Saturday 6 July 2013

Saturday 6th July - Seven Spirits Bay - Darwin - Parap market - Fannie Bay - Hamish 13


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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