sat 23rd- didnt actually go to bed last nite cos thats the worst thing to do so me n nina watched saw 3 till 5am and then feel asleep on the sofas waitin for the bus to pick me up at 6! left cairns to travel thru the tablelands towards mt surprise where we had lunch and a snake show-managed to get a new friend who wrapped herself round my neck for about 30mins. saw a mouse get eaten by a python and then another get eaten by a taipen- pretty fun really! Final destination on the day was Croydon where we stayed in a pub motel; and went to the local country music festival- which was a lot better than we all thought really. there was loads of yokels but a fun nite in all!

sun 24th- left croydon and headed along the Matilda highway to Burke & Wills highway, turned off and had a swim/ bbq on the Gregory River and then we headed further into the outback to Boodjamulla national park for a 2hr canoe trip thru the gorge of the Jonhston river network- saw a few birds, fish and grey kangaroos along the way and numerous waterfalls! the views of the steep falled valleys and the waterfalls made for some awesome views and i took plenty of pics aso dont worry i can bore u with them when i get back! last stop of the the day was adels grove where we kipped and generally drank till they turned the generator (and lights off)

mon 25th- this is where the fun started!!! it rained during the night so after already taking a detail we headed back to Boodjamula to see some fossils in the rocks and attempt to make progrss towards Darwin. hoewever the weather and mud was so bad it was slow progress, and then to make matetrs worse not only did we get briefly bogged but the turbo on the bus blew! cue much annoyance from the driver, a good 2hr wait and then salvation from the local cattle ranch who toed us back to their place, and we waited for the buses from adels grove to save us. we stayed there another day/ nite and got a free talk on dinosaurs and fossils from some local scientisty ppl.

tues 26th- me and christian went for a swim in the morning to kill some time and then we left in the buses to get to the highway to meet our new bus! the road was closed for a bit cos of the weather so we had lunch and left about an hour later. we were gonna make good progress towards barkley roadhouse (about 1100 km from darwin) but it was full so we had to stop in Mt Isa (no mountain at all) and incidenttly the largest citry in the world at 46000sq km- but there are 26000ppl living there! we had a gorgeous 3 course meal and then drank with the local truckies till 1am- this included a trip to their f***in massive trucks so we (christian, raphella, beatrice and anna) had fun there for a bit adn then crashed in our double beds!!!

weds 27th- faced with an epic 1700km still to do today there were a few things to overcome i) the fact greg (the driver) couln't legally drive that far and ii) when we would eat etc the day started at 5am and we made a fast start along the highway. stoppin a few times we had a quick beer and swim at daly's waters roadhouse (a pretty funky place) and unfortunately had to miss out the thermal pools of meteranka (but i'll be seeing them when i go down to alice so no worries there). arrived in katherine for tea and to see charlie the water buffalo from croc dundee (he was stuffed thou :-( ) and arrived in darwin at 1130. checked in and then went across to the vic for a few drinks- as normal those quick drinks turned into table dancing, face painting and we stayed out till 0330ish!

thurs 28th- did pretty much nothing today, spent the mornin walkin round darwin centre itself and then hit the pool to sunbath all day! in the eve we decied to go over to miltril beach (or summit like that) for the sunset and the night market. the sunset was beautiful over the harobour and the sea, and the market was pretty col. had some wicked didgeroo band playing, plenty of world cuisine and trinkets to buy- nearly bought a drum and a didge but the costs were too high at the mo so i'll have to wait till next time. we stayed there most of the night, had a quick beer in the hostel and then went to bed.

fri 29th- sorted this s*** out as well as emails etc, and now going to book a few tour dates to kakadu national park and my trip down to alice springs. after that its either the chinese temple or just all day by the pool again to top my tan up. the eve will be beer and socialising for a change!!!!!!!!!!!11