So....the last few days have made me feel like a pilot.... On the 3rd I flew to Sydney from Bangkok and had a little look round Sydney for jobs and somewhere to live etc. Upon enquiring about an outback trip, myself and Sara got a bit carried away and ended up booking a seven day all inclusive outback trip from Darwin right down the middle of Oz to Alice Springs.
Not only did we spend all our money, but we also booked our flight to Darwin the same day!! So it was a rush to get everything ready before boarding yet another flight to the Top End of Oz. Our Outback trip comprises of three mini tours; two days in Kakadu National Park, three days from Darwin to Alice Springs, and two days at Uluru.
I'm just back in Darwin after the two days at Kakadu National Park - it was amazing fun! The park is on land that has been given back to the Aboriginal people and is rented from them by the Australian Government so that it stays open to tourists. It is managed mostly by Aboriginal people so it was a great chance to find out about their culture as well as see a spectacular area of the country.
The first day we started off at 5:50am (aaaarrrgghh!) and drove to the Mary River for a little boat cruise chasing crocodiles. I'd been on a croc cruise before and saw a couple of crocs from a long distance so was expecting much of the same.....however, in the first 10 minutes we'd already seen two crocs! The river gets fed by the sea when the tide is high so contains freshwater AND saltwater crocodiles! We saw about twenty crocs in total, one about 4 meters long, and lots of eagles and other birds of pray. One of the best bits was when we saw a Jabaroo (a huge bird) catch a large fish and swallow it whole! After that we went to see some aboriginal rock paintings, that were thousands of years old, which showed stories and food that they hunted. We then climbed up to the top of the rocks for a 360 degree view of the surrounding wetlands and cliff areas.
The next day we went to Jim Jim Falls, a 150m high waterfall with a big swimming hole at the bottom, which runs dry at this time of the year. The whole area is completely underwater in the rainy season (making it impossible to access) and can contain dangerous crocs. For a couple of months after the wet season they search the area for saltwater crocs to make sure its safe for swimming before the area is opened to the public. They still leave the freshwater crocs in the area though as they are supposed to be less aggressive!!! We had a nice paddle in the huge swimming hole at the bottom of the falls and chilled out on the small beach at the bottom....didn't see any crocs though! After a quick stop at the Aboriginal Culture Center we headed back to Darwin for a night. Tomorrow we start the three day trip through the Outback to Alice Springs, hoping to see some more cool stuff!! I'll add all my pics later so keep a look out!
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