Hello all,
Thanks again for all the tips! I'm back from my epic three week trip around SE Asia and Australia, and thought I'd provide some thoughts on East Timor.
The Sriwijaya Air flight I took from DPS to Dili was chock full, whereas the Airnorth flight I took out to DRW only had 20 people on board. I understand this matches the experience of others! Both were on time. Dili airport is rather charming, although checking in for my departing flight took a while as the internet was down. There's absolutely nothing airside except for a duty free shop that doesn't sell water or anything else to drink, so once you've checked in, stay landside then go through immigration and security around 20 mins before departure.
I stayed at the D'City hotel in the end, as they had the best price / quality ratio in my mind, and also took credit cards. This was useful as the ANZ ATMs had often ran out of cash, and the other bank wouldn't accept my UK card. D'City picked me up from and dropped me off at the airport, which meant I avoided the taxi touts. There were quite a few of them, but they weren't particularly aggressive like in some other places. The staff at D'City were lovely and my room was fine for the price, with good air conditioning. Breakfast initially looked a bit sad, until the lady on duty (unprompted) rustled me up four tasty fried eggs. No problems walking into town during the day.
I did a lot of walking throughout the city and felt safe at all times, even through dusk and into the evening. There seemed to always be people out on the seafront jogging or playing with their kids. The Resistance Museum was very moving and well worth the entrance fee. I also managed to get lucky and found a brilliant taxi driver (who spoke no English) who - for $20 - drove me out to the Cristo Rei statue and back, and even walked up the 300-odd steps with me and waited while I faffed around taking photos. Not bad for 2 hours. In the evenings, I generally hung out in Castaway or Nautilus bar, chatting to the mostly Aussie expats. Beer was fairly reasonably priced (for the UK) and plentiful!
The Dili Beach Hotel, where I had wanted to stay, seems to have closed down.
Overall, a lovely couple of days, and while I can't say I'll ever have a need to return, I'm glad I visited.
Cheers!
P.S. I was told the $10 departure tax had been abolished and sure enough it wasn't charged when flying out.