G'day! I've had a blast in Darwin!! Its been so relaxing!

I left you last time saying that I was going to Litchfield National Park. Well, on Thursday thats wot I did! An early start but well worth it! Our first stop was the Adelaide River for the Spectacular Jumping Croc Cruise. Spectacular it was!!! We saw 4 crocs, the first one was pretty small, around 2m and she jumped well! The second wasn't that interested so stayed away from the boat. The third was huge!! About 4m long and he jumped well too! But the piece de resistance came at the end just as we were heading back to the jetty... a huge fella, 4.5m easy came up to the boat. Now, this boat was a small boat and we were no more than a metre off the water! So it got pretty tense for a while and scenes from Lake Placid were flashing across my mind! He jumped well, then the captain said lets get a closer look... me and Soph looked at each other and were like... "how???". He drove the croc onto the bank then very nearly did the same with the boat!! But we got real close, and it was scary biscuits!! He looked even bigger on land!

After the excitement of the croc cruise we hopped back on the bus and headed for Litchfield NP. Wot a stunning place! Our first stop was a waterfall which unfortunately I can't remember the name of rite now! But it was gorgeous, we walked down the gorge to the pool below the falls and went for a swim! The current was really strong and even at the opposite end from the falls we kept getting pushed back! I decided to be brave and try to swim behind the falls. I made it to a small cave on the right hand side to get my breath back then Joey took me and a few others across. We had to do the side stroke to get as much air as possible coz the water was so choppy and the currents from the 2 waterfalls tried to drag you under! But all was well and I reached the safetly of behind the falls! Looking up was spectacular! I got a few pics with my underwater camera so hopefully they'll come out! Getting back to the end of the pool was easy, apart from the meeting of the currents, you just floated on your back and you were there in less than 30 seconds lol.

The second stop in Litchfield was a lot more relaxing (my muscles are still aching!). The river had a series of cascades and deep pools, so we each jumped into a pool and just relaxed. I was on my own for most of it and it was bliss! Lying in the water with a gentle current looking around at red rocks and green trees and blue blue sky! Ok I'll stop now!! After that we just headed back to Darwin, got free meal vouchers for the Vic, and most of us headed there for the night! It was a messy one! But such a laugh!! There was a live band on downstairs which were really good, and a DJ playing cheesy dance all night upstairs! So I was happy! We didn't get back to the hostel till bout 3.30am!

Friday was a day of recovery! Just lounging about the hostel as everything was closed due to it being Good Friday! I didn't mind tho! Me and another girl from the dorm did go to the cinema on friday nite to see Run Fat Boy Run. I'd already seen it but it was funny so decided to go again! It was good actually being at the cinema! I missed it! After the movie we went to get pizza which was also yummy... hmmm making myself hungry again!

Today was also nice and relaxing! I went for a stroll along the Esplanade, walking the entire length of it and losing about 2 stone through sweat! I went for lunch, on my own, to a restaurant, something I wud never have done ever! So it shows I'm getting more confident! It was lovely, Hogs Breath cafe! After that I went walking round the shops and gradually ticked everything off my to do list. So a productive and fun day. I couldn't get the smile off my face!

Tomorrow I leave Darwin temporarily to go to Kakadu National Park for an overnite camp out! That'll be fun but if I survived Karijini I'll survive Kakadu! Then its back to Darwin for one last nite before starting my 3 day trek to Alice Springs! And coz of the bloody post and Easter and all that, I'll be playing chasies with my glasses for a while! Hopefully they'll catch up with me in Alice!!

Love and miss you all

From TANNED Natalie xxx