Hi Teens, et all!
Apologies for mass posting BUT time and connectivity restraints apply! Tuckeroo sounds wonderful. Sorry we couldn't take it in. However, we've had simply wonderful gastronomic experiences here in Darwin, everyday, ever since arriving.
Plan to visit the WW II Oil Storage Tunnels, near AC, and Parliament Building, if latter is open for tours today. Also have to arrange our rental car. Will drive to Kakadu on Wednesday morning for two nights there. Since it is just the end of the wet season many of the sites are not accessible. In chatting with Jenne, (She and Saveeta were there, camping, at same time as Pethers!), Yien and Mike we have mapped out ones that are open and "must sees" and not overly demanding for Cora Lee's foot, in terms of walking distances. I'm hoping to take an hour flight as well. Little less than than the $208 Sarge and I paid to climb the Harbour Bridge so I figure it is well worth it, given the size and magnificence of this National Park.
Anyway, time to get ready for the coming sauna! Trust everyone is well Fondestos and Cheers, Cora Lee and Patrizzio!
| Hi Brunello! Glad to know Choo-Chocherainian will enjoy movie. When are you planning to visit Vancouver? We are hoping to drive to Winnipeg in mid-to-late August, returning after Labour Day Weekend. Up at 7:30am, a most enjoyable sleep-in, to make my first Instanto and then look at email while Coriandre was still fast asleep. She showed signs of life around 8:05am and I made her a cup of Earl Grey while I downed my secondo, Nescafe's finest espresso! Breakfast of yogurt and gluten-free granola. Lazy, pleasurable start to the day, sending messages and planning rest of stay, not really worrying about having to be doing something or having to be somewhere. When Cora Lee was showered, (I'd taken a late shower the night before as with humidity I was soaked by the time we returned to our room, after film. Not to mention the mossie repellent, although bugs really were not much of an issue.), and ready to go we left our hotel around 10:30am and walked five or six blocks to a car rental place, (Advance Car Rentals, better free mileage than Hertz), which Cora Lee had scoped earlier and booked our vehicle for Wednesday morning. Will use it to drive to Kakadu National Park, about three hours away, where we will stay for two nights, returning to Darwin, late on Friday, I imagine. Then back to the Darwin Waterfront where we took a self-guided tour of the WW II Oil Storage Tunnels. Built after 7 of the 11 tanks on Stokes Hill Wharf were destroyed in the Japanese air-raids of February 19th, March 16th and June 16th, 1942, entirely by hand using pick, shovel and hand held pneumatic tools. The Allied Works Council issued a priority contract on 19 March 1943 of £220,000 and the final cost was £1,087,808 when they were finished in 1945! According to the chap at the ticket kiosk, the Zinc Corporation Ltd., the company awarded the contract, had to truck sand from 120 K south of Darwin as all available river sand was contaminated with salt from tidal flows and could, therefore, not be used in the construction of the retaining walls. This was but one of the many technical and logistical problems encountered and which together contributed to the massive cost-overrun. Ironically, the tunnels were never actually used for their intended purpose. Another unbelievable, frighteningly expensive, (not just in financial terms but also in the cost of human lives lost that otherwise might have been saved), cock-up like the big guns at East Point which were never fired in anger! The tunnels themselves are massive structures. They penetrate at least 60 metres into the hillside and are 60 metres below the surface at their deepest. Tunnels 5 and 6, the ones we walked, were re-opened in 1992 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the bombing of Darwin. Of interest, adorning the walls of one side, are black and white photos of the war years. After about an hour in the tunnels and chatting with informative guide, outside, we walked to the public elevator in the Waterfront Precinct, located in the building opposite to the one where we had enjoyed dinner with the Pethers and their friends. (On the way to the OST we bumped into Heidi just returning from the Museum and Art Gallery of the NT, one we'd visited on Saturday, after the Parap Market. Yien had sent a message, earlier that morning, asking us to join them there but Cora Lee didn't read it until after the appointed meeting time!), and took it to the lengthy, elevated, covered walkway which brought us back to the Esplanade, the most attractive avenue which runs along the cliff top in front of Parliament House. This was to be our next stop and after undergoing a screening process, much like airport security, (my hip replacement setoff alarm!), we strolled through all the galleries open to the public. Parliament was not in session but we did have a chance to see the Parliamentary Chamber, the Portrait Gallery featuring former Chief Ministers and Speakers of the NT and the NT Library. Cora Lee went to the Speaker's Corner Cafe after a quick look at the Library as she needed to rest her foot. I spent a bit more time browsing the various levels and then joined her on the Speaker's Green, a very large and attractive patio, with a memorial fountain, and which affords a magnificent view of the harbour. Left her there to enjoy her Chai Late and gluten-free "slice" as I wanted to take advantage of the free WiFi access, (G3 via Vodaphone is painfully slow, at times, back at the hotel), and she wanted to do a bit of shopping on her own. Few minutes later she came up to my table and told me she was going to read until the thunderstorm abated. A huge, dark, menacingly ominous cloud was making its way towards us when we were outside at one of the patio tables on the Speaker's Green. So absorbed had I been while scribing that I had not even noticed the deluge until she brought it to my attention. Half an hour later, blue sky back, she came by again to say goodbye, hoping she would not be caught in another heavy downpour. Such changeable weather is simply an everyday fact of life, here in the tropics, what with the heat and humidity. Last night, for example, rain was forecast and while we were eating our dinner, before the film, we were treated to an impressive show of lightening fireworks beyond the reaches of the harbour. Fortunately, for us, on that occasion, it didn't rain. Must say that I do find Darwin to be an exceedingly comfortable and interesting city. It is really more of large town than a small city, a mini-Canberra/Ottawa/Victoria, with a similar governmental flavour and cultural offerings. Traffic is light and biking a dream as there are many dedicated routes, many that I've seen, along the cliffs and ocean beaches. Scads and scads of restaurants and bars and cafes offering a wide range of ethnic food, most at very reasonable prices. And we have only just begun to scratch the surface of the indigenous culture, its art and the tribal landscapes/environments which surround the city and extend not tremendous distances from its perimeter. Another aspect of Darwin which we are rather annoyed at ourselves for not taking advantage of is its proximity to Bali, for instance. Closer than Cairns, Jenne told us we could probably book a week there, meals and accommodation, return airfare for under $500 per person. Had we been forward enough thinking, we should have taken the opportunity to visit, given that we are literally so close. Particularly since it is raining and cold, 16C, in Bendigo, (Where we will spend a week befoer flying to Japan.), at the moment! Not much different to Vancouver from weather report I saw earlier today. Live and learn, Dear Reader! To be continued... Fondestos and Cheers, Patrizzio! Hi from Cochrane!  |
Election day in Alberta. Change of govt very likely-probably not a step forward. Heading for a temp of 27C. Bakery sales are up 30% year over year-so we ordered a new fridge-$20,000.
Have any of you read The Hunger Games? I am not a regular consumer of youth dystopia lit. Fascinating read, but I am giving the movie a pass. I am also cautioned by the Macleans cover on the HG phenom with the cover story which said Your kids are angrier than you realize.
Enjoy the tropics. LOL jhh.
Here's a listing of some of the wines that were consumed during our Europe trip:
FRANCE:
Chateau Branda Puisseguin-St-Emilion 2009 (really good for 11 euros)
Chateau les Eyquem houtes graves 2010 Margaux (incredibly good - only 12 euros)
Col de la Ramiere Coteaux du Languedoc 2010 (yummy)
Les Hauts de Seignol 2009 Bandol
Chateau Lille-Coutelin - eleve en fut de Chene - Saint-Estephe 2010 Bordeaux
Cordier Labottiere 2009 Reserve Bordeaux
AUSTRIA:
Malat Gruner Veltliner 2010 Kremstal
Lenz Moser Blauer Zweigelt 2010
J. Heinrich Blaufrankisch
Juliana Wieder Zweigelt 2010 Spiegelberg
Mittelburgenland Blaufrankish classic 2010
Nittnaus Zweigelt Exquisit Burgenland 2009
Wellanschitz Zweigelt Classic 2010
Wellanschitz Hochberg 2010 Blaufrankisch Mittelbergenland
ITALY:
Elvin Brunello di Montalcino 2006 (Montalcino, Italy)
Piazzo Barbaresco 2008 (Alba, Italy)
Da Sangallo Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 2008 (Montepulciano, Italy)
dell'Arca Primitivo Salento 2010
Barbera d'Alba 2010 Tenuta Cappallotto (Alba, Italy)
Arpatin Barbaresco 2008 (Alba, Italy)
Cecchi Chianti Classico 2009 (Siena, Italy)
Baroncini Rosso di Montepulciano Fontelellera 2010 (San Gimignana, Italy)
OTHER:
Matyas Red 2009 (kekfrankos/pinot noir) - Slovakia
Plantaze Montenegro 2009 Vranac - Montenegro
Hello all,
I forgot two:
La Tour Coste 2009 Chateauneuf-du-Pape
Chateau Champs de Lucas 2009 Bordeaux
Ray,
Can you do a ride tomorrow? Forecast
has changed to favourable – for the being time
anyway. G
Hi Guys,
A ride sounds so good, haven`t really gotten a chance for extra ciricular
activities other than drinks and poker in the evening! I have been making an
effort to keep up the regimen in the morning and run up the stairs 4-5 times or
40-50 floors total and then hit the gym for 20 minutes or so. it may only be
neutralizing the food and liquor intake but better than nothing. I`m planning on
a jaunt down the gold coast for a couple days at the end and a lay over in Hong
Kong for a couple of days to break up the flight home. Doesn`t look like I will
cross paths with Patrick and the gang unfortunately so we will have to await
their return to hear the tall tales .Look forward to getting out with you guys
again soon.
Take care, Al
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