← PreviousLitchfield National Park: waterholes as far as the eye can seeIt was another extremely hot day in Darwin. When we decided to go out around noon for lunch, the heat crushed us immediately. The sun beat down on our skin relentlessly; we had the strange feeling it was closer to us here and was targeting us personally. We took refuge at the Roma Café and gave in to a plate of salmon linguine, even though we'd sworn never to eat pasta in Australia again. In every Italian restaurant we'd tried so far, we'd had bad experiences, except when the cook was a genuine son of the boot. And yet this salmon pasta was excellent and filled us up nicely despite the medium-sized portion. Nearby we'd spotted a hairdresser, and my hair really needed cutting. We went in and the hairdresser took care of me straight away. It made for a very funny situation, because the professional really made a mess of my head.
I'd asked for something fairly simple: short on the sides and a bit longer on top. But she had to have three goes to get an acceptable result, and as I left I was already thinking of asking my mate to repair the damage. That wasn't going to spoil our day, and we laughed about it a lot on the way out as we headed for East Point. It's a point on Darwin's bay with a man-made lake and a pleasant promenade. We were really surprised by the beauty of the water, an almost pure blue. That made a change from Cairns, where the sea was brown. The park was almost empty apart from a few groups of fairly drunk Aboriginal people. We even witnessed a woman being arrested by the police; we heard her shouting in a gravelly voice and saw the weary look of the officers, who were clearly used to arresting drunk people.
We went to a souvenir shop to bring back some little gifts. We found what we wanted despite the poor selection and went back to our friends' apartment to rest before going out again. We'd been invited to the leaving drinks of one of Romain and Emelyne's colleagues. They worked for an IT company, the little party was held in the office, and we had a good time before going back to eat pizza at the apartment and going to bed around one in the morning. We'd set the alarm for 8:30 to go for brunch on the beach. As soon as we were up, we all showered and were ready to go. Our destination was on one of Darwin's points, about ten minutes' drive away, and despite the short night we couldn't wait to get there.
The restaurant was called the Café de la Plage, in French in the original, and was more chip shack than fine dining. But once we'd ordered, we sat at a little table under the trees right by the water. It was clearly the hangout of many Darwin families. They came with toys for the children and their dogs, and several groups even met up there. The atmosphere was really very convivial, and it was with regret that we left to head for our second stop of the day.
We'd booked a jumping crocodile cruise for the Thursday, but a death in the owners' family had sadly forced them to close. So we took the chance, while we were with our friends, to all go together with another company. It was a two-deck boat on which a man stood up high with a sort of fishing rod dangling chunks of meat. The boat floated on a very muddy river, and it didn't take long before we spotted our first predators. Their heads barely broke the surface as they moved slowly towards us. It was truly frightening. The guide in charge of feeding the animals handled it masterfully. He lured them by slapping the meat on the water, and when they were about to grab it, he raised the rod to make them jump. It was a well-oiled routine, but the crocodiles were very lazy that day. Maybe it was the late hour and the fact that they'd already been fed, but they didn't feel like jumping very high.
The experience wasn't spoiled, though, because the crocodiles were truly impressive. We were also lucky enough to see dozens of eagles circling the boat, and when the guide threw out food, they surrounded it in a sort of frightening frenzy. It was a brand-new sight for us. On the way back, we stopped by a river known to locals for feeding colossal barramundi. They made an incredible noise as they snatched the fish we held out at the surface. After a short stop at the apartment, we decided to buy two little French saucissons to nibble while watching the sunset. We went to a grassy esplanade where, as in the morning, families had gathered to share the moment. We drank a few beers and a few glasses of wine watching the slow descent of the sun.
Dinner was right in the city centre at an Indian restaurant called Hanuman. Very popular with locals, we soon realised the place was appreciated as much for the beauty of its premises as for its food. An English colleague of our friends joined us with his Chinese girlfriend, and we had a great evening eating biryani and naan while teasing each other about the Franco-English rivalry. We didn't get back to the apartment too late, as our alarm was set for 5:15 the next day for our departure to Bali, and we were beside ourselves with excitement.