darwin thread

[ThunderIdeal]

post your impressions of darwin, if you've been (i'm stuck here for a little while). i caught up with rahli a couple days ago, what a digger! has done it all by himself, isolated from the rest of you ethno-heads.

a couple things:

it's not that bad a city really. i've never seen shops with such large displays of quality knives, torches, leathermen etc. in the big shopping centre at casuarina is a shop with heaps of compound bows, crossbows, swords etc. you can drive 130km on the highway and it used to be open speed limit (130 is awesome! 180 would be better but i'll settle for 130). there's some cool history. i don't think other aussies realise how full-on the conflict here was in world war II, but i just read about it. two mini-subs in sydney harbour caused a big stir, but apparently aussie politicians were involved in covering up the extent of the attacks on darwin (same task force that destroyed pearl harbour... we tried sending more forces to timor but they were harassed by planes and had to return.. many ships were sunk in darwin harbour). darwin never really took off until half a century ago, it's population only went above 1500 during three booms. gold boom, something else, and world war II fortification).

my main negative comment so far is that i moved to the NT less than two months ago. i've seen two guys assaulting women. before i came here, i had never witnessed that in my entire life. both times on the street. once at nhulunbuy, aboriginals, actually she looked like she was handling him just fine. once in darwin, across the road from a gaggle of punters, white gorilla pinning an asian woman and hitting her. what the fuck?!!!!! never in my life have i had to decide to charge in and assault somebody, then after we were broken up a bouncer informed me that i was in the wrong, and not to interfere with domestics.... and the he saw it all and "she hit him first" what the fuck!!! i get the impression that violence against women is more prevalent here, as is heavy drinking. i'm left in the sorry state of wondering whether i did the right thing, since if they were partners she probably got an extra flogging that night courtesy of me.

[MindExpansion]

TI, IMO you did the right thing, no doubt at all... fuck the gutless shitheads that stood by and watched that shit go on... matter of fact, mad courage on your part jumping in like that.

Peace

[ThunderIdeal]

three words buddy, stimulating kava effects (the only kind i've been getting lately). thanks for the reassurance, i have to wonder though. it has affected me. rahli told me this place is fightsville, more or less. i've been walking around the street with my shoulder cocked in case i run into mr assault and battery again.

more impressions. i've never seen such an array of bongs and pipes. shopping for certain things is awesome here. t-shirts are cheap as chups. they aren't high quality, but they have cool slogans or whatever (10 to 25 dollars), and a cool tye-died shirt with a cool picture is less than thirty bucks. if you're into aboriginal artwork, NT is the place.

it's filled with tourists, who seem very friendly. i'm not sure if many of the people on the street are locals. it's a pretty cool place in some ways (stinking hot though).

please add your thoughts.

[Yawning Man]

I'll come and visit ya when i do my roadie! A mate of mine went up there a year or so back and said that a lot of the tourists seemed like hippies.

Is there much work up there?

cheers

[ThunderIdeal]

well, you should ask a real territorian your serious questions. there are jobs here, but accommodation is pricier. if you are a nurse, copper, prison officer, dentist.... i'm pretty sure they are in extreme demand. there are jobs here, but just because they're desperate doesn't mean they will employ you the next day. i think of it as the wild west. NT aye. wild shit.

[rosetta stoned]

iv been upto dawin 3 or 4 times working (actually only left 2 or 3 days ago) i really like the place its a lot of fun good people really layed back and friendly and yeah it pritty wild tats what they NT is 10 years behind the rest of australia ha

i especially like the mindil beach sunset markets they are awesome its well worth a visit there is heaps to see there (a HHH market too run by some very cool people i think they said there members here)

ill proberly be going up there again at some time or another working ill let you know if i am and we could catch up if you want it would be nice to meet some people up there cause id like to move up there at some point as i love it so much its my favourite spot in aus

[ThunderIdeal]

your favourite spot? ok. cool. i dunno if i'll still be in darwin when you come up.

i was about to declare 'thread fail' too.

what work do you do up here? since all the employers at gove have my CV, i'm gonna start looking around more while i'm still in the capital city, approach some other companies through their state office.

i just hired a wicked camper, they're pretty good value it seems, considering you get wheels and a bed. maybe i'll do some tourist shit if i feel like burning more coin than i already have, check out kakadu or the gorge or uluru. waddya reckon?

signs everywhere saying 'we will refuse service if you are violent'.

some decent buskers in the mall.

met this whacky soldier lastnight. reminded me of steady eddie. pretty clued on, especially for a young soldier.

edit: edited by jesus... thats your sig. heheh.

Edited September 19, 2008 by ThunderIdeal

[ballzac]

he saw it all and "she hit him first"

I hope she got a fuckin' hiding then.

[rosetta stoned]

haha sorry that last post was a bit messy (im not very good at puting my thoughts into words plus was a bit too pissed i think)

im a rigger i work on a few antennas and radar and things up there so i dont know anything about available work up there sorry but id imagaine there would be a lot of bar/restaurant work if you do any of that kind of thing

as for things to do litchfeild national park has some really cool places for bushwalking and that sort of thing with some nice springs and waterfalls and kakadu is definantly worth a look

the fishing is really good up there both offshore and barra i dont think its quite the best time for barra at the moment but you should still be able to pick some up still, one of the best days iv had up there me and a mate hired a little tinie on the corroboree billabong didnt catch that much but it was just great fun cruising around looking at all the crocs and other wildlife

uluru and kings canyon is an awesome experience if you get a chance to get down tat far

[ThunderIdeal]

that's meant to be funny i take it? a man has no reason to strike a woman 1/3 his size, except if she's a ninja.

realised my 'wicked camper' can't go far inland without paying extra fees so i'm stuck here. it's wicked, btw, paid a few extra bucks for air conditioning and got a modern van rather than an old shit heap. very comfy. have to sleep in budgie smugglers though, with the fan on for the first couple of hours. a roof alone nearly always costs more, so the wheels are virtually free.

[ballzac]

that's meant to be funny i take it? a man has no reason to strike a woman 1/3 his size, except if she's a ninja.

I infer from that that you think it's okay for a woman to strike a man three times her size?

(EDIT: Of course I don't really hope she 'got a hiding', but I just think it's bit biased to get upset about him hitting her when it appears that she initiated the violence. And if you really think a person's size has anything to do with domestic violence, the you really don't know a lot about the mechanics of domestic violence.)

Edited September 20, 2008 by ballzac

[ThunderIdeal]

no it's not okay for a woman to hit a man. i didn't see her hit him, and i don't really care for the bouncers assessment. i saw her pinned against a wall, THEN getting hit, then struggling to get free, with no reason to think they were a couple. i was gonna say i don't believe i did the right thing, but what should i have done? he was too big for me to wrestle off, and probably too drunk to listen. if i had walked off i would lose all self respect.

i dunno man, i'm happy to continue the discussion in a civil tone, i've had this one before.... but you might have to explain these domestic violence mechanics or something. to me it's as simple as this - men have a tremendous physical advantage over women, unless they have a weapon or a weight advantage or if the guy is wasted. if a woman is belting the crap out of you then i don't really have an opinion but 1/3 the size + wrong sex = no competition = the guy can defend himself without striking her.

[ballzac]

Domestic violence is not about physical might. It is not about who would win an arm wrestle. It is always a psychological power game. In many ways women have the upper hand. Not least of all is the fact that it is the perception of the general public that men are the perpetrators and women the victims of domestic violence. It is certainly not true that "the guy can defend himself". Unless you are very well trained, it is extremely difficult to defend yourself against a person who wishes harm upon you without hurting them, no matter their size or sex. If a man defends himself physically against a woman, he will always end up looking like the abuser in the eyes of most witnesses. I'm not condemning what you did. I have done something similar, although no physical action was necessary in my case. I think it actually takes a lot of guts to do what you did. What I took offense to, was that you scoffed at the idea that she was the instigator.

There is too much information about domestic violence out there to give you a single link that will convince you, but if you are honestly interested, then here are some places to start:

http://www.heart-2-heart.ca/men/page4.html

http://menstuff.org/issues/byissue/domesticviolence.html

http://www.batteredmen.com/batfact.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_violence

Power is certainly a defining aspect of domestic violence, but it has little to do with physical might. There are many types of tactics used by males and females to render their partners powerless, be it financial, social, emotional etc, but physical strength does not have a lot to do with it. Anyway, I'm sorry for hijacking your thread, but it angers me when people uphold the stereotypes and make it harder for men who are victims of violence.

Edited September 20, 2008 by ballzac

[ThunderIdeal]

i appreciate your POV. i will check out some links when internet doesn't cost me so much. i think everything you've said is correct, although i've never seen a woman trying to hurt a man full force but there's a lot i haven't seen. the NT is going to change all that haha. i'm glad i didn't become more passionate in my last post because then i make a dick of myself for no good reason. good on you for saying your piece maybe against the grain.

[ThunderIdeal]

mindil beach sunset markets was immense fun. drum n didj performers (group was called emdee, high energy, good performers, they have 5 cd's)

also saw a day market, with a folk group, and an old geezer thumping hard on the elec bass.

bought some cool sarongs for 10 or 12 dollars to decorate my "wicked camper" (did i mention it came with pink handcuffs?)

this is becoming a bit of a monologue. i want to hear impressions of this weird place. for instance, lots of things have happened to me since i came here, like time is compressed. for me it's been like issues rise and resolve more quickly, exactly like tropical biology... like the heat and humidity is a catalyst that acts on other levels. i might be reading too much into it.

edit: new thongs. they feature bottle openers. how cool is it to grab a beer out of the eski, kick off a thong, CHHH. eventually somebody will be intrigued when they see it. somehow it's easier to use than a regular one with a handle.

Edited September 21, 2008 by ThunderIdeal

[ThunderIdeal]

weird place for sure. not even gonna go into it. wish somebody else would post here.

[rahli]

Hey ThunderIdeal, I'm back from out scrub with some cool pics for the wildlife thread (and a pay check).

Was cool catching up the other day. Good to put the Corroboree forum in to a real life human context.

As for Darwin its hard for me to put her into context because this circus is "normal" once your brain has melted over the buildup (leadup to the wet season).

Hope not to many of my cactus melt along with the new set of brains donated to the cause.

If anyone wants their brain melted while up here drop me a line and we'll let the weather do the rest.

And thanks everyone for maintaining this link to the Australian ethnobotanical scene.

Yippee!!