Waiting to Exit

Well, by now Im sure that most of you have decided that I am either dead or that I've dropped off the face of the earth. and While iam creatainly not dead, I think i very well may have visited another planet in the last two months, as I dont know where else you could have found what I did in Elliott!

so, while I was busy running out of money in Darwin, I stumbled across a job in the remote NT, in some place called Elliott, It was as a bar and chamber maid with free meals, accommodation and Air conditioning (thats what really got me, was the air con) Anyway, a short phone call later and the job was mine. Now I'm not one to usually stem into situations entirely unprepared, so I before hopping onto a 12 hour bus ride, I did a little googling. Well basically the only thing I could find out was that Elliot had a population of about ... 700 give or take. That and a rough location as being roughly half way between Alice Springs and Darwin. Exciting, no? But hey, what an opportunity! Here I have an honest chance to save some serious cash, and actually meet some aboriginals, so why not? Well 12 hrs later, and the bus drops me off on the side of the highway, litterally! Next to what I can only describe as a tin shed with visions of grandeur. And atop this shed, a simple sign proclaims it to be "Elliot Hotel" Oh dear. The bus driver gave me an understandably funny look as I slowly slunk off the bus, wishing over and over in my mind for there to be 2 Elliott's and for this to be the wrong one. This hope was shattered, however, when a little green car with a lasy and a funny looking dog pulled up to claim me. Enter Lena (a Germanic Zambian) and Rowdy (a Rotti-shepherd cross) Lena helped me load my stuff and drove me around back where i could unload. Then it was inside to meet the new bosses.

Sitting inside the "bar" was one new boss, Peter who looked kind of like Santa Clause .. but in shorts ... and drunk. It wasn't long before I learned that Pete starts drinking some time between noon and 1pm and doesn't generally stop until the bar closes. Nice guy though. Enjoying the evening alongside Pete were Mark and Vanessa, the two young owners of the Post office. Within about 20 mins of arriving, I knew Vanessa's whole life story and then some. Nice girl, but wow could she talk! (It might be interesting to note that neither Mark, nor Vanessa remembered meeting me that night and I re-met them the next week) Sadly though, after 12hrs of sitting on a bus I wasn't much for talking, and excused myself to go and unpack and see my room.

Despite outward appearances, (it looked like a miniature portable class room, like the ones from Elementary school) I have to admit it was actually quite nice. It included a wardrobe, my own bed, a tv, fridge, microwave, a chair and a couch! Pretty fancy considering where I had been before.

The next morning was to be one of many early starts as I joined Lena at around 8am to start cleaning the rooms. The hotels routine was pretty standard, rooms in the am, and working the pub at 5pm, with free time to do what ever in between. Lena took me for a tour of the town, which took about 15mins and included such sights as the golf course (which had 9 holes of mini golf too!) the clinic, police station, library (only open between 1pm and 3pm like 2 days a week) the post office, and the gym (which was infested with spiders) At some point, I was introduced to the rest of the staff, which included Simon, our Yardie, Mark, our cook, and Phil, my other boss. All three were great fun, and many long evenings were spent joking around and generally messing about.

Well needless to say, with days spent napping in my air conned room (it got up to 45 most days!) it wasnt long before the only way to tell days apart was by what was on tv. Monday nights were marked by Criminal Minds and Boston legal, Tuesday was Law and Order, Wednesday CSI Miami and Torchwood, and Thursday Stargate. The other 3 days only played movies really.

Most days at the pub were pretty dull and generally consisted of watching alot of news casts, which has subsequently led to my being more well versed in the current Australian election campaign that I ever was in the last Canadian one. (And let me tell you, both parties seem exactly the same)

Thursday and Friday nights were almost always hopping though, as it was pay day for most of the locals. Some of those nights got pretty rowdy, with more than a few visits from the police. To relate ever one of those amusing events would take way more time than I have at the moment though, so I'll spare you

After a while, I discovered that Desperate Housewives was on TV, followed by Oprah in the mid afternoon, so I started watching those instead of sleeping the afternoons away.

As a nice way to break the heat, we did visit the lake (which is larger than all of Elliott!) on a couple occasions. Once i went with Lena to take Rowdy for a swim, and another time I went with Phil, mark, Simon and two of our coppers, Ryan and Ben. (Ben had a thing for me ) Turns out one of the other police officers owned a jet Ski, which he was letting Ryan borrow in his absence. Ryan took me for a ride a couple times, amusing all my co-workers on shore by throwing me off the back, some times as far as 5 feet! It was great fun we also took Phil's speed boat and towed a tube behind it. After watching Ben tear his ear though, I wasnt too into the tubing action.

Somehow between the occasional visit to the like, and the comparative metropolis of Tennant Creek, two months almost flew by.I know at the time the days were long, but looking back I dont honestly know where the 2 months went!

So finally, it came time for me to pack up and leave my quiet, if slightly dull, sanctuary, and an amazing thing dawned on me. I was sad to be leaving! After 2 months of complaining and having nothing to do but watch tv, i was actually going to miss Elliott. I had made great friends with my co-workers, met some great and interesting people, remembered what it was like to have dogs around, and had a surprising amount of fun. it was really great to work in the Northern Territory, because its like a world of its own up here. Hotter than hell, and full of all sorts of people, many who are looking to hide from something, and many who are just ... there.

Hey Guys

Well I've been back in Darwin for a couple days now, but I've only just gotten the energy to actually sit and write a blog entry. Kakadu was absolutely amazing!

After much deliberating on which company to sign up with, I decided to go with my old favorite, Adventure Tours. They did my Blue Mountains trip as well as the OzBus that I took all the way up the coast. I figured they did a pretty bang up job on that, so why not give em a shot in Kakadu? Plus they had the best Itinerary that I saw. Unfortunately, they also picked up at 6:30am >.< ick!

Anyway, after an accidentally big night out (it was pub quiz night in Darwin) I managed to get up, store my gear, check out and be ready for the bus well ahead of time. I wish I had gotten a picture of when it did pull up though! Cuz my god it was a funny looking vehicle! Picture it this way ... something of a large truck (not quite a semi) with a big cab, but instead of a flat bed on the back, it had a large raised box with windows! It was really cool to sit in though, because no matter what seat you had, you could see out the windows. I was really glad for that choice later when I saw the tour company that my hostel books for, where you sat in a troopie. And as much as I love troopies, I'm a little sick of em.

So anyway, I had been told that the tour was going to be a full one. but lucky for me there had been some kind of a mess up and we ended up with only 7 of us on the whole tour! There was Mike, the token Irish boy, Heike & Katarina, from Germany, Yuko and Shinji from Japan, and Tatiana from Spain. It was an interesting mix since there was actually not a single person from England on the tour. (I nearly died from shock)

Being the early morning that it was, there was some tired attempts at conversation which soon died out as everyone turned to snoring instead.

Our first quick stop was for a form of breakfast at a road stop on the way to Kakadu. It warrents mention mostly becuase Mike, Heike and I decided to be tacky tourists and take our photos in one of those stands where there is a cartoon picture, and you put your head through a cut out circle to make it look like your face on the body of what ever cartoony thing is pictured. It was fun

There were also 2 crocodiles; one salt water and one freshie, housed in pens behind the station and a 1 meter crocodile skull on display inside ... 1 meter! thats more than half my height! I'd hate to have seen that monster while fishing!

After loading back up, we headed to our first official stop of the day, a wildlife cruise on the Mary River. This little stretch of land is home to the worlds highest concentration of Salt water crocs, and we saw many of them from our little tin boat. Having seen them so often up the East Coast though, it really wasnt much of a sight. More frightening for me was trying to retreive my water bottle from a huntsman spider! Right before we got on the boat we were sitting under a small shelter applying sunscreen. As per my usual luck, I happened to put my water bottle down right by where the most ugly spider was devouring a fly! I think I ended up getting someone else to get it for me.

During our two hour boat cruise we did learn an awful lot about the surrounding area and birds. We saw Jabirus, which were renamed to Black Neck Storks because Jabiru is actually an African bird. We also saw Whistling Kites, some kind of funny duck, snake neck darter birds, egrets, white bellied sea eagles (suspiciously far from the sea) and plenty of cockatoos. We learned heaps about the plants and how the Aboriginals in the area used some of them, and also saw the damage the wild pigs in the area cause by digging for food.

For the most part it was too hot to really enjoy the cruise and most of us fell asleep on the way back, but we did see some amusing sights including a crocodile trying to sneak up on a Jabiru to steal its fish, and some Sea eagles running a distraction technique on another Jabiru that was trying to feed its chicks with a catfish. Neither the crocodile nor the sea eagles succeeded in their ploys but it was funny to watch.

After the boat cruise it was off to Ubirr (oo-birr) to see some of the most pristine rock art in all the world. Our guide, Travis, told us alot about Aboriginals while we walked, and described how you could tell how old some of the paintings were. Some of the paintings dated back to over 20,000 yrs! On the walk, we passed the "main gallery" which was used as a housing area for the aboriginal people durring the dry season. I was shocked to learn that the last group to shelter there had been in 1975! It really brings in to perspective the fact that this is still a living, albeit dying, culture. At some point during our tour of the art sites, we were joined by a kindly older lady, which was quite amusing because she thought Travis was the ranger and was prepared to follow us around all day if she could. She even started to follow us back to the car park before someone explained that we were on a tour and the ranger would be starting talks in a little while

Before leaving though, we made the quick climb up to the top of Ubirr for an amazing view out over the flood plains. The whole thing was so picturesque that its hard to describe. In one direction you can see the flood plains stretching out with white birds flying all over, and in the other direction you can see the escarpment territory with smoke from bush fires occasionally obscuring the view. It was quite easy to feel like you were on top of the world.

It was a long drive to camp for the evening, but we were treated to a roasted lamb steak dinner which was delicious! We went to wash the dishes though and this was where I discovered the resident bathroom spider in the ladies toilets. It was big ... and ugly ... and it was a spider. And it was blocking the only way in to the bathroom. It was moment of extreme choice for me ...should i hold my bladder and hope the thing moved ... or chance it and try and run past? I was saved (a little) when it moved just far enough for me to litterally squeeze by into the first toilet stall. And thankfully, Heike saved me from having to freak out by scaring the spider away for me. Phew!

We sat back at camp for a short bit, but everyone was very tired and very hot, so we laid out our swags (no tents on this trip! just a mat with a mossie net!) and Heike and I went to the showers. It was a great shower after a long sweaty day, however, before we got back to camp ... I once again had to brave the spider. It was on the wall this time though, which was no problem for me. It wasn't on the floor, so I could skirt past without worrying. Which would have been fine, had it stayed on the wall! Oh no, the bloody thing had to run at me under the bathroom door! I dont think I screamed so loud in all my life! I think I scared it though, cuz it ran right back out. Of course, everyone thought this was highly amusing, except for me. I was left with a large disgusting spider sitting directly outside my stall door and no way around it. I had to suck it up and jump over it. EEEEEEEWWW!!!!

Anyway, back at camp we were warned to make sure to drink lots of water as it would be a long day tomorrow with an early start. We got up just as it was getting light out and had some breakfast. We were meant to have toast, but sadly, the ants had gotten into our bread We were also meant to make sandwiches to take with us, as we had no way of carrying all the stuff to make them on the hike with us ... but as previously mentioned, there were ants in the bread. Instead we made wraps. But not before Travis made a big show of making an ant bread sandwhich and calling us all a bunch of city dwellers. "You'll eat a cow, but you wont eat an ant" damn right.

Today promised to be quite challenging, as we were going to hike to the top of Jim Jim falls. After a very bumpy ride which left most of the group feeling ill, we started on our hike. the first part wasnt too bad, climbing over a dry river bed and a short path, it was about a half an hour. Then we realised this had just been the hike to the path to the hike to the top of Jim Jim ... uh oh. Yeah, basically it was an almost vertical climb up the escarpment over boulders of varying size after which we walked for a damn long time over open expanses of desert like conditions. The plant life on the top of the escarpment was pretty sparse so we were in the sun almost the whole time after the climb. After what seemed an eternity, we finally saw water ahead, thinking these were to be the plunge pools where we'd be swimming. We took some time to take in the beauty of being at the very top of this waterfall, looking out over the surrounding area and getting some photographs. Unfortunately, poor Katarina was terrified of heights, and hadn't had much fun climbing up and wouldn't go anywhere near the edge. She spent the whole stop with her back firmly toward the view, preferring instead to look back at the flat area we had come from. We had just started to get settled when Travis told us this was not where we were going, but that pool below us was our final destination. It was another 20 - 30 min hike to get down there. Sigh. It was well worth it though! The plunge pool's water felt amazing after the long 3 hour sweaty hike! We were joined by 2 other tour groups who were also using the spot as a swiming hole and lunch area, so it was a good couple of hours of mingling and swimming. Travis and another guide also took a couple people up to a really high cliff jump. I could barely watch them do it, let alone think of even going up there myself!

After a bit, the other groups left, leaving just us to enjoy the area. It was interesting to see a rock painting so high up as well. I should mention that where we were eating was where, in a few months time, the water fall will be pouring over in a thundering cascade to the pools some 200ft below. It was quite a view, made all the more interesting by the presence of a very old style drawing on the wall facing the cliff. Travis lead some of us on a voluntary climb, which I opted out of when I realized where they were going. They were climbing over some very small rock shelves to go and sit on a rock on the opposing wall. It gave me chills just watching them, so I was quite happy to sit on my little ledge and admire the view from an area I knew was relatively safe.

After eating out disgustingly soggy sandwiches (no Travis didn't eat his ant sandwich) we refilled out water bottles in the pool and started the grueling climb back to the bottom. It wasn't too bad to start with, as we had waited out the hottest part of the day by staying at the pool for longer. But unfortunately, the kind of rocks we were climbing over retained heat quite well. I think the air temperature was something around 36, but with the hot dry wind, and the heat reflecting from the rocks, it was at least 50! Combine that with intense climbing, and the sun beating down and its not very fun.

At one point I felt so sick I had to stop. My one hand was so swollen from the heat of the rocks that I couldn't close it, and I was litterally shiverering in the heat. it was hear I was very glad for Tatiana's presence as she is a nurse. She kept me company while the other went on ahead. I had managed to let myself get to a dangerous point of dehydration. our guide took good care of me though, and with him a Tatiana watching me, I managed to make it down to the bottom of the climb. It was a very scary experience, to be cold in weather that hot, and to be feeling like I did. But I managed to do it, and despite the dehydration, that makes me proud.

We had a nice rest stop at the bottom of the climb as we waited for Travis to refill our water bottles at the car park. We were headed to the bottom plunge pools to go swimming for the afternoon. I felt quite bad for Yuko though, as she had slipped early into the climb down and managed to strain her ankle. I couldnt imagine doing that climb with a wounded ankle! It also meant that she and Shinji couldn't join us for the swim in the afternoon.

It was another interesting hike over huge boulders to the bottom plunge pools, but the sights were amazing! I sat with Heike and Travis looking up at the area we had been at only hours before, not quite comprehending how high up it was until Mike swam to the other end and stood at the bottom of the cliff face. It was so humbling and just an amazing site to be seen. (its really hard to describe this stuff by the way!)

Back at camp we all but literally collapsed. We imediately dove into the Beer esky and then started preparing dinner. Despite being so tired, Mike, Heike and I stayed up later chatting with the camp ground's manager and Travis. The manager had been nice enough to join us for dinner and he even brought us a damper, which is a traditional Aussie bread cooked on the camp fire. Its made like a sweet bread and made a delicious desert with jam and butter.

I'm happy to mention that there were no further spider incidents and I was able to shower and pee in peace before going to bed for the night

On our third and final day, we were supposed to get up well before sunrise, but being the lazy buggers we are (and our guide too!) we all slept in until the sun was almost up before heading to Maguk falls. Today's hike was infinitely easier and the falls we went swimming in were absolutely gorgeous! Unlike the dried up Jim Jim falls, Maguk was still leaking water into its plunge pools, and at the top where we were, there were several smaller running waterfalls that you could swim and climb along.

We spent the day here climbing and exploring like a bunch of little kids and swimming along the gorges. We also did a couple of cliff jumps (yes I did the smallest one twice and nearly crapped myself both times!) and genrally just took in the views.

I was very sad that we couldn't stay for long, as we still had to make lunch and get back to Darwin. So, it seemed, too early we had to pack up and head back to the car to go for lunch. We stopped near a huge termite mound though! Travis told us more about termites and how their mounds had been used both by aboriginals and white settlers throughout history. It was interesting stuff, including info like each hive will only live for about 90 years before the colony inbreeds itself out.

This particular termite mound was ... 6 meters i think someone said? either way, it was a huge Cathedral mound.

After lunch it was back on the truck and we headed back to Darwin.

It was an amazing 3 days, which I will never forget, and I was so happy that I chose Adventure Tours. A couple people mentioned that we had missed out on a large part of the advertised itinerary, but I didnt mind. To my mind, the tour was everything that was promised and I had a great time hanging out with the group.

Hey all

Well its about time for another blog entry since I seem to be getting more and more lax about updating. oops!

Anyway, currently I'm sitting in a very hot and sticky Darwin, but first ... a recounting of the last few days / weeks

Right so, after a sad good bye to the lovely Airlie Beach, the girls and I hopped the bus to Magnetic Island. I'll admit that getting there was a little lack luster after the Whitsundays, but it was still gorgeous. We were lured in to Base Backpackers by the promise of a wicked (and safe / drug free) full moon Party and by the supposed endless sunshine that made up the climate here.

Well, sunshine there was plenty of, but as for the full moon party ... well it was a little less than wicked. First of all, our travel agent had promised us that our tickets were included in our package, which they werent, and second off ... how can you have a full moon party 3 days after the full moon? It was still a good night, which started with the 5 girls taking over the bathroom and covering ourselves in make up and body paint. Then it was off to a lovely little Pizza joint just down the road to enjoy some of said lovely pizza and some cheap drinks before coming back to the grossly over priced party at our hostel. It was a messy night. and that is all I'll say.

We spent the next day recovering on the beach and chilling on the Island before we split up again to head to our next destination : Mission Beach.

The Oz bus was actually on time for once, mostly because the driver had to catch the same ferry and bus as us all in the morning, and we got off to a good start. Somewhere along the short trip, I decided that it would be a good idea to pay our nice driver and book myself on a gut wrenching white water rafting. I decided that since I'd have to spend and extra day in mission beach anyway, i might as well make the most of it. and what a day it was! But first, mission beach.

Upon arrival into the Mission Beach area, we started to see signs that looked like emu warnings. Our driver soon corrected our thoughts though, tell us that they were in fact Cassowary signs. Mission Beach up to Cook town is the only place in the world to see these amazing but deadly, flightless birds. I had heard of them before, but never seen one, even at the zoos as we had never had time to go and look at them. But basically picture this. a Cassowary is like a small emu with the face of a turkey, the eyes of an emu, and a giant bone on the top of its head. ... Yeah... oh and a razor sharp raptor like claw on its feet. Ugly as hell, but cool all the same. Anyway, that was worlds worst description of these amazing birds, so if you want to see what one actually looks like, just google it.

Sadly, we didn't get to see any Cassowaries on our way into the city, but I was dropped off next to a giant one ... albeit a fake one.

Anyway, the Beach Shack was where we were staying, and it was actually quite cool. Had there been anything to do in mission beach, I might have considered staying there for a while. But sadly about the only things to do in this quaint little spit of a town is to Sky Dive (no thanks) , River Raft (already doing it) and um ... well thats it really. Oh yeah, you can chill on the beach or at the pool, but since its so close to Tully and one of the wettest cities in Australia, it rains. A lot.

After a nice night and a pleasant gecko filled night, I woke up very early to await my rafting pick up. I'll admit here that when I got up, I was feeling a little nervous. I'd never been rafting before and had heard all the horror stories of how people fell out of the raft and drowned under rocks and things (thanks Sam) so needless to say, I was having second thoughts. My bus came and picked me up though, and before long I had met up with another girl, Emma, who was from the Oz Bus and had booked with me. Funny how much less scary things are with company. We got to Tully township in short order, paid our fees and suited up in wet suits and some sort of sandal with lots of straps attached. We looked ridiculous! and I wish I had gotten photos.

Raging Thunder does a couple different tours along the Tully River, and you might be interested to know that one of the reasons the Tully is so popular is because at the top of the river is an electrical power dam thingy. That means that every day you have a guaranteed minimum water level. cool huh? Anyway, Emma and I had signed up for the "Extreme tour" which meant we got to start a little farther up the river than the rest, and we got to do it in smaller boats and do rapids backwards and things. Groovy.

After a very hasty breakfast our "Team Extreme" loaded up on the mini bus and headed to the river. It was here we met a couple of the guides who would be taking us down the river, as well as our fellow passengers. Emma and I were 2 of 8 people who came in from Mission beach, most of the others had to catch a coach bus from Cairns to get down to where we were. We picked our team though, made up of one Californian, 3 Irish boys, and Emma and I. We were a little slow to suit up, and ended up with a Kiwi guide named Casey, and boy was that fortunate. The man was a personality to be sure Right off he started making fun of the Irish (always amusing) and the fact that we would now be screwed because the Irish cant listen to instruction. It was this point where I started getting really scared. Emma and I jumped into the middle of the boat (we decided we didn't want to go in the front just yet) and started psyching each other up for our trip. The first rapid left me shaking, I was so freaked out. But by the end of the second one I was getting a hang of it. It wasn't long before I was having the time of my life going over the rapids and paddling with what I thought was expert skill

Casey was an excellent guide who took us to a few spots the other guides didn't go to. He took us over rapids backwards, and even took us Raft surfing, where you steer your raft so that one side is under the rapids and the weight of the water holds it there. That was fun He had us float down the river for a stretch which was relaxing, and had us practice pulling each other back into the raft in case someone did fall out. Then we got to swim through some rapids, which was fun. He pulled the raft up to the bank and all of us piled out and followed another one of the guides up a small hill. It was here they told us what to expect while swimming down this stretch. basically we were going to get held under the water with only 1 second intervals in which to get a breath. Oh yeah, and see those rocks on either side? yeah don't swim into them. They'll hurt. So when you come out of the rapid, start swimming hard for the left hand side or you're going to go over that waterfall there. eep! It was an experience to be sure, and it was over much faster than it seemed, so much so, that I almost didn't make it to the bank in time! I did get to the bank though, but the rocks were slippery, and some dunce from another boat crashed into me sending me back into the water lucky for me though, our guide was watching for something like that and helped me onto shore. it was just after here that we found out we could swim down the waterfall anyway, which I did because, well why not? It wasn't until I was already in the water, being held by my guide that he warned me not to open my mouth to scream because I'd likely drown. They are real good with that kind of thing sheesh! It was great though! I spent a while 5 seconds under the waterfall and there was nothing but green all around me! It was really neat ) Then it was off to lunch. mmm Food.

Afterwards we posed for photos in our boat before Casey steered us straight under a waterfall! I never knew what kind of force all that water could exude, but I felt like I was going to be pushed straight through the bottom of the boat! All in all, we didn't have anyone come out of our boat, though a couple of the others did flip over, which was kind of scary, but they all got back in ok. We spent most of the later part of the ride looking for water dragons and snakes (saw lots of the former, but no pythons) At one point, Casey stopped the raft at a large Island / rock in the river and we piled out again to follow another guide up to the top. It wasnt until I was at the top of this huge rock that I found out this was a cliff jump! By that time, it was too late to chicken out as Casey had already taken the raft passed us to wait. He politely waved as I called him an ass though. What a nice guy I did the jump though! And it felt like I was falling forever!

The day was over too soon though, and before we knew it we were at the bottom. Just for fun, Casey let us tip the raft and swim over to the boat ramp. The day was hugely exhausting! and I fell asleep on the ride back to Mission Beach.

It was pouring rain the next couple days, so there wasn't much to do besides sit inside and watch tv and dvds. Then it was off to Cairns

It seemed that the farther up the coast I got, the more i could notice the humidity every time I got off the bus. One of the stops we made along the way up was the Johnson River Crocodile farm. Rumor has it that the dude who runs the farm was the original inspiration for Crocodile Dundee ... though let me tell you he didn't look anything like Paul Hogan. Anyway, I got to hold several different snakes, which was really cool, as well as a blue tonged lizard, baby crocodile, and a dingo puppy We also saw a giant 5 meter croc named Greggory, and toured around the farm for a bit. The visit was entertaining once you got over the fact that the whole place was created to breed Crocodiles for slaughter.

Cairns itsself was more than a little touristy. In the CBD (Central business district) all there is to do is shop for tacky "discount" souvineers and look at the over priced menus of the many bars and cafes that inhabit the town. For a backpacker, there were tons of deals as long as you were willing not to use your taste buds. Things like free meals (you had to buy a drink though) and drink deals were offered in abundance which was nice. The meals mostly consisted of Spagetthi bolognaise, chili concarne and some kind of non meat meal. The SpagBol wasnt bad, but I'd steer far clear of the Chilli.

To be honest I didnt really enjoy Cairns very much, though to be true, I never really gave it much of a chance. Most of my days there I spent wandering around looking at shops and the various markets. One thing they did have there was a place called Rustys markets, which was just like the farmers markets from home! Pleanty of fresh, ripe, locally grown produce, and all at prices I could actually afford! its just too bad that I never really bought anything there, due to the fact that I wasnt sure how long I'd be staying in the area for. It looked good though

Upon arrival, as per usual the girls needed jobs and all 4 of them managed to get jobs in the first day they were there! So by the time I arrived the next day, everyone was headed off to their various places of employment. Helen and Jenna were working at a bar/restaraunt called Rattle & Hum which had a cool atmosphere and Sam was working for one of the more popular nightclubs, Soho. Erin managed to find herself work in a pleasant little cafe (with awesome food!) situated right in the center of the tourist district. With the girls all settled in and my funds running low, I knew it was time for me to once again move on before I wasted another 2 or 3 weeks spending my money in a town I didnt really like.

It took me a while to decide, but after about a week I finally settled on taking a plane to Darwin. I cried my eyes out in the Airport, but was comforted by the fact that I'll be seeing all my friends again in just a few short months. I can't imagine what it will be like when they all fly home.

I've been here in Darwin now for a few days, and the city alternately makes me want to stay and leave in equal parts. The first night I was here, I arrived to find a 55 yr old man in his tighty-whities sleeping in the bed next to me and a drunken Irish boy who was intent on wrestling said 55yr old man into submission.... interesting. Since then I've talked to both of them a bit, though in the usual Irish fashion, Derek is rarely sober. I've also made friends with some other boys who are working in the hostel and around the city. Most of the people at the Wilderness lodge seem to be German though, so there are very defined cliques of people who hang out in groups. Its a little sad, but such is life. I also had my food bag stolen last night, which needs a mention here purely out of the annoyance factor more than anything. Just another item to add to my growing list of items lost and presumed stolen. Sigh

Anyway, I head now to Kakadu in 2 days time, and I'm leaving with Adventure Tours, the same company who does OzExperience and who I did my blue mountains tour through. I cant wait, though i know its going to be an exhausting few days as I've signed up for a tour with more hikes than driving time.

So until then, Hope things are well at home ... I'm going grocery shopping ... again >.<

Ciao!
Amy

Hello All

So I just got back from the Whitsundays, and Oh my god! Thats about all I have to say. It was amazing! The Scenerey, the beaches, the color of the water, the fish! all were amazing. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Before all that, the girls and I had other adventures to relate

Not long after my last entry we all abandoned Brisbane for the upper East Coast. True to form with almost all East Coast trips, our first stop was to be Noosa which we would use as a base camp for our trip to the Australia Zoo (AKA Steve Irwin Zoo) After a tearful goodbye to Andy, Lisa and Debi who were sadly not joining us on this adventure, the crew and I jumped onto the bus for Noosa. We Arrived at Dolphins hostel and after unloading our bags, immediately headed for the beach. It was dark by then, so no swimming, but just listening to the ocean and surf again was enough for the one night.

The next morning kicked off bright and early as our coach to the Zoo was scheduled to leave at 8:30am and we had to rush to the transit point in Noosa Junction. The arrival of the coach was nifty, since it was a double decker bus! we jumped aboard and were immediately inundated with Steve Irwin stuff. There were TVs showing constant re-runs of "The Crocodile Hunters' home videos" Which were amusing as always. We took a scenic rout to the Zoo, arriving at the entrance a little before 10am.

Once inside we went and lined up for the first event of the day, Elephant feeding! Sadly, it wasn't quite as exciting as it all sounds. It was really industrial, with kids and parent alike all lined up in neat rows with a bucket of fruit sitting at the front. We were told to grab a piece of fruit, offer it to the Elephant, but don't touch it, and don't look away from it, then move on and wash our hands and leave. The whole thing took about 30 seconds, and left me with a really goopy hand (ew!) Then it was off to the Crocoseum for the fabled crocodile show. This was the place Steve Irwin had dreamed of, and after a life time of work, made reality. It was really cool to see the show, though slightly sad since you couldn't help but think of the man who made it all happen and how he was no longer around to see the fruits of his labor. It was actually almost creepy that there was so much about Steve Irwin around the entire zoo, but aside from the memorial wall, there was never any mention of the fact that he was gone. Even in the gift shops, you could still buy Steve Irwin action figures, and the post cards had him and his family on them. They even had pins, magnets, stickers, and all sorts of paraphernalia with his face on it.

While we were at the zoo we learned lots about crocodiles, stroked Wombats, possums, tigers, and a baby alligator, and got our photos taken with a 17kilo snake! (that one was for you Grandma!) The snake photo was cool because the snake weighted more than my entire backpack! It was really warm too, and the scales were amazingly soft. We also took our photo on Cameron, which was a model replica of an actual crocodile. He was 27ft long!! I cant remember where the sign said that he was found, but holy crap I would not want to come across him in the wild!

After running full tilt for the bus, we headed back to our temporary home in Noosa to cook, pack, and get ready for the next stop on our journey; Rainbow beach.

We arrived at Rainbow Beach and promptly checked in. The weather here was much nicer this time around then when I was first there. However, being the tiny spit of a town that it was, there was not much to do, so we had a quiet night in. Turns out it was a good idea too, since the next day was our Kayaking.

Now, I know this sounds naive, but I figured that a nice day out on the ocean searching for dolphins might be a little relaxing. oops! Totally not so! Basically I paid to be put through 3.5hrs of intense paddling! According to our guides, we would normally have driven most of the way to the headlands, but part of the mountain (hill really) that surrounded the area had collapsed, blocking the way to the headland via car, which meant we were going to have to paddle to it. Not a big challenge at the time, since I hadn't Kayaked before, so whats the big deal right? We partnered up, and chose boats before the guides helped us into the water. The girls partnered together, leaving me with Mike, a new addition to our traveling party. The girls knew him in Brisbane, but I hadn't really met him before so that was a little awkward. I was in the front of the kyack and he was in the back doing the steering. After a long, long paddle out to the headland, I was despairing that we wouldn't see any dolphins at all, but finally some appeared a little ways away. I'll admit, after having surfed with dolphins in NSW, and seeing them all the time on the beaches at Surf camp, it was more than a little disappointing. That coupled with my aching shoulders left the whole experience a little jaded. But It was still fun. The worst part had to be knowing we still had to paddle back.

Part of our trip back to the beach included a brief lesson in kayak surfing, which was fun. Basically you just paddled hard and rode a wave most of the way in to shore. However, they didn't really tell you not to get too far in or you'd get beached (which we did) nor did they warn you that you'd have to paddle against the waves to get back out so we could get where we were going Mike and I paddled hard against the waves, but were positioned badly and got capsised, and I got stuck under the kayak not cool at all! Eventually though we made it back to where the cars were parked and I managed to get away without any broken bones, but with more than a few large bruises and bumps.

From here I split with the girls, as the next day they headed off for Fraser Island, and I was Bundy bound, again As per usual, I had impeccable timing, arriving in the city just days after another person was killed. Eesh! I met with some of my old fruit picking friends for the brief 10 hours I was back in the city before running for the Ozbus to get to Kroombit.

Once aboard the bus with my new driver, Puddles, I quickly found there were actually more Canadians on the bus this time, and not only that, but there were 5 of them from my very own city! Small world, sort of hahaha.

Anyway, the trip to Kroombit was fun, as we played some games and watched Crocodile Dundee. Upon arrival at our "out back cattle station" though, it began to pour rain! Oh well, it would be more fun, or at least it wouldnt have been as bad if I wasn't wearing white shorts in the Red Dust area. Oops! While at kroombit we had the opportunity to do Skeet shooting, horse back riding, goat rodeos, lassoing, whip cracking and mechanical bull riding. I'm proud to say my rodeo team (consisting of 2 other Calgarians and myself) grabbed, subdued and branded our goat in 20 seconds flat! Some of the other teams had their goats jump right out of the ring! Talk about cheating!

After the rodeo I actually managed to rope myself a goat too. Grandpa would be so proud Too bad the goats weren't really moving, but all the better for me! Activities were adjourned for dinner, however, and we learned a bit about the area we were in, and over heard one of the farm hands talking about how he found a Red Back spider in his sleeping bag (ick!!) before we were herded over to learn the fine art of breaking the sound barrier with a whip. I managed to do it a couple times, and I only hit my arm once or twice. Yay me! Mechanical bull riding was amusing as well, mostly because the 6 of us from Calgary were very cocky about how good we'd do. And most of them did great! Lasting the longest, and setting records and such, except for me. I lasted a whopping 2 bucks! Which was better than the 1 buck I had predicted for myself.

After a rather noisy nights sleep in a cramped dorm, it was back onto the bus early morning for the 9 hour drive to Airlie beach. Here we played some very dubious games, including a treasure hunt which included the two Scottish girls on the bus running back and forth up the isles. (risk assessment anyone?) And we also stopped in a nice little town called Serina for a game of barefoot lawn bowls. Then we finally hit the tropics!

It was noticeable at once how much hotter it was as soon as you stepped off the bus in Airlie beach. It was gorgeous! The bus rolled past the Abel Point Marina, where you have a nice hill top that over looks all the sail boats and the crystal clear water and just a distant hint of the many lovely islands that make up the Whitsundays. In all my infinite wisdom, I decided upon arrival to repeat the mistake I made in Hervey bay, and stay with Koalas. To anyone considering coming out here, give this chain a pass its $27/night to sleep in what, at first glance, appears to be a decent cabin. Closer inspection however, reveals leaking toilets, crappy mattresses, cockroaches, a shower head that falls off the wall, and a "breakfast room" instead of a kitchen. Lovely! Oh well, some people are chumps I suppose >.<

It wasn't long after I arrived in Airlie beach that some family friends from home arrived here as well It was really nice to see Sherry, Don and Tasha though it was a little weird to think that I was sitting there having dinner with them on the other side of the globe They were really great to me though, and if you guys are reading this, I'd like to say thanks again They let me stay at their accommodation for a couple nights (real mattresses, pillows and blankets!) and took me out for dinner as well. They also brought me a lovely little care package from home which was very nice and Grandma, I wear that necklace every day. Time went fast though, and on the 3rd day, they departed for their 1 day cruise to the Whitsundays while I went to rejoin the girls at Magnums hostel.

The weather around Airlie was amazing! and I'm glad it was because that meant that we could sit and laze about the swimming lagoon all day in the sun. Which I did on numerous occasions.

Saturday dawned though, and it was time to get up and get ready for a sailing trip of our very own. Originally, I had planned to be on the Ron of Argyl, but after meeting back up with everyone, I decided I'd have more fun on the same boat as them, and thus switched from a classic sail, to a party catamaran! We met Max, our hostess who kept us entertained (and kept some of us thouroughly drunk) for the whole trip, as well as Simon, the skipper and Heidi, another helper on the boat. Day 1 consisted of sailing to our Island destination. As some of the girls were worried about sea sickness, they picked a boat that docked every night, so instead of cramped ship cabins, we got decent holiday resort style cabins on South Mole Island. The Island its self was as beautiful as everything in the area, and it included a golf course, tennis courts, spa/hot tub, full size swimming pool, archery area and much more. It was an early night for most of us, since we had to be on the boat again at 7am the next day.

Day 2 dawned a little cloudy, but we piled onto the boat non the less. Before going though, one of the Island crew gave us our first view of Reef style ocean life. They dropped some bread into the sea beside the gang plank and these huge fish, called Bat fish. They seemed gigantic to any fish life Id seen before. They seemed really surreal for it too. I wish I had gotten a photo. The ride to Whitehaven beach (our stop for the day) was choppy until we put up the sails, and the girls and I sat on the front of the boat with our legs dangling over the side for most of the ride. It was fun, kind of like being on a swing but um ... well not. All I can really say is, if anyone remembers the boat swing ride where you go back and forth like a pendulum, it was kind of like that, but not as severe.

Arrival on Whitehaven though, was an absolute feast for the eyes. The beach seemed to stretch forever, and it was all a pure, sparkling white, rimmed behind by tropical foliage and mountains, and in front by the most clear water Ive ever seen! The boat had to anchor a little ways off shore, and while the crew was readying the speed boat to take us over to the land, we spotted a sea turtle just a little ways off the ship! (that I did get pictures of!) We were told that if we wanted to, we could swim into shore and our bags would be brought over for us, so thats just what Helen and I did. We dove head first into the cool water and swam like mad for the turtle, then to shore as we realized the turtle was much faster than us. I went swimming and snorkeling for most of the day, with a small spattering of time spend sun bathing on the beach. Helen fell asleep and had her Bikini top stolen and there was much drunken party antics by many of the people on board the boat. too soon though we had to get back on the boat to head back to the Island for the night. The ride back was just as fun as the ride to the island as we danced, snoozed, and did what ever on the way back to the Island. On arrival back, the girls and I made a bee-line for the spa and pool area. The spa, or hot tub, was basically a rock pool with a warm waterfall. It wasn't hot like a Canadian hot tub, because of course, in the summer no one wants to sit in hot water, but it was nice all the same. We headed back for showers, dinner, and another fun party night at the bar.

Day 3 was much the same as the days before, but today instead of beaching it, we were going snorkeling on the reef! And I couldn't wait! It was windy as usual (one of the other girls on the boat lost her hat!) so the ride was choppy, but it only took us about an hour to reach the snorkel destination. Here again they gave us the choice of boating over to the snorkel area or swimming, and as usual, Helen and I chose to swim, and Erin joined us But first, we had to put on our stinger suits. Its currently low season for jelly fish risk here, but that being said, a girl did get stung by one of the deadly jellies just a few weeks before we arrived, so we all thought it a wise investment to put $15 toward a stinger suit. These looked like black and red feety Pajamas. It was a hilarious look! but I did see one tiny jelly fish, not sure what kind, so I was glad to have it. Once the speed boat arrived at the reef, Heidi and max would throw bread crumbs into the water and the fish would swarm! So you put your mask into the water, and all around you is this ever moving mass of color! We saw black and white stripped zebra fish, some kind of greeny blue fish with pink lines on its head, green fish with yellow fins, and so much more that I cant even remember! I stayed out for a bit after the girls got bored, but eventually decided that it wouldn't be too bad to swim back out to the boat instead of waiting for a speed boat pick up. As we all know though, not all my ideas are good ones. It wasn't long before i realized that the boat looked one hell of a lot closer than it actually was, and it also wasn't long before i realized that I could no longer see the coral below me. Now, I don't consider myself naive about sharks, I know the risks, I know the breeds and I know what to look for. That being said, when you realize there is something around 60 feet of open water below you, and nothing on 3 sides, you start to get a little panicky. Especially when you realise that you are also alone in said conditions and making an awful lot of noise and looking conspicuously like a wounded seal or fish. needless to say, I swam faster than I had in all my life and literally jumped onto the swim step to get onto the boat. What fun!

Our sailing ended way too soon for my liking, because before we knew it, we were pulling into the marina again. Sigh back to dry land. However, believe you me, when i say that we still felt like we were on that boat for days afterwards! You get in the shower and start swaying as your sea legs return. It was good fun.

This entry is disgustingly long though, so i will stop it here, and pick up when I get back from Magnetic Island and the full moon party.

Cheers all!

Amy

Hey guys

well, I'm now 23 (that feels a little odd, I cant say I'm 22 any more) and I had an amazing time out here on my birthday. Since i last wrote, I hopped a train away from Bundy and finally finished my scuba diving! And let me tell you, I passed by the skin of my teeth

I was supposed to hook up with the dive school on Wednesday before I left to complete my last dive, but unfortunately, the water was too choppy and we would have been beaten to bits on the rocks if we tried to enter the ocean. So instead I had to do my diving on Thursday, which made me a little nervous considering I was leaving at 10am the next day and this was my last chance to complete my certification. Things started off okay, but I started to develop another headache as soon as I entered the water It was not cool. Eventually though, despite a leaking regulator, a broken snorkel, and gear that didn't fit quite right, I managed to complete the mandatory skills to become a certified open water diver. Yahoo!

Anyway, the original plan had been to do my diving on Wednesday, and use Thursday to hit the post office, rum tour and do my laundry. Well since we couldn't dive Weds, my plans got thrown all out of whack. Its alright though, I though, that just means that I'll do the rum tour on Wednesday. The brochures said the tours ran until 3pm every day, so I got a group together to go. However, I called to confirm the tour, and the lady informed me in a not so polite way that the tours were not operating due to a new exhibit in the Rum Museum. Great. Thats ok though, I could always head down there and poke around the museum at least. So Maria and I walked the 40mins (one way) to get to the distillery, only to find that the museum was closed due to the new exhibit which was showing for VIPS only. Arg! Just my luck. It was alright though. maria and I did some shopping and took some touristy photos out front, then headed home.

Thursday didn't start off much better. I arrived bright and early at the dive shop, only to be told we weren't going yet, but to pack our gear and come back in a couple hours. Great... well at least I can mail the stuff I bought. (note: Yes I'm a horrible child, I didn't mail Dad's Birthday stuff for like 2 weeks >.< ) Anyway, I literally ran back to the hostel and picked up all the stuff I'd been carting around since Sydney and the stuff I'd bought at the distillery the day before and booked it down to the post office. Now, just for the record, I bought this really nice rum liquor. A Baileys kind of thing that you can only buy in Bundaberg at the distillery. I figured this would make an excellent top off to the Birthday gifts I'd acquired, the only problem was getting it to Canada without it breaking... or so I thought. Turns out, you cant mail alcohol into Canada and the US! How annoying >.< So now I'm stuck in a non drinking hostel with a really expensive bottle of rum liquor. Sigh. Oh well, the rest got into the envelope and mailed off without much fuss. Then I booked it back to the dive shop, and waited around for about another 3 hours till we got to go diving.

And that pretty much brings us back to Brisbane. I'm staying in the 30man dungeon again, with Sam & Helen, and I've met some new friends, including Jenna and Debs; 2 Scottish girls, and Lisa from England. They are all a total blast We've spent the last 2 weeks hanging out, walking around town, and going to the weekend markets.

This is going to sound horridly cheesy, but on the first Saturday that I was here, Helen, Sam, Hollie, and Lisa and I all went into town to the markets. It was so picturesque I could have wept. Southbank is a gorgeous little area of Brisbane, with lovely sculptures, buildings, and a perfect view of the river. Combine that with a dance festival, night markets selling everything from Kangaroo scrotum lighters to Opal and Pearl jewelry (and fudge. mmm fudge) some of the best traveling friends you could ask for, and a guy on the corner playing the Spanish guitar and you get perfect!. It was amazing! We sat at an out door pub and had a couple drinks before heading back to our place for the night.

We had a birthday party on the camouflage fancy dress Karaoke night, which was awesome fun and the girls bought me a Pirate bag and a really cool card

Most nights we hang out at our hostel bar then head off to a club called Casablanca's for Karaoke. You'd be proud dad Though Helen and Sam are trained singers so it makes me sound something like a dying giraffe

I've had a lot of fun here, but its finally time to move on! The majority of us have booked our east coast package and we leave for Noosa and the Steve Irwin zoo on Monday. I cant wait! The only thing left for me to do is burn my photos to CD so I have tons of room up the coast I'm a little sad since I'll be missing Fraser Island with the girls, but I'll meet up with them again in Airlie beach.

Thats pretty much it for now To those who haven't gotten post cards yet, I'm really sorry I forgot my address book at home. i Know thats a lame excuse but its true! So if you guys could please email me your addresses that would rock!

Oh yeah and Mom, look for a package in the mail soon I'll be sending it in a couple days I think.

Love you all and miss you tons!

Amy