Darwin

We flew from Cairns to Darwin for the sole reason of picking up our Spaceship (a small minivan turned campervan), which we would drive south through several national parks to Alice Springs and Australia's Red Center.  We spent just one night in Darwin, but ended up doing more than we expected.  We walked around some of the big D's historic areas and down to it's recently revitalized waterfront with no particular plans in mind for the afternoon or evening.  Toward the end of our walk we stumbled across Darwin's famous Deckchair Cinema, which was showing an Australian film called Oranges and Sunshine.  On a whim we ran back up the hill, bought a picnic dinner and scurried back down to the DC to watch the film.  While the Deckchair Cinema is not real practical for Seattle's climate, we found ourselves quite envious of Darwin's little darling.  The city seems quite proud of their recently restored outdoor cinema, and for good reason.  The chairs are the low-slung hammock type that make you feel like you are lounging outside at a friends house.  They also provide pillows, and have a bar and food available for purchase.  We enjoyed our self-catered meal of salami, cheese, bread, apples, and Tim Tams.  We watched the sun set before the movie began and enjoyed the mild evening as the well-done story of orphans shipped from England to Australia rolled out before us. 

The Deckchair experience was crucial because our one night stand of a hostel was the typical Australian mega-hostel, complete with live-in roommates, a roof-top hottub, and uncomfortable, overcrowded kitchen.  We spent as little time as possible in our totally-not-for-us Darwin hostel, and ended up liking it all the more for it.

We went to pickup our Spaceship in the morning, and were delighted to find that it was named "Bruce."  (Out of all the Spaceships we have seen since, we still think "Bruce" is the best name - though "Droid" and "Cogswell" are right up there.) An enormously huge big shop followed, and we were on the road to Uluru (Ayers Rock), via Litchfield, Kakadu, and Katherine National Parks!