Darwin, Adelaide and over to Melbourne

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I decided to head to Darwin as i really wanted to go and thought that while i was up this far i may as well scoot over so i booked my flight and off i went. I said my farewell to Emma and the rest of the girls and headed by bus to the airport-my bags weighed a ton so the 10 minute walk after the bus wasnt great but it would give me arms of steel! Once at the airport i checked in and settled down for a wee wait-grabbed some lunch and a juice while i was there and the time flew by! My flight was with a really cheap never heard of airline but i thought oh well ill try it and see how it goes, my flight was awesome! Loads of leg room, even got lunch (so i snuck it in my bag for later since i had already had some lol), the flight was grand, we had one stop over at Kununurra so i got to have a wander around there for a wee half hour-woohoo! Once i arrived in Darwin i headed on the shuttle bus which would take me right to any hostel i chose so i chose one and off we went. Once at 'Gecko Lodge' i threw my stuff in a dorm and decided to head out to see what Darwin town had to offer. What i wasnt expecting was a trek just to get there, my hostel was right out of town so i headed back straight to the hostel to ask if i could check out again as i really wouldnt have felt safe walking home myself from town at night. The lovely Chinese woman, who to be honest i dont think had a clue what she was doing, gave me a full refund and even got me a taxi to town-aw! So i headed to a hostel right smack in the middle of the city which was crowded with pub, shops, clubs, ice-cream parlours, resturants and loads more-it was fantastic! The hostel i checked in to was called 'Chilli's Backpackers' and was awesome, small 4 bed dorms, really clean, lovely big kitchen and outdoor eating area, tv's and wait for it-2 hot tubs outside in a lovely chill out in the sun with loungers etc area-awesome!!!!!! So i checked in, got organised then headed out again to get some shopping for over the next few days and check out the town-it was really cool! It was dinner time when i got back so i made some food and chilled out chatting to peeps in the kitchen/outdoor area and watched the end of 'Speed 1'. Thats night i was nackered so i just went a little wander around, stopping at a outdoor bar for a beer and watched the rest of the world rush about, dancing and drinking in bars opposite, shopping etc-well good! I then headed home to crash out, i was done in!

My second day in Darwin was filled by going to the 'Crocodylus Park', now that was awesome! I got the bus there, headed off and went inside where i paid my money and headed off to see the crocs! When i got in to the park i was greeted by one of the keepers so had 2 baby croc's in his hand! A few off us stopped to look at them and he said if we wanted we could hold them, it was so cool! they dont feel like you would expect at all, they are lovely-really soft and subtle n so cute believe it or not! After watching them and holding them for ages i headed to catch the feeding of the crocs tour at 1.30. A good lot of people had gathered to wait for the keeper to start the tour, everyone was really friendly and i got chatting to a lot of them. The keeper came and man he knew his stuff about crocodiles, he taught us loads and gave us loads of facts about them before heading off to see them. They were HUGE!! and very SCARY!! They were all hungry and so as soon as the meat (chicken) was hung above them on the keepers stick they were jumping out the water to eat it, it was amazing to watch, and the sound of them was awesome-so loud, just a big bang-a hungry teeth and gums slamming together sound-so cool!!!! We fed a good few of them then seen all the baby ones who were all in together. After they were all fed the keeper left and we were allowed to then go and see the rest of the animals kept at the park. I seen turtles, kangaroos (fighting ones too-so funny!!!), lions, a tiger, monkeys, emu's, a bull!!!, n lots more! it was so cool although i felt a bit sorry for the tiger as it looed as if it was going a bit stir crazy, aw! The day was brilliant apart from.....the rain!!!!! Yes in Darwin, Australia it started teeming it down, majorly! A lot of peeps left the park because of it, or because they had kids but i was in no rush so just stood inside while it was on then when it stopped i headed back out. It was a fantastic morning! After i seen all the animals i got out my packed lunch and had my sannies before getting the bus back in to the town. That night i called home then had some dinner, chilled out with the hot tubs then headed to treat myself at the ice-cream parlour where i got a tub with 2kinds, ferrero rocher and mint choc chip-they were amazing! While i sat there i again watched everyone, im such a people watcher so was happy to do this. After a wee wander about through the local shops i headed back to the hostel to chill out in front of the tv to watch a film with some other folk before heading to bed. ah bliss!

My third day was spent checking out the local tourist stuff, i went to Lyons cottage which apparently is famous because some guy lived in it but as you can probably see i wasnt very interested so just took a look about then quickly left lol! I then headed to Parliment House which i thought was pretty cool! I got to sit in where they have their big meetings and see inside all the conference rooms ets then out in the gardens, it was pretty cool! After that i headed to do a couple of walks around the parks etc, stopping along the way to have another packed lunch-bring on the cheapness haha! It was a lovely day and the weather was much better-the sun was shining all day! I even got to see a bit of the beach and chill out there for a wee hour! 😊 When i home it was only about 3 o clockish so i headed out to the hot tubs again where i spent a few hours just chilling out listening to ipod and chatting to a few fellow backpackers. That night after making some dinner i just chilled out in my room, it was my first homesick day!!!! I felt really homesick for some reason, maybe because it was my first trip in a while by myself but it wasnt very nice so rather than mopping about i headed to my room to listen to ipod (Guns and Roses November Rain was my tune at the moment, loving it!!!) and doing my nails etc-a nice wee pampering night. After that i chatted to some girls who had checked in to my room then just read some of my book before heading to bed.

Day 4 in Darwin was spent in a little place called 'Casaurina' which i just hopped on the bus to, i had planned to go there to see a Military Museum and the Costal Reserve but instead i went shopping lol! On the bus there i got talking to a lovely lady and her little girl called Anneesa who was so cute, they were from Indonesia so we talked about when i was there etc. Once at Casaurina I headed to the shopping mall which was really good, i got some 3/4 black trousers and went a wander around. Once i had tired myself out with shopping i headed back to the city centre, i got talking to a guy this time who was Greek called Steve, had good convo then once back in centre i again had to go to hot tubs and chill out, i was addicted to them, so good! So after a while dipping my feet in there i got changed and headed out for dinner, i went to Subway-mmmmm!!!!! After that i headed back to the hostel to get organised as i would be leaving soon to go to the airport for my next flight which was to Adelaide. Before heading to the airport though i went for a quick beer in one of the pubs called 'Shenanigans' which was really good, a nice cold beer on a hot night-bliss!

My flight was very early in the morning so being the cheap backpacker i am i decided just to head there that night so i would save on a nights accomodation, plus i would have only been i my room for a hour or so before i had to leave anyway. It got to about 9.30 so i headed to get my bag which i had in the backpackers storage room and head to the bus stop where i would be getting picked up for the airport shuttle. Adelaide here i come!!!!

Once at the airport i chilled out on some comfy couches as i would be there for a couple of hours. I then got talking to a lady called Sally who was luvlee!!!! We sat talking for many hours before checking in, we then chilled out together in the departure lounge. Our flight was called i was shattered so once on plane i just tried to get to sleep but it was so bumpy, im not usualy a nervous flyer but i was this time, it was so bumpy but i just done my best trying to sleep and got through it-yey! 😊 After we landed yey, i headed to get my luggage and met up with Sal again, she was meeting her friend so i met her too, another lovely lady. Sally was a teacher to Aboriginal children in a little village but was heading to see her mum in Adelaide, she invited me to come to her school and meet the kids, just a shame i wouldnt be up that way again, i was gutted as it would have been a amazing experience! Ah well, i exchange numbers and emails with Sal and promised to keep in touch-to this day i am still emailing her! Anyway, once at airport i headed again for a shuttle bus which again would drop me at a hostel of my choice so i headed to one called 'My Place'. As soon as i left the airport i seen the rain-again!!!! it was obviously following me! nways, i got to 'My Place' only to see they didnt open until 8am, it was now only 6.50 so i just sat outside waiting on it open as i was still too shattered to do anything else, i had basically had no sleep so was not in the mood for walking about at 6.50 in the morning with a backpack. Once it opened at 8am i checked in to room 1 but was told i couldnt actually go in the room until 10.30 as i had to wait on someone checking out-nightmare! So i decided to head to a maeket Sally had been telling me about for a couple of hours and get some breakfast too. So off i went in search of it, it was only a 15minute walk away so that was good. It was a great market, sold loads of food stuff and was great to watch. I sat in a wee cafe beside it and watched the busy stalls being bombarded with haggling customers etc great sight! After a couple of hours i then headed back to the hostel and got in to my room. Once in it i was going to head for a shower to reveive myself only to discover my bag with all my toiletries and all my make up was gone, i had either left it at airport or someone had stolen it-Gutted was not the word, all my make up wah!!!! So instead of being nice and reveived and looking at least decent i looked a mess and couldnt even brush my teeth-oh what a lovely sight and smell!!!! So i decided to nip to the local shops and go shopping, i got some cheapo make up that would do for the time being, a toothbrush, toothpaste, shower gel, shampoo etc and headed back for a freshen up! Awesome!!!! After my quick freshen up i headed back out as i didnt want to waste my day so i headed to see some sights about Adelaide.

Over that day and the following i went to The State Library, the Migration Museum which was totally awesome and taught me loads about Australia and its Immigrants, The Art Gallery which was also awesome, some Australian Aboriginal work, and also some Thai, Chinese, European work-so cool! I also went to the beach which was nice and Haigh's chocolate Factory which too was great! I got to try some lovely choco and went on a tour of the factory to see how all the different chocolate is made-mmmm, i wanted it all haha! I also went to other museums, walked around the Botanical Gardens etc-it was a really nice place i thought although i dont think i could stay in it for more than 3 or 4 days as once i had done the above there was nothing else to do. The first night i was there i just chilled out with some lovely girls from my room, we watched a couple of dvds in the tv lounge then i headed to bed as still had had no sleep so very tired. On the second night i done the same, just chilled with the girls watching dvds and having a semi-early night. After only 2 days i departed Adelaide as i had got a call from my friend Emma who i had met on my Perth to Broome tour who was now in Melbourne to say she could get me a ticket to the Melbourne Cup which is huge in Australia-the whole county comes to a stand-still to watch the races, awesome, i would so be there-the only thing was i had to leave the next day but that was ok as i had done what i wanted to do in Adelaide so Melbourne here i come! Plus i would be seeing Emma again-double Awesome!!!!!! 😊

The following day, Monday the 5th November i headed at 7am for my 'Firefly Express' bus to Melbourne which would take about 12 hours-yeeha!!!!!! 😊 The journey was great, had 2 seats to myself, the driver played a couple of video's-'Little Man' and 'Lady in the Water' so i was entertain, comfy and as usual i had my packed lunch so all was good!

Well folks that whats happened to me in Darwin and Adelaide, it was awesome and i had a wicked time. I was glad to have went and seen all the things i did. I was super excited to be heading to Melbourne, everyone who i had spoken to about it told me it was a amazing place. My next blog will be all about the races and my first few weeks there-ill get it to you soon!

Love to all
Claire xxxx

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Photos

Tiger!
Going a bit stir crazy i think-aw!!