26 March 2013 - Aurora Shady Glen Tourist Park, Darwin, Northern Territory

The suggested cyclone seems to be no nearer or likely than it was yesterday and so we are resolved to carry on with Plan A; to leave here on Thursday and head into the Kakadu National Park. Strangely, the organisation of this, even if only in our heads, has been problematic. There is so much to see and yet we are not willing to spend the whole fourteen days our pass will allow us, paying exorbitant commercial camping fees, so will have to pick and choose very carefully what we choose to do and see. Even then it cannot be guaranteed that we will have made  the very best of the Park; perhaps the mere fact that The Season has yet to commence will restrict us and thus make the choices easier?

But for today, apart from doing some homework to arrive at the above, we have spent in a far tamer manner, at least in respect of natural wildlife. Instead we went to Parliament, which is still to see wild behaviour in a different setting. Today was the first sitting day since the latest coup, the ousting of Terry Mills in favour of Adam Giles as Chief Minister. And didn’t the Leader of the Opposition make a meal of that in Question Time! We expected no more however she then decided a censure motion was in order and spent half an hour waffling on, using the most derogatory statements about the said Honorable Chief Minister with particular reference to the “illegitimate Chief Minister”, aside from the labels “hollow man”, “despicable” and “cowardly”.

This is of course a ridiculous statement because it is not the Chief Minister or the Prime Minister who the people elect; it is the caucus who choose their leader, and in a democracy, that leader is at the mercy of the will of the majority. Of course these actions are no less vicious for this, but they are legal.

The rantings and ravings soon cleared the public gallery, driving most home for an early lunch or at least out into the city for a soothing latte. We stayed for a couple of hours, until the parliament themselves adjourned for lunch. We retired to Bicentennial Park to eat our lunch, serenaded by the sound of a ride-on lawnmower and watching a great swarm of dragonflies which appeared as a fleet of Migs arriving over Darwin Harbour to duplicate the 1942 bombing. That is rather dramatic  however neither of us had seen such a show of large dragon flies before.

But back to parliament matters; our parliamentary guide a few days ago had explained how relaxed the House could be and today we certainly saw signs of that. There were about three small groups of Primary School children in the glassed in galleries; they were warmly welcomed by the Speaker who made the effort to name the schools and the accompanying teachers. As the children left, they waved to the Speaker who reciprocated in an overt manner. In the meantime any member of the House who noticed a familiar face in the public gallery, gave a wave out from the floor. A friendly place indeed, unless at the mercy of the member for Karama, Delia Lawrie. It is interesting to note, and no doubt no surprise to many, that female politicians in the Parliament behave like canine terriers or worse. The men, generally, are able to carry out their duties in the House with more decorum and formality. As a woman I can say this without being misogynistic.

We returned to the parliament after lunch, but this time headed for the library. This really is an interesting place and worth a brief visit at the very least. The place was packed out with backpackers who had not come to examine the artwork and exhibits but to plug into the power sockets and make use of the free or low cost internet.

It was here I lost Chris; he had disappeared down into the basement library to research the whereabouts of the 1972 Arafura Hostel, a home for working men where he had spent about six months. He emerged some time later triumphantly holding a photocopy of an historical Darwin map which clearly showed the hostel where he thought it should have been. Back to the landcruiser, we headed off to Parap, home to Darwin’s oldest market, visited by us on Saturday. The hostel was long gone but we found the location now home to the Tropicana appartments. I asked if the lush palms and other garden growth were familiar; he could remember none of it. While we had not rediscovered another of his old haunts, we had at least established its past existence.

It started to rain. We picked up a newspaper at the Parap Newsagency and headed home, winding up our touring early in the day but well satisfied with our day’s activities.