Week 13 'The road to hell'

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Dear Blog,

After an amazing sleep on a bunk, in a room with no bugs, I had a boring day just doing my washing, going on the internet, catching up on some reading etc. Pure Bliss. In the evening I met up with Michelene again and we went out for tea, and then we checked out a local music festival (which was actually a bit rubbish-dodgy local bands) before heading back to the hostel.

The next day, it was back to the early starts ready to begin another 3 day tour from Darwin to Alice Springs. It didn't start out well, as the tour guide was over an hour late to pick us up, and then he just continued to be totally disorganised for the rest of the trip. I was one of the last to be picked up, and so I had the most cramped seat right at the back of the bus and I couldn't even put my feet flat on the floor. Added to this, was the fact that there were at least 6 really annoying girls sat close to me who just didnt shut up the whole journey, and I had the worst pmt in history. For someone who actually relishes her own space and likes peace and quiet to think her thoughts, and adequate space to stretch her legs, this was a bad combination, and I made no attempt to be nice to anyone. Yes I can be a cantankerous old boot.

Anyway, our first stop was at Katherine Gorge and we had a choice between a 2 hour boat ride, or a half hour boat ride and a swim, or a two hour walk. I chose the 2 hour boat ride as I knew noone else would go for that (which they didn't) but then I had to spend the next two hours on a really uncomfortable boat with a load of old people in the baking heat, and it was really boring. So that kind of backfired.

Didn't get to have dinner until 9 o'clock in the eveneing, again not great when your body is dependent on regular meals and went to bed early listening to everyone else having a good time and getting drunk. And I did not care one bit.

Woke up the next day feeling in a slightly better mood, made better by the fact that I had aquired a better seat (no I did not feel guilty). Stopped at a thermal pool for a quick dip, but realised that I had put my bikini on inside out (tents dont have lights) and that it wasn't quite covering everything that it should! Fortunately I think only the tour guide saw and I think he was more embarressed than I was. Made a few more stops en route to our next campsite but nothing very exciting to report.

The next day we carried on our drive through the bush, just miles upon miles upon miles upon miles (think you get the drift) of red sand (which I love) and small eucalyptus trees and grasses. It is much more vegetated than I was expecting. Passed lots of road trains which are basically four lorries strung together, and go about 100 miles an hour- you dont mess with them, before we got to the devils marbles, an area of large round rocks the size of houses. Unfortunately my camera was playing up so I didnt get any photos which was a shame because it was quite cool.

Spent the rest of that day just driving, and when we finally arrived at the hostel in Alice- oh joy, I had been booked into a twin room with an ensuite- god must have heard my prayers. Decided to share my room with a french girl called Adeline who also suffered during the trip and so we spent a happy evening moaning about how annoying the rest of the group was.
Went to a local disco which was hilarious, and felt slightly bad about the terrible evaluation form that I had completed about the tour, including the guide, especially as he performed one of the most hilarious dances I have ever seen (maybe he wan't that bad after all), and when I said goodbye to one of the girls she started crying and telling me that there should be more people like me in the world. God, I must try harder to be nice about people (she was very drunk though).

The next day I spent doing very similar things to my day off in Darwin, basically washing clothes, internetting, and mooching round the shops.

Will try and make a concerted effort to be more agreeable in future.

Lots of love

Fogg xx

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