Aug 2008

Our first stop today was for breakie before heading just down the road for a walk to Florence Falls in Lichfield National Park which was amazingly refreshing in the humid heat of the Top End. After lazing around here for an hour we headed to some spa pools which were a cascade of small waterfalls, we spent about 2 hrs longing around soaking it up. Tough day at the office today! After lunch we headed towards Mary River for our boat cruise but on the way we got a flat tyre in our 4WD truck. So we're in the middle of no where on a dirt road changing the tyre of a 4 tonne truck in blazing heat. The jack wouldn't fit under the jack point so we had to dig out some of the earth but then because of that it wouldn't jack high enough to get the wheel off. After wedging some logs under the axel we managed to get the tyre changed over and we were back on the road, all good fun!

The boat cruise on the Mary river was amazing with lots of cool wildlife with the star of the show, Esturine (Saltwater) Crocs! These killing machines are evil, the guide told us that if you were to wash your camping pots in the river at the same time each day by the 3rd day it'd take you which is what happened to the last person to be taken, an 8 year old boy who's parents had sent him to get washing up water each night, I now have total respect for salty crocs and won't be taking any chances! The fresh water crocs are tame by comparison and are scared of humans the largest thing they eat is a small Wallaby and generally eat insects! Tonight we camped at Point Stuart

Today we hit Kakadu National Park, first stop the wetlands to see lots of bird life, there were hundreds of them. After the wetlands we did a walk through the park to view some rock art sites and hear stories linked to the art. Next we hiked for fantastic views of the Nardab flood plains and they truly we fantastic!. It was getting much hotter and the humidity was soaring today so a welcome dip in some plunge pools was next on the agenda but not before we hiked up there after 45 mins of walking in the heat we made it. The location was Barramundi Gorge and the water was beautiful! There were some high sides to the gorge so diving in from a height was a must.

Today we had some 4WD action to look forward to as we headed out to Twin Falls and Jim Jim Falls. The route to reach the falls is 4WD only and for good reason, this was 45 mins of bouncing around in your seat. There was a family from Slovenia on our bus and they were all moaning and refused to wear a seatbelt, oh how I was longing for one of them to slam into the roof!! Once we reached the end of the track we took a boat up the river then walked further to the falls. This is a no swimming area do the the possible presence of Saltwater Crocs so it was photos only here, team Slovenia were still annoying, Croc attack would be entertaining right now! More 4WD action to Jim Jim falls which is dry now and only runs during the wet season and because water levels are about 6m higher then it's impossible to get there and see them unless you are in a heli or light aircraft. There is a huge cold plunge pool where the falls plummet into which we swam in though so it wasn't a worthless journey. We swam about 100m right to the base of the falls and look up the 200m walls and try to imagine the falls in full flow, it's still an impressive sight even in the dry.

We had a long drive back into Darwin after the falls visits but on the way in we stopped at the Didg Hut where I decided to by a souvenir that would forever remind me of my time in Australia the classic Didgeridoo. They have such an interesting sound. We'd asked our guide about buying authentic ones that are made properly and not in some factory and apparently this is the place to buy them. Traditional Didgeridoos are not hollowed out my hand or by machine but by Termites and you can tell by running your finger round the inside, if it is all smooth it's been done by machine if it's nice and rough then it's been done by termites.

Happy to leave Alice Springs behind we continued on our journey North passing the Tropic of Capricorn we're now oficially in the Tropics but you wouldn't know it since it was bloody freezing out there, it was about 7am though! We stop for lunch at the UFO Capital of Australia, Wycliffe Well, a very strange place full of alien models and accounts of UFO sightings. As dessert one of the girls, Anna, ate a moth grub from a bush coconut, it looked disgusting but is supposed to be full of goodness, no thanks! After lunch we headed to the Devils Marbles, these are big round granite boulders formed from magma and have been uncovered from the earth by the errosion of the softer sandstone surrounding them. Tonight we camped at Banka Banka cattle station managed by a bloke from Cheshire

Today we set off to Daly Waters, the town airfield was a centre for the London to Sydney air race of 1926, a refuelling stop for early Qantas flights to Singapore and a World War II Airforce base but is now more famous for the outback roadhouse which is decorated throughout with banknotes and other memorabilia left by visitors from every corner of the globe. It's also home the the only outback traffic light which is always on red to fool the tourists. Here we had lunch and the first part of our team challenge, downing a schooner race, our team lost due to the fact that the person that went first took longer to drink theirs then the whole of the other team took to finish all of their 4 drinks. IT mattered not though as we would later beat them in the trivial quiz and the dry wheatbix (weetabix) eating comp!

Our first stop of the day was at Katherine Gorge, a deep gorge carved through ancient sandstone by the Katherine River, is the central attraction of the park. Katherine Gorge is made up of thirteen gorges, with rapids and falls, and follow the Katherine River. Lunch was had at a beautiful swimming spot called Edith Falls, the water was amazing and the view the same. Though half way across the 150 meter swim to the falls I did start to think about Crocs. There is only supposed to be fresh water crocs here though not the man eating Saltwater variety! It's the nicest swiming spot ever.

So after a few days off in Adelaide it was a shakey start as we headed off towards the red center. Our guide, Erin, nearlt took off a wing mirror and got slightly lost as we made our way to the Flinders Range. This is South Australia's largest mountain range and named after the European explorer Matthew Flinders who mapped the coastline of Australia. After seeing some of the range and viewing some Aborigional rock art we stayed at Parachilna which consists of a pub and not much else, they do serve the best puddings ever though! I also sampled the local home brew and Kangeroo, Emu and Camel were on the menu tonight.

Next we headed to Wilpena Pound which is a natural amphitheatre of mountains which was used as place to graze cattle as there was only one way in and out of the place it meant it acted as a natural barrier. Here we climbed Mt Ohlssen-Bagge for amazing views of the range. Tonight we stayed at a sheep station and watched the sunset over the mountains.

On the way to our next destiantion we stopped at an amazing salt lake (Lake Hart) which used to be part of an inland sea millions of years ago. This sea is also what created the Opals found at Coober Pedy the town is known as the opal capital of the world because of the quantity of precious opals that are mined there. The name 'Coober Pedy' comes from the local Aboriginal term kupa-piti, which means 'white man underground'. The minors used to live in the holes they had dug when looking for opals and because it was so cool and remaind a fairly constant temp the idea took off and now everyone lives like this. Temperatures often exceed 40 degrees Celsius outside where as underground it is between 24 and 27 degrees.

Today we had a whopping 700km to cover in order to reach the destiantion of the day, Uluru (Ayers Rock) so a very early start of 4:30am which meant we saw the sunrise which was really cool. On the way up we collected firewood some of which had termites inside. WHen we threw down the wood they all fell out and were promptly butchered by the hundreds of ants that were running around, it was a very interesting sight! We alse left South Australia and crossed into the Northern Territory (NT). We arrived at Uluru to watch the sunset which was amazing. Tomorrow we will walk around it! That evening we stayed in camp and slept in an Aussie Swag which is a waterproof canvas bag in effect with a foam mattress inside it. Quite cosy and warm once you've got a sleeping bag and a warm hoodie on!

Today we visited Uluru up close, it's a mighty rock and you can't quite grasp it's size until you get right up to it. It's 9.6km around but the size of the Rock is even more incredible when you consider that an estimated two thirds of it lies beneath the surface. Around much of the rock the sites are sacred to the Aborigional people and you are requested not to photograph these areas. It is also 'requested' that you do not climb the rock although it is not forbidden to do so. I decided not to climb it. After our 2hr stroll around Uluru we headed over to Kata Tjuta also known as the Olgas which are a group of large domed rock formations. The Pitjantjajara name Kata Tjuta means 'many heads'. The site is as sacred to the Indigenous people as Uluru. That evening we camped at Kings Canyon and had an awesome meal cooked on the campfire which included some beer bread make on the fire.

An early start saw some Dingos hanging around our camp before we headed up to the very impressive Kings Canyon for the 3 hr rim walk, this is a really cool place with spectacular views of the gorge below and of the surrounding landscape. About half way during the walk, a detour descends to Garden of Eden, a permanent waterhole surrounded by lush plant life. Towards the end of the walk sees views of the Lost City so called because the rocks look like a city in the distance. The rest of the day saw us head into Alice Springs where we headed to Bo's Saloon for a few beers and some tasty tucker, I had Camel and Ale pie, very tasy!

So it's 8 months since the last entry, wow that's gone fast, I've been working hard(ish) in Sydney to save up for my trip round Australia. First port of call is Melbourne.....

This place is like England with a hint of the USA, a very slight hint though! It was very very cold here and rained quite a lot so it was just like being back home. It has a nice feel to it though, feels more open than Sydney and lots more going after 5pm unlike Sydney that seems to shut down. I enjoyed the few days spent there exploring the city the buildings are very Victorian and is a better looking city than Sydney.

On Saturday morning we left on our trip to Adelaide via the Great Ocean Road our first stop Torquay! We stop for breakfast at the home of Quiksilver & Rip Curl now of course they are owned by big US firms so the stores don't offer any savings. Next stop was the famous Bells beach to watch some of the surfers, the waves were really good so there were lots of people out with their boards, I didn't envy them though as it was bloody freezing!

Continuing our way along the stunning Great Ocean Rd on our way to Otway National Park we see Koalas, all asleep of course along with lots of crazy birds that would sit on your hand and eat seeds. The Otway is a temparate rainforest, here we did a tree top walk which was pretty cool. The rest of the day is spent making our way further along the Ocean Rd to arrive at the twelve apostles for what should have been a stunning sunset but turned out to be a horrible rain obscured view of the mighty rocks.

The morning brought better weather and we visited the various inlets and views of the apostles and the famous London Bridge, myself and two others decided to take the Helicopter flight that was on offer which gave spectacular views of the Apostles, money well spent.

Next we headed to the Grampians National Park which is a series of sandstone mountain ranges. The ranges were named in 1836 by Surveyor General of New South Wales Sir Thomas Mitchell after the Grampian Mountains in his native Scotland. When we arrived here the weather had a treat in store, it snowed, it's pretty rare to see snow here and the tour guide, Dave, was really excited and started playing in the snow.

Next we headed off to to go Roo spotting in the National Park, we found some of course, they are an amusing animal. Aparrently Kangaroo means 'I don't understand' in Aboriginal, when the early explorers were asking the Aboriginals what the animal was called they were trying to describe it but they didn't know what they were going on about so just kept saying Kangaroo, Kangaroo - I don't understand but the name stuck and that's what they are called.

Our stay in that night was in a really nice hostel with a roaring fire which was great after another day of freezing! Anyone that tells you Australia is always hot is wrong. In the morning we woke up to the sound of Kookaburras it was 5:30am another early start and still bloody freezing, today we hike up Hollow Mountain and I learned where the Aussie's get their green and gold colours from. There is a plant called the Wattle which flowers in the winter and it's a vivid yellow flower.

In the afternoon we made our way to Adelaide which is known by many Australians as the arse hole of the Country due to it's geographical location. I though it was a very pleasant city to visit and spent a relaxing two days there. Each side of the city is covered in parkland. The city was designed by Colonel William Light, one of Adelaide's founding fathers, he chose its location close to the River Torrens and surounded it with parkland as a protection from possible enemies. I think he did a good job of the layout.