Farewell to Aus

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I left Australia today after almost three weeks. It’s the longest I’ve been in another country so far. I can think of few countries where I could say that and still wish I’d be there longer.

My day in Darwin was less adventurous than expected. This morning I did my weekly check-in back home and finally finished getting caught up on postings. I also went to the Parliament House to check on tours. They only do guided tours on Saturdays so I was SOL. I did a self guided tour but found the information that was provided to be a bit too timeline oriented and detailed for someone unaware of the city's and territory's basic past and current state of affairs. I had really hoped to learn more about the latter.

My interest unsatisfied, I later researched what I wanted to know.

Australia’s federal government includes six states and 10 territories, one of which is the Northern Territory (NT) where Darwin is located. The NT is one of three territories that have been granted a limited right of self government by the commonwealth, meaning that a range of matters are handled more locally. Yet it does not have full legislative independence like the states; meaning that a state government is granted any power not defined as belonging to the federal government but the federal government can overturn territorial decisions, even if the power is not defined as belonging to the federal government.

Naturally, by this alone, it would make sense to become a state. Even though the people of the NT support statehood, the NT refuses because it would only be granted two senate seats whereas the other states each have 12.

Under the existing structure the NT is represented in the Commonwealth by two members in the House of Representatives and two in the Senate.

Without searching to the end of the Internet, this is all I could find on this strange system. I’m still left with questions which I would have loved to have been addressed on a tour.

I also went back down towards the wharf to see more about the pearling museum I saw yesterday. It appeared to be a maritime museum of sorts that really didn‘t end up interesting me.

As I arrived it started to rain. The rain quickly turned into a ferocious downpour that lasted for the next 15 minutes. Drenched people slowly started to come out of their hiding places as the rain slowed. I was fortunate that I just made it to the museum before the heavy rain started. Otherwise I would have been flying out in damp clothes.

Having largely exhausted the Darwin sights and being a bit nervous about the prospect for a future storm, I spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon reading up on Asia.

I made it to the airport well ahead of time. The ride out was a bit nerve-racking as we left one of the pick-up spots, a Holiday Inn. One of the other passengers told the driver she saw someone back at the hotel waving that the door to the trailer with our bags wasn’t shut. The driver’s response was that we’d be at the next pickup spot shortly and he’d check it there. Everyone looked at each other with wide, confused eyes.

At the airport it didn’t appear that anyone’s bags fell out. We all worry about the airlines losing checked baggage but imagine not even getting all your luggage to the airport.

Inside, I went through my usual pre-check-in procedure of placing my laptop battery and a few other heavier items in my pockets in case they check carry-on weight (so far they haven’t). Afterwards I headed through the domestic security (water is shockingly allowed) and waited until boarding time to go through a much stricter international security.

My seat on the plane turned out to be in an exit row so I got to listen to the special instructions from one of the flight attendants. She designated me and another guy in charge of the raft, demonstrating how we should use our legs to support its 35 kg (75 lb) weight in bringing it out of an overhead compartment. As is common she asked if there were any questions. The five year old inside me had several, but the adult didn’t ask them for fear of repercussion in a sensitive air travel environment.

What if one of us raft guys is missing an appendage? What’s the contingency if we’re all incapacitated or dead? Cause that could happen if we lose a wing and get sucked out the massive resulting hole. Or if we’re all high from all the oxygen from those masks that are designed to bring on euphoria? What’s the water temp like where we’d land? Are the waters shark infested? Would they go after the passengers in the raft or the plane first? Are their parachutes on board? Is the pilot competent enough to bring us to a safe jump altitude and velocity? What about customs if we land someplace where I don’t have a visa? Would I get deported?

My contemplations at an end, I read more on Asia and started The Jungle Books for the duration of the flight.

Getting from the airport to the hostel was a lengthy trip - the airport is well outside the city center - but uneventful. When trying to find where to catch my train into the city, I spoke with a visitor’s center rep who was very amicable and helpful. There were also people on the street who offered their help as well. It seems that the people here are very pleasant.

On check-in I met Andrew, the proprietor and a former Director of Planning for the country who has written a number of books on Singapore‘s Chinatown. He offers a wealth of knowledge on the city that will be most helpful.

He also told me a bit about the racial divide that is going on in Singapore. Apparently the Chinese population here, while in the majority, has been dwindling over the past few years (from around 85%!t(MISSING)o around 75%!)(MISSING). So the government is encouraging Chinese immigration to take place to restore the levels.

With things like this so foreign to me, I’m sure my adventures in Asia will be enlightening.

Tomorrow I have a very busy day of exploring.

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Photos

Inside Parliament House
They should have a guy outside saying "There's nothing to see here. Please disperse."

Comments

[Mumsey]

When you were five years old you would have fired all those questions at the poor stewardess and not rested until she satisfied each one of them with a very detailed answer! LOL Have fun. Mom