A brief update post from Darwin – the End (of the continent):

Darwin is an impossibly seductive tropical town (Australia’s only) overlooking the Indonesian archipelago. Bali is a stone’s throw from here, and I might hop over for a look if time permits. Darwin’s fantastic – primeval and frontier-like, with  a super cool vibe. You can tell and feel that some people are here because it’s as far away from everyone and everything else as you can possibly get in Australia. Like Alaska in that way.

It’s absolutely great to be here for a couple of days. I’ve made some really nice friends, and was shown the town last night by some wonderful locals. I’m staying in a great hotel with all the amenities I haven’t had for three weeks, and suddenly I feel totally spoiled.

John Snodgrass made a brilliant suggestion today that I’ve pondered on these trips – a map showing where I’ve been (where I’m going is another story). I told Snoddy that it was a great idea, that I’d contemplated doing it for some time, but hadn’t gotten around to it.

No more excuses. Here’s where I’ve been so far:

Approximately 6,000 miles in three and a half weeks. Good thing I love to drive…. In trying to get a handle on the Australian landmass before my trip, I came upon a website that superimposed Australia on a map of the lower 48. Fascinating – both countries are very similar in size and dimensions. That gave me a quick reference, as I’ve been all over the States and know the distances between different places pretty well.

Here’s that map:

Fascinating similarity. Notwithstanding this, Australia is frickin’ big. Really big. In addition, the roads are small (virtually all of them, until you get within 30 miles or so of a city, are two lane and quite twisty), so you can’t cover big distances quickly, like you can in the States. There’s no equivalent of our interstate highway system, which has surprised me. In addition, semis pull three and four full truck loads behind them – no josh – they have big signs on the last ones that say “Road Train.” Passing them at 140 KPH (nighttime is even more fun) gets your adrenaline pumping, especially while driving on the left side of the road.

I’ve been on the road for over three weeks now, and haven’t even circled half of the country. Waaaah. I’ve thought about staying another two months, but I’m sure that I’d turn into a surf bum and never come back. I will have to return here, however, as quite a few folks have told me that the northwest and far western parts of the country are its most beautiful and provocative. Man, everywhere is like that here. I’ll be happy to confirm it, however.

I’ll post about the charms and pleasures of Darwin and my trip from Uluru up here next.

A couple of photos from last night and today. I was lucky enough to arrive on Thursday afternoon, when the local food market vendors all get together on Mindil Beach for sunset dinners, entertainment and group fun and camaraderie on the water. It reminded me of Off the Grid in San Francisco, which I can’t wait to get back to once I’m stateside.

Surf pool. I’m definitely headed there tomorrow. Cowabunga…