Darwin and the Dentist

If you can’t get on an excursion as either an escort or guest, make your own trip – to the dentist!

Last night Michael had a toothache, but didn’t say a word about it to me.  This morning while at sea, however, he said he had a bad night and was worried about his temporary crown.  I said he must go and see a dentist as soon as we dock.  This would be our last stop in “civilization” before we head off to Indonesia and the Philippines.  To my surprise, he didn’t argue with me.  There was a couple we met on the Skyride who live in Darwin and I called and asked for a referral.  Using Jim and Pepper’s phone, I called the dentist who said they closed at 1pm and was 15 KM out of town, so it wasn’t feasible.  They referred me to a dentist downtown; I called and they said they would take Michael whenever we were able to get there!!!

The stars were aligned in the right position today.  We took the shuttle to downtown and the dental office was just around the corner, about a one minute walk.  We walked in and the receptionist said “you must be Michael.”  They were very friendly and after filling out the paperwork, he was immediately taken to the exam room.  About 10 minutes later I was called into the exam room to help Michael make a decision on what to do to fix the tooth.  He introduced me to the Doctor and I could not believe my eyes.  Here was a young Chinese girl who didn’t look like she was old enough to have graduated from high school.  She was an oral surgeon who graduated from UCLA!  He had to have a root canal or could have the tooth pulled.  Duh, no decision to make – save the tooth.  She performed the procedure painlessly and we were given all his records, a CD with the x-rays, a prescription for an antibiotic, and the bill ($400).  Thank goodness for Visa.

The pharmacy was just one block away.  When I handed the clerk the prescription, she said it would only be five minutes.  Take that Wal-Mart and Costco – great customer service and fast.  We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around town looking for licorice jelly beans for Pepper (and me, too). 

We returned to the ship and went for a dip in the pool to cool off.  After a short poolside nap, I am pleased to report that Michael is feeling much better.

***

Here’s some information about Darwin.  It is the capital of the sparsely populated and rugged Northern Territory, located at what the locals refer to as the Top End region of Australia. The city was almost entirely rebuilt twice, once due to Japanese air raids during WWII and again after Cyclone Tracy in 1974.  One of the tourist attractions is the caves where fuel tanks were buried into the hillside to protect them from Japanese bombs during WWII.  The climate here is hot and humid as it is tropical.

Anyone see Crocodile Dundee?  No, but there are lots of crocs here.  There are lovely beaches, but no one is on them because of the deadly jellyfish and the saltwater crocs.  Locals only go in the water in swimming pools.  In fact, there are so many crocs that during the heavy rains last month (3 feet!), crocs were seen swimming down the streets in city center.

There was lots of Aboriginal art, and we saw many of them painting in their makeshift studio – the sidewalk. The people were very friendly and I rather enjoyed my day in town.  I even had lunch at Mackers – McDonalds!