Wow, where do I begin for the last three days!

Picked up Drew, and we went out to the Deckchair Cinema, where I promised him good food and a movie. We didn't get there early enough for the food, so had to eat chips and drink beer for dinner. The movie was a new Aussie release, 'Oyster Farmer'. Very interesting and quirky, set on a river where a bunch of interesting (and scary) characters lived. Check it out if you see it at your local video store!

Since I promised Drew good food, we went out for Thai. We were both so tired, all we really wanted to do was sleep... and the food took forever. There were a bunch of guys from his ship blowing off steam, and we kept bumping into groups of them. The food was definitely good, and the outdoor rooftop restaurant was fun!

Back to the hostel for a shower and bed, as we had to be ready to go at 6:30!

So now we're at Sunday, the 11th: Got picked up at 6:30 and put into the back of a Land Cruiser with two benches on each side. We had a bunch of people from all over: Sarah and Simon from Cork; Nigel from Dublin; Gail from Birmingham; Vitaley from Haifa; Frank and Franzeca from near Dresden; and our guide Daryl who was actually from Melbourne. Second to Daryl, I'm pretty sure Drew and I were the oldest folks on the trip. Let me tell you, it's a VERY long time between destinations! They weren't kidding when they said they pack alot into three days!! We had to make a u-turn not too long after we left, because two swags were missing. Daryl is a sub-contractor to the Wilderness 4WD company, so this loss hurt him financially. But he stayed in a pretty good mood! He was fairly quiet for a guide, and had that biting sense of humour that really came out when it needed to! Everyone was very chit-chatty on the bus, introducing themselves, asking lots of questions, discussing the worlds situation. We had discussions on the Jewish pullout of Gaza; the reunification of Germany; travel stories on where everyone had been. Vitaley was Russian, but living in Israel for most of his life. (Vitaley reminded Drew of Steve Evanitski, his 'fashion sense' and way of walking!!) We stopped at a roadhouse (thank god for those) for toilets and drink, then off for more driving. Lots of driving. We thought it was bad enough on the bitumen roads, then we went on the secondary gravel roads! Didn't see a whole lot of wildlife, evidently it was about 37 degrees and they were all smarter than us! Drew was very chatty, then got very quiet, then I realized he was getting carsick. At the next stop, he got Gravol (good on his wife for bringing it), then all was well. We drove for what seemed about 3 hours, then finally got out for a hike at Barramundie Gorge (you'll have to google these sites in Kakadu for more info!) I can't even remember the 1.5 km hike in, although at the time I'm sure I felt very hot and it was steep. We walked past a few pools that were very inviting, except for the crocodile signs. Never saw any, but if Daryl wasn't going in, I wasn't, either! At the top of this gorge were some WONDERFUL plunge pools, and we were very happy to get to them! We spent a number of hours here, enjoying the falls and pools. After that hot hike, we weren't going anywhere anytime soon! But sundown comes early, so we did leave. So much for the swim. Hiking in that kind of heat, you're satruated after 30 seconds of any kind of activity. And then it was another long, hot, dusty drive. Daryl drives like a madman! I can't honestly remember where we camped, but it was extremely rustic!!

These roads are something else. Long, straight stretches of red compacted gravel. Monsoon forests, which are pretty sparse. And that is it. Oh, there are cathedral termite mounds, very tall... like 20 feet or so!

We were definitely read for the stakes that Daryl cooked on the fire. I asked if this was just for show, or if people really camped like this, with open fire cooking. Kinda hard to do this at home with fire bans! The cleanliness of the food prep leaved alot to be desired... but thankfully no one got sick! I bet those dishes haven't seen soap in eons!

Daryl brought out the digeridoo and gave us all a go. Apparently Drew is a natural, so now he's looking for one of his own. We slep on swags right on the ground, no tents. Thank goodness for the bug net hat thingies we bought in Darwin! I got no bites, but Drew must have about 50. He's so delicate! As tired as I was, I didn't get to sleep till well after 1am.

So now we're at the 12th! Woke up after a not too good night's sleep. Breakfast isn't much... cereal and toast, and I hope you like your toast with bits of charcoal. Then back in the Land Cruiser for what seemed like another 3 hour trip (Daryl says everthing is 1/2 hr... Daryl lies!) This time we went to Twin Falls (which weren't really running). They say that the only guaranteed safe place to swim is at the Community pool in Jabiru, but it would be pretty darn hard for a croc to get where we went. We started off with a 400 metre climb, pretty much straight up, then about a half hour walk... no shade. Oh, did I mention that it was 37 degrees? Definitely the most challenging hike I've ever done, 3K in that blistering heat. Makes the Coast Trail at East Sooke look like a handicapped access trail. But I did it, and not too badly, either. Once you hit about 28 degrees, hot is just bloody hot. I must have drank about 3 litres of water! The swim was well worth it, I washed out my clothes! But it didn't matter, 'cuz 30 seconds later they're wet again. We were only up there for an hour or so, then back down and off to the next hike. This one was at the bottom of the falls, and we had a nice little boat ride. And then a 'short hike' but it was still bloody hot. We had our lunch in the shade, but definitely NO SWIMMING here. I jumped under the waterfall, and that did the trick! Drew looked not too happy, and I'm sure he was cursing the day he met me!! Back to the boat after an hour or so. That's when we noticed the 'pet' pig, tethered to a tree. More on that later!

Back for another hike, this time to Jim Jim falls. No falls, though, because it's the tail end of the dry here. I hated this hike. Not to strenuous, until the end, where you're scrambling over boulders the size of dumpsters for about 400 metres. Very tiring, and I was pretty much at the end of my limit. This better be good swimming! No such luck. It was OK swimming, but the falls stopped running three weeks ago, so the water wasn't the best. Lots of big fish here, which means no crocs! I wasn't the only one not having fun... we were really hoping for a helicopter lift out of the gorge! Everyone was beat.

Back in the Land Cruiser... on this trip in, we forded a river or two... one was the South Aligator, not quite a meter. All the 4WD have snorkels on them. The Irish couple started closing all the windows! Hee hee ! More on them... Simon was a good guy. Sarah was the typical Irish female stereotype. Her english was limited to 'Fook, it's hoot!' and 'Jesoos Chreest, it's hoot!' Every movie I've seen of a martyr Irish woman, she fit it. Nice enough, and I got a kick out of her complaining. For christs sakes, she was 100 pounds soaking wet... try the heat when you're around 170! Not nearly as pleasant, but I wasn't complaining.

We were very happy to get to bed that night. EVERYONE had a tent, because of the night before! Drew and I went to bed as soon as it was socially acceptable. We were on the Sandy Billagong, where two years ago a German woman was taken by a croc. Vitaley figured that a croc wouldn't come more than 50 metres onto land, so he was about 52 metres from the billabong! We had burrito wraps that night, and no one was doing much talking. I don't think I have EVER been so filthy in all my life. A shower would have been very nice before bed!

So now we're up to the 13th. The sunrise over the billabong was breathtaking, the most incredible pink. And the birds were amazing... lots of them, more than I ever could describe. We had our normal breakfast, and headed off... no more hiking, thank god! And unfortunately, no more swims. We went to the Ubirr site, at the northeast end of the park, past the edge of civilization I am sure. This is a well known rock art site, and we went through the visitor centre and then into the rocks. Some of the rock art is estimated to be 50,000 years old. We had a ranger doing a talk on two of the legends, and it really made the rock art come to life. God, I'm having a hard time remembering everything! We stopped for lunch at another road house, where there were a pair of black cockatoos parading on the lawn. When the tour gide rushes to take a picture, you know you're seeing something amazing. These birds are about $20,000 a piece in the pet trade at home! Another drive to another billabong, but DEFINITELY no swimming here. This was our croc cruise on Coroboree Billabong. And we saw ALOT of crocs. Holy shit, I'm glad we did this at the end of the tour, because if we did it first, there would have been absolutely no bloody way you would have gotten me near any water... and then I would have REALLY smelled bad! There were 'freshies' and 'salties'. Freshies won't attack you unless you are threatening their next. Salties will do anything they can to get you. The guide Ted warned us NOT to lean out of the boat. Hell, I wouldn't even SIT near the edge! Right off, we saw the biggest freshie he ever saw, at about 3 meters. The salties get to be about 5 meters in there, and one reached 8.5 meters! His boat was 9 meters. I was doing the math. The birds here were incredible, too. I think he said there were 250 spiecies of birds there. The crocs were just heading into mating season, and he said in another two weeks, there's be amazing things to be seen. I thought it was pretty amazing as it was! I never, ever want to be that close to a crocodile again. I was pretty scared. We got some incredible photos. This guy had a 'pet' pig, too... Pog. He was quite the character! Then Drew told me what he thought the purpose of Pog was... if someone 'accidently' fell overboard, or if a croc was threatening, Pog's name got changed to 'bait' and would go overboard. I felt bad about that, and wondered if Pog really had a chance to discuss his job description with Ted... but then I thought better Pog than me!!!

We had about a two hour dive back to Darwin. Saw the most incredible sunset, but couldn't really take a picture. Hopefully there will be a few more! We got back to the hostel, immediately showered before we were evicted, then did a load of laundry, then headed to the pub to meet up with everyone for dinner.

Did you know that cowgirls in Darwin evidently wear teeny tiny black bras and panties, and cowprint chaps, and nothing else? It's true, I saw it in the pub!!

We had a short visit, then back to the hostel for bed. This morning we were up at 03:30 to catch the airport shuttle at 4:15, for our 6am flight. When we landed here in Cairns, we had to kill about an hour and a half with shopping (Drew got a Driz-a-bone coat, me a new hat) before we could check in. Then we immediately had a 3 hour nap! And here we are, heading out for the evening.

I wish I could remember more details, but I'm too bloody tired. Today was a nothing day. Tomorrow we go to the reef!

Gotta run,
Marie