Dear Vinh (and other fellow ex-Kiwis),
Many thanks for your recent e-mail, lobbying hard for my contribution to the 7ND which you are the Editor-in-chief this year.
What can I write about being the only ex-Kiwi in this most remote place called Darwin? Darwin?? I bet that 99.9% of you out there, especially those outside the Down Under, do not have a clue where the hell is Darwin - Right? I can tell you all straight away that it is one of the hottest places on earth, it's the most northernmost town of Kangarooland; if you move any further north than that you will end up in Indonesia!! (In fact, a couple of years ago, one Vietnamese fisherman, after his fishing boat engine failed, actually drifting from an island near Darwin all the way to Timor, which is an island belonging to Indonesia! Yet somehow he survived the 15 day ordeal!).
Darwin, capital of the Northern Territory (NT), is probably the most distant place from main southern cities like Sydney or Melbourne. It is about 5-6 hours flying time from most southern cities. It does not have any rail link with any southern cities. Darwin is also the only capital city in Australia without any rail system of any kind... The railway line connecting the southern city of Adelaide (South Australia) somehow ends in the middle of nowhere, at a desert town called Alice Springs (pop. 25,000) (Remember Nevile Shute's "A Town like Alice" book/movie?). There has been numerous attempts to get the railway line extended north up to Darwin in order to complete the north-south line by various Governments over the past 100 years but to no avail. Every time there is an election, the promise of a railway line is brought up again and again. So, whenever the subject of railway comes up, people around here know that an election is in the air... Last year, there was an election, so, of course, the subject of railway came up again and this time, they said it will definitely be built by 2001 but I will believe it when I actually see it. So, for most people having family problems down south, especially the wives who want to run away as far as they can from their abusing hubbies, Darwin is usually their first choice. So, lady members among our ex-Kiwi group can take note of this and if your hubbies start treating you badly, remember Darwin is the place to head for!.
In the past, Darwin has always been a "pioneer" town, proud of its reputation as a hard drinking, wild west place with tough men (and women).. Sarah Henderson is a living testimony to that. After the death of her husband, instead of selling the family's vast cattle station (a few thousand square km.) and moved to town, she single handedly took over of the station - in the mid of nowhere, the nearest neighbour at least 200 km away. She, with the help of another two daughters, struggled hard, doing all types of men's works expected of tough cowboys.. Over the years, they have turned the run down station into a profitable farming business. Words get around and Sara Henderson becomes a well known identity and has been named the Oz's business woman of the year or something like that. Nowadays, she is a kind of celebrity, writing books, doing TV ads and travels all over Australia and overseas in talk show business ... Quite an achievement a lady who started out late in life!
Since Darwin is in the tropics (latitude 120 South of equator), there are only two seasons: the Wet (October / November to May) and the Dry (May to October), similar to what we have in Saigon (but in opposite time of the year). However, there are occasions when it does rain during the dry and sometimes very little rains during the wet, so one of the favourite pastimes of the people here is to predict what sort of wet or dry season it will be Ờ is it going to be a dry Wet or a wet Dry or an early dry then wet Wet or a early wet then dry Dry? Confusing enough??
Darwin is also in the cyclonic area. Each year, there are at least 2-3 cyclones blowing through the region, bringing torrential rains with them. In fact, Darwin was nearly 100% wiped out after cyclone Tracey during Christmas in 1974 with wind force up to 200km/hr. Nowadays, the place has been rebuilt completely and is quite a modern cosmopolitan city of around 100,000 people, with modern facilities etc... It has many lovely sandy beaches with coconut palms etc... But beware, there are plenty of jellyfishes (locally called "stingers") (sứa biển) which are deadly poisonous.. If you are courageous enough to go swimming in the sea during the hot summer, remember to bring a jar of strong vinegar with you. It's the only thing which can dislodge those poisonous tentacles from the jelly fish which can cause death even in adults. That is not to mention crocodiles: big ones and small ones, salt water ones, fresh water ones... (Paul Hogan's Crocodile Dundee was partly filmed in the NT). In fact, crocodiles are among one of the favourite tourist attractions in the NT besides the well known Kakadu, Uluru (Ayers Rock) National Parks and other hundred of lesser known parks.
Darwin is also famous for its large varieties of exotic tropical fruits including mangoes, rambutan chôm chôm), mangosteen măng cụt), durian (sầu riêng), jackfruits (mít), guavas (ổi) etc... The fruit season for mangoes (and other tropical fruits) is from October to November/December). That period coincides with the so-called "build-up" season when the weather is at its hottest and with an unbearable high level of humidity. It makes one sweating profusely just like being in a sauna. The locals called it the "Mango Madness Season" or the "Suicide Season". Probably some just go nuts with the heat, I suppose. Or maybe, some feel too hot just because they eat too many mangoes, I don't know... Talking about suicide, the Northern Territory is the first place in Australia and probably in the world, which actually passed a bill called "Euthanasia Bill" in 1995 allowing those who are terminally ill (certified by doctors) can, with the aid of a computer, inject themselves with a lethal dose of drugs to literally kill themselves... So anyone who entertains that idea can come to Darwin. ..."Make it Your Last Trip to Darwin".... "Your Last Chance to Visit Darwin"! (Note: The Bill was subsequently overruled by the Federal Government in Canberra. However, the lobbying is still going on to resurrect it).
What else? Although Darwin has only around 100,000 souls, but believe or not, it actually has its own casino (MGM Grand Casino) where some members of the small Vietnamese community here regularly contributed well to its annual profit.. Talking about the Vietnamese community, the 4-500 odd Vietnamese here are mainly into mango farming, fishing, crabbing and growing exotic tropical fruit and Asian vegetables (khổ qua, đậu đủa , bầu, bí etc.) for sale to southern markets such as Melbourne and Sydney where the bulk of the Vietnamese are located.. Most of the Vietnamese here are among the first group of boat people who sailed directly from Vietnam to Australia by boats in the early part of the boat people era. Some even managed to bring rare items such as cối xay bột bằng đá with them! The local museum still houses one such refugee boat, named Thịnh Vượng.
Some Vietnamese around town managed to plant hoa mai vàng chính cống brought over from VN as well... Unfortunately, the flowering is usually during Tết Trung Thu (in Sepetember) not Tết Nguyên Đán. due to the difference in the seasons. Oh well, at least we can have hoa mai during Tết Trung Thu. So, next time, if you are sick of being abused/bashed by your husband/wife or maybe because of the severity of your mid-life crisis, some how, you need to run away, then remember Darwin will always be ready to welcome you!.. (hopefully not for the last time!).
Cheers for now and with kind regards,
NTH
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