![\"Carlton](\"http:\/\/mayl.id.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/darwin-3.jpg\" "\\"Carlton")
Carlton Hotel Darwin<\/p><\/div>\n
The foyer was impressive with a very large void going all the way up to the 5th floor.\u00a0 On the 3rd floor, around 3 sides of the void, were pots with variegated ivy which hung all the way down to ceiling height in the foyer.\u00a0 When on the 2nd floor it made a kind of curtain from floor to rail which you could look through to see below.\u00a0 I suppose when they grow longer, they\u2019ll move the pots up to the 4th floor.<\/p>\n
So, here we are on page 3 of my story and only just arrived at the hotel.\u00a0 Oh dear.\u00a0 Might be time for a cuppa huh?<\/p>\n
The porter then took the luggage trolley and showed us up to our room.\u00a0 A hotel room is pretty well a hotel room, so not heaps to describe.\u00a0 We had a nice little bathroom with a clear glass shower screen [ooh, very honeymoon!], a bar stocked with very expensive things such as $7 tiny bottles of spirits with $3 \u00bd sized cans of coke to go with them.\u00a0 Even the tiny packets of peanuts and mars bar sized chocy bars were $3 each.\u00a0 We viewed but didn\u2019t touch!\u00a0 There was a kettle with milk, tea and coffee, and a toaster.<\/p>\n
I sat on the edge of the bed and ate my strange take-away-airline meal while finishing my champagne.\u00a0 David looked a little disappointed, I don\u2019t usually finish an alcoholic drink, so I think he was waiting hopefully in the wings.\u00a0 We unpacked our things and got settled in to find that it was 10 o\u2019clock already.\u00a0 David had set his watch to NT time and I left mine on WA time for the whole holiday so that we knew what time it was for the boys.\u00a0 It seemed silly to stay in the room and go to bed so soon after arriving, but also little point going out in the dark when we didn\u2019t know our way around, so David messed around with the TV and radio for a little while, and then we settled for bed.<\/p>\n
Sunday was one of our two \u2018free\u2019 days [as in no day-tour booked], and we woke around 6 o\u2019clock, showered, and descended on the buffet for breakfast.\u00a0 We had a leisurely breakfast with coffee, bacon, eggs, tomatoes, a variety of fruit juices and Danish pastries.\u00a0 There were cereals, yogurt and toast but who needs them when there\u2019s a buffet?\u00a0 The waiter kept bringing coffee and David kept saying yes please!\u00a0 In the end the waiter stopped asking and just refilled David’s cup every time he passed by.<\/p>\n
Then we went for a walk into the city centre which took about 15 mins even at the slow pace that we chose.\u00a0 We spent most of this time with our heads bent backwards looking up trees because the trees, flowers and birds were all different and worth looking at – or listening to – as the case may be.\u00a0 We found a supermarket that was open and bought some bread, butter, orange juice, spring water and chocolate for breakfasts and snacks, and took it back to the hotel room.<\/p>\n
Next, we wanted to visit the Botanical Gardens, so set off on foot with a rather vague map in hand.\u00a0 This only showed main roads, and not all of them were named, but we love exploring so it didn\u2019t matter.\u00a0 We didn\u2019t stare up quite so many trees on this journey.\u00a0 It was now quite warm and we were glad of the bottled water in David\u2019s back-pack along the way.\u00a0 As we approached the gardens we passed a golf course and there began to be cars parked on the sides of the road.\u00a0 The cars were getting more and more numerous and we presumed that there must be a golf tournament on.\u00a0 Then we arrived at the beginning of the Gardens to find a market in full swing.\u00a0 We had a good time walking around the stalls to see what there was to see.\u00a0 I bought a really yummy, cooling, mango drink.\u00a0 I think it was just made with mangos and crushed ice, but really hit the spot.\u00a0 Unfortunately we were too early for mangoes-to-eat season.\u00a0 Shame, \u2018cos I love them.<\/p>\n
One really cute thing there is a little hard to describe.\u00a0 It was much like a carousel ride.\u00a0 It had a centre pole and a roof like a roundabout with poles coming down where the horses would go, but this one had no floor because the horses were real.\u00a0 The ponies were tied to the poles so that when the lady had put the children on the ponies, she just led the one with the smallest child and they all walked around.\u00a0 It was so cute.\u00a0 I want one!<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/mayl.id.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/darwin-4.jpg\" "\\"Real")
Real Pony Carousel<\/p><\/div>\n
Next page\/…<\/a> Or, please feel free to leave a comment in the fields below before leaving this page. Email addresses will not be used in any way, nor displayed for anyone to see.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I sat in the centre seat again, but this time we had someone next to us.\u00a0 Oh no! Perhaps because of the 2nd dose of tablets, the next flight went fairly well.\u00a0 I still couldn\u2019t lean over to look out … Continue reading