We got to Broome bright and early on September 13th, having taken the overnight bus from Kununurra. After checking into the hostel, we took a walk around the town. Broome is a very nice town, small but upscale. It is famous for being the main pearling centre of Australia, especially during the early nineteenth century. That first night we decided to walk down to Cable Beach, one of the most famous beaches on the West Coast. The beach is beautiful, pristine white sand and sparkling turquoise water. We stumbled upon on Asian festival of some kind that happened to be going on beside the beach. We got dinner and watched some entertainment which included dancing and singing, before heading back to the hostel. The next day, we explored the town further and spent some time in ... read more

Our final day in Kakadu started with a look around at an Aboriginal Cultural Centre. It detailed quite a bit about aboriginal lifestyle and history. Things like when an aboriginal person dies, you’re not supposed to say there name until the family has given permission to do so (due to grieving, see Daisy’s death in the movie Australia as an example). It also explained a lot of the stories about spirits who created the land, like how spirit snakes carved out the rivers allowing for water to flow through. Unfortunately we weren’t able to take any pictures, but it was still very informative. Next we went to Makuk, which was another waterfall with a swimming hole. Our walk this time took us through what looked to be a wetland. We were told this place was only ... read more

The morning of Sunday, September 06, was the start of our trip to Kakadu National Park. We were up nice and early with a few other backpackers, and piled into a heavy duty looking truck. Due to the off-roading, we needed a 4 wheel drive truck, and let’s just say this thing looked like a tank. Our first stop was a crocodile cruise. I know what you’re thinking. And yes, there does seem to be a lot of these in Australia. But what can I say? Tourists like crocodiles! However, this one was not a jumping crocodile cruise. In fact, our tour guide was quite opposed to the very idea, and let’s just say he had a few choice words for one Steve Irwin (more like a rant). But he knew a good deal about the ... read more

August is a very special time of the year for both Hillary and I. For starters, both of our birthdays are at the end of the month. Then, we both have family and friends with birthdays in August as well. And not only that, but our anniversary is in this very same month too! It’s always an eventful time for the two of us. The first of our three big dates would be our anniversary. But how to celebrate? Being in Australia would surely make this an anniversary to remember, but we still needed to do something special. So we decided to treat ourselves to a nice dinner! It may not sound like anything out of the ordinary, but since arriving in Australia we hadn’t really eaten out except for take away (which is take out ... read more

Friday July 24 was a holiday here in Darwin. It’s called Show Day. What’s the significance of the holiday? Not completely sure actually. All I know is that they have an exhibition/fair down at the show grounds (much like the Fred’s Pass Show) and lots of people go to it. Lol So of course, Hillary and I had to partake in the festivities. We decided to go on Friday morning, and take advantage of the day off work. It really was like a big fair! The first section was mostly exhibitions for different organizations. There were the armed forces of Australia, St Johns Ambulance, and some car stuff to name a few. Then there was a farmer’s display and competition. Here was tons of animals (like chickens, ducks and rabbits) for visitors to look at. It ... read more