Day 58, Year 3: Getting to Know Fannie Bay
Date: Sunday, July 6, 2008
Weather: Another Beautiful Day
Location: Fannie Bay, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
Darwin has a population of about 70,000 people. It is a city, not just an outpost in the Northern Territory. There are three main bays where yachts can anchor-Fannie Bay, Cullen Bay, and Francis Bay. Fannie Bay is further from downtown than the other two, but it is the home of the Darwin Sailing Club which is very welcoming to yachties. So Fannie Bay will be Windbird’s home for the next three weeks and we started to get to know the area today. The weather here is just spectacular. The sky is robin egg blue with no clouds and the water is an azure blue and very calm. The sun shines constantly but the air temperature is in the mid-70’s. In the sun it feels MUCH hotter, but we put up Windbird’s cockpit sun screens that Mark made in Panama and we could enjoy the views while staying cool. At 1 pm there was a sailboat race in the outer reaches of the anchorage. The boats were small racing catamarans. They were fun to watch as they sped between the boats at anchor with great agility. Then at 4 pm we went to shore with Donna and Gerry of Scot Free II and walked about a mile to Mindil Beach to the Sunday night market. We had promised ourselves we would do nothing today, but when we read in the Lonely Planet that there was a Sunday night market that just shouldn’t be missed we couldn’t resist. This market happens every Sunday night and there were loads of people there. Vendors put up their tents and sell just about everything. There were stalls selling locally made clothing, Aboriginal art and didgeridoos, jewelry of all sorts, specialty soaps, and on and on. There were many food vendors offering everything from pizza and burritos to curries and stir fry. And then there was the entertainment. There were inflatable climbing play areas for the children, trampolines, live music, and a juggler who juggled everything from fire to tennis balls. It was all quite a show. Next Sunday we will return to Mindil Beach for the night market but also for the Darwin Beer Can Regatta. Boats are constructed from beer cans and race in the bay. Now that should be quite a show.
Tomorrow we will begin our explorations of downtown Darwin. We have to find the Custom’s office and check in and get our duty-free permit. We then go to the Indonesian consulate and apply for our visa. Tomorrow is Mark’s birthday, so I’m hoping to take him to Go Sushi for lunch. This is one of those sushi bars that have a sushi train going past you and you just take what you want-for the right price, of course. We’ll try to be back at the Darwin Sailing Club by 4 pm to talk with a Sail Indonesia
representative. It will be a busy day.
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| 080706 Day 58 Along the Shore of Fannie Bay |
