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September 8th, 2011 | Australasia

Darwin Day one…

My flight to Darwin landed at around 6.00am, and in a matter of minutes I was handing my passport over to a smiling Immigration officer, who seemed to take the longest time studies the details contained therein…

Then with a thin smile, he closed his counter and asked me to follow him…

I was led to another officer, who was seated in a wheelchair, and smiling sweetly, she began asking me the usual questions… Thinking that she would want to take a gander at my visa, I began fishing it out of the envelope in my hand…

“No, no… That won’t be necessary sir… We have already seen your visa…!!”

“Well I haven’t taken my visa out of this envelope since leaving Bali…??”

“No need, sir… We are well aware of all your details, and have been expecting you…!!”

I held the smile on my face with difficulty, wondering exactly what she meant by that….!! I did not recall phoning ahead to let the Australian Immigration Services know that I was coming to Darwin…!!

An authority you do not want to get on the wrong side of...!!

But I needn’t have worried… It was all routine and I had been randomly flagged to receive the friendly third degree… I handed her one of my business cards and we chatted about my trip for a while before she waved me on to customs with a “Enjoy your ride through Australia…!!”

Or you might end up chattting to these chaps...!!

I was sent down the channel where a young Beagle sat licking itself, and asked to place all my bags on the floor in front of the dog… He wandered forward, gave my kit a quick sniff, wagged his tail a few times, and then sat down again, apparently smelling nothing of interest in any of my bags…

Minutes later I was outside the terminal building trying to decided what to do next… As usual, I figured that it would be best to put as much distance between myself and the Immigration folk as quickly as possible… Just in case they decided that they didn’t want another biker on their roads after all…!!

I hopped into a taxi, and so began a day where I spent the better part of it being sent from pillar to post in Darwin… At the end of it, the only people smiling were the four taxi drivers who between them had managed to relive me of over $100 in fares…!!

My first stop was Toll Marine in the harbour area, who had just opened for business… I was told that I would have to get Customs clearance first before they could process the bike… At Customs House in Lindsay street, the very helpful officer on duty told me that I would have to see Quarantine Services first before they could clear the bike… At Quarantine Services back at the airport, I was told that the Shipping company had to raise a document of some kind before we could proceed…

I began feeling around in my cot to find the toys I would be throwing in a few minutes…!! The grinning taxi drivers told me it was always like this…

“One department does not know what the other is doing, sir…!! When I came from Pakistan…. Oh, oh, oh…. I nearly died from frustration…!!”

“Well, my friend, if I have to die from frustration, I’ll be taking a few people with me…!!”

He never said much to me after that, but kept sending sideways glances in my direction as we drove through the early morning traffic…

The ladies at AQIS were extremely helpful, and even brought me coffee and biscuits while they worked through my application for inspection...

Back at Customs, the officer there very kindly stamped my Carnet without actually seeing the bike… I had given her my card and she must have gone online to check me out while I was away…

“I can see you know what you are doing, and have done this all before…” she said, eye-ing the thick stack of paperwork I held in my hands… “I will stick my neck out and stamp this for you so that you can be on your way…!!”

Then it was off to Toll Marine again, where Danielle advised that I would need to book a time with the Quarantine Services to come and inspect the bike… Back to the airport…!! The gnashing of teeth could be heard for miles around…!! But the ever helpful ladies there got me sorted out in a jiffy… I paid $151.00 for the half hour inspection which was booked for the following morning…

Colourful mural at the AQIS offices....

With nothing more to do but wait for the following day, I called Christie Dickenson, who was a good friend of Patricia’s sister Mimi, and who had very kindly invited me to stay with them in Darwin… Address in hand, I took my fourth and final taxi ride out to Grungle Downs Bed & Breakfast in Knuckey Lagoon…

Christie herself met me in the driveway of the beautifully maintained grounds of their country home and a short while later introduced me to Paul, her husband… Paul was born in England, and had a sense of humour and turn of phrase that had me laughing every time he opened his mouth…!!

And so began an amazing week of fun and laughter, with two of the friendliest and most interesting people you could ever hope to meet…!!

Within minutes, we were sipping on an introductory Heineken, and swapping stories of our travels… We found that we had much in common, and as Paul later said,  his voice slightly blurred by lack of sleep, “I feel I’ve known you for years, old boy…!!” (the term “later” being about 2.00am the following morning…!!)

Grungle Downs had been named after one of their favourite Rhodesian Ridgebacks, and talk of the dogs we had owned and the joy they had brought us, kept us busy for a long time… I showed them photos of Jessie, my own Ridgeback, who was patiently waiting for her master to return from his travels… We agreed that there was “nothing like a good dog”…!!

Entrance to Grungle Downs in Darwin....

Christie in the mean time had arranged with Kathleen of Channel 9 News to film and interview me at the harbour the following morning after the Big Fella had been released from Quarantine… She also spoke to the local newspaper who seemed very interested to get my story in print as well…!! I sat sipping my third G&T of the afternoon, bemused by the interest my arrival in Darwin was generating…

Looking out over the manicured lawns to the treeline behind their property, I had watched the sun go down and birds flying back and forth to find a place to roost… I somehow felt as though I was back somewhere in Africa,  and knew that I was going to like Australia…

©GBWT 2011

7 comments to Darwin Day one…

  • Murray Gominsek

    Hi Ronnie,
    I had an email from old friends in Perth (SANDVIK) giving me your details. I live in Brisbane, Queensland the best place for motorbikes in the world (hence why I moved here). I have published your website on my Facebook to see what we can arrange for you. My recommendation would be to travel clockwise from Darwin. There are so many options at this time of the year before it gets too hot or wet. Enjoy your stay in Oz. I hope we can catch up as you pass through Brisbane?
    Murray

  • Mark Behr

    Glad the people of Darwin treated you well. You will like Australia. The people are awesome and the country vast and beautiful. I know too that you will find it expensive. Travel safely!

  • Charmz

    When you feel its too expensive, which it is…..cut your Aussie trip short!! South America will see your money go alot further.
    Hopefully you will find some more good samaritans who will gladly give you a bed, shower and a meal along your travels. Holding thumbs big brother!

  • Expensive…?? Really…?? You mean like R100 for a stale pie and a bottle of water…?? Or R1200 for a room that Sipho would turn his nose up at…?? I can only assume that Australians are the best paid people on God’s green earth…!! R.

  • Mark Behr

    So you got off lightly 🙂 Look forward to welcoming you to our humble abode in Brisbane. The bed is clean and the food is good.

  • And there I was, looking forward to clean food and a good bed…!! Ah, well…!! Ha…!! See you soon, Mark…!! But first, there are some miles to chew…!! R.

  • Fagan

    Well I can suggest a site for some great places to Visit for next to nothing, but you will need to brush up on your camping skills!
    http://ozcamps.net/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=29
    Look us up when you get over our way

    Fagan & Julie

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