G'day! So last time I updated we were en route to Kings Canyon. We got to the kings canyon resort for our accomodation and a few of the girls spoke of mice in their room. Emilie didn't like this and was happy we didn't have any. We were playing cards when suddenly Emilie screamed "mouse!" and jumped onto the chair! I got the mouse out and checked the fridge which seemed to be their home! They kept coming out. 2, 3, 4, 5! I gave up and resorted to dragging the fridge outside! We (I) did a thorough check of the room and stuffed a towel under the cracks in the door. The next morning one of the girls said she heard everything and recited Emilie's cries of despair. Was very funny!

So the next day we went to kings canyon. 500 steps at the start to wake us up was a nice treat! The walk was the best so far, surpassing Ayers Rock and Kata Tjuda. The sandstone was breathtaking and the sheer drop was surreal.

After Kings Canyon we drove to Alice Springs and went to Bojangles for dinner. Here, I tried ny first tasting of kangaroo and it was delicious! We had some drinks and went to a bar next door and partied away.

The next morning, some of us (it was optional) went to Simpson's Gap and Standley Chasm which were two short walks. Me, Emilie and 2 other girls then went for our optional excursion of quad biking in the gunga (outback, middle of nowhere). That was incredible! 27k we quad biked through rough terrain, sand, rocks, bushes...that evening we went to a snake show where I had this whopper of a snake around my shoulders. Awesome!

The next morning we picked up the new guy Victor who is Swedish and made our way north on the Stuart Highway (this road by the way runs from Adelaide (where me and Emilie joined the tour) to Darwin (where the tour ends) and at 2700km long, is the longest single road in the world). We had lunch at Devils Marbles (some stones that have eroded over hundreds of millions of years) and headed to our stop for the night at Renner Springs. There was nothing there, basically a service station. Me and Victor (was good to have some male company!) got changed and dived into the pool. It. Was. FREEZING! My balls felt it the most! A few others came in and once Lizzie got in she got out to dry and warm up. Me and Victor were having none of that and went for the old classic "in the pool!" routine. She was not happy! That night we celebrated Faye's birthday and had sparklers. A few of us crossed onto an island of geese who were not impressed and started chasing us! Good fun! We played pool for a while and started talking to some road train (basically lorries but with 3 backs not one like in England) drivers including one who was a Spurs fan from Barnet!

The following day we drove to Katherine and set up camp at Maude Creek. En route to Katherine we stopped at Mataranka thermal springs where we went for a swim. Lush. At the camp site, we set tents up and gathered round the fire where 4 aboriginals were telling us stories and info about their culture etc.

The next day we packed our tents and went to Katherine Gorge where we went on a river cruise for 2 hours. It was stunning and after we drove to Edith Falls for a swim. We set off for Gunlom in Kakadu national park (at 20,000 sq km, the biggest in oz) but to do that we had to negotiate a dirt road for 27km! It was a nightmare! We set up tents, had dinner, sat by the fire telling stories. It's a hard life.

In the morning, we climbed to Gunlom falls. Omg. Wow. I think it has to be one of the highlights of my life. We were swimming at the top of this waterfall with the most stunning views. Beautiful. So peaceful and serene. We climbed, jumped, swam...didn't want to leave!

When we did leave, we had to negotiate that dirt road again which was fun! We got to our camp site at Cooinda and went to the pool. Had a quiz that evening and next day drove to Nourlangie Rock where there was some famous aboriginal art. Drove back to Cooinda, went to the pool, had lunch and drove to Ubirr to watch the sunset on the rock. Back to the campsite for dinner, fire and sleep.

The next day we drove to the East Alligator River to go on a cruise. Of course there are no alligators in oz, just crocs. The guy who found and named the river saw a croc and thought it was an alligator and the name stuck. We went on the cruise and saw loads of crocs! They are beasts! We also got a rare opportunity of stepping onto Arnheim Land which is 5 times the size of Kakadu and bigger than Portugal! Arnheim Land is pretty much the last aboriginal land that has been untouched by white man. The tour guides told us loads about their history and even threw some spears which was awesome! We then proceeded to drive to this bird marsh but we wasted our time doing this 1k walk which was longer than 1k in the baking heat with no water before we realised the bird marsh was 100m on an adjacent path. We then stopped at a service station where there were parrots outside. One woman said if I hold my hand out he'll go on it and to my amazement he did! He was awesome and said hello, scratch and kiss. I responded with the 1st 2. Then the woman said he likes the shoulder too. I put him on my shoulder and he seemed comfortable for a while until he decided he wanted to bite my face off and draw blood! I looked stupid after with a bruise and 2 cuts! Good thing I can grow a beard. Oh wait... We left there and headed to mount bundy (cattle) station where we were parking our asses for the night. A few of us went for some horse riding including Emilie who was on a horse called chairman! I threw boomerangs with Victor and threw sticks for dogs to chase! Then we had roast beef and drinks and played some games (twister, uno, card games etc) and then got to bed ready for the last night of our tour! It's been fantastic so far!

So the last day of the tour, we got up and headed into Litchfield National Park to go for a couple of swims. We arrived at Wangi falls but the pool at the bottom of the waterfall was closed due to the water being too high from the wet season and the current was too strong with an increased chance of crocodiles. We went to Buley falls instead and that was awesome! We were jumping, diving, backflipping, torpedoing...whatever we could think of into a 9m deep pool stream! Was unreal! We didn't want to leave! After we went to a final waterfall called Florence falls where we had to battle a current to get to the waterfall but it was so worth it when I clambered up onto the rocks with the water falling on top of me! The current was so strong that I was back where I started in ten seconds. Unreal. The stuff dreams are made of!

So now we are in Darwin, 14 days and over 3000km later! Final farewell dinner at 8pm then to our room to crash as we have a 6:30am flight to cairns! Next time u hear from me we'll b on the east coast!
Much love.