Darwin Daze

So our brief 2 day sojourn draws to a close. I'm sitting out on the back verandah at Jock & Leslie's house, which backs onto the RAAF base at Darwin airport. Yesterday afternoon and evening and this evening as well, the air is periodically rent asunder by the sound of jet engines as the RAAF F/A18's and aircraft from other nations take part in Exercise Pitch Black 12. Good to see/hear our tax dollars at work.

We've had a pleasant break from travel and camping for the last two days, but tomorrow will start heading south to The Alice, and the homeward leg of our travels. Yesterday we sought out good coffee in the am and then had a look at the Telstra Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards at the NT Museum and Art Gallery before seeking out some sushi.

A lazy afternoon doing some washing, reading and a swim in their plunge pool before a quiet evening at home sharing a meal with our hosts.

Today - a quick walk around the Darwin Waterfront, taking in the Wave Pool and Stokes Hill Wharf.

Afterwards, back into town seeking coffee at a recommended cafe where we run into one of Leigh's musician friends - Eamon. Last time we saw him was a year ago in Paris. He's in town playing at the Darwin Festival. #SmallWorld

We decided to take in a movie - suffering as we are from MDS - Movie Deprivation Syndrome. 2 hours in air conditioned comfort was welcome and the movie - The Wife - was superb. Highly recommended.

Back to J and L's place to start packing for tomorrow. At their gate we encounter their son Elliot - clearly distressed and holding his arm in obvious pain. It turns out that he came home, forgetting that yesterday they had "acquired" a new dog that they are going to be looking after while the owner is away. Based on the evidence, the dog - clearly feeling abandoned and not really recognising Elliot - jumped out of the shadows, snarling and causing a startled Elliot to jump back, stumble then trip and fall on his arm before fleeing from the front garden back to the safety of the street. Celeste examined his arm and judged it broken. So a call to Jock who returns home and takes Elliot off to hospital where the break was confirmed and poor Elliot awaits having it pinned and set. When Leslie gets home from work, Celeste drives her to the hospital where as I write this, they all remain.

On the bright side Elliot is bound to have at least a couple of days off school as well as the consequential bragging rights about how he was set upon by a ferocious hound and barely escaped with his life!

The down side is I'm home alone with only the sound of F/A18 Hornets doing "touch and goes" as they perform endless circuits around the house for comfort. That and a cold beer.