Ode to orange

Darwin's electric scooters are orange, ubiquitous and widely used. They're like a little symbol of Darwin's joys: the casual tropical vibe, the laid-back lifestyle, and small town convenience.

To use one, all you need is some gumption and the Neuron app. Register yourself and a payment method, open the app, scan the reader, step on, push off and accelerate ... whoosh! Off you go.

Orange scooters are available just about everywhere in Darwin. You wander up to one, scoot to your destination, and leave it on the sidewalk when you're done. The app does show the location of the nearest scooter but electronic guidance is really not needed – just look around and you'll find one.

The scooter-lady-voice starts off every trip by asking you to check your brakes and whether you want a helmet. Every scooter has its own helmet locked to the vehicle but our observation is that no one wears helmets on scooters. Scootering is legal on the pavements so there's no dicing with traffic, and it's considered an ordinary everyday option for transport.

Top speed is a sedate 15 km/h. In busy zones the dulcet female electronic voice tells you that you are now in a low-speed zone, and the scooter automatically lowers its dizzy speed to about 10 km/h. So the skill you need is staying upright at low speeds. But it's easy.

Yesterday I scootered/scooted home after work in the CBD to Cullen Bay, where we are now staying. It's 2.5 km, took me about 20 enjoyable minutes with my hair blowing in the wind as I sped along the pavements, and cost me $7.28. I had done some shopping at lunch-time, so I balanced a large grocery package slightly precariously at my feet. It only fell off once but all was well. Hey, this is Darwin. No worries, mate.