Long time no update!

Wow, about twenty days since my last update and SO much has happened.

Ok, so after Broome we continued driving north towards Darwin city, which is on the North coast, right in the middle. It was pretty straightforward driving (oh, I got to try driving manual for the first time. It was a little rocky but the Germans said I did well. They're a very polite people). Not many stops except one memorable one in the city of Wyndam, which is right on the Border between West Australia and the Northern Territory. There was a beautiful water hole, which is sort of a collection of rainwater, tends to be quite turquoise and peaceful, that is until we start climbing up the rock faces on the sides and start jumping in. Water holes are big homes to crocs, but this one we knew was safe because it was so isolated.

But yeah, basically putting the miles in and enjoying the scenery between Broome and Darwin. We arrived in Darwin, which is known to have the biggest drinkers in Oz. I'll tell you why - there's NOTHING to do but drink. The city of Darwin, with the exception of it's beautiful library, is very much without character. Well, that's not fair. It's just really.. not vibrant. Dull? You get the idea.

I quickly fell into the trap that many backpackers and darwinites fall into. One of the bars - the Vic hotel - offers a free meal every night (with a salad... You've never seen someone so happy about lettuce.) The meal starts at around 830, and you get thirsty, and the beer is so cheap that you figure one jug couldn't hurt, and before you know it, there are contests being played for prizes in the form of free alchohol... It's impossible to leave. Believe it or not, some good came from this.

One night, we headed off to the bar, telling ourselves once more that it would just be a quiet night, a meal, a jug and then off to bed. But the contests began and there we were. The first contest was a didgereedoo competition. Only they didn't have a didge, only an old vacuum hose, adn the contestants needed to play on that. Luckily, one guy we've been travelling with, Mike, is an accomplished trumpet and Didge player, and so we absolutely robbed the competition. it was a great feeling, and we got some jugs for it.

They began to announce the next contest, and we decided to opt out - until we heard that the prize was a free boat cruise to see jumping crocs - something we'd been dying to do. (Yes, Crocs can jump right up out of the water. they do it to catch birds hanging out on low-hanging branches.) So Adam bravely took the stage. Then he learned the contest was going to be a round of strip musical chairs - get the chair, or lose an article of clothing.

Adam played well, and one us the competition. I don't think I've ever wanted a camera so much in my life. There he was, up on stage, in his underwear, hands on his hips, looking off triumphantly into the crowd of cheering Darwinites. It was absolutely hysterical.

So we went on the cruise, and that was great, I have some photos for you guys when I get back. Such powerful jaws! they say the big ones can crush bricks. Apparantly there was a 7 meter monster in that lake, but we didn't find him. Bummer.

Moving on. If Darwin is so boring, why would anyone go there? Apparantly, for the national parks. Kakadu is a World-Heritage site, and is the main attraction of this region. It is home to many crocs (and although their numbers are on the rise, they are still considered endangered), unique ecosystems, as well as Aboriginal rock-art that dates back 50 000 years. Tours run at about 450, so we decided to get a few people together and do it on our own. I'm sorry to report that this was a huge let down. this could be explained by many things. For one thing, we were soaked the entire time (I finally understand why it's called the wet season), and the main attractions (Jim Jim Falls, Twin Falls, and a few Billabongs) were closed, because the roads are impassable during the wet season. I met a woman later, who used to run tours there, and she told me that if you go with the right tour company, the wet season is the best time of year to visit, but we saw the tour companies going everywhere that we went... Let's just say I'm happy I spent 45$ on 3 days instead of 450. Not to be totally negative - I found the rock art extremely interesting. I wasn't expecting to be so moved by it, but it really is quite incredible to the think that in these sort of caves, people lived 50 000 years ago, and left a mark that can still be seen today, and quite clearly too. I have some fantastic photos of these as well.

We made a stop at another national park, Litchfield, which was much more accessible and provided billlabongs where we could swim (Kakadu is infested with crocs - there have been several fatal attacks there). This was quite a nice trip and I would recommend the park to anyone going up that way.

After one crazy last night in Darwin, Adam and I were on our way. We said goodbye to all the people we'd been travelling with for nearly a month, and hopped on a plane to the city of Cairns. Finally, we had made it to the East Coast.

People complain that there is nothing to do in Cairns, and the them I saw "You've never been to Darwin." Cairns is unashamedly a tourist town, and there is no end to the things you can do here if you have some money. If you're short on cash, you can take a walk for a couple of hours, and find yourself in the middle of a thick rainforest, with enormous bats screaming overhead and swampy plantlife underneath. It's quite cool, really. But lets get on to the cool stuff.

When Adam and I planned our trip, we decided it was imperative that we go swimming with Whale Sharks. We arrived at the Ningaloo reef (on the west coast) too early, and missed them by a matter of weeks. So as a substitute, we decided to jump off a plane.

Do you have 270$ to drop? if so, I HIGHLY recommend skydiving. 270 got us up to 14 000 feet, the highest you can go before you need an oxygen mask. 14 000 feet will get you 60 seconds of freefall, followed by about seven minutes of playing around with your parachute.

This was an unimaginable experience. that first moment you hop out of the plane and let go of everything solid... this is unlike anything you've ever done. I mean, even if you climb a rock face, say, 6 meters high, yeah, you'll have while before you hit the water, but the whole time you're aware of the rock you're climbing on, the water you're moving towards. When you jump out of a plane, You're letting go, and you're going into nothing.

Adam splurged, and spent another 100 dollars to have a DVD made of his jump. It's quite a good DVD, because you can see in slow motion the moment that Adam leaves the plane. It' s a close-up of his face, and watching his face transform as he pushes off is really something - the excitement, then the terror, then the disbeleif, then the adrenaline rush. You'd be surprised - even when you're moving at 220 km/h, and the wind making your lips flap around, you really feel as though you're moving very little. Very cool.

Gasp for air - keep going.

Yesterday, we headed off to the great barrier reef, considered an absolute must-do in Australia. We had a really great time. We saw hilarious fish with NOSES, of every size, colour and shape, although the west coast had most of the same species of fish. We also spotted some white sting-rays, and Adam was lucky enough to see a turtle.

I loved the Great Barrier Reef. The coral was differnet. while the west coast has lots of what's called "rose coral" (looks like a giant flower), the East coast has Coral that is a vibrant light green. The only thing I wasn't wild about here is that the only way to see the choral is to take a boat, as it's quite far off the coast, and this boat ride will set you back about 140$. When you arrive, there is a clearly marked area you are allowed to snorkel, and it gets a little crowded at times. In Coral Bay, on the west coast, the coral begins right off the shoreline, there are no limitations as to where you can go, and you can swim all day and see, maybe, 3 other snorkellers if you bother to swim out far enough. Still, I'm happy I saw the GBR, and all those hilarious nosed fish.

We're leaving Cairns tonight. We're heading down to Airlee Beach. From there we're going to get on a small boat. We'll be sailing out to Witsunday Islands, another must do of the East Coast. It should be quite fun, since we're actually going to have a hand in sailing the boat, which I'm really looking forward to. After Witsunday we'll head down to Hervey Bay, to head out to Fraser Island, the most popular, and apparantly, unmissable Island off the East coast. So I'll be having a great time over the next week or so! Don't expect to hear from me for a little while!

Sorry to talk your ear off. LOVE!

Thomas

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