Oz, Part 3 - OzFest in Darwin
Jul. 6th, 2026 08:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fauxkloreI’d been fighting off a cold for a couple of days and it was worse in the morning. I took a taxi to the airport, where I got my Qantas Link flight to Darwin. There’s a new shuttle service to city center hotels and that was very convenient. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get early check-in at the Doubletree. I chose to sit in the lobby and read until I got into my room. I should also note that, while the room was fine, the hotel had a lot of construction going on, so the path from the street to the entrance was a bit of a labyrinth. I had a light and mediocre dinner (satay and coke zero) at the hotel before calling it a night. The rest and the sleep did me a lot of good and I was pretty much over the cold by the morning.
OzFest officially started Friday night. Several of us met up at Lizards Bar & Grill for lunch around 1 p.m. I got (alcoholic) ginger beer and beef tacos, which were fairly good, though not as spicy as I would have preferred. A lot of the conversation ran to either people trying to remember where they’d met before (e.g. “oh, you were at that dinner in XXX, right?”) or introducing themselves to people they were sure they’d never met before. Most of us walked over to the Novotel afterwards for a little birthday party for one of the attendees.
The first official event was dinner at Stokes Hill Wharf. This is a seaside area with a bunch of food stalls and a pleasant view of the sunset. There’s also a memorial to the bombing of Darwin there.
The directions for meeting up there had been a bit vague, but it worked out in the end. We’d managed to grab a few tables close to one another and I think most of the people who intended to come managed to find the group. I have deeply mixed feelings about WhatsApp, but it is very useful for this sort of thing.
We had an early departure on Saturday with a hired bus that picked people up at a few hotels. We drove out a ways from Darwin to take the Original Jumping Crocodiles Cruise. This was one of the highlights of the weekend for me. Yes, they do dangle food to attract the crocodiles, but we definitely got good views of them.
By the way, these are estuarine crocodiles, which can live in either freshwater or saltwater, but they’re usually just called “salties.” We did also see some birds (generally raptors, e.g. kites).
The boat trip was about an hour. And everybody came back with all their limbs, so it must have been a success.
Our next stop was the Purple Mango Cafe and Brewery, where we had drinks and pizza. Most of the pizza was kinds of weird in my opinion, e.g. mango chicken or potato and onions. After that we drove to Corroboree Billabong Wetland Cruises, where we got on two boats for a cruise along the billabong, with more wildlife viewing and a boxed lunch. While we did see a few crocodiles and several birds (e.g. cormorants and egrets), it was hot out by then and, overall, this was less enjoyable than the morning boat ride had been.
On the way back to Darwin, we saw a lot of wallabies along the road. They’re very cute, but they ran off when they heard the bus, so I couldn’t get any decent pictures of them.
We had a brief stop to drop people off at the hotels so they could refresh themselves. Then we reboarded the bus and got dropped off at the Darwin Trailer Boat Club for dinner. It was very crowded, so there was a long line at the bar and a long wait for food.I got fish and chips and Thai salad, which was pretty good. I also had a gin and tonic because anybody over about 40 should have already decided on their default go-to drink. You can get a G&T anywhere in the world and you can always pretend the quinine in the tonic water is healthy even if there isn’t really enough to prevent malaria. Anyway, there was lots of lively travel-related conversation. Eventually, I shared an Uber back to the Doubletree with a couple of other people.
Our bus driver on Saturday had told us the true story of Crocodile Dundee, i.e. the actual man who had vaguely inspired the movie. We had a different driver on Sunday, who was called “Magpie Mike” and told us stories about his entertainment career imitating bird calls.
Our first stop was the Darwin Military Museum. There are outside areas that have displays of everything from uniforms to cannons to aircraft.
There are more displays inside and one of the major ones is a film about the Japanese bombing of Darwin. I can’t speak for other Americans, but given that we learned fairly little about Pearl Harbor, I’m pretty sure Australia’s involvement in World War II was never even mentioned in my high school history classes. (We spent months on the French Revolution and less than a week on the entire 20th Century.) There is also a section on the Holocaust and I was also interested in a scheme for creating a Jewish state in northern Australia.
Our next stop was the Mangrove Boardwalk. This was very pretty and I wish we had had more time there so I could enjoy it at a more leisurely pace. Note that it was high tide, so a lot of the roots were covered by the water.
We stopped for lunch at the Cool Spot Cafe, where I had a (non-alcoholic) ginger beer and a very tasty Korean chicken burger with chips (i.e. fries). After lunch, we got back on the bus and people got dropped off at their choice of a few places. I opted for the Northern Territory Museum and Art Gallery. The art gallery focused on pieces by students finishing high school. Here are a couple of pieces I liked.
There was an interesting film with interviews with the students. Many of them had entirely unrealistic visions for their futures, focusing on money and stardom.
Other exhibits in the museum included natural history and a large exhibit about Cyclone Tracy, which destroyed Darwin 50 years ago. Another person and I shared an Uber back to the Doubletree. People were meeting up at the Mindil Beach Sunset Markets for dinner, but I decided I needed a nap and some introvert time, so passed on that.
Overall, I had a good time with interesting activities and good conversation. As I’ve said before, while there is great scenery and cool animals, the major reason to go to Australia is Australians. While I am not planning to go to next year’s OzFest in Canberra, I am sure I will go again in the future.
One issue with Darwin is flight schedules. There are a lot of flights that depart at absurd hours like 1 a.m. I opted to take a more reasonable flight on Monday afternoon, on Virgin Australia to Brisbane. Since I’ve been there a couple of times, I just stayed overnight at the Ibis Hotel (a short walk from the domestic terminal). It was fine for what it was, though the only charging port was in the back of the clock radio.
In the morning, I took the (paid) shuttle to the International Terminal. I had breakfast in the Air New Zealand lounge. Shortly before boarding, I got a notice that I’d gotten upgraded to Polaris for my flight to SFO. It was (as is typical at SFO) a bit of a hike to get to my connecting flight, which was completely full and, hence, uncomfortable. But, I had an aisle seat and I had no issues getting home, which is the important part. Getting caught up at home is, alas, another story.
OzFest officially started Friday night. Several of us met up at Lizards Bar & Grill for lunch around 1 p.m. I got (alcoholic) ginger beer and beef tacos, which were fairly good, though not as spicy as I would have preferred. A lot of the conversation ran to either people trying to remember where they’d met before (e.g. “oh, you were at that dinner in XXX, right?”) or introducing themselves to people they were sure they’d never met before. Most of us walked over to the Novotel afterwards for a little birthday party for one of the attendees.
The first official event was dinner at Stokes Hill Wharf. This is a seaside area with a bunch of food stalls and a pleasant view of the sunset. There’s also a memorial to the bombing of Darwin there.
The directions for meeting up there had been a bit vague, but it worked out in the end. We’d managed to grab a few tables close to one another and I think most of the people who intended to come managed to find the group. I have deeply mixed feelings about WhatsApp, but it is very useful for this sort of thing.
We had an early departure on Saturday with a hired bus that picked people up at a few hotels. We drove out a ways from Darwin to take the Original Jumping Crocodiles Cruise. This was one of the highlights of the weekend for me. Yes, they do dangle food to attract the crocodiles, but we definitely got good views of them.
By the way, these are estuarine crocodiles, which can live in either freshwater or saltwater, but they’re usually just called “salties.” We did also see some birds (generally raptors, e.g. kites).
The boat trip was about an hour. And everybody came back with all their limbs, so it must have been a success.
Our next stop was the Purple Mango Cafe and Brewery, where we had drinks and pizza. Most of the pizza was kinds of weird in my opinion, e.g. mango chicken or potato and onions. After that we drove to Corroboree Billabong Wetland Cruises, where we got on two boats for a cruise along the billabong, with more wildlife viewing and a boxed lunch. While we did see a few crocodiles and several birds (e.g. cormorants and egrets), it was hot out by then and, overall, this was less enjoyable than the morning boat ride had been.
On the way back to Darwin, we saw a lot of wallabies along the road. They’re very cute, but they ran off when they heard the bus, so I couldn’t get any decent pictures of them.
We had a brief stop to drop people off at the hotels so they could refresh themselves. Then we reboarded the bus and got dropped off at the Darwin Trailer Boat Club for dinner. It was very crowded, so there was a long line at the bar and a long wait for food.I got fish and chips and Thai salad, which was pretty good. I also had a gin and tonic because anybody over about 40 should have already decided on their default go-to drink. You can get a G&T anywhere in the world and you can always pretend the quinine in the tonic water is healthy even if there isn’t really enough to prevent malaria. Anyway, there was lots of lively travel-related conversation. Eventually, I shared an Uber back to the Doubletree with a couple of other people.
Our bus driver on Saturday had told us the true story of Crocodile Dundee, i.e. the actual man who had vaguely inspired the movie. We had a different driver on Sunday, who was called “Magpie Mike” and told us stories about his entertainment career imitating bird calls.
Our first stop was the Darwin Military Museum. There are outside areas that have displays of everything from uniforms to cannons to aircraft.
There are more displays inside and one of the major ones is a film about the Japanese bombing of Darwin. I can’t speak for other Americans, but given that we learned fairly little about Pearl Harbor, I’m pretty sure Australia’s involvement in World War II was never even mentioned in my high school history classes. (We spent months on the French Revolution and less than a week on the entire 20th Century.) There is also a section on the Holocaust and I was also interested in a scheme for creating a Jewish state in northern Australia.
Our next stop was the Mangrove Boardwalk. This was very pretty and I wish we had had more time there so I could enjoy it at a more leisurely pace. Note that it was high tide, so a lot of the roots were covered by the water.
We stopped for lunch at the Cool Spot Cafe, where I had a (non-alcoholic) ginger beer and a very tasty Korean chicken burger with chips (i.e. fries). After lunch, we got back on the bus and people got dropped off at their choice of a few places. I opted for the Northern Territory Museum and Art Gallery. The art gallery focused on pieces by students finishing high school. Here are a couple of pieces I liked.
There was an interesting film with interviews with the students. Many of them had entirely unrealistic visions for their futures, focusing on money and stardom.
Other exhibits in the museum included natural history and a large exhibit about Cyclone Tracy, which destroyed Darwin 50 years ago. Another person and I shared an Uber back to the Doubletree. People were meeting up at the Mindil Beach Sunset Markets for dinner, but I decided I needed a nap and some introvert time, so passed on that.
Overall, I had a good time with interesting activities and good conversation. As I’ve said before, while there is great scenery and cool animals, the major reason to go to Australia is Australians. While I am not planning to go to next year’s OzFest in Canberra, I am sure I will go again in the future.
One issue with Darwin is flight schedules. There are a lot of flights that depart at absurd hours like 1 a.m. I opted to take a more reasonable flight on Monday afternoon, on Virgin Australia to Brisbane. Since I’ve been there a couple of times, I just stayed overnight at the Ibis Hotel (a short walk from the domestic terminal). It was fine for what it was, though the only charging port was in the back of the clock radio.
In the morning, I took the (paid) shuttle to the International Terminal. I had breakfast in the Air New Zealand lounge. Shortly before boarding, I got a notice that I’d gotten upgraded to Polaris for my flight to SFO. It was (as is typical at SFO) a bit of a hike to get to my connecting flight, which was completely full and, hence, uncomfortable. But, I had an aisle seat and I had no issues getting home, which is the important part. Getting caught up at home is, alas, another story.
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Date: 2026-07-08 11:50 am (UTC)