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Published: November 9th 2009
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So I left Lisa in Bali and set off for the airport. I thought it seemed really chaotic and then I realised why.......on the flight departures board it said CANCELLED. I queued up for ages to find out what was going on and they were so slow with everyone that no-one was knew what was happening. I got talking to two girls in the queue next to me from Holland - Monique and Hannah. They were told that they were staying in Bali for one more night and they were getting transferred to the Ramada Resort for the night!!!! I queued and got told I was to fly to Melbourne and then fly to Darwin. Literally to one end of the country to the other, absolutely ridiculous. I said I wasn't doing it and then had to wait in another big queue for them to take me off the flight and arrange for me to stay. Of Course I wanted to stay in the Ramada!!!!!! It was lovely and we had free food too. It was such a welcome change form the cheaper accommodation I had been staying in and having a room all to myself with a bath was a
Bali Airport
Just met my new mates at the airport. Monique and Hanna from Holland. real luxury! Apart from the next day when I checked out.......I had used the phone for 12 minutes and got charged 22.00 quid for the privilege!!! Anyway by this time I had made good friends with Monique and Hannah and we all successfully boarded the next day's flight to Darwin. They stayed in a different hostel to me but we did some sight seeing together, god was it so so hot hot. Even hotter than Asia. It was really humid and you were just so tired all the time!!! We walked around a bit and I got stopped by a lady in the street who had spotted my sore foot. She was insistent I go the hospital, it had swelled quite a bit but I thought it was normal. She said it was definitely infected. Sooooo I decided it was better to be safe than sorry and took myself on a tour of the bus route number 10 to the hospital. The buses were great it was only 2 $ per ticket and you could use it on as many buses as you wanted within 3 hours. Well I was in A&E and there was no way I was 3
The Ramada
I got to have my bag carried for me!!! hours, more like 6!!! I had an X ray and the doc was quite concerned as it was really swelled. She thought I might have something in it. The X ray said otherwise and turned out it had just got infected somehow I was given some IV antibiotics and tablets and some magic dressings and told to stay out of water for another 7 days!!!! This was so annoying but relieved to be on the mend, although I did have a really big elephant foot for the next few days til the antibiotics kicked in - I couldn't even put a sock on it so I was glad I was in my flip flops in the sun! We booked to go on the Jumping Crocodile Cruise and Lichfield National Park tour the next day. I held a snake and the cros were amazing. We saw a really big male. They are humongous things. We also saw lots of really big eagles who came in to steal the lumps of meat we were feeding to the crocs. Lichfield National Park was nice too with all the watering holes that I COULDN'T SWIM in :-( The heat got to me a bit
that day as there was no other way to cool off and very little shade. We left Darwin as there was not very much else to do there and there wasn't a very good atmosphere there. Apparently the locals call it "Troppo" and suicide rates go up as the humidity and pressure rises before the big wet season storms set in. We left for Cairns and slept in the airport that night as we had a 5am flight. Anything to save on accommodation!!! When we got to cairns, Toni who I met in Broome recommended the Caravella Hostel on the Esplanade which is great. You can't swim in the sea in Cairns though because of Jellyfish this time of year so they have a purpose built pool / lagoon on the Esplanade. Its a more of a night time city and its a great place just to walk around. It does feel tropical although the weather is a lot more bearable than Darwin. Toni was still there but left after a day or so to go down the coast so I didn't get to spend much time with her. No doubt I will catch up with her further south. The
plan was to stay here until my foot / elbow was better and I could swim and do a Great Barrier Reef tour. I took myself to the docs and he said I needed to keep it covered and out of the water for ANOTHER 7 days and he wanted to see me every 2 days which was a complete pain in the arse. Apparently cuts and wounds are very dangerous here and don't heal very well due to the humidity.
We hired a car too and the three of us did a road trip to Port Douglas. There are loads of beautiful beaches along the way and we stopped off at most of them and then had a picnic at Palm Cove which is beautiful. Then traveled up to Mossman Gorge for a photo opportunity!!! It was really great to drive again and we all took turns in our little Hyundai Getz. The beach road was fab and I can't wait for the Great Ocean Road, its supposed to be amazing!!!
After another week in Cairns my foot has only just started to heal and I have been swimming the last 2 days although now the weather
has turned a little and is a bit cloudy and rainy. The girls have started working for a recruitment agency and are staying here for a while to get some more money. I don't have time to work now after so long in Asia. I have booked a Great Barrier Reef tour for tomorrow and it includes a dive too so hopefully I will get to see lots and will NOT be seasick. I have also booked the rest of my trips and I am going White Water Rafting at Mission Beach. Then I travel down to Airlie beach and do a Whitsunday Sailing tour and a night on Long Island. Then Fraser Island from Hervey Bay and then to Brisbane for a few days. After stopping in Surfers Paradise and Byron Bay I will hit Sydney for a few nights and then do the Blue Mountains tour and go over to Manley for a few days. I have also booked a Great Ocean Road tour from Melbourne to Adelaide. I have a wine tour in the Barossa Valley and then fly from Adelaide to Perth and then home 16 December!!!! I have the Greyhound bus pass from Cairns to
Melbourne and will just hop off at the the different destinations which is cool. Its all going very quick and I have very little spare time and money now. I true backpacker I suppose, living off noodles and Goon (really cheap not very nice boxed wine)!! Oh well, I am seeing so many great things so its worth it!!!
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Deb deb
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I've caught up!
Hey Backers, I've just spent the past 40 minutes catching up with the blogs. Everythings looking great. It was dead wierd to see the boats in cains after seeing everything that Bali had to offer - it was like you was back to normality. Ha! Ha! I loved the croc pictures because i'm a big croc lover anyway. You keep up the good work. Enjoy everything you have planned - which sounds like loads!!!! Deb xxxxx