I'm getting used to Darwin.
In many ways, it's a little patch of Paradise. In other ways, it's akin to the seventh circle of hell, where the violent are thrown into a river of boiling blood.
Yet it's growing on me.
That it's now the Dry Season, where the humidity has backed off and it gets down to 18 to 20 at night makes it even better.
I'm not with my team this time. As myself and three others from the greater project were going down the escalators to find a taxi after last night's flight, a colleague from my team going the up escalator to get a 2 a.m red eye to Melbourne. Not having the direct team around is a bit strange as they've provided a social life after hours on other trips, yet it's been great to break out on my own.
The trip up was fairly nondescript. The nice crew member, who I talked university courses while she fed me Lindt balls in the galley last trip up, was on the flight. She remembered me. She got a distinction on the paper she was undertaking last time. Well pleased for her. You never know, I might run into her on another trip.
The bloke sitting the aisle seat next to me, however, wasn't as pleasant, insisting on playing George Michael on his phone without using headphones or ear buds three hours into the flight. Thankfully I slept through the worst of it. My colleague at the other end of the row remained asleep to listen to this rudeness.
Arriving at the hotel at 1.15 a.m. I went up to my room, unpacked, had a glass of water and a Stilnox and went on to get five hours of decent sleep.
They've given me a car to get me out to the depot every day - a ten-minute drive away, inaccessible by public transport. I've called him Bruce. A Honda HRV, it drives very well. A colleague gave me a tour of Parap at lunch time, looking for the shops. It seems he knows how to drive to these shops but is a bit useless as a navigator.
This also means I can go to the Parap pool after work tomorrow night as it's technically on the way home. To be able to go for a decent swim after work will be bliss. The hotel's pool is still under renovations. The works were supposed to be completed this month, but it appears to have fallen victim to what is known as Territory Time. Things do get done - just in their own time, when they happen. Maybe.
There's not much else to report. Darwin feels different in The Dry. Stepping out on my balcony tonight, I can smell the smoke from the burnoffs, which are happening around the place. There's no humidity. The streets are quieter than I remember, but it is Monday. A quick trip to the supermarket for supplies. Salad, fruit, a few snacks, almond milk - supplies for the next few days. And my treat for the trip. A tube of sweetened condensed milk so I can make Vietnamese coffee after work some nights. I'll chill off the coffee tomorrow and fill the ice trays. It's my treat for after the swim.
I also stopped in at the famous Johnn Johnn's for an ice cream on the way back. After a cheeky taste of the burnt fig and caramel (Sorry, Maggie Beer's is better) I happened on a white chocolate, macadamia and caramel scoop in a cone. Needs to be done.
And now, I'm taking this exhausted body off to bed, taking a melatonin to ensure a restful night. I'll catch up on last night's Masterchef while I wait for sleep to take me over.
All is well with the world.
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