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Published: February 28th 2009
Day 237: Saturday 21st February - Day 1 in Kakadu National Park
Another early start, this time I have to meet a few doors down the road at 6am for my Kakadu tour. Kakadu is Australia’s largest national park, covering 20,000 square kilometres east of Darwin (That is a tenth of the size of the UK). It shelters a wide variety of habitats and wildlife, the 2 billion year old rocks (amongst the oldest in the world) tell 30,000 year old stories about the oldest living culture in the world, the Aboriginal culture. For me the images that first brought the beauty of Kakadu, are those that were used in the filming of that classic 80’s movie, Crocodile Dundee. Our tour group is small, which is great. There are two girls from London, Amelia and Jo, a father and his son from Germany, Horst and Marc and the really annoying Lulu from Germany, although she could almost be American. Our guide for the 3 days is Luke an Aussie from Victoria who is both knowledgeable and good fun.
Before we even reach Kakadu we make several stops. The first of these is at Fogg Dam, a wetlands area teeming
with birds. Egrets, Spoonbills and Magpie Ducks roam around the wetland habitat. Our second stop is at Adelaide River to do an hour boat cruise to watch large saltwater crocodiles jump out of the water up to two-thirds of their body length. On the hour long cruise we see half a dozen crocodiles, varying in length from 2.5 metres to 4 metres. The skipper of our boat gets the smaller crocodiles to jump out of the water by dangling horse meat on a pole a couple of metres out of the water. It’s incredible seeing the power of this prehistoric apex predator first propel itself out of the water, and then crunch down on the meat with the same force as the brakes on a jumbo jet. The cruise on the Adelaide River certainly overshadows the one on the Daintree, I’ve seen what I wanted, fully grown crocodiles. The last crocodile that approaches our boat is the largest, it must be 4 metres and when it gets within a few feet of the boat I must admit to a growing apprehension despite the fact that I’m in the relative safety of the boat. After playing with the crocodiles, our skipper
tries to entice a white breasted eagle which is perched in the upper branches of the mangroves that line the river, with some meat. This ploy fails but we do manage to interest some Whistling Kites, another bird of prey.
I think Luke our guide must have been expecting double the number of people on his tour as at each meal time there is too much food. Not wanting to waste any at lunchtime, we manage to interest a couple of Aboriginal people who are passing in some sandwiches. Upon entering Kakadu national park we stop at the Bowali visitor centre which contains a wealth of information on the flora, fauna, culture and history of the park. The park is owned by the Bininj/Mungguy Aboriginal people who recognise six seasons of Kakadu according to subtle variations that signpost a transition from one season to another. This just goes to demonstrate how much more in touch with the land they are than non-indigenous people who typically recognise only two seasons, the wet and the dry. The six seasons they recognise from the start of the calendar year are Gudjewg (monsoon season), Banggerrreng (knock em down season), Yegge (cooler but still
humid season), Wurrgeng (cold weather season), Gurrung (hot dry weather season) and Gununmeleng (pre-monsoon storm season). Gudjewg the season we are in now is characterised by an explosion of plant and animal life due to the heat and humidity. Spear grass grows to over two metres tall and creates a silvery-green hue throughout the woodlands. Speaking of woodlands, six main landforms are recognised within the vast landscapes of Kakadu. Savanna woodlands make up nearly 80% of Kakadu. They consist mostly of eucalypts like the Pandanas tree and tall grasses. They seem lifeless at first, however they support a greater variety of plants and animals than any other habitat in Kakadu. Already on the journey east through the park to Bowali we have seen a Frilled-Neck dragon, Sand and Water Monitors and a Brolga and that was without venturing off the road. The other 20% of Kakadu is monsoon forests, southern hills and ridges, tidal flats & coast, floodplains & billabongs and that which becomes my favourite, the stone country.
Staying in the east of the park we head off road on to a dirt track to get to the Gubara walk. No sooner have we started than a late
afternoon thunderstorm comes in and we decide to abort the walk and head instead to the nearby Aboriginal rock art site of Nourlangie. We do a 1.5km circular walk that takes us past an ancient Aboriginal shelter and several outstanding art sites. Kakadu’s rock art represents one of the longest historical records of any group of people in the world. More than 5000 art sites throughout the park tell of the creation ancestors, belief systems, hunting experiences and changes in the landscape over thousands of years. To get the paint they used natural resources, haematite providing red, charcoal the black, pipeclay the white and limonite the yellow. The ground these rocks into powder and then added a resin. A moderate climb to Gun-warddehwardde lookout provides impressive views of Kakadu’s escarpment, an outlying part of the stone country. Even better, and probably my favourite experience in Kakadu is the view from the Nawurlandja lookout. A 600 metre climb offers a view of the Arnhem Land escarpment, Nourlangie and Anbangbang billabong in the valley below. The dominant sandstone escarpment of the Arnhem Land Plateau ranges in height from 30 metres to 300 metres, forming the boundary between Kakadu and Arnhem Land and
stretches 500km south from the sea. I had wanted to make it to Arnhem Land but it is cut off by road in the wet season, so that will have to wait until another time. Arnhem Land is where you would get a true Aboriginal experience. The size of Portugal, you need a permit to get in and of the 15,000 people who call Arnhem Land home the majority are Aboriginals.
I begrudgingly leave Nawurlandja - it’s such an incredible view I could have stayed there all night - and we head west to our campsite at Cooinda in the centre of the park. It’s a pleasant surprise when we do arrive as we have fixed tents which have a bed and a mattress inside them. This is more luxurious than I expected. While Luke cooks the dinner the rest of us take advantage of the facilities which include a swimming pool and hot showers. After a day in intense humidity I decide that my clothes need a good washing as they are disgusting. They may be still damp in the morning but at least they won’t smell! Even in the campsite we are up close and personal with
the wildlife. Every visit to the toilet block requires negotiating about a hundred kamikaze grasshoppers who throw themselves at your torchlight. Also, a flying fox flies over our heads as we soak in the swimming pool.
Day 238: Sunday 22nd February - Day 2 in Kakadu National Park
Luke wakes the camp at 6am. On the way to the toilet block I come across 4 brumbies (wild horses) and a dingo. Today, we’re heading to the south of the park for plenty of hiking, exploring and swimming. We must do about 13km of walking through to lunchtime and the heat and the humidity are intense. At one point my watch is showing that it is 42 degrees in the sun and the humidity must be over 90%. Walking in such conditions is sapping, and heeding Luke’s warning from yesterday I’m taking plenty of fluids on board. By the end of the day I’ve guzzled though 7.5 litres of water - I don’t think I’ve ever drank as much. The walks themselves are through thick spear grass to two sets of falls, Kurrundie Falls and Motor Car Falls. At Kurrundie Falls after jumping in for a swim I start
to climb up the rockface and end up falling a full body length. No worries, no harm done I’ll just pick my climbing point more carefully next time. At Motor Car Falls, which are even more picturesque than Kurrundie we also go for a swim. This time we haven’t got the place to ourselves like at Kurrundie and have to share the water hole with another group. I spend much of the morning walking well behind the rest of the group. I enjoy the quiet isolation and reflection on the stunning landscapes we’re passing through but as well I just can’t cope with being anywhere near Lulu. She’s right up there with the most annoying people I’ve met on my travels, she never shuts up and moans and complains all day long.
After a welcome lunch we have an afternoon dip at the Moline Rockhole which is our third waterfalls of the day. Thankfully it’s only a 5 minute walk from the car park as I’m feeling the effects of this morning’s trek. I’m thankful of the opportunity to cool down in the clear plunge pool at the base of the cascades after a big day. On the drive
back to Cooinda for our second night in the park we stop at a huge Cathedral termite mound which is rock solid and probably 50-60 years old. Dinner is Buffalo sausages and Kangaroo steaks which goes down very well. We sit around talking and having a few beers together. Unfortunately, after dinner Luke disappears after Lulu manages to aggravate him. She must have got right under his skin as he’s quite a social fellow.
Day 239: Monday 23rd February - Day 3 in Kakadu National Park
It’s an even earlier start today, Luke waking the camp up at 5:15am. We head east to do the Gubarra walk which we had aborted on the first day. It’s only 5km and it’s much cooler than yesterday. The Gubarra walk takes us into stone country and the monsoon forests. We do a sidewalk up to the Castle lookout where there is more Aboriginal art on show and it offers amazing views over stone country. Myself and Luke climb right up to the top for unrestricted 360 degree views which are simply magical. It is the sandstone rock formations of the stone country that I like the most about Kakadu. These rocks
are 2 billion years old and were formed by the sea when the sea level was much higher and much of Kakadu was underwater. I can’t recall seeing anything quite like it anywhere else in the world, and that is what makes it special. Once we’ve climbed down the Castle we continue on the Gubarra walk to Wallaby Falls and then to the Garden of Eden where we jump in for a swim. The Garden of Eden is a great spot and the seven of us have it to ourselves. It is a shady monsoon rainforest pool with a small cascading waterfall running into it. On the way back to the truck I almost walk into a Golden Orb spider. Amelia shouts out to warn me just in time. We joke on that she has returned the favour of saving my life - yesterday I stopped her touching the poisonous cane toad just in time.
When we get back to the car park we have to tow another 4x4 to get him started. Lulu’s letting her gob go at another group about getting them to help to push but there’s no room for them to help anyway. Amongst all
the commotion I find some tranquillity in observing a dragonfly. After lunch we start on our 3 hour journey back to Darwin, leaving Kakadu behind. I’m so pleased I came in the wet season but equally I’d love to return in the dry season. In the dry, many of Kakadu’s attractions which were inaccessible at this time will be open, including Jim Jim Falls, Twin Falls and the rock art site Ubirr. You would get a different experience as the landscape wouldn’t be as lush either. I’ve enjoyed the tour immensely with the exception of Lulu, who I will be glad to leave behind when we get back to Darwin. That’s one of the problems of small groups, if there’s someone you take a disliking to, there is nowhere to hide.
We’re back in Darwin at 5pm, and I’m back in the same dorm room with Matt & Carly who are up here doing some casual work from Perth ahead of travelling South-East Asia and John a Victorian who is up here to take part in the WWII commemorations. I’m pleased to be back in the dorm (the squeaky bed apart) as they’re a nice bunch. I spend the
evening hanging out talking to Matt and Carly before getting an early night ahead of Litchfield. I needn’t have set an alarm as the air-conditioning wakes me at 4:30am. It may be a tropical climate outside but I’m shivering inside!
Day 240: Tuesday 24th February - Litchfield National Park
Today is a day when getting up early seems to be a waste of time. I have to be at the agency, two doors down from the hostel for 7am. When I get there they tell me my tour has been cancelled and that I’ve been moved on to an alternative tour with another company. This entails walking a couple of blocks to another pick up point, which is no big deal but the rest of the morning is. We drive to Adelaide River for a jumping croc cruise. This is a déjà-vu, I’m sure I did this 3 days ago. I opt to sit out the cruise as there doesn’t seem any point in doing it twice. Our driver, Marcel offers me the option of going to Windows on the Wetlands, a small information centre on the wetlands. It sounds better than hanging around Adelaide River for an
hour, so I take him up on his offer, only to discover that this too is familiar and that I also visited this place 3 days ago. Whilst driving through the wetlands we spot several large wetland birds Jabiru and Brolga. Later in the morning I find out that we have to pay for lunch which I’m sure was included in the tour I originally booked with Wilderness. I’m already drafting a complaint in my head, the morning has been a complete waste of time I just hope the afternoon improves.
After lunch we finally get to Litchfield national park, about 100 kilometres south of Darwin. Prior to arriving in Australia, I’d never heard of this national park, as it sits in the shadow of its more famous big brother, Kakadu. However, several people I’ve met in Australia have alerted me to it, and a number have even said it is better than Kakadu. It is certainly more accessible from Darwin, only an hour and a half away compared to three hours to Kakadu, and the smaller scale of the park means it is ideal for a day trip. Our first stop once we enter the park is to
view the termite mounds, both the massive Cathedral mounds and the gravestone like Magnetic mounds. The Cathedral mounds can be up to 6 metres tall, consisting of dead grasses, soils and termite saliva. They are absolutely rock solid and if you manage to pick a hole in the mound a number of termites quickly appear to repair the damage. Cathedral termite mounds grow at approximately 1 metre every 10 years, and with a third of the mound being underground, some of the mounds I’m looking at are 80 years old. Once the Queen termite dies the mound is abandoned, which means that these mounds don’t usually make it past 6 metres as termites live up to 80 years, which is quite incredible for an insect. Someone has estimated that the weight of the termites in the larger mounds is the same as a cow, meaning literally billions of termites inhabit these mounds. Whilst Cathedral termites prefer well drained soils to build their nests, the Magnetic termites build their distinctive wedge-shaped mounds in seasonal flood plains. They are known as magnetic termite mounds as they are perfectly aligned north to south, designed to regulate the temperature so the termites can cope
with extreme seasonal changes. With so many Magnetic termite mounds stretching across the floodplain, it bears more than a passing resemblance to a graveyard.
The remainder of the day spent in Litchfield is all about waterfalls. Four separate waterfalls drop over a wide sandstone plateau, spilling into idyllic waterholes surrounded by patches of monsoon forest. At the first waterfalls - Tolmer Falls - we walk a 1.5km loop track offering beautiful views of the valley. Wangi falls is probably the most spectacular and my favourite. Two flumes of water make up the falls, filling an enormous swimming hole bordered by rainforest and roosting fruit bats. The water level makes it unsafe to swim but there is the opportunity to do that both at the Buley Rockhole and Florence Falls. At Buley Rockhole, the water cascades through a series of rockpools big enough and safe enough to take a dip for a short while. Florence Falls are accessed by a walk through the waterlogged monsoon forest. Here we take another swim, and again the falls are impressive without quite measuring up to the beautiful Wangi falls. The weather isn’t quite as oppressive as it was it Kakadu, and the currents
in the swimming holes are stronger so it’s not as good as swimming in Kakadu, when at times it was almost a necessity to escape the heat. After Florence Falls it’s time to head back to Darwin. We get caught up in a thunderstorm on the way home. This is what I expected the wet season to be like, building humidity through the day and then an almighty downpour in the late afternoon. In northern Queensland it simply rained all day long. Litchfield has been a good day out in the end despite a wasted morning. I saw all the main highlights of the park, but for me it can’t compare to Kakadu. Kakadu is more of an adventure, has a wider variety of landscapes and also accessible Aboriginal rock art. Still, a very worthwhile day out.
Day 241: Wednesday 25th February - In need of a rest
After day after day of early morning starts, I need a rest. Having nothing on today for the first time in a couple of weeks in bliss. Travelling can be tiring and after 2 weeks solid of tours and one spectacular day after another I’ve reached overload. My plan for
the day doesn’t involve anything more taxing than exploring Darwin’s city centre, catching up with events back home and booking my flights on to Asia.
With government travel advice still recommending not to travel to East Timor, Bali will be my next destination. There are daily flights there from Darwin, and the price is the same regardless of day so the key is what to do once in Bali. One option would be to spend time in Bali exploring the island once I arrive. With Bali’s exposure to western culture it is sure to be a gentler start to travelling Asia. My preferred option though is to fly immediately east within the archipelago to Flores and then island hop all the way back to Bali and then beyond. This option would be straight in at the deep end as Flores is less visited, but the route would flow better through Indonesia, my goal simply to head west. Checking on several Indonesian airline websites, the earliest flight I can get from Bali to the eastern end of Flores is on Sunday, which would leave Saturday as my departure date from Australia. This suits me just fine, giving me 4 days
to unwind, recuperate and recharge my batteries ahead of what is sure to be a crazy adventure through Asia. Also, with Indonesia only giving you a 30 day visa, and with much to see, I am sure I will need to travel fairly quickly over the next month which is tiring in itself. Booking the flight to Bali is straightforward, Australian airline, ability to pay online…..no worries. My Indonesian flight however is more of a challenge. First, they want 1.1 million Rupiah for the two hour flight!! What is this? A private jet service or is air travel in Indonesia simply prohibitively expensive? From a quick look at the exchange rate, I discover that there are 17,000 Rupiah to the Pound, meaning that the flight is only £70, which seems reasonable. The rest of the website is relatively easy to navigate through until it comes to paying online - you can’t. I take down their phone number and give them a call when I get back to the hostel but the guy at the other end speaks broken English and eventually hangs up on me which is for the best for my sanity. I ask in a local travel agency
and they tell me that you usually pay when you check in, and given that I have a reservation number I suppose that’s all I need.
Having spent three nights in Darwin without venturing beyond Mitchell Street - the main street in Darwin and also where I am staying - I decide to wander around the city centre to see what else is on offer. There’s not much to it to be honest, the city centre is compact, multicultural and modern. The city has been rebuilt twice, once after the WWII bombings and again after Cyclone Tracy devastated it in 1974. As a consequence, the buildings are no more than 35 years old and the speed of construction in the city shows no sign of slowing with new developments scattered around the city. It apparently has a population of over 100,000 people, but whether it is due to being incredibly spread out or simply the laid back charm of this tropical city it doesn’t seem the case. I’m interested to learn more about both the WWII bombings and the cyclone but there’s little around the city to see. There’s a small exhibition in the parliament building and a number
of monuments along the esplanade in memory of the bombings but it seems that the best place to learn more is north of the city, a bus ride away.
Back at the hostel, Carly has got a new job so Carly, Matt and myself go down to the Stokes Hill Wharf beside Darwin harbour to celebrate her news. We have a couple of beers and spent a large portion of the evening discussing the Aboriginal culture, and the Aboriginal problem within Australia. It’s interesting hearing the views of two Australian’s, particularly when they are as different as Matt and Carly’s. I haven’t had Crocodile yet whilst I’ve been in Australia and one of the cheap food joints down here has it so there’s no decision to make over what to eat. The crocodile is similar to chicken, a lot tougher and it definitely gives the jaws more of a work out as you chew your way through it - good though.
Day 242: Thursday 26th February - A second successive day of doing very little
Today I do even less than yesterday. I spend the day catching up on my blog. After 2 months in Australia
I’ve finally found free internet down at the library, I wish I’d thought of this earlier. I drop into the Red Cross shop to see if they’re still taking clothes and footwear for the Victorian Bush Fire appeal. The lady tells me that they stopped because people were just sending all the old rubbish! I donate a pair of trainers anyway as I don’t want to carry them to Asia. I’ve managed to collect a further 2 pairs of footwear on my travels and 4 pairs is just too many. I got a shock when I had a heavy luggage label attached to my rucksack when I picked it up at the train station in Darwin. It was 19 kilos, 5 kilos heavier than when I started. I’ll post some stuff home tomorrow to lighten the load further.
In the evening I go to the cinema to watch Slumdog Millionaire with Matt. I’ve heard good reports and it recently won 8 Oscars. It’s about a Mumbai teen who grew up in the slums, becomes a contestant on the Indian version of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" He is arrested under suspicion of cheating, and while being interrogated, events
from his life history are shown which explain why he knows the answers. It’s a good film, and I can’t wait until I get to India later in the year. After the movie we meet a friend of Matt’s from the last time he was in Darwin for a couple of beers at the bar next door.
Day 243: Friday 27th February - Discovering Darwin’s tragic past
After two days of inactivity I decide to leave central Darwin and head to the Northern Territory museum and art gallery in the northern suburbs. The museum has Aboriginal art, native Northern territory wildlife displays and a huge stuffed crocodile that was captured called Sweetheart who measures in at 5.1 metres. The main reason I go though is to find out more on Cyclone Tracy. Cyclone Tracy hit Darwin at around midnight on Christmas Eve 1974. By Christmas morning, Darwin effectively ceased to exist as a city. In six hours, Cyclone Tracy had killed 65 people and destroyed 60% of Darwin’s buildings. Since white settlement Darwin has suffered six devastating cyclones, as well as sustained damage from the WWII bombing. After each disaster, Darwin was rebuilt with an unswerving faith in
the development of the country’s north. Today, it is Australia’s fastest growing city and amongst the most multicultural.
I had hoped to get to East Point where there is a military museum. Unfortunately no buses go there and it will be an hour and a half’s walk in each direction from the Northern Territory museum, so I give it a miss. From the library exhibition the other day I found out some information though. On February 19th 1942 the Japanese attacked mainland Australia for the first time when Darwin was subjected to two devastating air raids. The same force that attacked Darwin had 10 weeks earlier attacked Pearl Harbour, Hawaii. The air strike on Darwin would drop twice as many bombs than that on Pearl Harbour. Darwin was caught unprepared and 292 people were killed on ships that sank and were disabled in the harbour, and also in the town itself. The Darwin region sustained 62 more bombing raids over the next 18 months but none were as devastating as the first two. The first raids shocked Australia but the true magnitude of the destruction was censored by the government, the government broadcasting that only around 20 people had
died.
With it being my last night in Australia I have to have the obligatory night out to celebrate. Myself, Matt, Carly, a guy from South Yorkshire, Nick all head down to the Vic. We're in good company as Darwiners drink twice the national average, and the Aussie's aren't exactly renowned as being teetotallers. We share a table with some Germans and Heath who me and Matt had a drink with after the cinema last night comes to join us. I don't buy a drink all night whilst we're in the Vic, every time I want a drink there is a refill at hand from all the jugs of beer we either keep winning or someone else buys. We even have time for another beer after we get a kebab, which is usually the last act of a night out, not here in Darwin, there's plenty of bars to to choose from.
Day 244: Saturday 28th February - Leaving Australia
So, the curtain draws on 2 months spent in Australia. The aussies are a friendly bunch with the exception of the Greyhound bus drivers who could learn a thing or two about manners and customer service from
their Kiwi counterparts. The Australian culture is much the same as our British one, certainly more laid back once you leave the state capitals (with the exception of Darwin which is horizontal). For me the defining experiences of Australia have been Melbourne, Sydney, The Blue Mountains, Cape Tribulation, the Red Centre and Kakadu. The first two weeks and the last two weeks were special and amongst the best of my travels but the month in between travelling up the east coast was possibly the least impressive of my 8 months of travelling. That’s not to say it wasn’t good as it was but nothing stands out in particular. Definitely overrated. My first two weeks in the country - spending an unforgettable Christmas with Danielle and her family, seeing two great cities in Melbourne and Sydney, celebrating New Year in Sydney harbour (is there a better place to celebrate??) and the vistas and ambience of the Blue Mountains - were awesome. Perhaps though my favourite places in Australia were those I visited in the last fortnight. The rainforest I visited around Cape Tribulation is the most impressive I’ve seen and I wish I could have stayed longer as its probably the
most I’ve felt at home in 8 months of travelling. Then the landscapes at the Red Centre and Kakadu, I’ve never seen anything like it and that’s what makes those places special. Although I took tours to both places it did feel like an adventure. I think the 3 places I’ve just listed would make a top ten of places I’ve had the fortune of seeing since I started travelling.
Whilst stunning scenery defines New Zealand I would say the abundance and variety of wildlife defines Australia for me. Whilst Australia undoubtedly has some stunning scenery, overall the level doesn’t compare to New Zealand. But for wildlife, Australia is unsurpassed. Looking through my photos since I arrived I’ve realised that I’ve seen the following all in the wild: Koala Bears, Kangaroos, Turtles, Dingoes, Duckbilled Platypus, a Snake, Possums, brightly coloured Frogs, Rock Wallabies, Brush Turkeys, Spiders, Camels, Brumbies, an Emu, Crocodiles, Cane Toads, numerous Lizards, Monitors and Dragons and some pretty special birds like the Black Noddy Terns, Rainbow Lorrikeets, Jabiru, Brolga, Whistling Kites, and the White Breasted Eagle. On the reef I saw so many different fish and other marine life as well. Oh and that’s forgetting all
the huge insects that have bitten me too many times to mention. In a zoo that would be a pretty impressive collection but seeing them all in the wild is something else, I’ve been very fortunate. I’ve also managed to avoid Australia’s nasties, the Funnel Web Spider, any of the 10 most deadly snakes in the world, the Box Jellyfish and the Great White Shark. Still, I’ve seen enough wildlife that would give you a problem if it attacked and this has helped coin my phrase ‘Only in Australia’.
I feel now as I write this, that Australia is a country I will return to. The only countries so far on my journey I’ve felt I would return to are Mexico (to see the north of the country) and Argentina (being my favourite country to date). Two months is simply not enough time to see all that Australia offers. Nevertheless, I’m happy with what I’ve managed to fit into my two months, but realistically I’ve only seen the highlights of the eastern half of the country. A return visit on a 3 month tourist visa would allow me to see Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania, the three states
I didn’t make it to on this trip. It would also, if I timed it right, allow me to see Kakadu, the Whitsunday’s and Magnetic Island in the dry season before heading to the Kimberly’s in the north of Western Australia (I’ve heard nothing but great things about this area), down the west coast, an outback adventure across the Nullaborr plain to South Australia and then arriving in Tasmania as summer is kicking in. Sounds a great trip already in my head, I just hope one day in the future to be able to make it. Some might say ‘Why not do it now?’ My answer to that is that the wet season isn’t the best season to see the attractions that lie north of the Tropic of Capricorn, as many things are inaccessible. In addition, Australia is expensive. As in New Zealand, I’m getting through about $1000 (£500) a week and financially it doesn’t make sense to extend my trip in Australia when I can travel in Asia for a fraction of the cost. More importantly, Asia is where I want to be. Australia like New Zealand is a great country but the culture is similar to the UK
and I need to inject some craziness back into the adventure. Travelling in Australia doesn’t feel like an adventure, the tourist infrastructure is so organised that you don’t really have to think, it’s certainly not a challenge. Finally, my visa has a little over 3 weeks left. The journey I describe above would probably take 3 months not 3 weeks so I will leave it for another time.
Well that’s it for Oceania, the third continent of my trip. New Zealand, The Cook Islands and Australia were great but I’m looking forward to Asia, the people, the different culture, the smells, the sounds and yes the sheer craziness of it all. I am going to miss caramel Tim Tams and Iced Coffee but I’m sure there will be some new favourite foods to experience in Asia. Rejuvenated after a chilled few days in Darwin, bring it on!
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