Date: 19th August 2011

Place: Darwin & Litchfield

Weather: Sunny and hot

Even without my alarm on I woke up at 6.05am. I still couldn't make up my mind but my gut was telling me to go with the tour and generally my gut is right so I had a major quick dressing session and checked out and got on the bus by 6.15am.

It was a long journey to the parks and I couldn't believe I didn't sleep! The first stop was at some termite mounds. They were pretty cool. The Cathedral ones were really impressive because they were so big and the termites make them all wavy so that some parts are shaded so they can stay at a constant temperature. They were all pretty tall as well (about 5 metres high) and have another third underground. The termites make them out of spit and poo and it takes them 10 years to build 1 metre.

The next type of termite mounds we saw were magnetic ones. I thought they looked like a graveyard and I stated this and then was told that Craig (our guide) always tries to get past a certain point on the walkway without someone saying that. He doesn't succeed normally. They are so clever because they are flat and standing straight up. They all face magnetic north with their large flat side so that when the sun is coming up and going down it is on the large surface and when the sun is at it's strongest it's on the small surfaces. This was it keeps it at a constant temperature again. Those little termites are clever!

The next stop was Florence Falls. We had a little walk down to the pool at the bottom of the waterfall and then all jumped in for a swim. It was awesome because we could swim right underneath the waterfall, even though it was really hard work to get anywhere near it because of the force of the water!

We then went to a place called Bulley falls (I think). This was a lot different to Florence Falls. Whereas Florence Falls was a typical waterfall, these were like lots of little waterfalls with little pools at the bottom of each. It reminded me of the rapids at centre parks. We went swimming in these again which was cool but after a little while I got bored because we could do any actual swimming because they were too small and shallow. It was a gorgeous spot though so I decided just to get a little bit of last minute tanning in.

It was time for lunch then. We head back to a spot we had stopped at on the way there and had some hot dogs. They were good!! When we had finished there we took a drive to a Billabong where there is apparently a huge crocodile living. We were met by an aboriginal man who gave us a greeting to their lands by blowing water onto our heads.

He then took us for a walk through the forests where he showed us what they used different plants for. We then met his neice who explained some of the culture too us and showed us some things they make. Apparently aboriginal men can have up to 18 wives (I need to check the number) and girls can have 5 husbands. They all live together in villages and she has like 200ish grandmas. They're not allowed to speak to their brothers though just in case they are attracted to each other. If they walk towards each other in the street they have to run in opposite directions.

Ed, the aboriginal guy, then showed us how they make different coloured paints from rocks and tried to get us to play the didgeridoo again. He just laughed at my attempt.

Our final stop for the day was at the Mary River where we were going to spot crocs! Apparently the biggest saltwater crocodile spotted in there was over 7 metres long! We saw lots of little saltwater and freshwater crocodiles but none that big!! There were also a lot of birds spotted but I cant remember their names.

When we got to the campsite that night the first thing I did was make coffee. We then made dinner and started counting down to an acceptable time to go to bed. We were talking about really random things in our sleep deprived states and ended up coming up with the idea of ring of food fire. The plan was to buy loads of food the next day and have different challenges like eating three crackers in a minute or eating a donut without licking your lips. I don't know if we came up with something if you didn't do it though…

I didn't sleep well at all that night. I was in a tent by myself and super paranoid because Craig had told me a story about when two girls found a snake in their tent and it turned out to be a death adder!! I was sooo paranoid about spiders and snakes so I kept waking up and even at 1am I was just wanting to get up.