The Top End

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Call this a wet season?!?! Sure, it rains, but i don't see what the fuss is about...

Truth is, I was pretty lucky with the weather up here. Haven't seen any serious thunderstorms, which is lucky, as i was camping a week ago. It is raining right now, but it is warm enough that you dry pretty much as soon as you go inside. I was trapped in the reception of a holiday inn for quite some time waiting for the rain to abate one evening. Watching people go around their business in a hotel was an interesting contrast to hostel living. Think i prefer the hostels.

I got to Darwin three weeks ago and met up with the Austrian girl, Katrin, who i travelled with for most of January, and Jano, a French guy who she had been travelling with for a couple of weeks. We hung around in Darwin for a while, not doing much of anything in particular, living off free breakfast pancakes at the hostel. Our rare excursions were not exactly riveting. Highlights include the Darwin Museum (home of Sweetheart, a 5 metre something crocadile who had a taste for fishermen) and the Botanical Gardens.

The following week we decided on a trip to Kakadu and Litchfield National Parks. We were warned that taking a tour was essential during the Wet (season, that is), but could not refuse the offer of a fellow backpacker, who rented us his car dirt cheap (The papers were a little suspect, but you have to take risks, eh?). We made two more additions to our group, Chris, an English guy and another Katrin, from Germany. So the car was cosy, but it made the trip pretty damn cheap (we also got away with paying for no camp grounds and snuck into posher campsites to use the showers/swimming pool).

We tackled Kakadu first. Pretty big place that Kakadu. We were not that organised, so we ended up doing something like 150 unnessessary kilometres. Much of the park is closed during the Wet, but we saw enough to make the trip worth while.

We saw the rockart at Nourlangie Rock, some of the most decorative i have seen. The rock itself and the surrounding countryside was spectacular. As is often the case in Oz, we ended up visiting several waterfalls. One, just north of Nourlange (signposted on the left on the road to the rock, in case you are heading the way), was possibly the nicest the i have swam in. It comprised of three pools, each separated by a waterfall, each reached by a short climb up the rocks. The second time we visited, we had the place to ourselves. Lush.

We also went on a hot and sticky walk along side some wetlands. Unsuprisingly, the land was rather wet. The bugs bugged us, and our flipflops did not protect from the hot and muddy water underfoot, but the area was very beautiful. Both parks, but Kakadu in particular, was very quiet, since most people avoid the area during the Wet, but the weather was generally spectacular.

In Litchfield, Kakadu's less popular neighbour, we found ourselves besieged by weekend trip city folk on the first day. Florence Falls was spectacular none the less. Saw lots of little tiny rock wallabies, some odd lizards, not to mention a hawk swooping down and grabbing a snake. We camped that night at Wangi Falls. We walked to see the falls at sunset, and was treated to an impressive arial display as the thousands of bats roosting around the falls all flew up and away in the space of 30 minutes.

We returned to Darwin, cleaned the car (trying to remove the smell that implied that 5 people had been living out of it for a week) and returned to our old hostel. Myself and Katrin made arrangments to stay on a butterfly farm in a town called Batchelor, working for food and board. It was a great week, good fun and not too much hard work. We weeded, cleaned and caught butterlies (caught something like 20 - they are tricksy little monkeys, harder to catch than you would have thought). Ate very well, played a lot of backgammon and finally said goodbye to Katrin.

I will be in Sydney tommorrow morning. Just under a week there and then off to Thailand, a place where i will be able to afford my own room and regular proper meals. Good times are ahead, and home is still far enough away to cast no shadow upon my adventures.

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