Day 82 - 100 (The End!)

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Day 82

After arriving in Darwin in the early hours of the morning and all feeling very tired we prepared ourselves what was sure to be a stressful time through immigration and the notorious Australian customs. First stop, immigration. After nearly 3 months of panicking that Australia might not even let me in it quickly becomes apparent that they don’t really care! After taking my passport to scan the 30 second conversation with the immigration man went like this...
Him: “working?”
Me: “yes”
Him: “in Darwin?”
Me: “well all over really”
Him: “here’s your passport back, have a good stay”

Next stop customs. Australian customs is very strict and after being warned that if in doubt declare anything thats what I did. On the form I’d ticked the boxes saying I had medication (malaria tablets) food (cereal bars) and items which may have mud on (walking boots). Another 30 second conversation this time with the customs lady resulted in me going straight through without even a glance in my bag or it even being x rayed! The whole process from getting off the plane, collecting bags and getting on the bus took about half an hour basically the most painless airport experience I’ve ever had! After everyone was through we drove to the hostel in the centre of Darwin and got to our rooms as quick as possible so we could get to bed. Woke up about 10am and headed for breakfast in the hostel kitchen. After cereal (yes actual cereal, not a noodle in sight!) and toast we went for a wander round the town first stop being Optus the phone shop so we could get new sims and in my case a phone. After this we walked round some more enjoying the fact it was really hot and sunny, everyone spoke English (well a dodgy variation of), there was normal food like sandwiches and the fact we were finally out of Indonesia and other alike countries where there are no pavements and lots of traffic and hassle. In the evening we went for a pub meal which was lovely especially washed down with Australian white wine! After the food we went back to the hostel to make sandwiches for the next day and have a few schooners of cider (a schooner is 2/3 of a pint, and in most states the biggest measure you’ll find) before heading to bed.


Day 83

We left the hostel at 7.30am with our new driver and guide Mark (typical outback Aussie man, massive in uniform of desert shirt, very short shorts, boots and a cowboy style hat!) We were heading for the area of Jabiru in the Kakadu national park. We were expecting an uninterrupted drive there and some time to chill out in the afternoon at the campsite...no such luck! The aussie part of the trip we found out is full on all day and then late arrivals to the campsite, knackering! Anyway first stop was an hour in to a crocodile cruise style thing where you take a boat up the river and they dangle bits of meat over the side to attract the crocs was a bit dubious and the weather wasn’t the greatest but really enjoyed it! We learnt all about fresh and saltwater crocs and saw a few them swim right up to the boat and jump out to get the meat about 2m from our faces. They are huge and look very scary and the power behind them is incredible! After the boat trip and playing with the resident dog who wanted you to throw sticks for him we made it to a Kakadu visitor centre where there was info on the local wildlife etc. We left the centre and then headed to an aboriginal site to learn about the culture and see some original aboriginal art cave paintings. After this we headed to the campsite where we were all staying in double prebuilt tents complete with beds and electricity. By this time it was getting late and the rain was pouring so the boys headed to the kitchen tent to start the BBQ up for our evening meal. Food was great and the best point us girls didn’t have to do anything not even the washing up, so thank you Ross and James! After the food and plates etc was all cleared up we stayed up chatting in the tent before risking our way across the grass in the dark trying to avoid snakes and spiders to go the toilet and brush our teeth! Luckily the only sign of wildlife apart from the thousands of insects was the fat, ugly cane toads! Made it back to the tent alive and went to bed.


Day 84

We left the campsite at 8.30am for the town of Katherine. I, of course, was very excited by this it turns out later on that I shouldn’t be! We had a similar driving day of aboriginal walks and visitor centres before stopping in the town of Katherine for supplies at the supermarket most important of course being the bottle shop! In Australia especially the Northern Territory they have very strict alcohol licensing laws which I’m sad to say is partly due to the problem with alcohol and the aborigines. In Katherine everyone who bought alcohol had to show I.D which is then recorded, you have daily price limits and can’t buy certain things after certain times. I came to Australia with an open mind but the large groups of drunk Aboriginals hanging on street corners are very intimidating, there are police patrols to pick up any troublemakers and they are taken to a special sobering up centre until they are ready to be sent back out on the street. All in all not very impressed with Katherine, it’s a shit hole! Anyway after the supermarket stop we headed for the campsite which was a similar set up to the previous night. A cheese and salad sandwich for dinner with a few glasses of wine before heading to bed.

Day 85

We left earlyish for a walk round Katherine Gorge where we got our first close up sight of wallabies! We climbed up to the top of the Gorge before doing the long walk round to the visitor centre where I bought a very expensive ice cream. Still getting used to the fact we are back at western prices and spending a lot more money on basics like water and bread etc then we had for months the Australian dollar is doing very well against our week pound so everything seems ridiculously expensive and it comes as a shock! After leaving the gorge we headed for Daly Waters possibly the smallest town ever! Daly Waters has a population of about 5 depending on how many are working at the pub/campsite/hostel at the time. It was the base for an old airstrip which is how it formed but now all that is left is the pub. We were meant to be camping in proper, put your own up, 2 person tents but a few of us girls decided to upgrade to a dorm room however on arrival it turns out they had lost the tents so everyone was upgraded anyway free of charge, bonus! The pub is awesome absolutely rammed with memorabilia from its past visitors including flags, t-shirts, various forms of I.D, posters and underwear. I love it! The juke box is amazing and the only problem is the overpriced beer however this is soon solved as the bottles of wine are very reasonable! We settle in the pub selecting songs and drinking wine while waiting for our evening meal to arrive eventually we all get our pre ordered burgers apart from me who they seem to have forgotten after asking and another 15 min wait my food finally arrives! The veggie burger went down well and after picking a few more songs and chilling out with a few more glasses of wine and schooners of beer it was getting really late so wandered over to the cabin for bed.

Day 86

An early start of 6am for the town of Alice Springs. Was a very long driving day and not too many interruptions for visits and walks etc but we did stop at the Devils Marbles which is the name for a large group of spherical shaped rocks which I believe are the result of volcanoes thousands of years ago. So our leader Mark took us on a tour round these rocks which was quite interesting but very hot before continuing our drive to Alice Springs. We arrived later than expected at about 8.15pm to be informed that the town basically closes at 9pm as in the supermarkets, bottle shops etc all close at 9pm and all restaurants and bars will stop serving food then too. Great! Not helped by the fact there was no one from the hostel to meet us and there was a bit of a cock up with the rooms. Eventually get our dorm key and after quickly dumping our stuff we hopped back on the bus to get into the town to hopefully get some food. We had been told by our guides that there was a bar/restaurant called Bojangles where friends and family round the world can see you via the many webcams and can buy you drinks online. Make it there literally minutes to spare and order our meals straight away, not much veggie choice so settled for salad. Give home a ring to say they could see me on line and mum can’t get on the site to see me by this point am tired, hungry and a bit upset that I’m in this place but no one can take advantage of it! Not the greatest start however a few ciders and beers in and when the bar gets a bit livelier my mood perks up and I do actually have a good night! A bit of a mission walk back to the hostel and make it back at about 2am!

Day 87

Actually got a bit of a lie in this morning as it’s not such a long drive. So managed to do some washing in the morning before packing it all up to head for Kings Canyon at 10.30am. The first stop today was a camel farm which I loved! There was a chance to ride the camels but I decided against this and opted to talk to the birds and take photographs instead. The birds I speak of are Gallahs yes as in “you flaming Gallah!” was very excited about this especially due to my younger years and my obsessive watching of Neighbours! I wandered into the gift shop after talking to some camels and after Ross pointed out the Emu soft toys decided I had to have one! The first one I pick up has one leg sewn on back to front and I fall in love especially after the guy at the till gave me a discount for the retarded bird! So we hop back on the bus complete with Emu in hand and continue our drive. At the lunch stop later that day I see real life Emus kept behind a wire fence which is a good job as they are the most evil looking birds I have seen (sorry miss mu!) They look like dinosaurs with big scary claw feet, not nice and no way as cute as my new best friend the stuffed one! We arrived at our campsite in daylight for the first time which is very exciting and after dumping our things in the tents (very nice! this time complete with wood floor, proper beds with bedding, electricity and even a bedside table with lamp!) we headed to the bar to buy some bottles of wine. This was the night the girls cooked and Preya took charge and we made an Indian curry! I say we but after being put in charge of garlic chopping and dropping some on the floor (It went in the bin I promise), Then coriander chopping (I hate coriander!) I was left with wine filling up for the chefs, decorations and table setting. The curry went down a treat and as it coincided with Nina’s birthday there was swiss roll too that I was in charge of the presentation of and in no way did ants crawl over it or a mouse appear when I was piling up the swiss roll slices! Whoops! After polishing off the wine and having a bit of a dance it was bed time!


Day 88

An early start of 6am for a walk down the kings canyon. There were 2 options a 3 ½ hour trek over the top of the canyon or an hour stroll through the canyon. I settled for the lazy option with Preya and Emily so we casually walked through the woods along the stream and stopped half way for a chat in the sun before continuing when the track suddenly ended on a viewing platform. The whole thing took about 20 minutes! So wandered slowly back towards the bus to chill out and wait for the more energetic members of the group to return. Preya had bought some shoes for New Years Eve and needed them to broken in so I kindly offered my services so I strutted round the car park wearing shorts and tshirt, 2 pairs of thick socks and some attractive silver 5 inch heels! Got some weird looks but I miss wearing heels so didn’t actually mind! Eventually the others arrived back looking very sweaty and pink due to the baking heat and we got back on the bus for the drive to Uluru (Ayers Rock). We went straight to the rock and the visitor centre which we quickly bypassed in favour of the cafe and gift shop (had enough of visitor centres and aborigines, especially as the only aborigines I’d seen were hanging round on corners and generally being drunk!) We then got back on the bus to drive to another sight for a quick walk round the base of the rock to see more aboriginal sights and learn more about the rock. The sun was starting to set so we climbed back on the bus and headed to the viewing site to watch the sun setting with sparkling wine and snacks all very civilised and nice but extremely busy as there about 15/20 other coaches doing the same thing! When the sun had set we headed for our campsite which was again pre built two man things but this time very basic again. The boys set about rustling up another BBQ which was lovely and thanks to a bottle shop stop on the way was washed down with wine! An early start the next day so a fairly early night!


Day 89

Left at 5am for sunrise at Uluru from the other side after this there was time to walk round the whole rock or do just parts of it. I being very tired settled for driving round the rock on the bus while Mark picked various people up at various points. This had advantages as I could view it all several times in the comfort of my seat with air-con and the option of a nap if I wanted it! Got everyone back on the bus bar one. Oliver, the bane of everyone’s life on the bus had wandered off in baking heat without sun cream or water...idiot! After driving round a while we eventually found him walking along the road, the time we wasted looking for him meant we were low on petrol and time so we didn’t get a chance to visit the other rock formations that morning. To be honest was quite pleased with that though as was so tired and hot. We headed back to the campsite where after a quick shower we then got the bus into ‘town’. The town consists of a few shops, a bank and 2 overpriced cafes as well as some hotels. We’d planned on grabbing some food for the journey the next day, going on line for me to sort my cv etc and maybe a beer or 2 out of these things we accomplished none of them. Supermarket was rubbish, the internet was $10 an hour and busy and had no USB port and you couldn’t even buy a beer because we didn’t have a campsite pass whatever that might be! So slightly pissed off we headed back to the campsite. It was baking hot and impossible to be in the tent for longer than about 2 minutes so we decided to check the pool out for a swim, it was packed so headed back to the kitchen tent to mope for a while in the shade. About 2 hours later the pool had emptied slightly so we went for a quick swim before a shower and kitchen duty. It was the turn of Margaret to cook and after she had done a Thai cooking course in Ko Samui she was keen to show off her skills. So I hang around the kitchen trying to help but in the end just deseeded some chillis and stayed the hell out of everyone’s way and drank wine! Everyone slowly starts coming back from the day trips and swims etc and is ready for the curry. I being vegetarian get front of the queue everytime with fellow veggies Dangerous Dave and Mon so went up for my special stir fried veg and veg thai curry with rice. I Sit down and have a mouthful and immediately my mouth is on fire, the curry is hotter than the sun! Slowly the meat eaters start eating and the expressions on people’s faces are hilarious everyone is reaching for mounds of yoghurt and cucumber and downing water like its going out of fashion! I find the only thing that helps is wine which is good for my mouth, not so good for my liver! Turns out the curry paste used is a lot hotter than the curry paste used before however it was still a nice curry...I think! Very tired so after my mouth had cooled down it was bed time!


Day 90- Christmas Eve

Left early for the opal mining town of Coober Pedy it was
a long drive and we arrived there about 4.30pm. We were staying in a large mixed dorm with small blocks of 4 beds separated off with curtains but the most special thing about this hostel was the dorms were built underground in a cave. Coober Pedy is in central Australia and therefore temperatures regularly reach 50 degrees Celsius the easiest way to live in these conditions is live underground where it is cooler and the majority of the town is built into and under the rocks. Our first stop is the opal museum and mine where we are shown a video and an opal cutting demonstration before going on a tour of a mine and an example of a cave house from hundreds of years ago to a modern one. I was sceptical and don’t actually like opals but it was actually really interesting so enjoyed myself! A quick dash to the supermarket for Christmas day lunch and of course the bottle shop for Christmas day wine and cider came next before getting ready to go out for our Christmas Eve meal at the pizza place. Really nice pizza (and enough left over for snacks the next day) and wine for tea others decided to head out for more drinks but I was so tired so decided the best place for me to go would be bed!


Day 91-Christmas Day

We left while it was dark as there was a long drive ahead and obviously we wanted to enjoy Christmas day! We stopped off to take some pictures of an Aussie white Christmas which it turns out is a salt lake in a baking desert, not quite the same! A picnic lunch of cold pizza and potato salad by the sea broke the day up and we made it to Adelaide in good time arriving at the hostel about 6pm. There was a stack of mail from home for people which was very exciting but quite sad too as I think everyone was a bit home sick. We had a Christmas buffet booked for 7pm so after a quick change and some makeup we headed down stairs to eat, drink and get very merry! On the bus we had organised secret santa with a $5 limit so everyone had something to open which was nice I got a lovely boomerang form Andy with an aboriginal design on so was very pleased! More wine and cider flowed and it turned out to be a very good Christmas indeed and ended with me falling asleep on Ross’ shoulder in the bar and a very drunk Emily being forced to get off the toilet floor and go in sleep in her own bed with a bin next to it! Good times!


Day 92 – Boxing Day

Woke about 9ish and couldn’t be bothered to get out of bed for breakfast so stayed in bed for a while before dragging myself out for a shower. After getting dressed I went back to bed to read my book and nap while the boys went to the beach, Anna went to the zoo, Preya went to the temple and Emily remained passed out in her bunk! A very lazy morning but I didn’t mind as the view from the window was pretty grey and looked cold! Preya arrived back from the temple with subways for us all so after lunch I did pretty much the same again until 6.30 when the guilt and hunger kicked in so went out for a food hunt. I was right it was freezing outside, the wind had got up and it was bloody cold! Not many places open apart from Chinese/Thai places but found an Italian so had some pasta before going back to the hostel to chill out and sort some things before bed.


Day 93

We left at 7.30am for the Grampians, stopping for lunch in a nice area with white kangaroos who were all being very lazy just lying there blinking at us! After lunch we kept driving and went to a waterfall not far from our hostel. After a quick walk down to the bottom and then a short drive to another view point (looked very much like the lake district to me!) we went to our hostel a place called the Asses Ears. There were kangaroos everywhere so that was really nice to see even though we had already seen a few on the drive this time they felt a bit closer and were easier to spot! The hostel was lovely we were in dorms but they were lovely warm chalet style ones with en suites and everything. The temperature had dropped because it was such a clear night so after donning more layers I went over to the bar/kitchen area for a cider whilst waiting for food. Mark and his helpers had made pasta, garlic bread and salad for tea and cake and custard for afters which was really nice. The owners had a very enthusiastic dog who greeted me by shoving her nose in my eye but she was lovely and appreciated everyone giving her scraps! After dinner a few of us sat in the lounge area and watched tv, I had another cider and then headed for bed. The walk back to the cabin though freezing was amazing as the clear night meant you could see all the stars for the first time since being in Australia.


Day 94

We headed for breakfast and after packing up the bus we were joined by the hostel dog who had obviously decided she loved us and came running up the bus to sit down on Anna’s seat in front of me! After the owners son had dragged her off we set off for Port Campbell on the Great Ocean Road. On the way we stopped off at Tennant’s Creek for 45 mins for a quick break. I’ll admit I didn’t want to and was getting sick of these stops when all we wanted to do was get to our destinations but after Mark pointed out 3 Koalas in a tree I was very happy! They were on quite low branches so got a good view of them and they are just so cute! Another younger koala walked over from another tree and decided to join the others but out turned out this was not the best idea. One of the bigger males got very aggressive and started making grunting noises and then chased the young one to an end of a branch where the little one stayed making these really pathetic and sad (but quite funny) noises! Proving that they may look cute but can be nasty bastards too! There were also emus wandering around and it was just really nice to see everything! Once we were properly on the great ocean road there were quite a few photo opportunities of various views and some nice beaches too but they did all start to look the same in the end. The last stop of the day was the 12 apostles but by this time I had seen a fair few cliffs and waves and wasn’t all that fussed it was beautiful though! Afterwards we headed back a little way to our hostel in Port Campbell which is the weirdest place I have stayed in so far. It was run by a hitler style lady who racked off a load of rules when we first arrived and was a little bit scary. She explained that it was a new hostel and she wanted to keep it that way, fair enough but a bit over the top! We got to our dorm which was pristine and went to check out the showers and toilets which strangely enough were mixed and set right off the corridor with no exterior door or wall or anything. It is never a good sign when you have a drain in the middle of a corridor floor! Hot water was switched off between 10pm and 6am and the lights were on timers all very weird anyway headed out to try and get on line and maybe find a cider or two. Managed to succeed with both and after a few hours in town went back to the hostel before heading back out for food. Went to a little Italian which was heaving but managed to get a table and it soon became apparent why it was so busy. Best Pizza Ever! The pizzas weren’t huge but they had so much topping on them we could only manage half each and they were fairly cheap too, we took the rest home for lunch the next day and after another cider headed for bed.


Day 95

We left Port Campbell at 7am for Melbourne. After an early stop for a quick walk through a rainforest we then stopped in Apollo bay for breakfast. Really loved the area it was beautiful right on the coast and just a really nice atmosphere. After tea and toast we continued along the Great Ocean Road with a few more scenic stops including at the lighthouse where the old kids tv show round the twist was filmed and arrived in Western Melbourne about 3pm. I headed straight for the bank to sort out my Aussie bank account which was fairly straight forward and then to the bottle shop for more wine! Headed back to the hostel for a shower which was rudely interrupted by my three roomies who decided to burst in on me whilst I was shaving my legs and scare the crap out of me...thanks guys! At 6pm we left on the bus to go up to Nat’s house. Nat is the Aussie of the trip and her family live in Mount Eliza in the suburbs of Melbourne and we had all been invited for a BBQ at her house. After about an hours drive we got there and met her family and settled in with drinks etc before stuffing our faces the meat eaters with kangaroo and the veggies with loads of salad, jacket potatoes and corn on the cob. It was really nice to be in a house for a change and the view over the bay was spectacular especially as the sun set, the only downer was the horrendous karaoke coming from inside courtesy of my fellow oz busers! We left at 11pm to go back to the hostel and go to bed.


Day 96

Woke up with my legs covered in about 20 mozzie bites, the bastards got me through clothes and now will look like a leper on New Years Eve...great! A long drive to the capital city of Canberra, we arrived at 4.30pm and after a flying visit to the parliament building and then the war memorial for the last post on the bugle we headed to the hostel. After dumping our stuff we headed for the supermarket to stock up on things for New Years Eve the following day. Michele the tour leader had booked a final group meal at the Hogs Breath so after a quick shower and change we headed there. Really nice food and the beer was good but I was not in the best of moods, was tired, grumpy, my legs were itching like mad, everything seemed to be going wrong and in a few days the trip would be over and I’d have to be sensible and get a job! So not the best night really but still good if that makes sense!


Day 97 – New Years Eve

Was a fairly short drive and arrived in Sydney about 12pm. We basically went straight out shopping as still needed a few things for that night, finally found what we were looking for so headed back to the hostel to start getting ready. Bumped into Chris and Cheryl (who was previously on the trip but left in Kathmandu and has reunited with us for New Years) who were heading out to get a spot to watch the fireworks later. Quick catch up with Cheryl before a mad rush to shower and try and make ourselves look respectable for the first time in months! At about 6.30 Tyler, Ross and his mate Gareth who lives in Perth knocked on our door looking very smart in their custom shirts from India and we climbed in a taxi to get to Bradley’s Head on the other side of the bay to meet Michele and celebrate New Years Eve. It was rammed but managed to get a decent spot on the beach and we settled down with snacks and wine. At 9pm there was a short fireworks show for the children which was really good and then at midnight the true Sydney fireworks came out they were spectacular but slightly ruined for me as I managed to half trip/fall over the sand and rock and graze half my shin off in a typical clumsy Katie style! Nice! After the fireworks we packed up our stuff and somehow the group of about 14 got split up and we all made our own ways home some luckily enough in a taxi others like me not so much it took a combination of walking, a bus and 2 trains to get back so was not in the best mood and I had blood running down my leg and it was cold! Anyway get back to the hostel about 4am clean up my leg and go to bed!


Day 98 - New Years Day (Last Day!)

Wake up about 9.30am not feeling too bad just a bit sorry for myself because of the whole leg situation, it looks disgusting and hurts! Head out for an explore and go via the Monorail to Darling Harbour for a late breakfast after a walk round there we hopped back on the monorail to check out the tacky goods at Paddy’s Market where we picked up suitably touristy t-shirts at 3 for $10...bargain! With these in hand we headed for Sydney Opera House and the Harbour bridge so we could have some photos with the t-shirts on! We walked back to the hostel through the park which was lovely but filled with scary looking birds with evil looking beaks! Chilled out at the hostel for a bit watching tv and doing washing before meeting up with a few others for drinks at Darling Harbour as a kind of fair well. A not so cheapo meal of pizza at the food court before heading back to the hostel and bed.


Day 99

The trip officially ends this morning but as I have one extra day in Sydney booked I’ll continue my blog until I leave! Starting to get really sad and there are a lot of goodbyes to say it’s very strange to go from a group of 25 to only a few and then eventually on your own but I didn’t let it spoil my last full day in Sydney. We left about 10am after moving rooms from a dorm into a double and headed back to Darling Harbour where we went to the wildlife park which was actually really good, it looks tiny but has loads in it and you can get quite close too. My favourite was the wombat passed out on his back like a drunk! Next stop was the aquarium which we had a pass for so managed to avoid the massive queue and go straight in, so glad I didn’t have to queue for a ticket as it was heaving and couldn’t see anything due to the millions of prams and small children so walked very quickly round there and headed for a late lunch. Another quick stop at Paddy’s Market before heading back to the hostel for a nap. The clouds had rolled in while I was asleep and the rain had started so quickly ran down the road to a bar for a few ciders. A few ciders turned into many ciders and as we decided to leave we bumped into Jude, Anna, Tyler and Andrew and stayed for a few more with them by this time quite drunk not helped by Anna’s insistence to buy us all a tequila shot! Ah well may as well start the trip how I finished it! A walk back up the hill to grab some takeaway for tea and made it back to the room about 1am!


Day 100

Checked out of the room about 10am and after leaving our bags at reception set off for Sydney tower. Was really quiet at this time in the morning so got straight up there to take some pictures and have a look at Sydney from up high. Was a bit cloudy but still got a good view of the city on the way down we queued up for the oztrek which is a interactive style film showing parts of Australia bit weird to be honest but free so guess it doesn’t matter! An early lunch followed by a flying visit to the Australian Museum to see the wildlife photography exhibition and have a wander round before heading back to the hostel to grab our bags and get the shuttle to the airport. Me and Ross had similar flight times him to Thailand me to Melbourne so we got the shuttle together and after a bit of a detour I was dropped off at terminal 3 to meet up with Nat who I would be staying with for a few days. Arrived in Melbourne about 7.30 and after getting picked up by her parents and dinner of Vietnamese food we made it back to her house. Was so tired so after sorting some things out headed straight for bed and the oz bus adventure was over!

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