One would think being submerged underwater in a Cage of Death with a 5.5 meter, 790 kilo crocodile would be the scariest thing we did on a recent trip to Australia’s Northern Territory. But the giant reptile had nothing on the ROM (aka randy old man) we got stuck with at Darwin International Airport. Our flight back to Singapore was delayed overnight and this elderly gent couldn’t stop yapping (at an eardrum busting volume). He interrogated a middle-aged lady named Jesse about her age for over a half hour, and greeted every Asian lass he met with loud, “Hiya Li Li!”
SilkAir compensated passengers with a $20 food and beverage voucher as well as an overnight stay at the Novotel Darwin Atrium. But ROM met all these gestures with suspicion, ranting to anyone who would listen that it was all a conspiracy to get us to spend more money (how that works we don’t quite understand). Cursing under his breath, he also shared all his grievances with the accommodating SilkAir staff (who had together with Tourism NT, sponsored our trip).
Airport drama aside though, the trip went swimmingly. We literally got to do plenty of swimming: laps in the heated lagoon pool (accessible right from our rooms) at SKYCITY Beach Resort, diving at the gorgeous Florence Falls at Litchfield National Park, night time dips into the blue-hued 24-hour pool of luxe property Cicada Lodge, and of course swimming with crocs at Crocosaurus Cove, a reptile park in the region’s capital, Darwin. For a quick four-day trip, there’s not much more you could ask for.
Want to read more about our travels? Check out our blog post on a recent I-S Xperience tour of Iloilo in the Philippines.
