Has it really been 60 days? Well, looking back, that seems about right. There were a few places I visited so far where I wish I'd stayed a bit longer, but overall, I'm pretty happy with the pace I set for myself. So far, only Cairo felt rushed and that was never meant to be a real stop anyway. Fortunately, Cairo is a relatively easy place to get to from the U.S., if I decide to go back for more (easy compared to most other places I've been). When it calms down, that is.
Today I walked the other direction from my hotel, towards a other few things that looked interesting the Darwin guidebook: The George Brown Botanical Gardens, the Fannie Bay Gaol, and the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. If you look at a map of Darwin, you might think that the "city" part extends pretty far. But after my walk today, I think the "city" part is limited to the very tip of the nearby landmass, and all the rest is suburbs. Because the area I walked through today was just that -- suburbs. Single family homes, small apartment buildings, sports fields and golf courses, boat docks. That's fine, it made for a really pleasant walk. But I passed maybe three other pedestrians (all joggers) for the several hours I was out today. I also passed (and explored) a cemetary. I like old cemetaries, and while this one wasn't particularly old, it had something I'd never seen before: gravestones with non-western alphabet inscriptions.
Hm, that reminds me. I saw almost no cemetaries on my trip so far. Maybe none. I don't know if that's because I just didn't see them, or if most places I've been to creamate their dead (and therefore there are none), or some other reason. I'll add that to my list of things to look up when I have the time.
The Botanical Gardens were a disappointment. Not a huge disappointment, a small one. Mostly because I couldn't tell that the flora in the Gardens was (were?) any different than the flora I see all over the place in Darwin. The Gardens had a few plant houses but, like the rest of the town, they closed early (even earlier than the guidebook's info) so I couldn't see if they contained anything special. Eh, the Gardens are right next door to my hotel, and were my last stop on the way back from the other sights, so it's not like I went out my way to see them. And they were free so I can't grumble that I wasted my money either.
Speaking of free, today's been a relatively cheap day for Darwin. The Fannie Bay Gaol asks only for a donation of whatever amount you choose, and the Museum was free. The Gaol was in the suburb just north of Darwin -- Fannie Bay -- and was originally built in the late 19th Century, although most of what is still standing was built in the latter half of the 20th Century. It's been closed as a jail (I think we'd call it a prison) since 1979, and has been open for tours for a few years now.
For a jail/prison, it seemed pretty open. I think most of it was minimum security. The women's block even had an outdoor garden of flowers and vegetables, that the women prisoners tended to. At least two executions took place there in the 1950s -- a couple of guys who murdered a cab driver.
I thought the most interesting thing about the Gaol was that in World War II, it was used to house men from the Australian military. They just let all the prisoners go so the soldiers and airmen could move in. It was made a jail again after the war.
The Museum is devoted to the art, culture and natural history of the Northern Territory. The natural history part consists of preserved plants and animals, including fossils of dinosaurs and other pre-historic beasts, and geological record material: fossils, gemstones, etc. The art was mostly aboriginal, both older works preserved from cave walls, and modern pieces. The Museum has has a temporary gallery, which is currently houses a very modern show of local budding artists. I wish I could have somehow captured my favorite piece: It was a repeating video of a young man's body (the artist) and superimposed on the body were "windows" showing what was going on inside his body. Each window contained its own video of the artist doing something to make his body work, like turning a crank or directing the flow of blood through pipes. There is also an exhibit devoted to the maritime life of the area.
The exhibit that most moved me in the gallery devoted to Cyclone Tracy. I mentioned yesterday that several buildings in Darwin had been destroyed by Tracy in 1974. I hadn't realized that Tracy had literally destroyed the entire town until I saw the exhibit. I mean, it completely destroyed the town. The gallery was full of photos and videos taken a day or two after the cyclone, and rubbish. But the thing that got me was this room that played an audio tape that someone recorded during the storm. The room had a sign on the door saying people who'd lived through Cyclone Tracy might be disturbed by what they'd hear. I didn't think anything of it, until I went in the room.
As soon as the door closed, it became pitch black and there was this ... monstrous sound of howling and dragging and scraping and pounding rain, and instantly, it was September 1996 again, and I was huddled alone in my bed in Durham, North Carolina, shivering with fear while Hurricane Floyd tore through the town outside my apartment. That night was the most afraid I've ever been in my life and the only time I ever believed (and I mean I really believed) that there was something out in that storm that was coming to get me. My rational brain knew that nothing was out in that storm, but my body was convinced there was, I was so scared. Today in the museum, I didn't feel the same terror I'd felt while Hurrican Floyd roared past, but I felt all the blood drain from my face, and goosebumps spring up all over my body. Stunning how those sounds in that room instantly took me back to that storm.
Today I walked the other direction from my hotel, towards a other few things that looked interesting the Darwin guidebook: The George Brown Botanical Gardens, the Fannie Bay Gaol, and the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. If you look at a map of Darwin, you might think that the "city" part extends pretty far. But after my walk today, I think the "city" part is limited to the very tip of the nearby landmass, and all the rest is suburbs. Because the area I walked through today was just that -- suburbs. Single family homes, small apartment buildings, sports fields and golf courses, boat docks. That's fine, it made for a really pleasant walk. But I passed maybe three other pedestrians (all joggers) for the several hours I was out today. I also passed (and explored) a cemetary. I like old cemetaries, and while this one wasn't particularly old, it had something I'd never seen before: gravestones with non-western alphabet inscriptions.
The Botanical Gardens were a disappointment. Not a huge disappointment, a small one. Mostly because I couldn't tell that the flora in the Gardens was (were?) any different than the flora I see all over the place in Darwin. The Gardens had a few plant houses but, like the rest of the town, they closed early (even earlier than the guidebook's info) so I couldn't see if they contained anything special. Eh, the Gardens are right next door to my hotel, and were my last stop on the way back from the other sights, so it's not like I went out my way to see them. And they were free so I can't grumble that I wasted my money either.
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| This looks like all the other greenery in the area. |
For a jail/prison, it seemed pretty open. I think most of it was minimum security. The women's block even had an outdoor garden of flowers and vegetables, that the women prisoners tended to. At least two executions took place there in the 1950s -- a couple of guys who murdered a cab driver.
I thought the most interesting thing about the Gaol was that in World War II, it was used to house men from the Australian military. They just let all the prisoners go so the soldiers and airmen could move in. It was made a jail again after the war.
The exhibit that most moved me in the gallery devoted to Cyclone Tracy. I mentioned yesterday that several buildings in Darwin had been destroyed by Tracy in 1974. I hadn't realized that Tracy had literally destroyed the entire town until I saw the exhibit. I mean, it completely destroyed the town. The gallery was full of photos and videos taken a day or two after the cyclone, and rubbish. But the thing that got me was this room that played an audio tape that someone recorded during the storm. The room had a sign on the door saying people who'd lived through Cyclone Tracy might be disturbed by what they'd hear. I didn't think anything of it, until I went in the room.
As soon as the door closed, it became pitch black and there was this ... monstrous sound of howling and dragging and scraping and pounding rain, and instantly, it was September 1996 again, and I was huddled alone in my bed in Durham, North Carolina, shivering with fear while Hurricane Floyd tore through the town outside my apartment. That night was the most afraid I've ever been in my life and the only time I ever believed (and I mean I really believed) that there was something out in that storm that was coming to get me. My rational brain knew that nothing was out in that storm, but my body was convinced there was, I was so scared. Today in the museum, I didn't feel the same terror I'd felt while Hurrican Floyd roared past, but I felt all the blood drain from my face, and goosebumps spring up all over my body. Stunning how those sounds in that room instantly took me back to that storm.
I hope that all the jails, prisons, dungeons, lock-ups, etc. that you have visited are not a portent of things to come.
ReplyDeleteDad, you learned how to comment! I'm so proud.
ReplyDeleteSorry for this delayed comment. I had no idea you had that experience during Floyd. I slept like a baby that night, and was shocked when I woke up the next morning to see so many trees down and other damage. I had no electricity for a week, and no outgoing phone for two weeks, as I recall. I wonder if the difference in our experience was where we were: I was in a ground-floor apartment, whereas (do I remember correctly), you were on an upper floor?
ReplyDeleteBarb, yes I was on an upper floor that faced east, so my unit was pounded all night long. It was also one of the first nights (if not THE first night) I'd ever slept alone in my own apartment, as I'd had a friend visiting for the first couple weeks of school. Like you, I was shocked by the destruction I saw the next day.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I've just been to Darwin but missed out on Fannie Bay Gaol. Think I'll go and read your experiences in Litchfield. Greg
ReplyDelete