Darwin (Paravista Motel & Fogg Dam)

For visitors who pop by, please understand this post is for my own personal keepsake and for those wanting to find out more about Darwin. It is not intended to show the world where I've been or I would have blasted it on Facebook with tons of photos.

I'm posting this from a Singaporean point-of-view which is quite quite different from an Australian perspective, and it's also just my personal view.

Darwin is a small city with a huge hinterland. Life is slow and easy here. Traffic is light and it's a breeze to drive around in such conditions. However, distances between attractions out of the city are long (by SG standards) and from a strictly personal point of view, sometimes not worth the drive. The cost of living is quite high in Darwin, and food is expensive in all sense of the word. Soft drinks are like A$2-3 (A$4 at the airport), Chinese food comes in small (A$8), medium (A$10) and large (A$12) portions, donuts are closer to A$4 and mind you, not big at all, coffee A$4 upwards. Fast food seems to be the more economical (but deadly) meals around - a McDonald's meal hovers around A$10. T-shirts are easily A$15 for the normal ones that we pay S$10 at home. Again, this is all from a SG tourist perspective. Australians will probably look upon these as normal since they grew up in such an environment.

Prices of food at Stokes Hill Wharf

Another restaurant on Stokes Hill Wharf

Accommodation at Paravista Motel

We stayed at Paravista Motel which was not far from the city. The motel is rather dated but neat and tidy. The room is simple and clean. If all you need is a decent and clean place to sleep in, this is it. Anyway, from the photos that we saw, even the more expensive hotels are also nothing much to talk about in terms of the rooms. The boss, Nelson (resembles a slightly overweight Vin Diesel!), is a very friendly and down to earth person who loves SG (been here 25 times already, he said). The cicadas outside can be very noisy but with the doors closed, it's quite ok. The motel staff leaves by 7pm and you do your own locking of the motel door (every guest is given a motel door key). It is expected of all who stay here.

Parap Village is a short 10-minute walk away and that's where the famous Parap Market is held every Sat from 8am (more on that later). Other than Parap Village, there is nothing much within walking distance. We drove and the city is quite near. But if you don't drive, don't think of walking to the city centre unless you're in desperate need of exercise in which case, I have better options for you.

The entrance

5 levels

Small but clean swimming pool

Reception (on the left) is closed after 7pm

Almost 40 years old

Corridor leading to the rooms

Fogg Dam

This was our first stop after picking up the car. Actually, it was our second stop - the first being Coles where we bought our supplies of water, food etc and had a nice time checking out the new stuff at the supermarket. Coles open early - 6am!

Back to Fogg Dam. It's about 64km from the airport which is roughly an hour's drive. So it's not exactly near. The dam was supposed to have a lot of birds for me to photograph. We were the only ones there and had the whole place to ourselves. Happy! But very few birds around.  I think we came at the wrong time. Sad! Could only catch a few shots - see here for bird pix. And Fogg Dam is not a real dam in the true sense of the word. It is just an elevated narrow road above the wetlands - that's all. You can take walks around the area but proper attire is needed to keep away the biting insects and such. It was hot when we were there, so we skipped the walks.

Another 10km to go (this is the turnoff on Arnhem Highway)

Welcome to Fogg Dam

Hoping no tortoise decided to cross the road

You risk been eaten if you walk on the dam wall.

Shaded bird viewing platforms