So after an emotional goodbye to my remaining travelling companion it was time to go it alone and hit Darwin in the Northern Territory, my last port of call in Oz. Darwin has an interesting feel about it. Lots of hostels with open air bars, some nice gardens, and even an opportunity to feed (and even stroke) hundreds of fish every morning at high tide. But it also had a kind of shady feel about the place – I even witnessed some poor aboriginal guy, drunk off his face, being taunted by some locals whilst a group of backpackers just stood and laughed. Nice…
An interesting experience
But the day after I arrived I left for a 2 day tour of Kakadu National Park with tour company “Kakadu dreams”. It was also the “wet” season so I’ll leave you to decipher the description we came up with of how much fun we had.
The Kakadu crew...innit bra.
Our first port of call was the Adelaide River for a Jumping Crocodile cruise. I was literally almost peeing my pants with excitement. Some of you may be aware that it has always been a dream of mine to see crocodiles in the wild and when I tried to see them 5 years ago on the Daintree river in Queensland there were none of them sodding there. But this time didn’t disappoint as we boarded our boat and watched as one after the other the beastly creatures approached us.
Nice of them to let you know
The first one was pretty impressive at just over 3m but then our boat captain (hilarious Mick Dundee-esque Aussie who kept repeating classic lines such as ‘they’re out there, no one knows where’ and ‘you face more danger when you drive your car every day’) spotted a 5m one approaching. Although not as athletic as the first this one looked like he had a history and weirdly he had a black body and white head. Mick informed us his name was ‘Michael Jackson’.
MJ..he's bad, he's bad and he knows it
1,2,3...Jump!
As well as seeing the crocs jump we also had chance to be photographed with a python and feed a dozen or so hawks from the boat as they swooped down almost on our heads . So basically a wildlife enthusiasts wet dream.
The laughing hid the fear...kind of.
So we headed into Kakadu National Park and its beauty was indescribable. Being the wet season as well we were treated to some terrific storms which meant lots of wading through streams and the opportunity to see gushing waterfalls. We also did some rock scrambling, climbing through crevices (felt very Indiana Jones at one point), swimming in crystal clear pools as well as viewing some ancient aboriginal rock drawings.
Oh I do love a good waterfall
Duh Duh Duh Duhhh, Duh Duh Duhh...mmm it's pretty difficult writing what the Indiana Jones theme sounds like
Our accommodation was in a permanent bush camp where we were treated to a meal of kangaroo (Poor skippy) washed down with a few beers and a play (particularly unsuccessful for me and my small mouth) of the didgeridoo. This was after we had tried some bushtucker grub such as bush passionfruit and ants bottoms which weirdly tasted just like a lime.
Jure was a bit more sucessful than I was
The finale of our tour was unexpected when firstly one of our guides Dan stopped the truck and proceeded to clamber up a tree to catch a frilled neck lizard. We then stopped at a roadhouse where we would get to see the infamous waterbuffalo “Charlie” from the Crocodile Dundee films. Yet another pants drenching moment.
Mmm interesting hair Rich
From Darwin I left Oz (after one last Boost Juice and a packet of Red Rock Deli sweet chilli and sour cream crisps…heaven!) and headed to Bangkok via one night in Singapore. The hotel in Singapore was probably the best I’ve ever stayed in with an amazing infinity pool on the roof as well as some interesting design ideas such as a window in the bathroom so you could watch the TV whilst in the bath!! Needless to say I didn’t see much more of Singapore other than the hotel’s interior!
And then onto Bangkok via a flight where I finally got to watch the latest James Bond movie – you wouldn’t believe how much trouble we’ve had trying to see it over the last 5 months! Weirdly after my arrival in Bangkok I got a taxi to the centre and the first song on the radio to play was ’2 become 1′ by the Spice Girls. I’m not sure whether this was a coincidence or whether it just warns me not to expect much from the Thai music scene. But you’ll be pleased to know that my loneliness will not last much longer as I now await a new travelling companion for my Asian adventure. More details in the next episode…
P.S. For those of you interested in thongs(!), in Australia the word thong is used to describe a flip flop not a G-string. In Oz G-strings are instead known as ‘G-bangers’ and in Canada known as a ‘Whales tails’. It’s amazing what you learn some days.
Probably needs a good wash
ROG
