Named after the scientist for no particular reason. Darwin was ravaged in 1979 by Cyclone Tracy. For some reason, they decided to rebuild the place. A pretty boring city, but a necessary stop if you're touring Kakadu.

From: Jeff Nyveen To: my friends and family Date: Mon, 6 Mar 2000 09:19:26 -0400 Subject: In Darwin Some pathetic fucker stole shampoo and soap out of my bag in Cairns. I spent last night at the Wool Shed saying goodbye to all of my friends and hearing about how much fun they all had diving at the Great Barrier Reef when all I saw was a fucking sea cucumber. I was talking with some friends about female anatomy, and I asked Jane, one of the girls I've been travelling with for the last six weeks and who has enormous boobs, how much extra attention she gets because of them and she got all offended. Funny, girls with huge boobs get self-conscious about them just like girls with tiny boobs do. The flight to Darwin was OK. I flew with Qantas. They served a toasted ham and cheese sandwich, and I watched "Australia's Funniest Home Video Show," hosted by a chick who looks like Courteney Cox. She isn't nearly the schmuck that Bob Saget is back home, and the clips were pretty damn funny. Aussie's can be real idiots. After the show, they had a live graphical display of the plane's air speed, ground speed, altitude, and distance traveled, along with a map showing exactly where along the route the plane was located. We topped out at 535 mph, and at 35,000 feet it's -44 degrees F outside. The flight took just over 2 hours. During the flight, I took a few pictures and noticed that turning the polarizer on my lens produced very funky, psychedelic rainbow colors when I looked out the window. I was able to make the water purple and the clouds yellow. No idea why. Anyone have any guesses? Darwin is hot. It is so humid that you have to lean into the air to walk through it. In 1979, Cyclone Tracy swept through Darwin and destroyed pretty much everything, but the town quickly rebuilt itself. The architecture and color of this town are distinctly 70's. My hostel is OK, like most of the other hostels I've stayed at. I've gone to the bathroom twice since I've been here, and both times I found the toilet seat drenched with piss. How hard is it to pee into a toilet? Reminds me of the dorms back at USC. I have noticed that I've been going to the bathroom a lot more often than usual. I *have* been drinking a lot more coffee than I ever have lately, and I had an iced coffee at the airport before boarding. Is coffee a laxative? This morning, I bought a new suitcase. I am absolutely fed up with carrying that damn hockey bag around everywhere. It's heavier than anyone else's bag, and every time I hoist it up over my shoulder and take more than two steps I feel like my collarbone is going to snap. I got a sexy green little number with wheels and a handle. This afternoon, I booked a three day tour of Kakadu National Park. It's a 4WD tour of the swampy, croc-infested rainforest, camping both nights in tents. All we can bring is a daypack, so I won't be showering or changing my clothes. That's how it was on Fraser Island. I plotted out the rest of my trip around Australia on a makeshift calendar and realized that I do not have enough time to see everything that I want to see before I go home. So I rang up Air New Zealand and, at no extra charge, extended my stay in Australia and New Zealand for another 2 weeks. I'm also toying with the idea of staying in LA for a few days on the way back. At the moment, I am scheduled to return to Houston on May 29. I returned to my room with my new suitcase, transferred the contents of my hockey bag to my suitcase, filled a box with some souvenirs, brochures, rocks, and my hockey bag, and shuffled off to the post office to send it home. I stopped for a haircut at Donna's Barber Shop, and for $6 she graciously shaved the sides and back with a #1. She even shaved my neckline with a watered down, rum-based solution and a straight blade. They don't use shaving cream here because it's too hot and muggy. Then I went for a walk. I took a turn and ended up on a dragonfly-infested embankment looking out over the ocean. I walked along a sidewalk and came to a monument for those who served for Australia in WWII. I began to read all of the plaques that were laid down next to the sidewalk along the embankment. In memory of various squadrons, battalions, and regiments who served, as well as the Aborigines who acted as guides, trackers, and liaisons for the military. It was February 19, 1942 when Japan attacked Darwin Harbour at that location. The USS Peary sunk, and lots of people died. I kept walking and stumbled upon the Darwin Pillar. Erected for geographical surveys, it's at 12 degrees, 28 minutes, 05.4894 seconds South latitude, 130 degrees, 50 minutes, 23.5107 seconds East longitude, at an altitude of 28.54 meters above sea level. I was there at precisely 3:34:48.274 pm this afternoon. Tomorrow morning I leave for Kakadu. I'll be out of touch for a few days. No Regrets. Jeff

Here's (from left to right) me, Emma (English), Mel (English), Jay (English), Debbie (English), and Karen (English) at the Victorian Hotel in Darwin, the only decent place to go out at night in that God-awful city. Strangely enough, I ran into Debbie and Karen when I got to Perth.
(photo by Emma)


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