Darwin, Australia

We came into port in Darwin around noon today. In spite of rain in the forecast, the weather was sunny and beautiful (though hot) most of the day. We wanted to be off the ship for a while, even though I’m still somewhat on the puny side. 

 

view from our balcony in port

inside Darwin Cruise Terminal

sign going through security 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

partial view of harbor from ship

So we decided to just take an uber to the mall across town and pick up a few items. I’ll admit, it pretty much wore me out. In other words, I can’t share much about our experiences here but I’ll at least say a little about Darwin.
 

inside Casuarina Square Mall

building mural

 

better view of port mural

As we drove through the city, I saw a number of murals painted on buildings but they were too hard to capture from the back seat of a moving car (except for this one). I also noticed that the sides of the streets were nicely landscaped and there was no trash or graffiti as you see in some cities. Unfortunately, I only took a handful of photos today.

But much like the other places we’ve visited in Australia, Darwin is a busy city with a beachy, tropical vibe. It is home to a very diverse cultural mix of people with many Indigenous Australians, Asian and Europeans. One thing that stood out to me was seeing so many Indigenous Australians, who make up 35% of the Darwin population. As a first-time visitor, I noticed that many have distinctive physical features such as skin tone, hair texture, different facial and body features that reflect their heritage and are different from what we’re accustomed to seeing in the U.S. It was a new experience for me to recognize and appreciate these differences as part of the region’s identity. In our limited interactions, we found people to be friendly and welcoming.

The other part of our day was taken up with getting all the right paperwork to enter Indonesia. It’s no easy thing to get into Indonesia, even if for only one day. The government must know if our visa was arranged by the purser’s department or if we arranged for our visa independently. We must show physical proof of a yellow fever vaccination and fill out an Indonesia Arrival Card which includes pretty much everything there is to know about us - our legal names, nationality, birthdays, passport numbers with expiration date and contact information. We must declare exactly what we are bringing in (in my case, I declared a purse). Also how we arrived (by sea), what kind of vessel (cruise ship), name of ship (Oceania Vista), how many travelers are with us and the purpose of our visit. All of this along with a completed Health and Quarantine Declaration. Whew! When Ronnie taught at the Institute of Technology in Indonesia back in 2012, we were also finger printed at the police station!

It's Saturday night on the ship as I write this and tonight we’ll set our clocks back 1½ hour. So tomorrow we’ll be 13 hours ahead of home. Soon we’ll be on the exact opposite side of the world!