Day 12 - 9th August - Darwin: Botanical Gardens (Part 1)
Sadly no bus went to the military museum whose grounds we'd been on the previous evening. So since we'd returned the car we were confined to the city.
"Share Accomodation
Females Preferred"
There were many women smoking outside an office building, where there was a sign: "these plants are for beautification and are not to be used as ashtrays".
"Extremely tasty pho bo rare beef noodle soup"
Maybe they used Kobe Beef.
"No camping or sleeping overnight"
Presumably you can camp and sleep in the day
Snitch on people drinking alcohol
"Quality Hotel Frontier Darwin XXXX
Bottlemart"
Note the alcohol drivethrough. They had vodka in cans!
There were quite a few roads in Darwin named after Chinese.
Gardens Road Cemetery. It was very empty.
The first stop was the Botanic Gardens.
Former Wesleyan Methodist Church. Which I was very underwhelmed by.
"We all Rely on Plants"
"Welcome to George Brown Botanic Gardens"
Too bad for the Larrakia "who speak for this area" - that's like asking an expert on the Etruscans to comment on modern Italian politics.
Looking at a map of the Northern Territory it seems half of it is aboriginal land you need a permit to enter.
Permaculture
Red Cayenne Hot Chilli, Sweet Leaf Bush
Man and Straw Man
I then went to the orientation centre to profit from the fan, water cooler and sofa. My torpor was due to the weather and the walk so nua-ing was good.
"These trees are mostly termite resistance, and only a small percentage is affected by insects"
Unless they got people on working holidays to do all the signs in the Northern Territory, they can't excuse the bad English.
"Q: I have been told that pythons in the Forsyth area breed with king browns to produce a particularly aggressive and venomous snake"
Somehow, I was surprised to learn that Australi had cycads, from the time the dinosaurs walked the earth.
Bromeliads
It was frustrating walking in the gardens. They weren't all that well laid out in the first place but the signage was bad; I was looking for the Africa/Madagascar sections because I'd seen all that the NT had to offer, but they were not marked.
Drumstick Tree
Tiwi Wet Monsoon Forest
This should've been Madagascar
Tropical Savannah
Hot and dry (e.g. Darwin) and cold and humid (e.g. Mt Kinabalu) places are pretty much tied for shittiness. In cold and humid places you do not sweat only if you don't move - but the air is still oppressive.