.com.au/nt02.jpg
And he hogged all the coffee too...
http://www.otca.com.au/nt03.jpg
Actually, a funny thing about the room was how there was a platter of about 30 teabags, 30 coffee satchels and probably the same number of
sugar satchels... The room should be serviced daily - who would use that much coffee and tea in one day???
Then again, maybe they don't clean the room that thoroughly, as I found a half empty tub of yoghurt sitting on top of the bar fridge...
And should I mention two of the 3 towels in the bathroom had hairs stuck on them... ewww! That's what you get from really fluffy towels and
coarse curly hairs that just don't come out in the wash...
Back to one of the positives of the room, the view...
http://www.otca.com.au/nt04.jpg
Being right on the Esplanade, overlooking the water, and not the CBD, the view was mostly green and blue.
Below is four photos pinned together, because I couldn't get the whole view in from the balcony.
http://www.otca.com.au/nt05.jpg
I got to sleep at about 4am after watching TV and eating the rest of the Red Rooster food. Waking up at 8am, I took a few photos (above), got
cleaned up, packed my stuff and checked out at 10am.
The front of the hotel that next day (Saturday 5th December), with my room being the top floor, central balcony and the one to the right of it.
http://www.otca.com.au/nt06.jpg
I drove a lap around the CBD first, and after noticing that parking was free on weekends, I parked and then walked around most of the CBD and the
newly developed waterfront, which is below. To the right was the next stage that was still under construction.
Looks like they're trying to yuppy-fy Darwin a bit, with this and some areas of the CBD getting a make-over as well.
http://www.otca.com.au/nt07.jpg
To the left of that photo above was the Wave Pool and Convention Centre. All nice and new...
http://www.otca.com.au/nt08.jpg
Heading back towards the CBD, we passed by Government House, which had a plaque out the front to signify the Japanese Bombing of Darwin in
1942, which killed about 300 people.
Dispensor looked a little too interested, as if he were taking mental notes on it...
http://www.otca.com.au/nt09.jpg
There wasn't much of interest in the CBD for me toywise, and I couldn't find a particular restaurant I read about on the internet (The Magic Wok -
it was said to serve a variety of meats, including crocodile, buffalo, deer, camel, emu, kangaroo, poultry, seafood), but it must have moved
recently, as I didn't find its new location until late that night, after it had closed. :mad:
Maybe next time...
Did I mention how hot and muggy it was in Darwin? If I thought it was bad at night, the middle of the day was... actually, it wasn't too much
worse... I did spend most of the time in the car or indoors - both of which had airconditioning (power consumption up in Darwin must be huge).
The heat was bad enough that I bought 3 bottles of sugar-free softdrink from Woolies in the CBD, and drank it all before it got dark, without
needing to go pee... it was all sweated out.
From 1pm to 3.30pm I drove to the various toy sources I had recorded from the internet at home.
First stop was the only real shopping centre in Darwin - at Casuarina, which had a BigW and Kmart (plus a HJs outside, allowing me to eat HJs in
every state and major territory - a bonus goal).
Second stop was a Toyworld about halfway to Palmerston (a town about 15 minutes south of Darwin). Then I went to the Target at
Palmerston, but only the Toyworld had any toys of interest (Movie Scouts - Wideload, Sonar, Brakedown - all new minions of Dispensor, for his
ongoing conquest of the top end).
I drove back into Darwin, and out to the old East Point Military outpost and Museum, via the Cullen Bay Marina.
This was the view from near the Marina.
http://www.otca.com.au/nt10.jpg
The sand must really heat up quickly there, as the wind was coming across from the water, but was hot once it got to where I was standing.
At the Military Outpost (was built in the 1920s and beefed up during WW2, but decomissioned about 30 years ago). The Museum is off to one side,
but I didn't get time to go into it.
The big concrete structure was the main gun, while fenced off area at the bottom-right is what's left of one of the two smaller calibre guns. To the
left is its munitions storage hut, with the watch-tower behind it.
http://www.otca.com.au/nt11.jpg
A closer look at the main gun housing, with a storm approaching from behind (it was a bit after 4pm, which is a fairly regular time for storms in Darwin).
http://www.otca.com.au/nt12.jpg
An unexpected find, when I walked around to the back of the Gun housing structure, was some filthy Autobot vandalism... Dispensor was not happy!
http://www.otca.com.au/nt13.jpg
A close-up.
http://www.otca.com.au/nt14.jpg
Heading back towards the City, I stopped a few times to take some photos of Darwin from across the Bay. These were the better ones.
http://www.otca.com.au/nt15.jpg
This one is my favourite, just as the storm had finally passed, letting the sun through again. (The white pyramid looking structure in the middle is the SkyCity Casino)
http://www.otca.com.au/nt18.jpg
And this one from the beach at Fannie Bay.
http://www.otca.com.au/nt20.jpg
Yes, it's called Fannie Bay... Dispensor didn't understand why I had trouble refering to the name...
http://www.otca.com.au/nt19.jpg
Dispensor was more interested in playing on the beach, which is where I found him after he ran off...
http://www.otca.com.au/nt21.jpg
At 6pm we arrived at SkyCity Casino, had a look around (it was early and fairly quiet at that time), and when the Sunset Restaurant opened up at
6.30, I went in for the all-you-can-eat buffet. :D
It was really nice, with about 40 different dishes, including a variety of seafood, plus several deserts and all-you-can-drink softdrink and hot beverages.
After eating, I went back into the main gaming area, watched some people on the tables, threw $40 into a couple of slot machines, and
headed back to the CBD at about 9pm to see if I could find some food places that were serving the sort of creative meats that the Magic Wok did.
The Outback Jacks Steakhouse had a nice range of giant steaks (another place to visit next time), but lousy service.
Another place I found had on the menu, kebabs of Kangaroo, Emu and Crocodile. I orderd a dish, to takeaway, and by the time I ate them at
the airport an hour later, they all tasted the same.
So I was back at the airport at about 10.30pm, and worked on my computer until the VB check-in counter was open (2 hours before the
flight at 1.30am). It's one of the only airports that VB don't have check-in kiosks at, so I had to wait in that part of the airport until I could check in.
I checked in at midnight, and in the departure area, there was a free WiFi internet zone, so I plugged in my computer to the powerpoint, and played
for an hour until boarding commenced.
We flew out of Darwin just after 1.30am, and arrived early back in Brisbane a little after 5am. The pilot must have floored it, because we
were about 40 minutes early for a 3 1/2 hour flight, plus, he zoomed to the gate when we landed, as if he had somewhere else he needed to be.
With just a backpack, and my travelling companion, Dispensor, I was out to my car and home by about 6am (the actual time our plane was meant
to arrive). Parking at the Airport for a little over 34 hours cost $100 ($50 per day), making me more inclined to go by taxi in future if I'm not running
late to get to the airport. It costs a few dollars more, but would save me effort and petrol.
One of the other bonuses of the weekend, was all that spare time I had to work on my BotCon 2009 report, which I was then able to finally finish the
following weekend and post it here.
After all the ups and downs of the past month, I think this is something I would want to do in future. Not to have people know that it is my birthday
(because I don't like people fussing over me), but to be with friends during a time that I have tried to ignore in the past.
I will now try to make it a time to celebrate a new year of possiblities and potential, rather than mourning the prospect of getting older.
Dispensor with his new army from Darwin...
http://www.otca.com.au/0912a.jpg
