Ma and Pa getting settled

Success, we have found accommodation choosing the cheapest and most normal option, again in our quest we meet some pretty 'interesting people' One of the options a penthouse apartment in a good location - read well in the paper, on the phone Chris the owner was super nice, went to check it out with Els. The apartment building had intense security lock down which seemed a bit extreme for Darwin. The room was large and comfortable, however alarms went off in the lounge room - complete with snake pit, samurai swords and massage table - which Ellie enquired about - part time profession or hobby? only to receive a knowing look btwn Chris and his g/f who laughed NB: Chris trains defence dogs for a living. He took us up to the rooftop section, I noticed a sign saying 'clothing optional past this point' - at the time I thought it was "comical". Viewed the rest of the place and left via the lift- and ran into Chris's current tenant who was in the process of moving out. She asked "Did Chris tell you he is a nudist".. pause ahhh no he failed to mention that, to which she replied "Yeah he walks around stakers most of the time, you're lucky if you get a g-string, he's been having trouble finding a flatmate must have stopped divulging his lifestyle"
The next house, opened a door to a 45+ year old man CJ - sounded young on the phone. Poor CJ living alone and flatting at that age. Was really friendly- a little too friendly he was supposed to be cleaning a friends boat however managed to engage us in a long and never ending convo - I thought I talked alot, I think in the space of 20mins we heard about every minuet detail down to how he marks his liquor bottles due to a cleaning maid with a taste for fine scotch. We tried to end the convo several times none of which were successful- finally managed to extract ourselves after he noticed my sunburn and started saying I just had to get some oil and I would tan up good.. righht

Settled on a very nice apartment in the end the other tenants are super chilled and normal both do shift work - one a night so will probs have the place to ourselves most of the time.. the other fishes catching lots of barra and tuna.. nice and promised to take us out on his boat... very good result really

Mellie's Last Days - tear

Mellie was due to leave us on early Friday morning to much sadness as in the short time I have known her - approx 2 weeks we have bonded and share many jokes- most notable is Hemi and farms - fat arm jokes to which we have made up a dance mvove in attempt to combat such problems. Hemi has also developed into 2 jokes- If someone is being annoying or harassing you- you simply say "Don't Hemi me!", we have also banished Hemi spirits through liturgical dance and prayed to the Hemi gods to protect us and bring cute men our way. The Hemi Gods failed me recently on our day trip to Litchfield National Park, despite lathering on sunblock I still managed to get patches of lobster burn - probs during the excessive swimming in the natural springs and plunge pools.

Mellie and I, set off on the road again - and relished in the replica mini road trip of about 40 mins each way. The National park was beautiful very green, full of termite mounds and array of pesky insects and refreshing natural springs which we practically feel into after our brisks bush walk. On the drive we passed the towns of Batchelor and Rum Jungle, stopping to do the tourist thing - comical photos near signs, once inside the Park we passed about 10 mini school buses- Mellie commented perhaps they pick up the children individually. Amongst the other tourist visiting the park were several geriatric groups who were very friendly but looked in severe discomfort from the heat and physical exertion

The springs were super refreshing, both Mellie and I basked in their coolness, sitting near the mini waterfalls was like receiving a natural and free back massage as the water fell and pummelled your back. Our swimming companions seemed to take fascination in the below rocks and pond life - using snorkels to view the flora and fauna - Mellie approached me and I think they have mistaken the NT for Cairns.

Our nightlife is progressing beyond our local pub
We frequent a bar called the Duck Nuts despite the painfully slow service and moody female staff. Trivia night on Wednesday was a fine example of the fact that none of us are yet running on Territory time and practically feel asleep in between rounds . Team name - Hemi of course or competition consisted of a variety of groups with Quiz related names - most memorable was quiz in my pants . Thursday night options, several bars host ladies one of which - Monsoon has a male stripper. After our traditional drink at Ducks Nuts and Thai/ Chinese dinner we ended up at The Tap and met some our of Irish accquanitance from the previous night plus a few additions - all Irish of course. We learnt that the additional members of the group manage part time - Parap's village tavern - a place with topless barmaids 3 nights a we --> topless nights seem to be all the rage in Darwin. The guys commented its pretty hard working with the behind the bar due to the constant boob brushes and what not - the girls get paid $50/ hour - apparently it is considered good money with many applicants applying. We also befriended a Dutch girl and a german guy both of whom were really friendly and in town till new year = potential x-mas friends.
Of course as per usual I attracted the odd Irish guy who looked a litlle bit like a gremmil or elf not sure which is worse, he proceeded to recount the meaning and process of getting all his tattoos, followed by all his relationship casualities - what can I say I was smitten hahahah --> Mellie and I just laughed and taught Ellie our Hemi spirit cleansing dance - I guess to others we probs appear to be just as strange if not crazy.









The late night options were all pretty tragic - we ended up at a pub dancing the a live band playing cover songs of pretty much everything and said our final farewells to Amelia the cleaner/drinker- in her absence our living arranges will no doubt become increasingly messier and drinking habits may decline. Ellie has already infiltrated my space with her crap - Ma and Pa's marriage could be on the rocks hahah
Mellie will be greatly missed to all - promises were made to visit Spain for her upcoming June wedding - perhaps another road trip in the making


In miner news, curious Ellie enquired about Aaron's "maybe" family only to find that yes he does have 3 children all of which have stellar names that we all agreed are pretty white trashy- Eboni, Colby and Seiona. Mellie was bewildered by the choice of Colby- as in the cheese - we all proceeded to try and out do each other with cheese names for our future children - including Cheddar, Camembert, Edam, Gouda, Tasty, and the best Feta - Mellie has sworn Feta is her first choice for her hysterical food pregnancy or first born child.

In other news my camera is offically broken, unfortunately the majority of photos from Litchfield are blurry.. mumu sad times :( will have to invest in another as what is a blog without photographic evidnce?

The quest for accommodation

Searching for an apartment has proved to be a challenge and has provided much entertainment. After waiting for 9am on the dot on Wednesday to start calling to potential landlords: the options were four fold: an expensive self contained apartment in a hotel that rents outs it rooms during the wet season, sharing a small room in a apartment with 2 guys who by the looks of it had an addiction to playstation/ X box, sharing a room in a large newly developed apartment block with a army guy who is absent during the week and lastly sharing a flat with a potential serial killer.

All other options were in surrounding suburbs which afetr taking a drive we ruled out

The army option was very promising as being 2 girls we had the upper hand and Joe, was away during the week - an added bonus as he looked like Hemi's younger brother to a certain degree complete with no neck, chain jewelery and tattoos, with an added additon some mank face rash - possibly pash rash. Joes absent during the week would be made up during the weekend when he assured us to not worry if we woke to a hoard of army man passed out around the place- a mere oversight.

The room was $100 each not including electricity/ a week,no bond, no lease --> the cheapest option thus far. The room fell through as some army mate already promised it to his friend. After seeing the room we were keen due to price and we could easily vacate on the weekends- he said we were on the top of his list - we were literally being the first to view the room haha.


The serial killer option as it was dubbed after meeting the other tenant - a Perth girl who had a raspy, ochre accent which neither of us could do justice imitating. She answered the door wearing tube socks and proceeded to show us the flat very big- there seems to be a reoccurring decor scheme throughout Darwin apartments-- minimal furniture and a gigantic plasma TV. There was an extra washing machine and fridge in the lounge room - god knows why The kitchen was decorated with a empty life size bottle of Bundy room. On first impression Ellie thought the pair were a disadvantaged couple receiving government housing and was like good on you guys cooking your two minute noodles on your own - this was obviously a thought she kept to herself and shared with me later.
John the owner lurked in the corner and didn't introduce himself - the first words out of his mouth were "do you want to see the pool" General impression he was bit slow and may have been hit on the head with an axe and just kept saying sorry I just woke up - at 6pm. Ellie enquired if many ppl were interested in the room, John replied that several ppl were all of which were unsuitable and weird hahahaha.
After this experience Ellie an I were in need of some hard liquor and a good laugh

There is another option in a shared apartment which I will be viewing solo today as Ellie is working - hopefully I will come out of it unscathed
For now we a captives of the YHA - Going between dorms, some of which have a delightful musty/ period smell and ever present pool of water in the bathroom - nice