Now for the start of our Australian adventures.... Our flight went without a hitch from Bali.

On arrival at Darwin airport, we were pleased with the temperatures and after picking up our bags we caught a shuttle bus to our hotel. Our hotel at the Darwin waterfront precinct, turned out to be a swanky studio with ocean views, complete with a kitchen and a comfy bed!!

After settling in, we went for a walk and we both were overwhelmed by the modernism of Darwin and the feeling of being able to walk around without worrying about cracks in the pavement. Both of us can't get over cars stopping for us at zebra crossings, it seems that we are struggling to adjust from the madness and mayhem of Asia.

Throughout our stay in Darwin we went for a wander several times, its a quaint town with a hint of modernism as it has gone through major renovation in the last 3 years. It looks like a new town rather than a town with a history. Its hard to believe that Darwin is the capital of the Northern Territory, however its population is only 128,000.

We treated ourselves to a pampering (or rather not) session at a upmarket spa - all of our waxing needs were met and it was a delight after dealing with cowboys in Asia. It was expensive but worth every penny to come away hairless!

One of the main things that shocked us in Australia is the price of things in general, for those who know Helen very well know that she loves her Coca Cola (not healthy we know but....) a can costs £2. Eating out is expensive, $15-20 for a main course so we have resorted to making our own food. This is a major difference from travelling in Asia.

Darwin is full of indigenous people, and we are not sure what to think of them as half of them appear to be intoxicated or under the influence of substance misuse. They also have a certain look about them which kinda scares us. We are slowly getting used to them, after all they owned Australia at one point!!

On our last full day in Darwin we visited the Museum and Art gallery of the Northern Territory. We found that for a free admission it was a very well presented art gallery, there was an exhibit dedicated to Cyclone Tracy (devastated Darwin on Christmas Eve, 1974) and another exhibit dedicated to Sweetheart, a 5m long saltwater croc that terrorised the waters of Darwin. (They caught him, anaesthetised him and while he was under the anaesthetic Sweetheart took in too much water and drowned!!)

We walked along the beach walkway through the botanic gardens, on one of the walkway bridges we looked out to sea and saw lots of fish swimming upstream into the mangroves so we looked up in to the mangroves and found a dead reef shark entangled in plastic. Both of us were distraught in particular as we were swimming with sharks only days before :( [Another reminder, PLEASE shout out for sharks!!! - Look on Trawangan Dive's facebook page and sign the petition]

Our final destination was the Mindil Beach Sunset Market, where food is the main attraction here ranging from Sri Lankan, Greek, Indian and Australian. This suited us fine as both of us are foodies but there were also loads of art and craft stalls too.

Both of us were pleased to be leaving Darwin, as our batteries are now fully charged and we are ready for our ROAD trip through several natural parks and along the coast from Broome - Perth - Fremantle - Albany and back to Perth!!