Life in Darwin

I've been in Darwin since last Thursday. The weather is always very very good here. We have a cloudless blue sky and strong sunlight everyday.

Darwin is not a big city, it has a population of only about 100,000. Most of the hostels and hotels are in the city center area. This area is not very large either. It's mainly composed of the blocks between Mitchell St., Smith St., Cavenagh St., and the Esplanade. You can easily take a walk around the whole area in an hour.

There are 2 aupermarkets in the city center. They are Coles and Woolworth. Generally I go to Coles, 'cause I think it's cleaner, to buy water and some food each day. Most shops in Darwin close at around 5:30, except the restaurant and bars. But Coles open until the midnight, so it's convenient to me.

I stay in the Darwin YHA here. There are 8 beds in a room, and a bathroom. My roommates are always composed of people from different countries. There are many Japanese and Europeans. But I don;t meet many Taiwanese here. In my room, there are one German and one Japnaese who have stayed there since my arrival. They're quite friendly. The German is a cook, and he just gets a job at a restaurant of the casino Sky City. The Japanese man is a bit older, he's been in Australia for years, and he had stayed in Briabane for 4 years. During the past week, I have met people from Germany, Japan, Switzerland, Slovenia, and France in my room. I like to talk to them. The most special one I met was from Swiss. He's been traveling for 30 years, and have been to more than 100 countries. He left our room yeaterday to go to New Zealand, and the South America latter.

Life in Darwin is generally not bad., except that the price of food is much more expensive than in Taiwan. I walked around often, the farthest place I walked to is Fannie Bay. It's a walk of an hour away from my hostel. There are beautiful beaches along the way to Fannie Bay, and green and lush plant gardens and museums. I got caught in a museum there, because I didn't know it was tp be closed soon, so suddenly when I was still sitting on the sofa at a gallery in the museum, the lights were turned off and the shutter was pulled down. I was afraid that I might have to spend a night there, but luckily I met the securities, they helped me get out.

One day after I walked to Cullen Bay and strolled on the beach and the bay area, and bought a map at a bookstore, I met a great person who's a Fijian living in Melbourne for more than 7 years already. He then gave me a ride to East Point, and latter latter treated me beer and baramundi and chips at a yacht club's restaurant. The beer and fish were excellent. He told me that the Victoria Bitter beer was the best. We talked a lot during that afternoon. He's a mechanist, and he has been to Taiwan and China for equipment maintenance several times. We really had a great time there. Hope I can meet him when I go to Melbourne.