Getting Around

Prior to my arrival, I didn't fully appreciate how isolated the hospital & my accommodations would be. RDH is located in the Tiwi suburb of Darwin. You can see downtown Darwin in the distance from the upper floors of the hospital, but it's a $25 cab drive away & not within walking distance. The hospital has small cafeteria with an assortment of drinks, a cafe, & a limited selection of food (mostly fried) & the hours are fairly limited. The area surrounding the hospital on one side is residential with streets of well-kept houses then the other side of the hospital is surrounded by the Casuarina Coastal Reserve with miles of uninhabited coastline & mangroves.

Luckily, Darwin's major shopping center, which is the equivalent of a mall in the US, is located in the adjacent suburb of Casuarina. However, it is a $10 cab drive away, but it's my closest source for buying groceries. On my second day here, I caught a cab to the shopping center & bought myself some food staples at Woolies (Woolworths) & made my two major, essential purchases: a mobile phone & a bicycle or "push bike" as they call them here.

I bought the bike a Kmart, which is considered a major department store here, & it only cost about $100 ASD which comes to about $65 USD! I got a prepaid mobile phone for about $50 ASD which comes to about $32 USD. I'm extremely lucky in that the Australia dollar has fallen considerably against the US dollar despite our miserable economy, so everything seems relatively cheap by comparison.

I'm still waiting on the bike--Kmart is assembling it & it should be ready for pick-up today. This will significantly improve my life here as most people get around on bike & the cities streets are safe & easily navigable by bike. I haven't made it to the downtown area yet, but I'm told it's about a 25-30 min bike ride--I may venture there today if I get my bike in time.