DAY 12 - DARWIN DAY 2

We were up early for a live interview at the Hot 100 FM studio in Darwin followed by a newspaper interview and photo shoot for a local newspaper at Shenannigan’s Irish pub on Mitchell Street in Darwin. We all then set off on a long day of organisation as it would be the last weekday we are in Australia.

A trip to the bank was needed to pay the balance owed to our Chinese travel agency. China has logistically been the most difficult part of the trip to organize. It is compulsory for a guide to be with us 24 hours a day and we cannot stray off a predetermined route. Also the Hummer must be fitted with Chinese license plates and Dave even needs to be issued a Chinese drivers license! Bureaucracy at its finest! The travel agencies know that only they can provide this service and that travelers like us with a vehicle have no other choice but to go through China as the only other possible route is via Burma which is impossible, this explains their exorbitant prices charged for these services meaning that China is by far the most pricey part of the drive for us to organize.

After this we sadly had to say goodbye to the car as we left it with the shipping company that will be sending it over to Singapore for us. Needless to say paper work was not in order and customs were too busy to stamp the Carnet which needs to be left with them and then posted to us later in Singapore. We were also told the car would be too big to fit in a container with the spot lights and roof rack still attached. Dave and Rhys had to get very blokey (which they are anything but!) and remove them while at the port. This is all presumably just a taste of the logistical nightmares that will no doubt ensue in much less organized ports and borders.

We are currently in the middle of the wet season in Darwin and the humidity is unbearable. Hot humid air combined with rain clouds creates intense storms in this region. In the evening we witnessed the ‘lightning capital of Australia’ live up to its name. See video below.

In the evening, we hit the town with Dave and Rhys‘ Uni mates from Darwin. Unfortunately Darwin nightclubs have a no flip-flop policy for blokes. Flip-flop clad Finto and Dave had packed all their shoes in the Hummer so a bit of shoe smuggling was undertaken by Dave’s mate Bianca in order to get into Discovery Nightclub for a night of partying.