I slept on my flight to Darwin to catch up on lost sleep from my last night out in Cairns. When I arrived I had to find a bed for the night and ended up checking in to Melaluca's on Mitchell. I bumped in to Ali, the whinging girl that I shared a room with in Cape Tribulation as well as a couple of familiar faces from the Blue Parrot in Sydney when I was lining up to check in. Once checked in I put my bags in my room, and headed out in search of food. I made my way to the kitchen once I had purchased some dinner and who was sat at the table in the bar area but Grace from my WhitSundays trip. I pulled up a pew next to her and we got chatting. That night I was well behaved and went to bed early ready for my 6.30am pick up for my tour to Kakadu National Park.

At 5.45am my alarm went off, I woke up, looked at the time, stopped the alarm, and rested my head back on the pillow. At 6.30am I woke up again. s***! I jumped off the top bunk, grabbed my bags, which luckily I had packed the night before, and ran downstairs still in my pyjamas to check out. I boarded the tour bus, still in my PJ's in a very bleary eyed manner, and instantly hit it off with Sally who was sitting next to me, who had done exactly the same thing as me! At the first rest stop I washed my face, cleaned my teeth and got changed in to normal clothes. The first day we took a river cruise along the Adelaide river croc spotting, visited a location used in the film Crocodile Dundee and saw some aboriginal paintings on the rock walls. Our Adelaide river cruise was hosted by a man that reminded me of Wally from Crocodile Dundee. A character that has clearly been in the outback too long and who spent almost the entire cruise slagging off "circus-style-crocodile-stunts" in a mentioning-no-names attack, although it was clear that he was referring to Steve Irwin. We stopped off at a remote roadhouse to get some booze for the night and then it was on to our campsite to set up and make some food. We had collected firewood, so started a fire for us to huddle round, chat and eat dinner. We each introduced ourselves with an interesting fact and most of us opted for confiding in the group about an unusual habit or phobia. Sally has a phobia of jewellery, which is one of the best phobias I have ever heard of!

The next day we had a long walk to the top of Jim Jim falls, and it was hot so the swim in the pool at the top was a welcomed opportunity to cool off. Then we walked back down to the bottom and swam again, although we were all a little wary of crocodiles. Our guide, Emma, kept insisting that they couldn't get over the rocks so wouldn't be in there, but it still feels a little scary when there are signs up saying that you swim at your own risk! A few of us from the group swam across to the waterfall itself and sat underneath it on a ledge. Then we chilled out on the beachy bit in the sunshine before making our way to see the sunset at a billabong, then we hit the pub for a couple before heading on to a new campsite in high spirits and singing along to a few tunes. We were all a bit shocked to find out that the new camp location was next to a billabong with crocs in! After dowsing ourselves in insect repellent, we made dinner and sat around the campfire again to laugh and joke about the day and share some more funny stories. Everyone was a lot more vocal this night because we had bonded throughout the day.

In the morning we headed to culture camp, a facility run by local aboriginals designed to teach you a little about the traditional way of life. We learnt to throw spears, and each took a turn on the didgeridoo, as well as seeing some basket crafts and learning about their underground methods of cooking. From there it was on to Majuk falls, where we walked to the rock pools to jump off the cliffs and swim in the fresh water. Then again it was down to the bottom of the falls where we sat underneath the waterfall once again. Then it was a long drive ahead of us back to Darwin. I checked back in to Melaluca's, and met up with the best tour group ever at Monsoon's for cheap pizza and a few jugs of beer. Us young'uns then headed to The Vic to carry the night on until the wee hours of the morning. The next day in Darwin I slept in until midday following four days of early starts, washed all my clothes and had a long, hot shower to clean the camping out of me, ready to do it all over again the next day for three more days.

In the morning once my alarm sounded I forced myself out of bed to avoid the mistake I made a few days before. We met our tour guide Sheldon whom I had met two nights before drunk out of his mind at The Vic (as if I could talk though…) and also we drove past him on our return from Kakadu and Brian mooned their bus! Very 'high school', but also highly amusing. I decided Sheldon had a resemblance to Brad Pitt (although obviously not as good looking - perhaps it was the jugs of beer) and so I renamed him Brad s***. The first day we headed to Katherine Gorge, and were given the option of canoeing, a river cruise or a walk and swim. I opted for the walk and swim although this was before I found out that we were actually in the water with freshwater crocodiles! Apparently they don't eat humans, but that wasn't much comfort to me and as soon as I found out I jumped out of the water quicker than you can yell "Crikey!". From here we headed to base camp, where luxury awaited us. We has semi permanent tents with beds in! I could hardly believe our luck. The following days we visited Devil's Marbles for some photo opportunities, Daly Waters a historical outback pub, and Mataranka hot springs. Along the way with lots of driving we got to know one another, played some silly games and some rounds of cards on the bus and stood around the campfire in the evening telling stories and sharing some cold ones. When we arrived in Alice Springs I checked in to The Haven along with the majority of our tour group and then we headed to The Rocks Bar for dinner and drinks. Then it was back to the hostel for a relatively early night as part three of my ten day tour was to commence early the next morning.