Hello there!

Well it has been quite a week! on monday i went on a 5 day tour of the outback, through Kakadu, Katherine and Litchfield. I kept a journal while i was there so that i would remember everything to put in the blog. Here goes...
On Monday i got picked up at 6.30am. i managed to earn myself the nickname of 'princess' before we had even left Darwin, as i pretended to our guide, Bryce, that i thought we were going to be sleeping in a hotel rather than swags. he believed me too. so i was 'princess' for the rest of the week. i was in a small group of about 13 peolpe. overall the group were really quiet, especially at first, and i found myself doing a lot of the talking, although by the end of the week we all go on pretty well. On the first day we got taken to Jabiru billabong and had a boat tour, and we saw amazing wildlife, birds and crocs, it was truely beautiful. like something on a wildlife documentary. the boat guide was obsessed with crocs and hated steve irwin! he also had a huge go at a woman in the boat for standing up saying 'if we fall in we'll all be dead in three seconds'! In the afternoon we went to see some rock paintings, and then climbed to a lookout where they made the telephone call in corocdile dundee. The pictures i have taken really dont do it justice. In the evening we sat around the camp fire and slept in a swag, looking up at the stars. it was one of the best experiences. (a swag by the way is like a big sleeping bag type thing that you sleep in), so you are outside looking up at the stars while you are falling asleep. one of the women in my group was quite odd and had some quite strange beliefs whcih she insisted were absolutely correct, and you couldnt disagree with her, about horoscopes and 9/11 being a conspiricy etc.
On tuesday we did a trek to Twin Falls, climbing for ages up boulders to get to the top of the enscarpment, and had an amazing view. we then took a very bumpy ride to the waterfalls part of twin falls, which was utterly beautufl. After that we went to Jim Jim falls, which was several watering holes and one which was very cold and encircled in a cliffs, like a bowl. Bryce took me, george, and irish guy i became freinds with on the trip and aonther person (his sister) into a cave network and we crawled on our bellies to get round the cave system. it was a place only bryce new about and we didnt tell the ohters in our group. On tuesday night we ate kangarro meat and buffalo sausages, which were good (i didnt like the sausaged but aussie sausages are generaly crap anyway). but for some reason i was sick a couple of times, think it was beacause all our cooking equipment was really dirty!
On wednesday we went to Kakadu cultural camp where we learned about aboriginal ways of cooking, and weaving, and then we got to have a go at throwing spears and playing a digeriidoo. . we then went to another cultural centre and learned about the local tribes, and then we went to antoher watering hole called Maguk, again trekking up lots of boulders to get there. people were doing cliff jumps but i was stil too much of a chicken. my expereince in thailand has scarred me for life i think. After we went to anthoer watering hole called Moleine where george and i practised our bombing.
On thuradya we travelled to katerine gorge. we spent the first part of the morning at edith falls, then went to Katherine town, which is mainly an aborigianl town, then onto the gorge itself. It was absolutely amazing. we kayaked down the gorge for about 2.5 hours, with plenty of water fights and capsizing (luckily not by me) before we stopped to do some swimming, before kayaking back. I also ate some honey ants, which i asked bryce to show me if we found some, as they are what is on the aborigianl painting that trish gave me, so i wanted to see them. they tasted like very strong lemon! On thuirsday night we camped on an abandoned WW2 airstrip, with no one else around for miles. we just slept on the tarmac and peed in the bush. Bryce does firetwirling and he let me have a go, andi was actually not that bad. all those years playing with georges twirling stick played off when she was little. We also played a game where we tucked toilet paper into our shorts, and bryce then lit them while we then ran around trying to run the fire out. there was even the smearing of vegemite on one of the guys who fell asleep by the fire.
On friday we travelled to a series of watering hoels called buley, unlike all hte other places we have beem, there were a lot of people there. we then went to a waterfall where we swam, and i saw the biggest spider i have ever seen! after that we went to a river system where agai there were a lot of people. i went for a swim up the river away from the crowds and i lay swimming on my back thinking how beautiful it was and how lucky i have been to do this trip. We also went to a place calle dthe graveyard to see magnetic termite mounds. in the evening we all met up in darwin at the pub, but we were all so tired the night didnt last that long!
Saturday i didnt do that much, went around the charity shops looking for a winter coat unsuccessfully, and in the evening just went for a walk around, and i went to the docks wehre they have a hangar that just serves fish and chips! so i sat by the dock eating the best fish and chips i have ever eaten. Today i hired a bike and went to do some exploring, i went to cullen bay, fannie bay, the museum and art gallery and to the beach. cycling for 4 hours. i really love hiring a bike, yous see a lot and it makes you feel happy, it reminded of me of when julia, phuong and myself rode around the mekong delta in veitnam. Other news is that i have been bitten by b****** bed bugs again. Grr. itch like crazy. just hope they are not in all my clothes. Tomorrow i fly to sydney (via perth for some reason) at 7am, stay there a night then fly to Christchurch, new zealand on tuesday morning.
Sorry this is the longest blog ever! the 5 day tour i think was my best expereince of australia, and it is good to be leaving australia on such a good note, although it is 35 degrees here, and i am not even hot, so 3 degrees nz is going to kill me. not looking forward to that!
sorry for rambling....