Well where do we start.........

Firstly i forgot to say in the last blog that while we wre on our tree canopy tour Iain got roped into (egged on by me of course) to licking the bum of a green ant while it was still alive!!!! Apparently the Aboriginals used to do it as it has a really citrusy taste - which he can now vouch for - yum, yum!!

We left Port Douglas yesterday and drove back to Cairns to get our flight to Darwin (via Brisbane) and we were dreading checking in as VirginBlue have a really low luggage allowance and we have our tent & pots n pans etc as well as our 2 backpacks but we were 5 kilos over each so she didn't charge us which was good.

All was going well - smooth flight to Brisbane, bit of a wait and then smooth night flight to Darwin where we arrived at 1am this morning - this is where our good fortune dramatically ran out!!

WE stood at the luggage carousel waiting for our bags and off came mine & the tent but no Iain backpack........so we waited and then there was no one left except 1 couple and no bags and the carousel stopped at the shutters went down - CLOSED with no Iain bag. We went to speak with Virgin people but they had no clue where it was or where 1 of the other couple's bags were ( not so bad for them as they had the majority of their stuff & live in Darwin anyway) BUt basically they said they would put a manual track on it and it could be still in Cairns or floating about in Brisbane and that when it's found they will call us and it will come on the 1am Flight up tonight - not goood atall!!

So Iain only has the clothes he stands up in - jeans and it's 30 degrees at night when we landed!!! - we have no shampoo etc or sun creams. After the pallava we wanted our beds so we went to get the 24hr shuttle bus to our hostel only to find that it meets all incoming flights and because we had spent over 1 hour trying to find Iain's bag it had left and the ticket booth was closed!! WE thought OK it'll have to be a taxi which was meant to cost $20 to our hostel but ended up costing $30 by the time he found the place.

Now for the hostel - where do I begin - WORSE PLACE I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE!! - GECKO LODGE !!WARNING - DO NOT GO!!

OUr key envelope was hanging on the fence - well 2 actually as the CHinese owners that spoke poor English didn't really grasp that we were a couple gave us 2 rooms! IT was a house and we walked past the kitchen which had food and dropping everywhere and the was food lying all over the BBQ and this was now 2:30am - everything looked broken and we couldn't find room 7 - so i looked back in the envelope and it said so back to street and cross the road to a building called "The House next door" - an abandoned ramshackle of a building that didn't look like there had been life in it for 10 or 15 years!! WE opened the rusty gate went up the stairs to an open unlocked door and saw the living area which had 3 rusty smelliny fridges wide open with nothing in them and then saw the "NO 7" room which had another unlocked exit door next to it leading to a fire escape - the room was pretty dire and when i went to lock the 2 exit doors the locks had been broken off and we noticed that our bedroom door had been bashed in a few times - i looked out our window to see the fire escape which led to the street and disused run down land with junk everywhere - I was so scared someone was going to come in and mug us - so easy for people to get in - mega unsafe!! WE lay awake til about 4am and then got up at 8am with our hunting heads on to find somewhere else.

Oh did i say that we were booked in this hostel for 3 nights and then go on our trip and come back to it for another 5 nights - oh and there was meant to be secure luggage storage - i don't think so!!

We paid the chinese lady who didn't understand why we didn't want the other room and wanted us to pay but stood our ground and paid for last night & tonight ($54 bloomin dollars for a homeless doss house!!) and didn't part with my passport number though she wanted it - all seemed dodgy!

We walked in the sweltering heat and have found another hostel call Bayan View Lodge on the same street which is a YMCA and we have a nice clean double room with fridge free tea & coffee, wardrobe, aircon and a chain on the back of the door with clean shared bathrooms and a really nice outdoor pool with clean communual kitchen for $60 and they have a safe luggage room for when we go bush camping - we have still paid for tonight at the other place but no way could we go back there!

THat it was drama down so we are just preying that the airport find Iain's bag otherwise we are screwed as he has nothing and we leave for the bush camping trip at 5:30am on TUesday - we need sleeping bag, clothes etc!!

Everyone please cross your fingers for Iain's bag to safely arrive tonight!!

Cx & I x