Kimberley Trip, Day 18: Darwin to Perth

Sunday, June 9, 2024

Today started quite early because they needed to get us off the Orion early and prepare it in eight hours for the next cruise. We had our suitcases out for pickup at 7 a.m., ate breakfast, and exited the ship about 7:30. We had to go through Australian customs, which went smoothly for us but resulted in delays for some others, primarily some MDs who had medical supplies with them and one passenger who had bought a wooden oar somewhere along the way.

There were two busloads of passengers going to the airport. Our bus driver polled the passengers about our departure times and then took us on an impromptu bus tour of Darwin. Darwin is a surprisingly modern and clean city, and the driver was rightfully proud of his home town.

We arrived at the airport about three hours before our flight. Unfortunately, we couldn’t check our luggage until 90 minutes before flight time, so we had to wait outside security. There were enough of us there that we were able to use the time to reminisce about the cruise.

When the time came, we obtained our luggage tags and sent our bags down the conveyor. Unlike in the US, we just entered our names and destinations to check our luggage; no ID was required. Similarly, we went through security without showing an ID or our boarding passes, and there was no ID check getting onto the plane. This was very surprising to us!

The flight to Perth was uneventful. When we arrived in Perth, we found the climate to be very different. While it is the dry season in Darwin and the Kimberley coast, it is the wet season in Perth, which has a climate quite similar to the San Francisco Bay Area but shifted by six months. It was rainy and cloudy when we arrived.

When we got off the plane, we were surprised to see Dave’s friend Bruce and his wife waiting for us at the gate! That’s a consequence of not requiring a boarding pass to go through security and was a nice throwback to pre-9/11 practices.

We checked into our hotel, The Melbourne Hotel (yes, located in Perth), and found that we had booked a nicely outfitted but unusual guest room. For example, there was no door to any of the bathroom area; it was open to the bedroom. This is fine, but it takes a little getting used to.

Dave’s friend Bruce had made reservations for a lovely restaurant in North Fremantle,
Bib and Tucker. I had kangaroo for dinner, which had a nice flavor and is a very lean meat (accordingly cooked somewhat rare). Our hosts pointed out that the kangaroo they serve is farmed explicitly for that purpose.

After a very busy day, we said goodbye to Jan and Dave who left for the US that evening and to our hosts. We took the train from North Fremantle back to Perth, where we crashed.

This article is part of a series about our recent trip to Indonesia and Australia. To see the introductory article in the series, click here.