Us again! Now that I've got this blog up & running I thought I'd better get another post in before I manage to break it. Thanks for your comments on the last post, I've written a reply back on there.
We've just left Darwin so thought it was the perfect time to fill you in on what we got up to there before I forget.
Darwin was baking, it was over 30 degrees every day with over 80% humidity. I managed to avoid having to do Monica from Friends hair braids but only just! It certainly warmed us up from our night at the airport.
On arrival there we checked in to a 6 person dorm at the YHA. It was 5 blokes & me, which might sound like the stuff of dreams but trust me it wasn't! There was stuff everywhere & 1 of them was a long term tennant who worked in construction so there were tools & dusty work boots/clothes strewn about the place. The desire to tidy up was overwhelming! These rooms also had an en-suite, which is pretty rare for hostels & you'd think would be a good thing but imagine sharing a teeny bathroom with 5 men. I also obviously had to change in here, which given the amount of floor space available was no mean feat. We'd only booked this room for a night as we weren't sure what tours we were going to do up here & after this we opted for a private double room, woohoo! It does cost more but it's so worth it. I said I'd rather go without food than continue staying in that room (think Gary knew that was an empty promise though!)
On our first day we went to Kakadu National Park & had a guide take us around there & point out the aboriniginal cave paintings, some of which are thousands of years old. Was pretty cool. We then went on a boat trip down Yellow Billabong River, where we spotted some crocs - you really don't want to mess with them. We learnt a lot about the aboriginal way of life & how they use various plants & animals. There were also these birds that mate for life & if the partner dies the other one commits suicide & because of this the aboriginals don't kill them for food.
Our second day was pretty chilled. We did some much overdue washing, you have no idea of the excitement of clean clothes! We also went to a great lagoon that they have here. You can't swim in the sea due to crocs potentially being there & also the huge number of jellyfish that can paralyse & kill you - not really a holiday experience we're keen to have understandably. The lagoon has a wave machine & these big rubber rings that you can ride the waves in. Was good fun.
To keep costs down we went to supermarket & bought food in so that we could eat at the YHA. The kitchens are actually really good, although Gary got annoyed as I started to clean up in there (it looked so much nicer after I'd wiped down the surfaces!) We got a bag of pasta & some pesto for $3, which fed us both twice, happy days & means more money for magnums & alcohol!
The YHA is on Mitchell St, which is the main road for bars & restaurants. There are some really nice ones along there. On our first night we had a roast dinner in one (so British!). I then saw a poster that it was the final of Miss Hawaiian Tropic in there that night, just what you need after you've stuffed a roast! They also have an amazing ice cream shop on this street, with loads of flavours & toppings that they mash altogether. Gary had white chocolate with oreos & I went for cookies & cream with a Freddo mixed in. As you can see food is playing a big part in our trip!
Yesterday we went to Crocosaurus Cove, which was really good. I had no idea how intelligent crocs are or that they live to about 130. They're also actually weirdly beautiful. We saw Burt who starred in the original Crocodile Dundee film (you can imagine how happy Gary was!). We got to feed young crocs & hold a baby one. They also had turtles, fish & reptiles. We missed the reptile holding time but I can't say I'm disappointed as some of them freaked me out. Before we came over here Gary had wanted to do the Cage of Death where you're in a tank that is put in the water with a croc but on arrival he wasn't sure if it was worth the money & having seen some people do it in there he's glad he didn't bother. Some of the crocs are obviously so used to it now that they're not interested & just lie there so you're basically just sitting in a tank of water looking like an idiot.
So that was our time in Darwin. We thought it was a really nice place & it was good to have a bit of chilled time to catch up on things. We flew to Alice Springs this afternoon & are planning to hire a car tomorrow morning to drive to Ayers Rock & Kings Canyon. It's basically just one road & they drive on the same side so shouldn't be too many dramas, although they won't let you drive at night due to hitting kangaroos or camels. Hilariously most of the hire car places offer Hyundais, which Gary is thrilled about driving!
Keep us updated with your news. Speak soon.
G & C x
