Hazy days

Check out the huge dust storm that moved up through NSW and Queensland and hit us this morning. I can honestly say in 30 years I've never seen anything like it. Got to plan my day around staying inside now. My niece will be happy if we get to play the drinking game.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/photos/2009/09/23/2693741.htm

Maggie Photo Diary - Day 2

Photo: Geoffrey Bay

Maggie photo diary - Day 1

Photo: Kookaburra on the balcony of our unit.

Little Red Dave travels in space and time

So, LRD has been abandoned on my bookcase again, this time being gassed along with the cockroaches and no doubt cursing my name. But there was a time in 2007 when he too enjoyed the sound of the waves while he slept, the warm sun on his skin on the beach, the cold beer on a hot day, and the children playing.

Here's Dave on the Island.

Little Red Dave does the Darwin Airport

But tomorrow he does a road trip to Magnetic Island. It has been too long since I've been home.

Longer hiatus

They say bad things come in threes. I bloody well hope so because I've had to miss nearly all my Darwin Festival events and cancel my volunteer shifts because of a bloody sprained ankle. But it's ok because tomorrow is another day.

Brief hiatus

There are two things you may have noticed about this blog. The first is that the promised posts about the Darwin Festival have not eventuated. The second is that the photo of me at Jade and Craig's wedding with Della and Aaron has been removed.

The reason for both these things is the same.

It is with some disbelief, shock and much grief that I attended the funeral of Aaron Kent today. Aaron killed himself last week. Only 22 years old, Aaron leaves behind Della and his 9-month old son, Caleb.

I hope soon to be able to blog about the wonderful events I've had the privilege to see at the Festival so far. But I just need a few days before I'm able. See you then.

Dave's Darwin Days in the Dry: the Darwin Festival

Got your tickets to the Darwin Festival? Because Darwin's biggest and best event of the year is about to start and this little red bear is study-free and loaded with tickets.

Go to http://www.darwinfestival.org.au/ for information and be prepared for some gushing blog posts to come.

Oh, and in case you were wondering what happened about the Beer Can Regatta: it was called swine flu and it was nasty.

Dave's Darwin Days in the Dry: Jade and Craig's wedding

Jade and Craig's wedding at a typical gorgeous Darwin seaside location. I wore a dress. The family doesn't believe me and demanded photos. Here's one with Della and Aaron. I think I look like a gigantic tomato, with the emphasis on gigantic. But that's just me.

(EDIT) - Photo removed

Dave's Darwin Days in the Dry

LRD's been out and about enjoying the excitement that is the Darwin Dry. It's possible this will be our last Dry in this pocket-rocket town so we've been getting into everything we can. Doesn't make for exciting blog entries, unfortunately, but nonetheless here's a list of some of the things we've been up to.

Sunday afternoons at the Sandbar: it's a relaxed Darwin feel with great cocktails and the Casino's Sunday afternoon concerts provide a fantastic ambience. I watched the sun go down over the water in style and then ate dinner at the new Il Piatto restaurant, famous for its $300 pizza, which I just couldn't bring myself to buy.

Territory Day. Not as crazed as last year; nonetheless this year's Territory Day was loads of fun. I bought about $100 in fireworks then headed with a group to East Point where we could watch the amazing Mindel Beach display (possibly one of the best I've ever seen), eat prawns and blow things up. This year, everyone stopped partying at midnight so I actually got some sleep as well.

Ash Grunwald at the worst venue ever; the Darwin Entertainment Centre. Ash was fucking awesome. Follow these links to check him out on YouTube and, if you have the chance, pay the money and see the guy live. Somewhere where you're not forced to sit sedately in your seat while he rocks out on stage.

Aside from a great hen's night, in which we hung out at the Sandbar drinking cocktails, felt really really old at the Vic in town and checked out Throb's new stage show (the local drag act), I'm just looking forward to the Darwin Festival, which starts at the end of July.

I'll hopefully have some photos this weekend from the Beer Can Regatta at Mindel.

See you round.