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Published: June 20th 2008
Hello all,
since about 2 and a half weeks ago I'm back in Darwin and I don't regret it! Darwin is good at the moment, and getting better each day as more and more backpackers and tourists are coming to the city! The weather is warm and dry, no humidity and no rain....it's the dry season!!!
Last days in Melbourne I left Melbourne on Monday June 2nd, my last day at work was the Thursday before that. I took my camera to work and took some pictures of the place. I will miss it a little bit. Manny is a cool guy and it was good working with him. The bricklayer was George, who is a Dutch man who moved to Australia at the age of 19 back in 1959. We spoke to each other the whole day in Dutch of course, he's a very nice person. Melbourne was getting colder and colder and I really disliked that. One morning I had to wake up and go to work while outside it was around 2°C...winter is starting now! So I thought: "It's time to flee this city". Manny's pay was good, but I needed to spend money everyday to
go to work and come back (depending on what time I start, I had to spend between AU$ 25 and 50 per week to get there. And paying AU$ 100 a week too...it was hard to save money. Well...I was able to save money, but not as much as I wanted to. I actually stayed 2 months in Melbourne as well because I was seeing a docter every 2 to 3 weeks there. I needed to go for check-up on my right eye. I had an operation back in Sept. 2006 and the stitches are still there so it needs to be checked every now and then. The first time I went, I had a high eye-pressure, too high. I got extra eye drops and that brought it down immediately. Now the eye is fine and soon they'll start removing all remaining stitches here in Darwin. The good thing is, that the Australian government pays everything because I have a MediCare card and I get free (emergency) healthcare here....an agreement between the Australian and Dutch governments.
Anyway, it felt weird to leave All Nations Hostel in Melbourne, after being there for about 2 months...in room 205. Had a very
nice time there and made good friends and I really miss it sometimes. I might go back to Melbourne somewhere at the end of August, but just for a week. Manny's house will be finished by then and I'd like to see it when it's finished...the garden will look be very very nice. Manny wants me to come too, so I told him that I'll have to work with him then for a few days to earn back the money I'll spend on the ticket, that's the only way I'll go to Melbourne for a week 😉 . He keeps telling me: "You can swim in the pool and Oscar will teach you to swim". Oscar is his little 10 months old son, LOL. He's working hard on the house and hopes to move in at the end of July with his family: girlfriend Julie and little son Oscar. George (Australian mate) will have a huge birthday party as well and I'd like to attend that. George said I'd better come over by then. I went to the birthday parties of Andrew and Jackson as well, it was fun!
Back in Darwin The first week I stayed at a
hostel called Chilli's Backpackers. Not too bad, but not great at all. Jhonny's brother was supposed to come over for a week but he had to cancel afterwars due to work. He'll probably come next week. I met Jhonny at Melaleuca Hostel when I was in Darwin before and he told me I could stay with him if I come back to Darwin. He's originally from Queensland not too from from Brisbane, but grew up in New Zealand. He's staying at the apartment of an older man called Cliff, and I could stay there too by paying a very little rent per week. Which is great because it will allow me to save extra. Cliff originally from UK and living in Australia since 1962. His wife dide a couple of years ago and his daughter lives near Melbourne. He's a very kind person I must say...like to talk, talks a lot....too much sometimes hahaha, especially stories about when he was in the AirForce and when he was in the Middle East etc. There is internet connection in the apartment so I can connect with my laptop all the time! Jhonny is not a computer freak at all, he barely uses
it, and Cliff connects just once a while on the internet. So most of the times I'm the one using the connection. I sleep in the livingroom, on a couch that becomes a bed. Jhonny is a chef and works currently at an Irish pub/restaurant together with his German (girl-)friend Julia.
Macca's So I started to work again at McDonalds in Darwin, which was very different that it used to be. Almost all the managers and crew I was used to work with, left the store. The new storemanager is a "bitch" and I don't like her much. She made my roster for the 1st week and I left a letter saying that I can't do the Friday shift. Then she replied: "you gave your availability and that's what the roster is based on. You have to work all your shifts for this week". I obviously assumed that I had the Friday off anyway because it's something important so I didn't go to work because I went to hospital instead. They called me around 11:00am (me still asleep) and left a voicemail saying that I didn't show up bla bla bla. I called back and said that I needed
to go to the hospital and she knew about it but preffered to ignore it, then she said I should have moved the appointment to another day. I said that's not possible because they're busy at the hospital, and she replies saying that Mc Donald's is busy too....as if I give a s*** about that, my eye is more important than Macca's. (that's how they say McDonalds in Australia: Macca's). Pronunciation = Mekkes (in Dutch). Anyway, one of the managers told me to leave my wallet, mobile etc. in the office because there is a thieve in the store. Since then I did it everyday, but last Monday I totally forgot....and after I finished working and I went out, I realized that my AU$50,- bill was missing out of my wallet. I immediately suspected someone; one person came straight in my mind. The next day I told the managers what happened, and I was surprised to hear that apparently my "suspect" lost her wallet that Monday too. Which is too much of a coincidence. On Monday I started working at 18:00. After seeing video camera's, I saw her going in the crew-corner twice (around 18:10 and 18:45) and she stayed
there for 1 to 2 minutes for sure....and around 18:47 she told the managers that her wallet was stolen and that her ATM-card, ID-card etc. were all gone (which I don't believe at all, she's trying to manipulate the situation as if there was someone else stealing that day). There are no cameras pointing at the crew-corner itself, just the corridor that leads to the freezer and the crew-corner so you could see her going into the corner twice. She actually had nothing to do there, as she had a short shift (4 or 5 hours) without a break, so you're not supposed to be in the crew-corner for that long at all (only to wash your hands). Then I was sure it must have been her. But appartently the managers are not going to do anything about it, they don't really care...especially the store-manager, so I'll confront her myself later today when she comes back to work.
The Vic & the competitions Since last weekend I started working at The Vic too, which is (one of) the most popular disco pub in Darwin. All I do is walk around, collect all empty glasses and bottles and bring them
back behind the bar, stock them up, put them in the dishwasher, put them back for the bar staff....when there is a broken glass somewhere we need to sweep it, and also empty the ash trays. I work here only 3 or 4 days a week, mostly Thursdays and weekends. It's fun and I like it, it's a party every night. If they offer me more hours I'll definitely leave Mc Donald's. I know a couple of people that used to work at The Vic, and some are still working there. There are about 5 Dutch guys working there, and they call them all Dutchy. When I came, I was Dutchy # 6 or Caribbean Dutchy. The fun thing about working as glassy is that you're out there in the partying crowd. You get a lot of attention from the girls. I was used to go to The Vic before starting to work there, but then you don't get attention from the girls at all. The other guys told me it's very normal that girls say things to you when you walk past them, and even ask you for your telephone number...I gave my number away twice already, one of
them called back. Before I started to work at The Vic, I participated at Mr. Backpacker competition...and I won the Heat # 1. The prize was a couple of free drink vouchers, free meal vouchers, a small teddy-kangaroo, a 2 liter bottle of N.T Draught beer and a free jumping crocodile cruise (which I did in January already so I'll try to sell the ticket for the half of the original price 😉. So me and the finalists advanced to the finals, together with the winner and finalists of Heat # 2, two weeks later. In the finals we were just 6 guys and I finished 2nd place, missing the AU$ 1000 prize for the winner. A pity....but it doesn't matter, everything happens with a reason. Second is a good spot, but you don't get a prize, lol (the mc gave me just a pack of chewing gum). The winner was a Dutch guy, who won the Heat # 2, one week after me. I must say that if I were back home I wouldn't do these kind of things easily. But here, Down Under...far from everyone, who cares? Hahaha! I mean, the prize was too good not to try
it. All you needed to do, is go on stage twice. Once in backpacker wear, once in swimwear...and on the stage you do whatever you want to and the judges select the winner. My German friend Christian won this same competetion and AU$ 1000 cash back in 2005. But anyway, every Tuesday they have another competition and you can participate as much as you want. The prize is AU$ 100 and the competition is called "Mr. Toolbox"...no further comments 😉.
I must say that I didn't regret coming back to Darwin. It feels good being back here, it felt a little bit like coming "home" because I know the place already, I know my way here and I know a couple of people around as well (locals and backpackers). Soon I'll catch up with Pam and Grant again, and also Heather and her son (she used to work at the reception at Melaleuca's and I kept in contact with them). I played the last games of the volleyball season as well, we won one and lost one. There are a couple of tournaments coming up and I'll probably participate too. Beside that, like I said already, I escaped
the winter from southern Australia as well. I think I will stay here until the beginning of September and then travel the westcoast, then the eastcoast. With the internet-connection here I'm able to do my Flight Simulator hobby online on IVAO again (International Virtual Aviation Organization) which is great! And I have some other games as well on my laptop, so no time to get bored here. Darwin will get busier and better, more tourists, backpackers, girls, parties and more jobs too for those looking for a job.
A big hug from the capital of the Northern Territory 😉
Elton
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suyanne
non-member comment
wawwwwww elton
Hei, elton, Ik ben echt blij voor je, dor dibo mi ta konosiendo mas parti di mundu, lokual ami semper a desea, maar ja mi no por mas. Pero mi ta kontentu ku abo tin e kurashi i a i ta lucha ketu bai i traha spar pa konose mas parti di mundu. Sigui dal bai, pero korda bai poko poko,. take care