1/9
Had a lay in today and got up around half 9, it was lovely! The other
3 girls in my room had left at 6ish so I had the room to myself. I
went and booked a tour of the National Parks in Darwin and my flight to
Cairns. Later on I went over to Miriam and Marissa's hostel and
chilled by the pool with them. In the evening, Johan, Daniel, Susie,
Andrea, Nina, Miriam, Marissa and I all came to my hostel and we cooked
a last group dinner. We then went back to Bojangles but this time just
for one. Did some laundry but managed to leave a tissue in a pocket.
No driers left either so I had to shake the tissue off and then hang
eveything around my bed.
2/9
Got up and had to shake some more tissue off my clothes before being
able to put some of them away. What a mess! Ended up having to go out
and buy lunch as someone had stolen the other half of my Subway that I
had left in the fridge. Got the bus over to the desert park. It was a
nice park. Went on a walk through the red kangaroo enclosure and saw a
bird show. There was a really good nocturnal house. It was really hot
today. Spoke to home about my latest plan, not sure whether that will
happen though...Cooked dinner with Andrea with enough left over for
lunch tomorrow.
3/9
Bags
in storage, out to buy some postcards and then me and Andrea headed to
the reptile centre. It was awesome, I got to hold an olive python,
blue tongued skink, bearded dragon, shingleback lizard and then a
Spencers Goanna called Frank. It was a surprise to handle all those
and the handling was free! Back to the hostel for lunch and then
waiting around for the train, got a taxi to the station and then got
the train at 5.55pm. My bag weighed 22kgs so had to separate some
stuff, luckily you are allowed two bags. Got hungry quickly and ate
lots of the food that I had brought to last for the whole journey. Got
off to sleep ok, lots of room and really comfy.
4/9
On the train for most of the day today. AT 9am we stopped at Katherine
and could choose a gorge exploration option. I went for a walk,
cheapest option! Really nice views. Then got a tour of the town of
Katherine. Back to the train for 12.30, it was supposed to leave at
1.00 but beacuse of a Freight Train coming the other way we didn't pull
out of the station until 3.20! Eventually we got to Darwin at 7.15pm.
There were lots of termite mounds along the way. Got to the hostel and
then met Andrea and we went out for a quick dinner then back to the
hostel to pack up my 10kgs worth of stuff I was allowed to take on the
Kakadu/Litchfield trip.
5/9
Trip started today and off to Litchfield National Park. The group is
really quiet, big difference from the groovy Grape tour. Went for a
swim in Florence Falls. We then went for a swim in some rock pools.
All without crocs- so we were told! The fish in Florence Falls started
nibbling my feet. We then went and saw some large termite mounds.
Then off to a billabong for a wildlife cruise. Saw some freshwater and
some saltwater crocs which was really cool! Lots of different bird
species around as well. Saw 2 freshies fighting. Got to camp and had
a surprise, sleeping in tents with beds and mattresses, no swag bags!
6/9
5am start again, common theme with tours. We went over to Ubirr to
look at some ancient Aboriginal rock art. It was really cool some of
it. When they saw things for the first time they would paint it so
there were some paintings of white men. Then we clambered up to a
rocky lookout to get an awesome view over the Nardab floodplain. All
different habitats in a 360 degree view. Then we went to Maguk
(Barramundi Gorge). Really nice pool to have a swim in. We then
climbed to the top of the gorge and swam in the water pools that feed
the waterfalls. Sleeping in tents again. Played the didgeridoo before
bed.
7/9
Up at 5am again and off we went to see Twin Falls. We had a little
boat ride then a walk to it. It was cool, couldn't swim there though
because of crocs. After that we headed to Jim Jim Falls which is more
like a gorge in the dry season. We were allowed to swim in there which
was good as the walk was climbing all over rocks and involved getting
hot and sweaty, nice. Later on Marc said he was sure he saw a croc in
there! Back to camp for lunch and then we were taken back to Darwin.
Found Sandra, did laundry and then headed out for some beers with Marc
and Sandra.
8/9
This morning me and Sandra headed to croc cove in the city. It was
reall cool, we even got to hold a hatchling that was nearly a 1m long!
How cool! We watched the big crocs get fed, then some lizards and a
couple of snakes. We also held a bearded dragon. Really good time
there. We then went to the lagoon for some relaxation. Back to the
hostel for dinner and then out for a couple of beers. Had to go back
early and back up our stuff and get some sleep as we were getting the
2.45am shuttle to the airport.
9/9
Up at 2am to get ready to catch the shuttle to the airport. Flight was
at 5.05am. It was a bit delayed but we still ended up in Cairns
earlier than we thought we would. Got into the city and set about
planning the next section of Oz. We booked the Cape Tribulation trip,
Whitsunday Islands and Fraser Island. In the evening we walked around
the lagoon. Came back to our room to find more than 12 people on the
balcony. They then went out at midnight and came back at 4am. We
decided we would move rooms because of that and that the room stunk as
it was lived in by 5 guys!
10/9
We managed to change rooms with no hassle so that was good. We went
out to Kuranda today. Got the bus to the Skyrail station and then
started the 7.5km ride. There was a couple of stops along the way with
lookouts and guided tours. When we arrived at Kuranda we haad a look
around and then went to the venom zoo. Saw lots of spiders and was
able to hold another olive python. We then had a really nice slow
train ride back to Cairns. Some lovely scenery along the way. In the
evening I thought about the rest of what I will do in Oz.
11/9
Today we went to the Botanic Gardens and then over to the lagoon. That
is pretty much all we did today. Tomorrow we are off to Cape
Tribulation which is supposed to be really good.
xx
