And on down to the middle...

So next part of the trip involves a lot of sitting on buses for ages, but seeing some incredible sites. Booked a 9 day tour that is broken up into 3 parts...

Part 1: Kakadu National Park
This is one of the most famous National Parks in Northern Territory and I can see why. Had 3 days here and it was so much fun. Was with a great group (although far too many smelly socks in the back of the bus). First day involved a drive up to Kakadu National Park and we headed straight for a massive hike. However, its now the wet season and it lived up to its name! Everyone got absolutely drenched in the rain - when it rains it really pours! So after about an hour it calmed down and we made it to some rock pools for a swim and dive through tunnels (which I wimped out of trying).


Camping was hilarious - we arrived at the campsite after dark, and it was impossible trying to set up tents, cook dinner and light a camp fire in the dark! Probably just aswell it was dark so you couldn't see the Huntsman spider that was kicking around! Just as we finished dinner the thunder started and it really poured down so there was a mad rush for everyone jumping into their tents to avoid getting soaked. Was pretty cool though as you could see the fork lightening through the tents and the rain was so heavy that I thought the tent was gona collapse! Defo an experience!



However we survived and spent the next day hiking up to the Twin Falls, doing more swimming and chilling out. Saw a pretty cool lizard too sunbathing! Managed to arrive at campsite before dark and had the pleasure of cooking a bbq on the campfire! Surprised at how good it tasted! Enjoyed some drinking games at night round the campfire - had my new french mates running around saying "I'm a dancing queen" and shaking his bum and running round the campfire! Well funny!Once again it poured - hilarious as some of the guys had decided to sleep outside! I've never seen anyone move so fast to get in a tent!
The last day of this part of the trip was pretty good too - headed back to Darwin after seeing some Aboriginal rock art type stuff and having fun on the bus, laughing at the Irish guys taking pics of each other as they were about to fall asleep - by waving smelly socks in faces and dripping sun cream all over them! All good. Finished the day by spending it in the Vic, where we watched a hilarious drinking game of Fluffy bunny - I'll say no more!

Part 2:
Darwin to Alice Springs
Ohhh getting picked up far too early! This one is at 5.40am! Head to Katherine Gorge where we hire canoes for a few hours in the afternoon. So much fun, although our canoe seemed to zig zag much more than it went straight! Spent the first night in tents again. Starting to get used to this camping business!
The next day we headed on down to Tennant Creek. Firstly we stopped at Mataranka Thermal pools chilling out for a bit and swimming in a pool that was under the trees with loads of webs and massive spiders hanging above them. We then visited the oldest pub in the Northern Territory for lunch and then headed on to spend another night camping - but this night was spent in swags under the stars. It was so cool and I wasn't even paranoid about the amount of dingos, spiders, ant hills etc that were kicking about! All good.


Then next day its off to Alice Springs. First stop is Devils Marbles - which is big massive rocks that we tried to climb (unsuccessfully for me!) Then we went to the UFO capital of the NT (freaky stuff!) before arriving in Alice. That night there was a lizard show in the hostel which was pretty amazing. I actually faced my fears and held a snake and lizard... Also had a python round my neck.... Yikes! It did take a few drinks firstly though! End up dancing till silly times and completely forgetting about the 5.30am alarm!!!



Part 3:
Uluru & Kings Canyon
Another really early start today... struggling BIG TIME! It takes about 5 hours to get to Alice Springs. When we arrive we head up to the Olgas for a small hike and hit Uluru (Ayres Rock) by sunset time. Enjoy watching the sun-set with a nice glass of champagne! All good! Its another night of camping and I enjoy sleeping under the stars in Swags round the campfire.
Unfortunatly if you want to watch the sunrise at Ayres rock you have to be up ready and along there before it gets up. So grudgingly set my alarm for 4.00am! Get to see Ayres rock at sunset but it doesnt really change colour and then we do a 10km walk around it. The climb was closed due to high winds which was a bit disappointing. The afternoon involves a drive to Kings Canyon which is another 5 hours away and night time involved more campfires, goon and sleeping in huts!
The highlight of the trip was the hike around Kings Canyon. It was 3.5 hours and pretty hard work, but it was defo worth it to see the views of the canyon. By the time the hike was over everyone was pretty much exhausted, so luckily the afternoon just involved driving back to Alice, via the singing dingo! Don't ask! Once again another drunken night was had by all on tour at night time and a lot of funky dancing going on!! All good. So looking forward to not having to get up in the middle of the night the next day!!! All good!


So now its on to Melbourne where it will be good to have the luxury of light switches and pillows!!! And not having to shoo flies out of your face every 2 secs!