In any case, this is how the final day played out . . .
It started out promising enough, with a hearty breakfast. Then we went to the Darwin Museum, which had Aboriginal Art and other exhibits which proved interesting . . . for about 45 minutes. This was followed by an hour long wait in the Darwinian heat and humidity. Restless and sweat-soaked, we headed off to our next stop -- Fannie Bay Gaol.
Most of Fannie Bay Gaol, like most of Darwin itself, was destroyed during a 1974 cyclone. Hence, there wasn't much to see -- bare kitchen/mess hall, cells, isolation pens and gallows. Scotty promised us, however, that the best was yet to come. He extolled the high entertainment value of a video of the infamous Cyclone Tracy (in retrospect, it's clear he was kidding).
Honestly, I believe more people have died from boredom watching the video than perished during the cataclysmic cyclone itself. The movie held the distinction of being neither entertaining nor interesting . . . or well-paced . . . or evocative . . . or (well, you get the picture). The filmmakers must have worked very hard to make the video so sleep-inducing, since the subject matter was indeed fascinating. The story goes like this: early in the morning on Christmas Day in 1974, the fiercest cyclone ever to strike Australia hit Darwin with full force winds, said to reach in excess of 250 mph (roofs were torn off, real cars and boats were tossed around like toys, full grown trees were uprooted and people flew and bounced about like tumbleweeds) -- the death toll and property damage was devastating, the whole city literally leveled. (The destruction was even more pitiful when you take into account the fact that Darwin was the only city in all of Australia to be bombed -- and flattened -- during WWII).
Unfortunately, as I've already alluded to, the movie wasn't half as riveting as this journal entry and most of us nodded off (only my strong sense of journalistic integrity kept me conscious). By the time we loaded back onto the bus and headed back to the hotel, we were all sweaty, exhausted and depressed (what a way to end the tour, eh!). But that didn't stop us from mounting a proper goodbye. Stickman gave an emotional farewell speech which mirrored all our thoughts and touched all our hearts. I got the last of my addresses and exchanged sweet parting words with those leaving right away. Finally, we passed around a card for Scott and Carl (which we all signed) and I shared my "Top 10 List" of Scott's favorite sayings on tour (plus one for Carl) which ellicited some guffaws and good-natured needling/mimicking. I've reproduced the list below (along with a reminder of Scott and Carls's ubiquitous Day and Dance songs -- both of which were played every single day at FULL BLAST over the bus speakers).
SCOTT'S TOP 10 SAYINGS. . .
10. (Three-way tie) "Make your own fun"/"Trash the place"/"We'll have a major play"
9. "It's not a problem"
8. "It's not sexy"
7. "Wakey, wakey"
6. "This is not a holiday. This is a Contiki tour."
5. "You snooze and you lose"
4. "It's Free -- F, R, double E"
3. "'Cause I'm your father, your mother, your brother, your sister, your doctor, your psychologist..."
2. "'Cause I love you guys, yeah"
1. "Not!"
CARL'S ONE-AND-ONLY SAYING. . .
"Okie Kokie"
DAY SONG = "All Fired Up" by Pat Benetar
DANCE SONG = "Sweat" by Inner Circle
--------------------Our Fearless Leaders: Scott and Carl--------------------During the remainder of the afternoon, I took one last stroll in downtown Darwin (it was 2:00 p.m. on a Saturday, and everything was closed, naturally!) and napped away my logeyness. At 7:00 p.m., Roger, his two German friends and I all went to Sizzler's for their all-you-can-eat soup, salad, pasta and dessert bar.
Back at the hotel, I got together with Rachel, Sharon, Donna, Alicia, John, Autal, Robby, Mark and Stickman. We looked at John's photos, listened to Mark play the didgeridoo (he took a lesson and he is quite good now -- he says it's all about the "circular breathing"), laughed and reminisced. We would surely miss each other.
We all went down to the bar to share one last drink together (although I declined a beverage). After an hour of pleasant conversation, I made my final round of farewells. We all said we'd keep in touch, and perhaps we will.
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