Saturday
6th July
Our first Darwin day was very nice
indeed. What a great little tropical
city!
First I want to put up a photo of sunset
at Seven Spirits Bay, because it was SO gorgeous.
We talked to Valerie, from the NZ yacht
Screensaver, in the Darwin Yacht Club -
our first port of call. She and Alan had
been to the Seven Spirits Bay resort too, and had swum in the beautiful pool,
eaten the delicious food, enjoyed the outdoor shower. And did
you see the crocodile? she asked.
Well no…we missed it. But she
said there it was, larger than life swimming around the boats very freely. In fact in the dark it came and thrashed its
tail against Screensaver, giving both Alan and Valerie a mighty thrill…
Oh those crocs!!
This is what it looks like, from the
yacht club, at Fannie Bay:
SO pretty! So many boats! (We are out there...in the middle...somewhere...)
We looked at the boatshop, had a quick
drink and chat at the club, then set off to catch a bus to town. But…no buses on Saturday, until mid
afternoon. So we walked - not very far –
through the beautiful leafy suburb of
Fannie Bay to Parap, where there was a very nice tropical artycrafty market.
And what was the music?
Why of course… musicians from
Chile! They are everywhere… These ones
played very nicely but their music was extremely Anglo. The
Rose, Wind Beneath My Wings, that sort of thing. There has been a Chilean band – Arauco Libre
– at Salamanca market in Hobart for many years, and I think various
incarnations are still performing as we speak.
My children therefore grew up with this music, every Saturday, from 1977
to 1998. When Katy and Jeff went to live
in Chile and Katy heard Chilean music…she was homesick. For Hobart.
As was I, in Darwin…
We had a bit of Vietnamese food, sitting
on the footpath listening to the music, then made our way into town. We asked a few locals how to get to a bus
stop and followed directions until…oh joy!
A jaunty little TourTub! It was
full of elderly tourists – well, perfect for us! The driver kindly let us on and we had the
most lovely time. We went forwards and
backwards around Darwin with a cool wind blowing through the whole
vehicle. Bliss!
While we were going past a beautiful
little man-made lake, my phone rang, very loudly – Come On A My House, Rosemary Cooney… I shushed it and went to the very
back seat to talk to – Michael! My
long-lost son, away in mysterious regions… He sounded very happy. He is on an enforced detox – no alcohol, no
junk food, in his part of the world. I
think he is, surprisingly, enjoying it all very much. But…he was very impressed when I told him we
were in Fannie Bay, in Darwin. He has
been here quite a lot, with the army. Don’t forget to go to Mindil Beach market!
he said. When I told him we are going
there tomorrow, and that there is a Beer Can Regatta in the early afternoon
before the sunset market, he groaned with envy…
We got on and off, for a little while,
and had a look at the city centre. The
best things:
An Aboriginal art gallery, with once
again a lot of CROCODILES - recurring theme!!
And some Tiwi Island birds which took my
fancy:
We also looked at a pop-up gallery of stunning
photos – Wayne Turner, a very nice man, glorious art work.
Birthday
Accolades
Today Hamish Wakefield is thirteen. He is the very first of my grandchildren, the
first of this new generation.
And what a nice Number One! We were all totally delighted to have Hamish
in our family, and he has been an unfailingly benign presence. He is very funny, kind, generous.
For example…
The first time I went to an event at his
school, Hutchins, a private boys’ school in Sandy Bay, there was a huge morning
tea – several hundred oldpeople, then an assembly, then a meeting with our
grandsons. Hamish rather anxiously asked
me how it had all gone and I said, It was
just lovely, and so interesting that I didn’t know one single person! He rolled his eyes and said, I thought so! I was SO worried about you! I in fact
hadn’t been in the least bit put out by not knowing anyone; I am not shy and in
fact I was quite fascinated – I DO know a lot of people. But obviously Hutchins Grandparents are not
my territory. But poor darling Hamish…he
had been so wanting me to be amongst friends…So very kind and thoughtful of
him.
He has many friends and is much loved by
his family. I am VERY proud of him.
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