Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Arriving in Darwin was an even bigger shock than Singapore, and in a lot of ways it felt a bit like getting back to England as everything is so easy and no haggling is necessary to get a taxi!!
We got ourselves a bed in the "Youth Shack' hostel and for the first day didn't do much except catch up with sleep! We quickly found out that there isn't much to do in Darwin apart from avoid the crocs and be amazed at how it can possibly be so hot in Winter!! However, luckily for us we had a friend! We�caught up with Julia who we met 5 months ago in India�which was a great chance to reminisce.� We�decided to break our budget and go out for a few meals and also went round to Julia's for a home cooked meal of the local speciality..Barramundi! We have officially been converted to fish lovers!!
Julia also taught us so much about crocs as they are actually a danger in Darwin and last year one�was even found in Julia's local swimming pool!! So in order for us to see them close up we had a trip down to the river to watch some� jumping crocs in action! We got�on a small boat and set off with a guide, a stick and a box full of pork chops! It was really quite scary �as the huge crocs came right up to the boat and jump really high for the pork! We even got to see a massive "saltie" (the dangerous ones)�although he was too big make jump!
After a few days lazing round the Youth Shack garden and getting used to�shopping and cooking�our own meals and doing our own washing, we set off�in our hired Toyota Corolla down to Alice Springs.�
I don't think�anyone can really comprehend�how big Oz actually is untill�you get onto the Stuart Highway! We drove what felt like days, passing through tiny little places that had nothing but a gas station and a pub.� The first night we stopped at a tiny place called�Mataranka and arriving at dusk, got a chance to see some wild wallabies! Being on a budget we chose to sleep in the car rather than spend $17 on a spider infested dorm bed! So after a very cramped sleep, got up a dawn and hit the road again! 900 miles later we had finally made it to Alice Springs and did nothing but shower and sleep as the next day it was another 6am start for the next leg down to Uluru.
The drive up to the rock itself is incredible as it just gets bigger and bigger untill you're right next to it and it is absolutely huge!! We'd made it in time to fit in a base walk which is 9.4K and took us just over 2 hours walking fast! We finished just as the sun was setting and despite us having seen a million sunsets over the last 6 months, both of us thought it was beautiful.�
Once again it was an early night and early start as we wanted to make it back to Alice Springs via Kings Canyon in time to drop the car off.� Kings Canyon was also incredible.� Unfortunatly we didn't have time to climb to the top but we still got to see most of it�from the ground! After what felt like years sitting in a car we made it back to Alice having covered 1500 miles in 4 days!! We were also relieved that we didn't kill anything apart from 1 bird!!
We didn't really get to see anything of Alice Springs but we did manage to go to a baby kangaroo rescue centre where we got to hold little Joey's and watch them being fed and they are so adorable!! We're thinking about brnging one home as a pet!
So now we're in Cairns to start our tour of the East Coast and have already got loads of stuff planned like visiting the Great Barrier Reef and the surrounding rainforest which we're very excited for!
P.s luckily we haven't seen any spiders or snakes yet!! �
- comments