Location: Darwin
Date: Sunday 18 January 2009
A week in the tropics and I’m still wondering if I am on holidays or in heaven. Pinch me someone please. It feels like a month – acclimatising, new people, new ways of doing things . . . The main achievement for the first seven days, apart from lasting in my job for five of those days, is that I have a home of my own. I’ve gone from the YWCA to an apartment near the harbour. I have a breeze, a view, and a pool for hydrotherapy for my recovering but still swollen knee. How lucky can a person be. Finding this haven all came about because of one person’s kindness on top of another kind offer of help. But first the Y.
The YWCA was basic but homey. The squeaky wire base on the bed left a lasting impression on my back, and the pool was a bit murky, but I met other women who, like me, were working in Darwin, or the occasional German, Dutch or Australian tourist. I was lodged on an all women’s floor, but gradually the boys appeared. Mid week, three young fellows with raw, third degree sunburn on their torsos appeared in the lounge/kitchenette area, and ate hot and spicy pizza every night. They developed a symbiotic relationship with the enormous plasma screen near the kitchenette; friendly and cheerful, they didn’t make noise. I hoped the air-con in their room worked well – they certainly needed something to cool their burning raw skin.
I can’t believe how I came across my new flat. It must have had my name on it. A woman approached Helen and I in the coffee shop on the first day I arrived. I must’ve looked fresh off the boat. She saw me scanning the available rentals in the local paper and said she had a flat for rent coming up soon, was I looking for somewhere to live. Was I! The place wouldn’t be ready for inspection for a week, I still had to check other places, and it sounded too good to be true. I tried not to get too excited. But after only a week of house hunting it was far and away the best value for money. I didn’t want to be out in the suburbs without a car, being close to the city suited me, so here I am, happily overlooking the harbour, surrounded by lush trees and palms. Maybe everything is for a purpose. Darwin is great!
room at the Y
