Tuesday 10th April

Arrived in Darwin and thank god I didn't have far to go from the bus station to my hostel, just? a very shrt walk around the corner.? Had a good journey on the Grey Hound and got a decent nights sleep too.

First impressions of Darwin are good but the humidity is crazey and this time of year it lowering!!? The hostel is good, quite big but clean which is great and comfey beds too.? Having arrived around tea time all I did was to settle in to my room and hostel, get something to eat and get to bed.

Wednesday 11th April

Excellent nights sleep and thank god for air conditioning.? Headed off to the tourist information centre first to get a time table of the tides, reason being as there is a place here called Aquascene where you can feed the fish by hand but only when it is high tide.

So wondered down to Doctors Gully, where Aquascene was and wow! It was was the first time I had sea the sea here and what an amezing colour, really blue and green. Sure enough there were the fish.? You could either feed them from some steps or walk into the water and they came and swam around your legs.? You then put you hand under the water, holding the bread and they come and eat it.? What a weired feeling, especially as they fight for the bread and swim frantically around you.? But great fun.? I then decided to walk through Bicentennial Park which started just around the corner.? A beautiful shadey winding path that?follows the cliff path and Lameroo Beach.? There were some great look outs along the way and a chance to get on the beach too.? Near the end of the park it leads you to a place called the Deck Chair Cinema, a great open air cinema which actually didn't start until a couple of weeks time which is the official end of the wet season anad start of the dry season.

Up in Darwin they don't have winter and summer, only dry and wet seasons, its basically hot all year round!!!

I then bumped into a girl I had been talking to the previouse night at the hostel and we went exploring Fort Hill Wharf and Stokes Hill Wharf.? Which were abit dissapointing really, not much there except a few shops and pricey restaurants.? We then went back to the hostel and I went to the internet shop while she investigated into hiring bikes.

Thursday 12th April

Made my way to Cullen Bay this morning. What a lovely place it is too, but it was really hot with quite high humidity. I got there around 10.30am and could only manage half a hour on the beach, due to the heat. But I had booked a sun set cruise the night before for Monday evening and wanted to see where I would ned to meet the boat. I then stopped in at a bar/restaurant just to get a cold drink and got speaking to a barman there who was also from england too. After cooling off I made my way back to the town where I got some lunch and investigated where to stay at Tennant Creek which was going to be my next stop. The eveing was spent getting my bag ready for my 2 day trip to Kakadu National Park tomorrow.

Friday 13th April

Early start and had to outside the tour office by 6.45am. Which was not too bad as the office was just across the road from the hostel. It was a small 4x4 which took a max of 9 people so it looked loke being a good tour. It was really strange though, as we all introduced ourselfs it came apparent that there were 6 Germans 1 Dutch and me. So at times on the trip they would all speak German, leaving me left out!! But I would then ask one of them something in english so to break them off. But generally they seemed like a nice lot. Our guide for two days was Des, an established guide who has been doing tours on and off for 10 years, so there wasn't much he didn't know!

Our first stop was at a place called 'Windows at the Wet Lands' where you got a great view and so obligatory photos were took. Then after a brief stay it was onto the Crocodile Cruise at the Aderaide River. As we arrived there?were some snakes out for us to hold, umm lovely. So I did, a beautiful water phython, a very slipery character as you can see from the photos. We then boarded the boat to to crocodile spotting. I had no idea what to expect but it was brilliant. It is the only place in Australia where you can see crocodials jump in the wild. It was amazing, as you can see from the photos and we got really close. It was a great start to the trip. When we got back it was about a hours drive to our next stop where we were going to have lunch. We made a short before at The Bark Hut Inn where Des showed us on a huge map where we would be going for the next two days. Lunch was make your own sandwiches and we were all hungery and may door stops were made! Back in the 4x4 and on to Nourlangie Rock to see some amazing aborigional art. There was abit of climbing but nothing like Kings Canyon and it was getting to later in ther afternoon but it still seemed really hot. The rock art work was really quite facinating and Des explained reallt well all about it all, there was alot to take in. But Des had saved the best to last. A small drive later we were at Nawurlandja. We got our cameras and it was coming to the end of the day and when Des said we would be doing some climbing, we were all not really looking forward to it but Des told us that the view would be worth it. O my god was the view worth the climb, not that it was a really bad climb but we were all hot and sweaty. It was so peacful and the view was breath taking and I have to say the best so far on the trip. As Darwin is coming to the end of its wet season everywhere was still green so that made the view even better. We spent some time taking in the amazing view before making our way down back to the 4x4. We then made our way to our camp site at the Kakadu Resort. A perminant site which they use in the wet season. Basically a big tent where we sleep in and cook under too. But first it was a dip in the resorts pool, ah bliss full and we plaid frizby for about a hout enjoying being in the cooling water. Then it was time to make our way to camp with a beer or two onbtained from the bar!!

Des got us all chopping and I gave lessons in how to chop vegetables anad onions as no one else knew!! They were all impressed with my skills!! Dinner was a huge vegetable stir fry, potatoe salad, marinated fryied kangaroo and sausages! Strange comdination but we didn't care we were hungery. Afterwards we sang happy birthday to the dutch guy and Des had gone and got a small cake and candles for the occaision.  Later that evening Des took us out star gazing on a air strip and I saw three shooting stars it was amazing, the sky was so clear. By the time we got back and had finished celebrating the birthday it was easily 2am before we all hit the sack!!

Saturday 14th April

Earlyish start and Des woke us all at 6.00am. Got quite a good nights sleep but woke up axtremely sweaty ehhh!  But today was the day when we visited the water falls so didn't worry too much as we were all feeling in need of a wash.

After breakfast we packed up and made our way to our first water fall, Motor Creek Fall but stopped off on the way to check out the Cathederal Termite mounds, they were huge.  When we reached Kakadu Park it was a really bumpy ride to the falls. It was just a small walk to the falls but it seemed longer as the humidity was really bad we were just not used to it so we were drinking loads of water.  A few rocks had to be climed before reaching the falls which was interesting and quite tricky at some points.  The falls are a very popular place to visit and when we arrived there were two other groups already there but as we arrived they were leaving so we ended up having the whole place to ourselfs.  It was an amazing place and I went swimming in the creek which is safe from crockodials, which is a rare thing out there.  After abit of swimming and going under the water fall we all had a little nap on the rocks after some slices of melon which Des had sliced up for use.  We had all dropped off in the sun and Des had to come and wake us up as we still had another water fall to see!

Back at the 4x4 it was a small dive to our next destination Boulder Creek.  But first it was lunch and after our swim, climb and walk we were all really hungrey and finished of all the food that Des had braught with him. Sandwiches glore and left over potatoe saled from the night before, yum.  We then walked across a small swing bridge to Boulder Creek and again more climbing over rocks and boulders to get to the falls.  But again it was worth it, a small double water fall and all to ourselfs again too. If was fantastic and we had a great time.  The water there is soo clean the Des said that we could re-fill our water bottles from the water in the creek, so we did.  Pure water it was lovely.  So once back at the 4x4 we all got settled for the long jouney back to Darwin.  We arrived back around 8.30pm and it was dark.  I was shattered and desperate for a shower and as I was off the LitchfieldNational Park tomorrow for the day, I got some dinner and hit the sack as it was another 7.00am start.