First up the art...lots of outdoor art, indoor galleries, fringe theatre and of course the deckchair cinema - "what cinema is all about", according to Baz Luhrmann. We saw Isle of Dogs (again), but lounging in a deckchair in the warm evening, scoffing South Indian lamb curry and trying to make sure the marauding possums didn't steal any - priceless.
I created a separate gallery page for the street art. This link should take you to it https://www.baldjournal.com/blank-page If not its on the drop down "Gallery Australia 2018".
Second up the stand-up comedy at the Darwin Fringe - which (from what we saw) was frankly, execrable! If you ever are tempted to see Gavin Parker, don't. He was toe curlingly awful. But give him his due he kept going for 45 minutes and almost rescued it with a demolition of Dr Suess - a better comedian would have made some good material out of it - but he is not a good comedian. Then the next day, Chariman Steve - we had high hopes, he had come all the way from Sydney. Our hopes were dashed on the rocks of his rambling, incoherent delivery and his insistence on telling the same basic joke three times. The Fast Show it wasn't!
Found loads of fabulous cafes, serving excellent tucker (I've gone native) and well earned coffee (of course). The temperature and lack of humidity at this time of the year makes this a very easy place to relax. (Not so sure about the wet season, be we will be long gone by then).
Last night, we saw a short play called Train Lines ( a bit Close Encounters). It was very good, but being less than 45 minutes we decided our cultural needs had not been quite satisfied, so we toured the city centre until we happened upon a Vietnamese place to sample some Pho - not as good as Saigon but pretty good.
We were also lucky enough to attend the NAIDOC (National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee) procession, through the town centre, attended by what seemed a real cross section of the community, to celebrate the role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women have played – and continue to play - at the community, local, state and national levels.
Also managed a day of catching up. Me doing some email in the cafe across the road, Nareesa mostly in the hotel room working online.
Today we took the local bus out to the National Museum & Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. Fabulous and informative displays, particularly about Cyclone Tracy in 1974, which of course wiped out the city. And even better, an exhibition of art from around the country celebrating the 50th anniversary of the referendum (1967) which resulted in indigenous people being included in the census for the first time. 1967! In my life time! The right to vote had only been granted in 1962, but until 1967 Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islanders were not even counted.
So our three weeks in the Northern Territory comes to an end! It has be absolutely wonderful; informative, colourful, awe inspiring - at times relaxing and at times exhausting. I wonder if we will be back? But for now, we are about to board a flight to Cairns - Queensland here we come!