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We landed in Darwin at the crazy o'clock time of 430am, the customs and immigration were very happy for that time of the morning which made us slightly more cheery. The downside of arriving so early was that the hostel wasn't able to book us in till 11am so we had quite a few hours to kill. It wasn't much fun walking round a closed town.
Eventually we were able to check into our dorm room and get some extra sleep. Having not done much in Darwin there isn't really much to talk about, but it was where we'd pick up the campervan and head off on amazing road trip to cairns. Having picked up Winnie we hit the road to Katherine, so Ryan thought, Maz actually directed him back to Darwin to find a supermarket. A quick shop and a McDonald's later the road trip began. On the advice of a crazy taxi driver we stopped at a nature park which had a variety of enclosures to show the different types of Australia's creatures and landscapes. Back on the road we made Katherine before it got dark, having found a campsite and given a spot Ryan parked in the wrong one and facing the wrong way. After nearly reversing into a tree we managed to sort ourselves out, plug in and cook dinner. This was to be our last real campsite before cairns. After a good nights sleep we hit the road, 5 days to drive 3000 kilometers we couldn't really stop and take a look at places due to the time constraint. We'd been told the cutta cutta caves were worth while so we stopped and had a looksee. Like most caves they were dark how ever because of the outside temperature and lack of rain they are actually dry caves instead of the common wet caves. With some impressive stalagmites and stalactites. That was to be the only attraction on our road trip, apart from all the road kill. We had to plan our fuel stops carefully as it was miles between towns and campsites however we had faith in the red fuel light and winnie kept on pushing. The road side rest stops were pretty good as well, we only stayed in ones with people in them, just I case a crazy bushman came along we wouldn't be taken first. We steered well clear of the rest stop at deadmans creek, with it being next to a saw mill we were sure it was straight out of a horror movie, unfortunately murder winery and attack creek were nearby, needless to say we kept driving.
With so much time spent on the road we created some games to pass the time. Firstly was 'what vehicle is next' secondly was 'how many trailers was the road train pulling' thirdly 'what type of load is the road train carrying' it reminded Maz of the long car journeys to her grand parents house.
The change from outback to to jungle was offset with cowboy and dinosaur country we found Australian cowboys slightly amusing, and the buildings were very much like the wild west, we also wondered if they still have duels in the middle of the road.
Our last stop after an amazing 5 days was mission beach, we got the last spot in a campsite this was so we could fill the van with water and LPG gas before handing the keys back. It was windy and wet unfortunately, once the rain cleared we took a walk down the beach, accompanied by a random dog that's we had to run away from when his back was turned. Apparently he was one of the locals dog who likes strolls down the beach and not a stray which we thought he was. He was cute and huge so we nearly took him with us but Ryan didn't want to share his sausages with him!
We began the final drive to cairns with lots of time to spare so we hunted down some accommodation beforehand, we found an amazing share house for slightly less than a hostel. It was lovely to be able to cook in a clean kitchen and not be kept up with drunks coming home in the middle of the night.
Now it's time to find a little bit of temp work so we can do some diving and have some money for when Maz's family come to visit.
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Debs I got your post card!! Thanks lovies! And yes I was obscenely jealous. Looking to head out to the other side of the world around feb time. Will you still be in Oz or new zealand or not sure yet??