Blogs from Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, Oceania - page 74

We arrived in Darwin in the late afternoon and pulled up at the YHA. Mikey wanted to stay here because the ashes tickets he had purchased were being sent here. As we walked into reception to check in it was quite obvious that they were having a big refurb. We checked in and found the facilities quite basic - the kitchen was hideously small and cockroaches were all over the place. I was in a bunk above a bloke from London, Liam. Unfortunately he was a Gooner like alot of the people I had met on my way up here. Alot was going through my head when we first arrived in Darwin and i felt obliged to come home as the credit card had been severely dipped into. I even went to the extent of phoning ... read more

Day 25 Katherine Gorge to Edith Falls 24/07/06 Once again, due to the noisy bats, we awoke reasonably early. We packed up after breakfast and headed back into Katherine for a top up of supplies and fuel. At about 10.15am, again we headed North on the Stuart Highway, this time for Edith Falls. As it was only a short drive we arrived at about 11.00am. This place is incredible, a hidden oasis. There is green grass and shaded camp spots everywhere. Once we had chosen our preferred camp spots, we set up and walked back down to the kiosk to find out what this place had to offer. From here we decided to head to the swimming hole and it was great. All of us went in for a swim, eventually, as initially it was pretty ... read more

Sorry guys it has been a long time but we have had trouble gaining access to the internet. Thanks for all your well wises and emails. Day 119 Sunday 30 July 2006 Daly River to Darwin We were all excited to visit Darwin as Nana and Pop were to arrive in two days time. On the way we stopped at Adelaide River - the pub with Charlie the buffalo from Crocodile Dundee. He is huge and stuffed sitting on the bar. We were a little concerned on where we booked as people had mixed reactions. Freespirit with it’s three pools, restaurant, bar and activities. We were very surprised when we arrived- really nice more a resort than anything. We set up the annexe and had some more space again. The kids found their friends again - ... read more

G'day, no longer from WA but from Northern Territory, in balmy Darwin. Safe and sound from playing bushman out in the massive but deserted Kimberleys Region. Left my resort on Sunday, after another day on Cable Beach, then headed in a group of 9 + Steve Irwinesque guide Nick for the outback, in a trusty Toyota LandCruiser + Trailer. Was 5 days of remoteness like I've never seen before, sleeping under the stars etc and was allround pretty damn cool. My main duty was 'fireman' ensure that as soon as we 'hit camp' that a fire was built and sustained, my fires were so bloody good that they were still there to heat tea for breakfast, but only cos I got up at 5.30am to retend to them, and it got me out of cooking and ... read more

The journey to Darwin was only 3.5 hours and on stepping out of the coach I could tell it was too warm and muggy for my liking. Darwin is the capital of Northern Territory, which was clear from the number of bars, restaurants and hostels nearby, the like of which I hadn't seen since Perth, though it's population is only about 100,000. I'd had a lot of trouble finding somewhere to stay in Darwin, and from Kununurra had phoned round every hostel in my guidebook before I finally found accommodation for my entire stay. One problem was that I'd originally only intended staying a day or 2 before heading out to a couple of the national parks, however various e-mails I'd received had indicated that a lot of people from earlier in my trip would be ... read more