Day 5 Darwin (down time)
It’s hot here. I put the AC down to 22 (Celsius) and took a nap trying to sleep away the day. In the later afternoon I walked into the heart of the town and did some grocery shopping. The prices were fairly reasonable and it was fun to walk the isles checking out the food items both familiar and totally strange. (I bought some Ritz crackers for a taste of home.) When I got back to the room my bunk mate Jane was back from her tour and we got to know each other. She was Canadian from Calgary so we chatted about The Cup and all things hockey. She was on a year sabbatical and traveling the world by herself (sounds familiar eh?) we had a lot in common including our age it was great to make a quick friend in such a far away place. It turns out she was originally from Thunder Bay Ontario! The same town that my good friend Mike Power back in Tampa is from!!! Her family was pretty big in town and she said there is a park named for her grandfather. I can’t wait to tell Mike about that. We went to bed early as we both had to meet our groups at 5:30 AM.
Day 6 Into The Bush
Met up with my eco tour group and was picked up in a very cool 4WD bus/ATV/SUV thingy. I grabbed a seat up front for the best picture spots (a move I would regret later) but I wanted to be close to the driver so I could ask him questions and look through the windscreen at the trails. Folks piled on the bus, there were 16 of us. Holland, UK, Ireland, France, Italy and Australia were all represented with this group. (No other Americans!) This was one of the more hardcore tours with hiking and sleeping out in the jungle so the folks were just like me (except for the whole language thing.) We drove 2 hours into the bush and then hiked an hour or so to several swimming holes. They were incredible and with the heat we wasted no time jumping in. After about an hour there, we walked back, hopped to the bus and headed towards another pool. This time fed by two unbelievable waterfalls. On the trail down I got to see my first wild kangaroo! Oddly enough they were in the cliffs up amongst the rocks – Rock Wallabies. (not to be confused with rock lobsters.) Sweeet.
Another tropical plunge pool and now I’m cursing the fact I left my underwater camera back with my non camping gear in Darwin. Bummer.
We had hot dogs for lunch – the universal food. The tour is far exceeding my expectations and my tourmates are cool as heck. The British are a total crack up. The Dutch and French couples just sit and watch us bust each other up. One of the Brits is from Birmingham and I asked him if he knew Ozzy Osbourne, his reply was “No. Do you know Elvis?”
We drove another 2 hours off road to a river where a local guide took us to look for Crocs and local birdlife. I have been on many river cruises and seen many gators but this trip blew my mind. The guide was a genuine Crocodile Dundee and he had a serous passion for wetlands management and wildlife conservation. This was a relief because I had heard of guides feed crocs to get them up close to the boats. Not this dude. He did reach down and pull a reed from the water peeled it and handed it to me. He said “eat it mate – tastes like celery” All eyes were on me so I took a bite. I’ll probably get some parasite or something but couldn’t wuss out. I used the big camera for the first time on the river trip and am very pleased with the pics I was able to get. In addition to crocs, we saw some crazy birds including eagles and even more kangaroos! This time they were Agile Wallabies and some had joeys. The Aussies (including our river guide) are not at all impressed with kangaroos since they are seemingly everywhere and they got a kick out how excited I was to see them. Hey, a came about a zillion miles and I want to see some freakin kangaroos all right??
I’m stoked to find that our campsite is near a “outpost” with a pub and bottle shop. (whew I though we would be roughing it!) I made my way over and bought a couple of beers for me and my new limey mate. They were $5 each or they were running a special 6 for $18. What a deal! I couldn’t resist. So I brought a six pack back and gave all of them out. This turned out to be a very good move because with Aussie hospitality, I would be later paid back ten fold. So the beer flowed and the jokes started soon the Brits pulled out a 30 pack. NICE! They couldn’t believe that a Yank could keep up with them and don’t worry folks I represented us well. We had a local fish called a Barramundi along with chicken pasta for dinner. We talked politics and told travel stories into the wee hours. At one point they tried to explain the joys of Cricket to me and I just didn’t get it.
Day 6 Kakadu National Park
Up at 5:00 AM – did not sleep that great in the heat but am ready to rock. Today we 4WD deep into the wilderness to Kakadu National Park. After about 3 hours of heavy off roading (man my Dad and Bob would be in heaven here) we parked and hiked down into a gorge to yet another incredible swim spot. This time with dropped our gear and swam up the river stopping at swim holes to lounge and hang out. Aaron out guide grabbed me and said “ hey Clay I think you’ll enjoy this” and disappeared under the surface. About 25 seconds he appeared in the next pool up river. He was showing me an underwater passage from one pool to another. I dove down and sure enough about 8 feet down I could see daylight I headed to it and popped up on the other side. I must have a had a grin a mile wide because everybody came over to see what was going on. Most of them didn’t have the nerve for it but a few did it and I did it 3 more times. Now I really wish I had my underwater camera.
It’s approaching 93 degrees and with very high humidity and the walk out was brutal. We passed some croc pools but since it is the dry season they were empty. Thankfully.
After a lunch of sandwiches and cole slaw we headed over to an Aboriginal outpost and hiked in to see some native cave drawings and paintings. This was something I had on my “to see list” for about 20 years now and I was stoked to actually do it! Australian Aboriginals are the oldest and longest running culture on Earth (by a lot) and the paintings I was about to view were 6000 years old. The spot did not disappoint and we were given a tour a Aboriginal who told us the meaning of the images and told us several “Dreamtime” stories. I thought my head was going to explode with the awesomeness of it all. I will have my Dreamtime story to tell you all when I get back.
Near the outpost we stopped for beer and gas (in that order) and at camp enjoyed a traditional “Aussie BBQ” of sausage and lamb chops. Again many beers were consumed and I was able to provide the music via my portable speakers and MP3 player. It was quite a party in the bush that night. Something crazy happened as we were off the bed. Someone heard yelling coming from the trees. We all stopped in our tracks and sure enough we could hear a faint “HELP!” “HELP ME!!” It was chilling. They were coming from quite a ways a way and too far for us to attempt anything (most all snakes in this land are nocturnal) so Aaron headed out to use his cell and call the local police /rangers. They came pretty quick and headed over in a 4WD to try and find the person. Every once and a while we could see headlights in the distance but we never heard what happened. Freaky.
Day 7
Up at 5:00 AM again and now the beers were taking their toll. I was not the only one and it was a quiet breakfast. We break camp and head up into the mountains, this time we are crawling and river crossing so being in the front on a bench seat was not the best place to be. The upside was Aaron had an MP3 player adapter and put me in charge of the music. Right before I was about to drop some Dandy Warhols on them the he busts out a tape and says “I need cash when I’m off road.” I didn’t understand what he meant by that and just nodded. I popped the tape in and it was Johnny Cash holy smokes, I’m in Australia, tens of thousands of miles from home, up in the rainforest on a mud and clay off road track and I’m singing “Ring of Fire” at the top of my lungs with total strangers most of whom don’t even speak English. Un-freaking believable. It was a moment that I will treasure the rest of my life.
We parked and hiked to Jim Jim Falls, my pictures don’t do it justice. I highly recommend doing a Google image search on it. More swimming and hanging out on the rocks and beach.
Again the hike out was brutal and as a group we were toast.
I collected everyone’s E-mail with the promise of sending my pictures along. One of the local Aussie guys and his family that I became really friendly with pulled me aside and asked if I was going back to Sydney anytime soon. I said yes and he said when I get there he was going to take me to a cricket game. He then explained that he was the president of the Sydney Cricket Grounds and I would be “king for a day,” throw out the first ball and be treated to BBQ and all the beers I could drink. I AM ALL OVER THAT!
Day 8-9 The Legendary Ghan
Today I board the overland railway called the Ghan as I start to head South, the cheap seats were booked by a huge group so I was forced to get a sleeper car for the 2 day trip down to Alice Springs. What a blessing that turned out to be, my car is great and I’m glad to have some down time to relax and reflect on the past week. I fell like I’ve been gone for about a month and it’s only been 7 days (with many weeks to go.) Traveling through the Outback by train is the only way to go and the views are incredible. On Sat. I was able to take a “whistle stop” break and head into the town of Katherine where I found a pub and was actually able to watch the Angles lose to The Red Sox in game 2. Again it’s very strange to be so far away and still be connected to the States.
