Oz and NZ

Day Three - Kakadu

lauraste84 — Sat, 2 Jun 2012 21:27:00 GMT

We had another early start and I later regretted having two cups of tea before we set off in the 4WD. We drove to the gates of Kakadu National Park and hopped out to take pics with the sign. The two hour journey to Ubirr wasn't too bad, mostly because I had promoted myself further forward in the bus so I could hear the music better. I now have a list of songs and bands to look up when I get home - Aussie hip hop is pretty good, in fact you should all check out Hilltop Hoodies but not the latest stuff the older albums are better I'm told.

Once we reached Ubirr art site Luke took us around to see all the most interesting paintings and told us all about the history and the best of the aboringinal stories. We ate another exciting small green fruit called a Billy Goat Plum. Next we climbed up to Nabad Lookout and got over-excited taking photos, not just because the scenery was spectacular. It is also where Crocodile Dundee stood in his film and swung his whippy thing around. Woop!

Next we headed to our campsite to make sandwiches for lunch. Tonight we're staying at Kakadu Lodge at Jabiru (these place names are not made up, I swear)and we discovered there is a bar and pool tables. Happy Campers!

We all hopped back in the van and headed to Gubara. Here we trekked along a sandy track and through humid rainforest to climb a rocky section and reach "The Castle". As you probably guessed already more amazing views. The braver members of the group climbed further to reach a crevice where Luke demonstrated how to climb up inside and get cool photos suspended inside the rocky gap. I was too chicken to get very high though.The photos aren't great as I was in a quite a hurry to get back down to safety.

After all our climbing exertion it seemed only right to find another rock pool to splash about in. This time we got to swim across the pool and cross more sand and rocks to reach another secret pool and waterfall.

We dried off and headed back to camp where we were fed well again with chicken and vegetable stir-fry with cous cous. It seemed rude not to have a few bottles of Great Northern too, considering I don't like beer it went down pretty well in a Corona-esque way.

After dinner we got a visit from from another tour guidewho told us tales of his snake taming Dad and the one time he got bitten and had no choice but to drive himself to the nearest town, scary stuff!

After an exciting day we were too tired to head to the bar and play pool. Sorry to the guys we promised we would definately come back and challenge.

Day Two - Litchfield National Park

lauraste84 — Sat, 2 Jun 2012 13:13:00 GMT

I had to be up pretty early to set off on my 2 night camping 4WD tour of Litchfield and Kakadu National Parks with Adventure Tours Australia. My iPhone was still on Sydney time so I accidentally got up at 4.30 instead of 5.00am, oops! There were 14 of us in the tour group and our tour leader Luke was awesome and really knew his stuff. Plants, crocs, snakes, birds, geology, aboriginal rock art...he was a bit of an expert in all things Northern Teritory!

Our first stop was the Termite Mounds. Magnetic Termite Mounds are made by particularly clever termites that somehow always build them pointing North to South. I'm still puzzling over how a termite can possibly know automatically where magnetic North is...always. Clever little beasties! We also learned about Cathedral Termite Mounds and licked Green Tree Ants on their green bum, it sounds a bit perverted now, maybe you had to be there. The guide told us to try it because they taste acidic, a bit like licking a battery (Dad if you are reading this I never licked batteries either).

Next we stopped at Wangi Falls. This was going to be a swim stop but it was a bit cloudy and not that warm so instead we took pics and walked up to the look out above the waterfall. We saw some little bush fires on our little trek. Luke told us that since it's only just getting into the dry season these fires don't have to be reported as they shouldn't cause too much trouble. We stopped for more bush tucker, this time in the form of Rosella Flowers, the red leaves taste a bit like gooseberry and apparently they contain lots of vitamins.

Buley Cascades was our next stop and by now the clouds had burned off and it was hotting up so we all swam in the rock pools. The freshwater was amazing and I jumped in a few times posing for photos.

We stopped for lunch at Mrs Macs Cafe and Luke served up hot dogs. We went down a really bumpy road called Marikah in our 4WD truck and through streams. I got airbourne a few times which was pretty exciting.

The afternoon mainly consisted of a cruise on the Mary River Wetlands. We saw lots of Salt Water Crocodiles (the ones are more likely to kill you as opposed to the more placid freshwater ones) and a huge variety of birds. The lady driving the boat got us really close to the crocs for pics and was great at maneouvering the boat to get us all a good view. She did have to remind us a few times that dangling camera and arm over the side of the boat probably wasn't a fantastic idea since the croc would be fairly happy to relieve us of both in one snap!

Our camp site for the night was at a pub. Woop! The Bark Hut Pub was home to some Adventure Tours ermanent tents so we had camp beds with basic mattresses, a kitchen tent and shower block etc. Pretty comfortable camping. We dumped our gear and took a stroll up Cheese Hill to see the pretty views whilst Luke fired up the BBQ. Tea was marinated kangaroo steak, buffalo burgers and coleslaw. Proper Aussie Tucker!

It would have been rude not to head to the pub after tea since we were staying on their grounds an all that. We played a pool competition and the staff at the pub and other guests got involved. I was told by local folk I mustn't have another Sav Blanc and instead had to try Red Bundaberg and Coke. Smoother tasting than normal Bundaberg apparently, all I know is it resulted in me playing Rodeo on the saddle in the middle of the pub. Fun times!

Photos: Darwin

lauraste84 — Fri, 1 Jun 2012 16:51:00 GMT

Darwin, Kakadu and Litchfield

Day One - Darwin

lauraste84 — Tue, 29 May 2012 06:21:00 GMT

Monday 28th May

I was up early to pack up and say bye to Phil and then left Manly for the final time. Treated myself to the fast ferry and just when I thought I'd ventured out alone I bumped into Jon Wood one of the Manly crew. This was pretty lucky since I was struggling to set the combination on my luggage lock and he managed to do it first time!

I am trying to be a genuine cheap backpacker so I packed my own cheese sandwiches for the airport. By a stroke of luck Gloria Jeans (coffee shop for the UK folks)at Sydney Airport were selling off nut bars, 20 for $5. So i bought a box of those to be my emergency back up food.

My backpack turned out to weigh 17.7kg according to the airport scales. Which is fine for the limit on my flights, but means I'm really glad I got a hybrid so I can pull it along like a case. 17.7kg is pretty heavy on your back.

Arrived in Darwin to 30 degrees and wished I hadn't had to wear my jeans, hoodie and coat. They wouldn't fit in the backpack. Wearing my huge walking boots and thick socks wasn't ideal either.

Melaleuca Backpackers is fairly nice so a good first time place for me I think. I had a nice room on the girls floor with 3 others and their is a fab little pool and pool bar area. Going on a camping tour in the morning at 6.30am so only had time for a bottle of Corona.

Highlight of the day : Mini Cadbury Boost on the plane

Lowlight of the day: Tried to save Boost excitement for later, put in pocket and it melted!

Not a very exciting day but it was just a transit day really. Will try harder for next time!

The night before the journey begins...

lauraste84 — Sun, 27 May 2012 23:59:00 GMT

Hey,

My name is Laura. I'm from North Wales originally, but have been living and working in Sydney for the past 2 years. My amazing adventure has come to a close and I'm setting off for home. I have a few things to see on my way....the bits of Australia I haven't yet seen and really want to and a 4 week New Zealand adventure.

This blog is for my amazing Aussie (well, mostly fellow ex-pats!) friends who I will miss so very much. Also for my UK friends and family who I have missed more than they can fathom. So no-one worry about me, I'll keep safe and update this blog when I can so you can all nosy at what I'm up to. Strangers are welcome to read it to I guess but I'm not sure why they'd bother!

Enjoy!

Photos: Leaving Sydney

lauraste84 — Sun, 27 May 2012 23:53:00 GMT

The final days in Sydney