Alice Springs

My bus ride was long, but I made it to Alice Springs and was surprisingly not tired. Managed to doze a little, despite the uncomfortable seats. Saw 2 bush fires during the night as well.

I checked into Toddy's Backpackers. The staff were amazing there and the room clean. Communal bathroom was gross, but at least you don't spend much time there. There was even a restaurant/bar there that had cheap backpacker meals.

I put my stuff in my room and walked the 15 mins into town to sight see. Just checked out a couple shops at Todd Mall, went and bought some new tank tops and underwear at Kmart (gotta love those $4 deals!), and walked up Anzac Hill to enjoy the lookout over the town. Some people may say they hate Alice Springs and that it's a dump in the middle of nowhere, but I liked it. Maybe it has something to do with living in Katherine and Mataraka (which really is in nowhere). I don't know. I liked that there was no humidity, my rash wasn't as itchy. Still hot in the sun, but refreshing in the shade. Didn't even need the air con, just the fan. A comfortable 32 C :)

After my walk, I went back home and booked my Outback tour. Nice to book it at the hostel, as they give you a night free accommodation when you return.

I booked with a company called Emu Run Tours, and chose the 3 day Uluru Camping Tour. It was the same price as their competitor's (the Rock) but I've only heard good things from other travellers. I think their the best for the price.

I had dinner at the restaurant, chose the lasagna for $5. Wouldn't recommend it, didn't know lasagna could get that greasy! Anyways, as I ate, (half my dinner, couldn't stomach more) there was the funniest show on the TV. It was called Swamp People. It's about these Cajun's catching gators in the swamps down in Louisiana. Seriously, what's wrong with some people! Guy caught a gator and pulled it into his tiny boat, where 2 of them were, then shot it a few times! Not worried about it biting them, or putting holes in their boat obviously! Wow, pretty silly. The bartender and I laughed about it, then I headed to bed to get all rested up for my tour the next morning.

There was 13 of us on the tour including our guide, Ryan. And I was so happy that almost all of us were solo travellers. Yay, people to talk to this time! Everyone was really great, we all got along and there was no discomfort between us. Just family, right from the get-go.

We had a long drive a head of us, so with a small breakfast from Ryan, we drove to Uluru (aka Ayer's Rock). We had a few small stops along the way for toilets, snacks/souvenirs, a viewing of Mt Connor and dried up salt lakes.

Once we got to Uluru, we went into the Cultural Centre for insight of the Aboriginal people and then had lunch. Sandwich, granola bar, juice and a brownie. Then, we went to Mutijulu Waterhole for a guided walk where Ryan told us an aboriginal story of the rock and learn some history about it.

The rain falls down the side of the rock in 2 main spots, forming waterholes. Here, animals come to drink and the natives are able to hunt them easily for food. Unfortunately, these waterholes have been polluted from tourists hiking up the rock and littering. The rock is sacred to the Aboriginals, and they prefer people not to climb it. It means so much to them. I was glad that it was closed to tourists for the climb when we got there due to the heat. I don't think it's necessary for tourists to climb it. You get a similar idea of the landscape on your flight, hiking the other 2 locations I'll mention and just by a small hill anywhere out there. It's flat, with a few rocks here and there with small bush and scattered trees. Don't think it's worth upsetting the locals for that walk. Instead, we walked around the base of it, which was a 10.6 km loop (see, still get exercise in). There was a bit of cloud in the sky so the temperature was very comfortable. No need to worry too much about heat exhaustion.

After our walk, we went to a viewing point to watch the sunset on Uluru. We had sparkling wine with crackers, dip and cheese for appetizers, then stirfry for dinner. We didn't get much of a sunset due to the clouds, but we had a fabulous time :)

We got to our campsite and slept in our swags out under the clouds, umm, I mean stars, lol. It was pretty warm, and luckily, no bugs bothered us. Maybe a few ants here and there. A few people were worried about creepy crawlies (like scorpions and snakes) getting into the swags, but Ryan told us we had nothing to worry about. Just check your shoes before putting them on and tuck them under your swag during the night so a dingo doesn't steal your shoe. Lol.

I ended up seeing 2 dingos. I got up at 3:30 am to walk to the toilet and when I got back into my bed, 2 ran right by me and disappeared. Quite shy, those guys!

We had our wake up at 4 am for a continental breakfast and watched the "sunrise" at the Kata Tjuta (aka the Olgas) viewpoint. We could see Uluru from here too, but again we were robbed. Too cloudy.

We parked at Kata Tjuta and had a guided walk up to Karingana lookout. We learned the Anangu people legend on how the Olgas were made as well as the scientific way. All made of sandstone. Then, we had the option to keep hiking and go through the Valley of the Winds. Most of us did it. I went on ahead of most people to get some quiet time. I absolutely loved it! There were lots of gumtrees, bush, flowers and dried up stream beds all in the middle of the surrounding rocks. Like an oasis in the middle of nowhere. This was my favorite place! Lots of lizards, birds and even Euro Kangaroos. The walk was 7.4 km total from the car park. The sign board says it's a difficult track, but it's actually really easy. I would say easy-moderate.

After our hike we went back to the campsite to make tacos for lunch. Then we drove to Kings Creek Station where we were staying for the night. We had free time to roam. There was a pool, camel farm and even a couple horses there. 3 dogs too. The puppy was really cute!

We made a campfire and had BBQ for dinner consisting of kangaroo steak, chicken kebabs, sausages, potatoes, salad and garlic bread (made with flour, garlic and beer in a cast iron pot covered by the fire coals). Cookies for dessert. We all had an early night with our early starts. Rain visited us that night, so we slept under the kitchen areas to keep dry.

Another wake up at 4 am for our breaky then a drive out to Kings canyon. Ryan guided us through the 6km Canyon Rim walk and educated us about the plants and geology. There was a natural amphitheatre, North and South Walls and the Garden of Eden (which was a waterhole in the center of the canyon). Lots of Ghost Gumtrees here. They are called that because they have a white power on the outside on the tree that reflects the moonlight looking like ghosts. It's a neat tree. The Anangu people can wipe the powder on their skin to act as sunscreen. The powder will fill in your fingerprints as well, so if you're on a night of crime, you won't need gloves! If you tie a plastic bag around the leaves, it'll sweat out 2 L of water in 8 hrs. They also call it the female tree... I'll let you figure that out on your own, lol.

It was pretty cool to see some tropical plants like ferns their too. They'd been there for decades, and with the water in the canyon, they still thrive there. Don't see that anywhere else in the outback!

After that, we went back to Kings Creek Station for lunch. We bbq'd camel and beef burgers and had potato salad with regular salad. Cookies and fruit afterwards. The camel wasn't bad, not too strong.

We drove to Mt Ebenezer to see the Aboriginal Art Gallery and camel farm. I went on a camel ride! It was fun! Can see how that would be a little uncomfortable after a while though. Can't really get a synced rhythm like you can with horses when they run. But it was fine went they walk. Even had a saddle! There are wild camel in Australia, however they are introduced to the country (we saw 6 out by Kings Canyon).

We all got dropped off at our accommodation back in Alice Springs with the plan to all meet up for dinner and drinks at Toddy's Restaurant and Bar for the evening. We had a great time reminiscing about the trip and what we really liked as well as future adventures. I was so happy, everyone was so wonderful on that trip.

Today, I'm relaxing around the hostel and the town. I have my flight leaving tomorrow to Cairns so I can get more diving in.

Mataranka & Katherine

John helped me bring my luggage to the bus stop and we said goodbye. It was only about a 4 hour bus ride to Katherine. It was even hotter and mugger there! 40 C the day I arrived. Katherine is a small town, but with quite a bit of residency. Many aboriginal people sitting in the parks with their family in circles, and always barefoot.

I got picked up at the bus station and brought to the AREA office. This company was not very well organized. No communication at all. I understand that their trying to manage 300 backpackers for work and accommodation, but they really need to talk to the people about their new job description and wage, what gear they need, any health risks involving the job, about where their staying, what kind of amenities are nearby and transportation availability and costs. Also when payday occurs and how it works. They only pay you for a certain amount of hours a week. If you worked more, they take it off your first weeks pay, then add it to the second. But, they'd also do the same to the next paycheck. Doesn't really make any sense to me, but that's how it is.

After getting the paperwork done, I roamed town to find the secondhand stores to buy 2 long sleeved shirts and running shoes. I already had a pair of pants from painting in NZ.

Then I caught my bus to Mataranka, about 1 hour down the road from Katherine. Colin, my supervisor, picked me up and took me to Territory Manor Caravan Park, where I slept in my tent the first night. It was so hot. My face was dripping sweat like a facet just sitting inside and it was night time already. Luckily, there was room the next night in a cabin with air conditioning :)
And guess who I saw at the camp? Ben and Steph from France! Same couple from my Kakadu tour. It was great to see them again! Nice to catch up. Everyone was really friendly there, and wanted to meet the new recruits. Really liked that. They were a good bunch of people. Everyone felt really close.

We started work at the Oolloo Farm at 5:45 am. A bus drops us off there and drives us back to the camp everyday. Normally, we work 6 days a week and we try to pick 40 bins a day (our goal, each bin has 300 kg of mangoes). So, sometimes we work 10 hours, it depends on how fast we are or how big the fruit is. It needs to be dry as well, if it rains we stop picking. The water is absorbed into the fruit and it will bruise to easily so that's why we can't pick it if it's wet.

So, with my skin all covered up, we start picking. You grab the mango from the bottom and snap it off the vine, making sure you snap away from you as the sap will spray once the stem is broken. Then you tip the fruit upside down so the sap drips to the ground at not down the fruit as it'll bruise it. Also, the sap is acidic, so you don't want it on your skin. If it does get on your skin, it burns the skin either turning it dark brown or making a blister. We use the mango wash on our machines to rise our hands and skin off in case of exposure. And trust me, we get burned. You can always tell whose a mango picker as their fingers will be stained dark brown until the skin peels off. Nice.

After the mango's picked we toss it into the machine were it gets washed off, runs along the conveyor belt and deposited into the bin on the end that sits on a forklift. Once filled, we drop the bin, cover it up with a label so the tractors can pick it up to bring to the packing shed. Then we put a new bin on and go again. Of course some of the mangoes are to high to reach on the tree so we have to use cutters. Tricky to catch sometimes. The cutters have a grabber on the side so we don't drop the fruit but sometimes it gets stuck on a branch and if it hits the ground, another bruise. So, we try to catch it or drop it into the machine. We try to do this extremely fast as supervisors are constantly telling you how slow you are and you'll get fired if you don't speed up, blah blah blah. Same thing everyday. I just did what I could.

It was super hot out there! The job itself was easy, it was just so hot! Wearing all those clothes in 40 C and +80% humidity and warm drinking water... ugh! What I would have given for cold water, not just to drink, but to dump over your head. We did this a few times a day. You're already wet from sweat anyway, so might as well have a few rinses during the day :) I've never sweat so much in my life, just constant dripping!

On my first day off, I jumped into some of my fellow workers van and we drove to Katherine to get our weekly grocery shopping done and any other errands. Amazing how that takes up a good portion of the day.

Once we got back to camp, I walked down the road to Bitter Springs Thermal Pools, which is a natural hot spring in Elsey National Park. Now, you may be thinking, if it's so hot, why go to a hot spring? Well, seeing how the water is 30 C and the air temp is 40 C, it actually feels cooler. And it was lovely, so crystal clear. And no crocs! Yay. I went in the evening after everyone else left, so I had it all to myself.

Then, I went back to my room, whom I shared with Rick, the bus driver (a local) and Ray from Hong Kong. Ray is still learning english, so every night I teach him new words and phrases. It was fun, and he's a great student. You hear him repeating the words over and over through the days, practising. :) I told him, if he had a chance to watch english TV children's shows, it would help. You know, the picture of a dog on the screen, barking and someone saying, "look, a dog." That way, you can recognize the picture and sound to match up the word. And seeing how we didn't have that option in the room share, he went out and bought kids books from Salvation Army! He did really well at reading them on his own. Only a few times I'd have to explain a word or phrase. Well, we had an early night to bed, usually around 8:30 pm as we have wake ups at 4:30 am. Another day, another dollar! As the saying goes.

Another working hazard was getting hit with a mango. I got belted 3 times. One fell on my head, another hit me in the eye and another whacked me in the ribs from rebounding off the machine from being tossed to hard. And mangoes are solid! It's like getting punched. I was lucky not to get a black eye, just a red mark in the corner of my eye near the bridge of my nose. Good times.
After 9 days of picking, I woke up with a wicked skin rash over my shins, arms, wrists, hands, chest, neck, ears and face. All red, swollen and extremely itchy. I remember being itchy during the night, but I thought it was just bugs. Silly me. I went to the doctor that day and she prescribed me some oral steroids and told me "no more picking." I also asked for something to help with the itch, but there's nothing. She said I could use steroid cream once a day, Calamine lotion and avoid soap as it irritates it more so to use a special tea tree type gel. Hmm, didn't that smell lovely :(
See, what they neglect to tell you, when taking the job, is that the mango tree is in the same family as poison ivy and poison oak. It has an oil based allergen called urushiol that causes the dermatitis. So, hence the reason for the awful itchy rash. Boo to that!

So, I had to leave the picking job. I went back to AREA and they were able to place me in a packing shed working for 7 Fields. So, I had sunday off to get into new accommodation in Katherine and start work monday morning.

I went back to Territory Manor and said goodbye to everyone. We were all like family, worked all day together, ate and slept together. I was really going to miss everyone.

On sunday morning, before I had to go, I went to the pond by the restaurant on camp to watch the Barramundi feeding. These fish get quite large for fresh water fish! Wow! The owner was hand feeding, and was even able to pick one up to show us the size. Something they're used to obviously, as the fish was so calm. Not worried at all about suffocating. Neat.

Yiva and Danny from Germany, gave me a lift back into Katherine. Such a nice couple. Were good people. Goodbye Mataranka. Not a lot there, but it was nice. Just an aboriginal village, 1 clinic, 1 bar, 1 mini supermarket, a car lot and 2 gas stations. Otherwise, all parks. Quiet place.Wallabies jumping around everywhere, and lots of beautiful birds. Colourful parrots. However, they don't make the prettiest of sounds. Guess that's why they have the looks ;) Ha ha.

Nice thing about Katherine, it's still a small town, but there's a grocery store, internet, cinema, bank, secondhand stores and a post office. Also 7 Fields was only a 30 min walk from town, so I could save money on transport and just walk.

I ended up staying at Palm Court Hostel. Small kitchen, but not busy before 7 pm and it was fairly clean. My room was very spacious and with it's own bathroom and mini fridge! I only had 3 beds in my room and only 1 girl, Annie from Germany. Everyone at the hostel were currant mango workers, either picking or packing, though at different farms. Annie was working at the same packing house as me, and we got along great. She even transferred all her movies and songs from her laptop onto my new netbook so I'd have something to do on long bus rides. And, I dyed her hair. Came out lovely... I think I might try that colour in my hair one day... nice reddish brown.

The packing shed was alright. Noisy, but easy. Again, you don't have to think. There are different stations, one side of the room is premium mangoes (no sunspots or scratches or marks over 2 cm) the other side, standard mangoes. If the mango is really banged up, it goes to the juicing area. We also have different rows that we are stationed at to pack the mangoes according to size. Many conveyor belts moving along. We just pack the boxes with the correct amount of fruit (depending on their size), making sure the quality is good before placing it in, then slap a label on the box and put it on top of another conveyor belt so the boys sticker them and place on wooden slats to load into trucks for the grocery stores. Yup, that's pretty much it. Only thing is, they're longer days and you get no days off. Lots of the people had been working for 28 days straight already. Lot of noise and boredom :( Poor kids. Glad I jumped in at the end of the season.

My rash was getting better with the prednisone, but 3 days after I finished, I got the rash again! Ugh, so incredibly itchy! I know why animals will gnaw their own leg off and self mutilate. Unbelievable. At least if it was pain, you could take something for it to make it go away. This was torture! So, I had to stop working with mangoes completely. Only lasted 1 week at the shed. But it takes 2-3 weeks after contact with the fruit for the rash to disappear. A long time! I just couldn't start from square one again. Had to give up the job.

Before I left town, I went for a walk along the Katherine River riverbank to Katherine Hot Springs. All along the river were thousands of Flying Foxes. Couldn't believe how active they were during the day. Fighting over roosting space, flying from tree to tree. Cool. Got lots of pictures. However, they don't smell the greatest. That sweet acrid mix of fruit and guano. Nice. Come to think of it, that's what the whole town smelt like. There were just so many of them.

The spring was closed to swimming since the wet season had the river over flooding and the salties were around. I even saw one in the river! Neat, eh?

I chatted with some of the locals at the spring and made my way back to town. Then, went to the cinema to watch (don't laugh) Twilight's Breaking Dawn pt 1. I know what you're thinking, but I love it, ok! I like my vampire teeny bop movies, lol.

Then I booked my Greyhound bus ticket to Alice springs for the next day. Doesn't leave till 5pm so I have some time to kill today. The hostel owner said I could just hang out in my room till 4pm since it's air conditioned and no one else was checking in, so that was nice. Good to get some computer work done as well ;) 14 hr bus ride to come! Yahoo! (yes, I'm being sarcastic, lol).

Darwin & Kakadu

While I was waiting for my luggage at the baggage claim, I bumped into Jack again. He was heading to Bali, but had the evening to spend in town since his next flight wasn't till 4 am. We met 2 other people at the terminal and all pooled in together to catch a taxi into the town centre. Jack and I popped into the info centre so I could find a hostel. There's no directory for hostels in Oz so you just have to either look online or ask at info desks in the towns. Of course, a huge rainstorm came through right when I had to check in and I had to walk in crazy wind and rain. Even with the poncho I bought, I still had a complete wet backside!

I went to a place called Dingo Moon Lodge. Not too different from where I stayed in Cairns. Same except there were only those half sized sinks in the bathroom so you have to dry the floor every time you use the sink :( But there was soap. The kitchen was just nasty though. Won't be cooking anything here.

I dumped my luggage in the dorm room corner and headed back out to meet up with my friend. We ate dinner, then went for a walk down along the waterfront along the pier to watch the sunset. Nice thing about the tropics, the clouds move along as quickly as they come. I was pretty tired at 9 pm, so I ended up having an early night and wished Jack a great trip in Bali.

I arranged to go on a tour to see Kakadu National Park for the next day. It would have been nice to hire a car and do it myself at my own leisure, but with the wet season coming in, lots of areas were closed, needed a 4x4 to get around the roads and I just couldn't afford it on my own. So I booked a 3 day tour with Kakadu 4WD Safaris. Luckily, the tour had a discount since it was the very last outing for the season.

So, I just spent the rest of the day roaming around Darwin, walking along the esplanade listening to the birds, checking out a few shops and people watched. Two English girls that I shared my room with were joining me on the trip so we chatted a bit before bed.

We were picked up around 6 am to head to Kakadu. There were 9 of us plus the guide. Of course, I'm the only one traveling alone, so I didn't really have anyone to talk to. A French couple, Ben and Stephanie, did their best to socialize with me so I wouldn't feel left out. They were such a lovely couple! We had a 4 hour ride to the park, and that 4x4 wasn't the most comfortable vehicle I've ever been in! We were pretty cramped together in the back with little seat padding. Good thing I have my own big cushion, he he he ;)

We stopped at Adelaide River on our way to the park and went on a river cruise to see saltwater crocodiles. We went on a small boat with a driver who brings meat on a bone, ties it to the end of a line and splashes it up and down on the water's surface to attract the crocs. After about 5 mins on the river, we spotted a female. She was around 2 - 2.5 metres in length. Not too big, but she was magnificent when she jumped out of the water to reach the food. A jumping crocodile! That would be why we must stay seated on the boat with limbs inside. They can reach us on our tiny boat if they really wanted to. Freaky.

As we coasted down further, we came across another. Bigger one this time. A male that was 3 metres. Apparently, they have a territory of about 100 metres, so you see a new one about that distance apart. Another female around 3 m next, and just as she was jumping up to eat her lamb, a monster of a beast scared her away. This huge male, over 4 metres, maybe 5, came over to claim the bone. She didn't even hesitate, she just left. They can be very aggressive when it comes to feeding, and I don't think this male loses battles very often. He was all scarred up, missing a few teeth (but what was there were very big!) and he could swallow my whole torso without a choke. Their jaws are so strong, the bone was like chewing gum after 2 bites. You could hear it crack. Amazing! Definitely see why you don't go swimming in the Northern Territory. As the wet season comes in, the rivers flood and they travel anywhere. Never know where you might encounter one.

On our way back to the dock, the driver tossed a few of the small pieces of meat he had left into the air, and a bunch of Whistling Kites (large hawks) swooped down to catch the food. A ritual their used to now, but it was neat for us as tourists to see them up close. Fast fliers!

We continued our drive to the south part of the park and went for a swim at a small waterfall. Only about a 10 min walk to get to it, but we did see a Golden Tree snake and some Orb Weaver spiders. They like to spin their webs near the water to catch all the bugs. The swim was nice as it was so hot and humid! The temperature is usually around 35 C, with 80% humidity. Sticky, sweaty and hot! Nice combo, lol.

After that, we went to Gunlom Camp Ground and set up our tent for the night. There was a lovely waterfall and swimming hole here, so in we went. No crocs here, thank goodness. We had tacos for dinner. It was really good cooked over the fire. Hmmm.

That night, we had a lightening storm overnight, but our tents did fine in the rain. Ben, Stephanie and I shared a tent together. Ben got up early, before we did and saw a dingo, right outside our tent! But by the time we got up, it was gone. He was lucky to see one there. We were sure not to be so lazy next time!

We had our continental breakfast and packed up to head out to Maguk (Barramundi Gorge) for a small hike and swim. Very nice area. The soil is a rich red colour and trees are still green even though the grass is yellow. Pretty neat contrast. We had sandwiches for lunch and stopped along the road to see the Cathedral Termite Mounds. These termites combine wood, soil and saliva to make their structured homes. Cool how big they get!

Then we arrived at Garnamarr Camp Ground for camping. After tents were put up, we drove to the car park, and hiked to Jim Jim Falls to swim in the pool. But, the falls were all dried up! Not even a trickle! The water was cool and large enough to get some exercise in, at least. More rain started to come in so we headed back to the jeep. Once by the vehicle, we saw a couple Red-Tailed Black Cockatoos.

We ate kangaroo for dinner (which isn't bad, lean and tender, but a bit irony) and learned how to play the didgeridoo around the campfire. I did manage to get it, but had a hard time making more than one sound. It's tricky. You must have relaxed lips and blow out like making a horse sound. Most of the time, it sounded like fart noises in a tube, lol!

The next morning, we headed to Nourlangie Rock to enjoy the landscape view. Our guide talked about the aboriginal people and their culture. It was very interesting, their way of life is so different. For example, the man is not to talk or be near his mother in law out of respect and it's more important about what he doesn't say than what he does. Confusing? Ya, I thought so. They are all connected to nature as well. A kangaroo can be part of your head, while a red tail black cockatoo part of your arm and a saltwater crocodile your leg. So that if you got a headache, it means that a kangaroo was either killed or taken without tribute or permission. I thought that was beautiful.

From there we went to look at the aboriginal rock art and hear a bit about their legends. After, we had lunch down by the Anbangbang Billabong. It was the one at the opening of the Crocodile Dundee movie (that whole film was done in Kakadu). As we headed back to Darwin, we made 3 stops. The first at Mamukala Wet lands, which was full of pink lilies and Magpie geese. Our second was Bowali Visitors centre. While people went in to get cold drinks and ice cream, I thought I'd take some photos of the White Cockatoo up in the trees. I was snapping away when I heard a loud thump, thump! and out from under a trailer came a Wallaby! He didn't seem to mind me around at all, so I snapped a few of him before he hopped off. Apparently, he comes around the centre and campground every now and then to munch on the grass, so he's more tolerant of people.

Lastly, we came to Didgeridoo Hut and Art Store. The people that own it had a few pets! There was a python, which we got to hold, and 2 baby wallabies. The mother was killed on the highway, and since they have lots of land for the emu farm, they just feed the babies and let them roam free. The female was very affectionate, and liked contact with people. She'd come up and lick the salt off your leg and liked to be held. The boy kept to himself more, but you could pet him. I just couldn't resist the little 6 month girl! Had to hold her! She was so soft. I wanted to keep her too! What's that now, a koala and a wallaby for pets? What else am I going to want! Lol!

We arrived around dinner time back at the hostel and I said goodbye to my french friends. They were heading off the next day to work on a mango farm. Hopefully we'll cross paths again.

I checked out the next morning and went to a different hostel, Melaleuca on Mitchell. It was cleaner in the room and bathroom, but the kitchen was still a mess. But, it's the biggest hostel in town, up to 400 people, and there's a bar, so I didn't expect too much. I stayed 2 nights there. I was surprised how quiet it was. The bar closes at 11pm so I had no problem sleeping, but it still wasn't the right place for me. So, I went across the street to stay a week at Chili's Backpackers. This one was great. Clean, quiet, on the main drag and most people there were working so they have been there a while and have regular routines. It felt more family-like. Perfect. I had 2 men in my room, an older Eastern European man (who snored and shook the bed!) and John from New Zealand. John and I hit it off right away and became good friends. During my one and a half weeks in Darwin, I updated my resume and went to 9 different job placement agencies. Also a few bars for cleaning jobs. While I waited for a call, I spent the days reading novels, swimming at the lagoon by the pier, went to Aquascene to feed the fish and hung out with John. He introduced me to many people. We had a nerd night out. A bunch of us dressed up as nerds and went to a BBQ for free food then went out to the pubs to dance. That was good fun!

We also had a day where we went to the Darwin Museum. It was very small and there wasn't really anything too interesting. Just the cyclone Tracy stories from 1974 and the taxidermy Salty named Sweetheart. He was the biggest recorded croc in the Adelaide River, weighing at 780 kg and a length at 5.1 m! He tipped 2 boats over at the river and with him becoming a risk for boaters, they tranquilized him to relocate him. Unfortunately, they didn't know the drug would affect his ability to hold his breath underwater and he accidentally drowned. So, they stuffed him and put him on display. Poor guy. But, he was pretty intimidating. After the museum, we walked to the Botanical gardens and walked back to the hostel. A nice full day outing.

Another day, we went to lunch and a matinee with his friend Shane. We saw Warrior, a UFC type movie about 2 brothers. It was really good. All 3 of us were crying!

But, after all this time, I hadn't heard about a job. I've been checking the hostel's notice board daily, and today saw a flyer for mango picking and packing. I gave the number a call and got a picking job right away. He asked me to come south to Katherine tomorrow to do the paperwork and he'd get me working out on the farm on wednesday in Mataranka. So, I've booked my greyhound bus and I leave first thing tomorrow morning. Yay, a job!

Cairns

I arrived in Carins, Australia at 10 pm. I saw an ad in the airport for JJ Backpackers and caught a shuttle there to spend the night.
It was pouring rain the next day. Absolutely miserable!! Everything was flooding and people were soaked right through. Thank goodness it's warm here. One thing I do like about the tropics, difficult to get cold. I spent the day seeing the town and planning my activities for the next couple days. Cairns is definitely a backpacker town. Full of them everywhere! And they drink a lot! Lots of night life, a place where many young travellers go to just party, and uncontrollably at that. Not really my thing. I just want to do the activities.
My had 2 bunk mates, Veronica from Brazil and Jamie from England, and we went out to dinner together. Our hostel have free meal vouchers for a pub in town called "The Woolshed" so we ate there. The upgrade meals were good, but the free backpacker meal was pretty bland. No different than making pasta and putting the sauce from the jar on top of it yourself. But it was free...
Then we chatted in our room until bedtime. The hostel was run by really friendly people and had a shuttle running into town almost every hour so that was nice. What I didn't like was that it was pretty dirty and had no soap in the bathrooms. It was kind of like a swimming pool, you know, how wet the tile floor is, with all the hair and dirt... ya, nice. I'm so used to New Zealand's hostels that it'll be an adjustment to Australia's. Apparently, Oz has low standards when it comes to hostels. Well, boo to that! I'll just have to suck it up and make the best of it!
In the morning, I took the city bus to the Skyrail. It's a cable car ride that goes over top the rainforest canopy and has 2 stop offs before ending in the town Kuranda. My first stop was Red Peak Station where you have a guided walking tour along a boardwalk to learn a little about the plants. It was neat learning about how the plants compete for sunlight. They have to reach the top of the trees to get the sun so some have spikes to attach to other plants or coiled ends of leaves to attach to itself once wrapped around a tree, like a hug. Of course, you have different ones like the Stranger Fig that germinates on top of the tree and have the roots grow down to the ground. These plants get enough water from the rain, oxygen form the air and nutrients from the hosts tree bark (there's always moss growing on the trees). So that's how they survive till they meet the earth and then strangle the host tree till it dies. Sad, but looks really cool :)
The second stop was at Barron Falls Station where there was a large rushing waterfall. My last stop was the market town of Kuranda. Just shops and exhibits here. I went to the Kuranda Koala Gardens first, where there were sleeping wombats, wallabies you can pet and feed, reptiles and of course koalas. I did the photo shot with one so I could hold her. She was 6 years old and super cuddly. She really holds on and liked to be close to your body. I was sad to let her go :( I want one, lol.
Then I headed over to Birdworld where they let all of their colourful birds fly free (except the cassowary, those can be dangerous. Very large birds, kinda like emu but colourful). I had a Blue and Yellow Macaw land on my day pack as soon as I walked in and he started chewing at my water bottle lid. A bit of environmental enrichment I guess. While he was doing that, I looked around and was petting this sweet Rainbow Lorikeet when he got the lid off. All I could here was "watch your earring!" but it was too late. He managed to get my stud out in 2 seconds, and gently may I add. Cheeky bugger that one, lol! No problem, it was a plastic gem anyway so easily replaced. I just told the workers so they new he ate it. He'll have a sparkly poo eventually ;)
My last exhibit was the Australian Butterfly Sanctuary. It was my favorite. The butterflies fly freely and there were free guided aviary tours to learn there cycle and behaviour. They had a breeding laboratory where they clean the collected eggs to free them of any disease, then placed in nurseries for the caterpillars to hatch, grow and eat. Once a pupae, they go into another enclosure so their wings can dry before going into the sanctuary with all the others to breed, fly and eat. Really cool. My favorite was the male Birdwing with the brilliant green and yellow colours. I caught the bus home from there and had a quiet free dinner and went to bed.
The next day I did a day tour up to Cape Tribulation. The girl who sat beside me was Louise from England, and we hit it off from the start. Such a nice girl. Our guide, George, told us "man eating" crocodiles stories all the way up to our first stop at Mossman Gorge where we had a walk to see the river and forest. Unfortunately, with all the rain, the current was a bit too strong for swimming.
We had our morning tea, did a quick stop at the Alexandra Range lookout (couldn't see much with the rainclouds) and had a guided walk along the Marrdja Boardwalk. We saw 2 Dragon lizards on the walk.
From there we stopped at Cape Tribulation main beach for a short while. But with the rain, everyone just hopped onto the bus quickly. Couldn't swim in the water there anyway because of the Box Jellyfish. Apparently, they come close to the shore to fresh water for spawning, then the rainfall washes them back to sea.
From there we made a pit stop at the Daintree ice-cream company where they make ice cream from the fruit they grow in their orchard. It was organic and the flavors were banana, blueberry, wattle seed (mocha tasting) and my favorite, soursop (lemon/lime taste). From there we hopped onto the boat for our Daintree River Croc cruise. We saw 2 young crocodiles and a tree snake. So that was good. Also some nice birds.
After we did a quick drive tour through Port Douglas on the way back to Cairns. Louise and I made plans to meet up for diner. We met up at a place called Tequila where they had $2 backpacker meals and we socialized for the evening before turning in.
We met up the next day and spent the day lounging by the lagoon in town where we had a swim, then ate a late lunch at a cafe. It was a lovely day. We said our goodbyes and hoped to catch up again down the road.
I had a quiet dinner and planned my dive for the next day and went to bed early.
I booked my dive with Silverswift. It included 3 dives on the outer reef (which is the best part of the GBR, also the northern parts), morning and afternoon tea and coffee with either biscuits/muffins or cake and a nice buffet style lunch for around A$260. We set out for the 2 hr ride at 8:30 am and I was glad the water was calmer than it had been during the week. It was rough even for us on a calm day. 3 people ended up using their vomit bags and the other half of the group were sucking on ice cubes watching the horizon outside to help with the seasickness. Even I was nauseous at the last 15 mins of the ride. It was pretty funny.
Our first dive was Coral Gardens at Flynn Reef. My buddy for the day was a nice young man my brother's age named Jack, from Finland. We saw 1 White Tip shark, 3 Kuhl sting rays, giant clams, of course loads of tropical fish and a Notodoris (yellow nudibranch or sea slug). Not often you see those.
On our second dive along Gordons on Flynn Reef, our highlights were: a sleeping White Tip shark lying on the sand under a reef, 2 Hawsbill sea turtles, 2 Green sea turtles brass drummers and boxer shrimp.
We went out to Milln Reef for our last dive at Pools. The current was a little stronger here. What was neat here was a Lionfish! I'm glad they keep to themselves as they're quite poisonous. No touchy!! Also saw a puffer fish and spaghetti worms.
I was happy that I rented a camera for the day from Cairns digital. I managed to get some descent photos, but I still have a long way to learn with underwater photography. The company burned all my photos on a DVD for me, all for A$45. It was worth it. When I got back, I had a nice shower and booked my flight to Darwin.
Today I'm heading to the airport at 10:30 am and it takes 3 hours to get to Darwin. It supposed to be even warmer there. Around 32 C and with high humidity... It'll be sticky!!

Dunedin - Oamaru

I arrived in Dunedin in the afternoon on Sunday. It was a long morning. I was so tired that it took me almost twice as long to walk to the hostel than it normally should have. I decided to stay at Penny's Backpackers because it had free internet and was just outside the city centre. It's cold in the hostel, but that's no different that most. There's a heater in the room to turn on and I had an extra blanket. So it's comfortable at night. The people working there for exchange were great. My first day was pretty quiet. Just relaxed and checked out the town. I walked to the otherside of it to see Baldwin street. That's the steepest street in the world according to the Guinness World Records. And steep it was, glad it was short. Wasn't to bad to climb up.
I ended up going to the Otago Peninsula the next afternoon with a man named Matthew who works on the computers at the hostel. We drove to a beach called Sandfly Bay. We had to climb down a sand dune and once on the beach, we saw lots of sea lions sleeping on the beach. All except for 2 young ones that were play fighting with eachother. It was so fun to watch them chase one another. At the end of the beach was a nesting area for the penguins with a little hiding hut. I went inside hoping to spot one since they're currently nesting and one should be sitting on the egg while the others at sea. But I didn't see any :(

We continued up the peninsula to the tip where the Albatross hang out. But the wind was really strong, and most of the birds were in for the night sheltered amongst the cliffs. So again, didn't see them. Ah well, another time.
The following morning, I went on a tour through Cadbury World. It was great! Learned about how they made it and got to go inside the factory to watch. It smelled wonderful! We also got free samples to try, including 3 full chocolate bars, liquid chocolate and 2 small treats. We went into a silo where they release a ton of liquid chocolate that falls like a waterfall. You just want to dive right in! Yummy! I think I want to work in a chocolate factory now. I just loved it!
Then I popped into the Otago museum. It was free admission and nice to roam around. Much smaller than the one in Wellington though. They were similar.
The next 2 days were pretty low key. Just catching up on my emails and blogs and chatting with people. I can't believe I spent a couple hours on the computer with 2 other guys checking out this website called "damn lol" It was pretty funny. Haven't laughed that much in a while.
Since I head to Australia soon, I'm keeping things pretty relaxed.

I took the bus to Oamaru the next morning to see some penguins. There were 2 species there, the Yellow-eyed penguin and the Blue penguin. The latter being the smallest penguin in the world. The hostel I stayed in was called Swagger's Backpacker and it was run by an interesting lady, Agra. I was the only one the first night and she wanted to make sure I wasn't bored, so she drove me around the town so I'd now where to go to see penguins for free.

There was on old part of town that centred mostly on crafts and trades from the older days and even people in cafes were dressed in Victorian clothes. Pretty neat. There were limestone carvers, wool spinners, sculpture makers, bone carvers and all other kind of artists.

I roamed the old town and walked along the wharf for the afternoon. After dinner, I got dropped off at a beach where the Yellow-eyed penguins nest. It was neat seeing them ride the waves onto the beach and waddle up to the trees to find their nests. They didn't come till sundown so I was there only a short time before it was too dark to see them.

I headed back into the old part of town from there, which took about 45 mins, and right there on the street along the shore were Blue penguins! They actually live in some of the missing brick spaces in the buildings along the shore. Quite interesting. Cute little guys. Seemed not to mind people too much as well, providing you give them space.

The next day was rainy, so Agra took me out to a local restaurant called Riverstone. It was amazing food!!! And prices were reasonable too. It's run by a farming family that over the years have been building the eatery as well as a couple stores of neat stuff they've made. I enjoyed that alot!

At dinner, there was an exhibition by a company called Steampunk. They make art that resembles the steam engine but mixed with futuristic Sci-fi. It was "way out there." Very strange, even the townspeople dressed up for it. Kind of felt like Halloween :) After that, I just had dinner and lounged around the hostel watching a movie before bed.

I caught the bus in the morning for the 4 hour ride to Christchuch. I checked into Kiwi Basecamp hostel. It was in the process of a few repairs, but it was nice. Just not enough toilets :(

Since the earthquake, the city centre was still closed down. It was all fenced off and buildings were crumbled to the ground, windows shattered, roads cracked and foundations unleveled. Sad to see. But the neighbouring areas were mostly up and running. I roamed the Botanical gardens and the Northlands mall for the rest of the day. At night, I watched the rugby game (New Zealand vs Australia) in the TV lounge, It was an intense game!

The next day, I thought, "I still haven't seen a kiwi bird" so I went out to the Willowbank Wildlife Reserve. They had 4 kiwis, but only 2 were active and about. Such neat birds. Much bigger than I thought they'd be. About the size of a chicken. I couldn't get a picture of them since they are nocturnal and don't like the light, so sorry, no photos.

There were many birds, farm animals, monkeys, lizards, wallabies, and other native animals like the fresh water eels. Those were neat! Used to being fed by visitors so they come up to you and open there mouths for a spoonful of meat. Funny. After that, I went back to town and walked around Hagley park and Riccarton rd to see some shops.

Today, I catch my flight to Cairns Australia. A day at the airport. Oh, what fun (*sigh*). It's a 6 hour flight. Good thing I have a book :)

Queenstown - Milford Sound - Glenorchy

I booked my Milford Sound trip with a tour company called Mitre Peak Cruises. It was a 12 hour day so I had an early start. We drove straight to a small town called Te Anau for a break, seeing mostly farmland on the way. Te Anau was on a huge lake with nice hills in the background. Quite scenic. But the drive from there to Milford Sound was absolutely gorgeous! We stopped at a few places along the way to get some pictures as we drove through the Alps. There was even a tunnel that went right through a mountain to come out the other side zigzagging down a valley.
On one of our photo stops, we had a Kea fly over looking for some food. Cheeky fellow, kept following this poor girl trying to eat her banana. Lol.
The cruise itself was nice. The first mountain top you see looking at the inlet is called Mitre Peak (hence the company's name) and is the prettiest landscape. I see why this was another filming spot for the LOTR movie. There were a couple of waterfalls and we saw some fur seals lazing about on the rocks. No penguins or dolphins this day. We had free tea and coffee on board, which was nice as the wind was a bit chilly sitting outside on the upper deck. We spent about an hour getting out to the ocean, and then an hour back to port.
I didn't get back to the hostel till mid-evening so I had a quiet night.
I went hiking the next day. Queenstown Hill is 907 m and pretty much just up behind the hostel. It was a steep walk just to get to the car park. Whew, no wonder the locals are in shape.
The view was stunning! I wish I ran my town errands before the hike so I could enjoy it longer! There is farmland at the summit so you can see a dirt path all across the land. Very tempting to walk all over exploring... but it is private land :(
Queenstown is a very small town, surrounded by mountains and on Lake Wakatipu, which is really big! One of the most picturesque towns I've seen. Full of adrenalin rush activities here and has a reputation of being a party town. Lots of gift shops and eateries as well.
After my errands, I went to the park and sat on a bench along the lake walkway to watch the sunset. Unfortunately, the mountains block it a bit so I thought, maybe it'll be nicer up at the summit of Queenstown Hill. Plan to try it out the next day then.
I spent most of the following morning day reading, using the computer and making my picnic dinner. I hiked back up Queenstown Hill at 4 pm and planned to stay till 8 pm to watch the sunset. The hike was easier that day for some reason... and I ventured a little farther along the path to a different summit overlooking the adjoining town Frankton. It was so windy and once the sun got low, was super cold. But again, the sunset was still hidden. I tried, but it's just not the best place for them. Oh well, it was so peaceful up there. Once I got back to the hostel, I lounged in the TV room before bed.
The next day, I wanted to go to Glenorchy, but since there weren't any buses running there, I had to hitchhike. I walked just outside of town, before the highway started, to a nice gravel patch for people to pull over. Took about 45 mins, but finally got a ride. A nice Chinese couple drove me the 48 km and dropped me off at the township. I got a room at the Glenorchy Hotel & Backpackers. The dorms were still closed due to the off-season, so I was placed in a room all to myself. Nice to have the space, however the hotel itself was freezing, poorly insulated and very old and run down. At least I had a little heater I could turn on at night.
I went to the beach and walked around the Glenorchy Walkway that went into the wetlands. Such a beautiful area. It's just at the other end of Lake Wakatipu. Again, surrounded by mountains. Lots of movies were filmed here, LOTR, Wolverine, Chronicles of Narnia, Willow, the Waterhorse, etc... I wish I could have done the Routeburn Trek while here, but it takes a few days and my time here is ending soon. Plus, it's difficult to get to some areas as you need a 4x4 vehicle and there wasn't anyone doing drop offs and pickups in those locations for day hikes. Best to go there when it's in season.
I ate dinner at my hotels restaurant. I didn't have many options as there's only 3 places to eat, and 1 cafe closes for the evening. The town is just local homes, 1 hotel, 3 eateries and 2 info centres with one having an extremely small store. My dinner wasn't that great either considering the price I had to pay, so won't eat there again.
I went on a 6 hour day hike the next day. I walked just out of town to the Whakaari Conservation area and went up the Mount Judah Track. I hiked up to Bonnie Jean Hut which was my summit for the day. The mount is an old mining area so I passed a few mines and a scheelite battery camp. I guess they found lots of tungsten up in the hills. There was quartz everywhere in this region. Glistening rocks a plenty!
A nice way to spend a clear sunny day and I didn't encounter anyone else! All to myself... and cows and goats. Couldn't believe how much dung was on the path! Had to watch my step the whole way, lol.
I had a hot shower when I got back and ate at the other cafe for dinner. Then, I read in bed till I fell asleep.
I checked out this morning and a nice local man offered me a ride back to Queenstown. I went back to Aspen Lodge, had lunch and finished my book. This evening, I watched another rugby game (England vs France) in the lounge and am having an early night since I'm catching a bus first thing tomorrow.

Punakaiki - Greymouth - Franz Josef

We got up early to catch our buses. It was a long day of traveling, but a lovely one. We were heading into the mountains along with rivers and valleys.
Andreas and I said our goodbyes to Sergio as we got off at our stop in Punakaiki. We checked into the Punakaiki Beach Hostel which was right on the beach. It had a rustic atmosphere with all the beach wood in the lounge and kitchen. I loved it. And there was only 2 other people in the hostel so we had the bunk room all to ourselves. Nice and quiet and Andreas didn't mind me cranking up the heat.
The town really just consisted of a few beach houses and resorts, 2 cafes, an I-site and gift shop. The main reason people come here is to see the pancake rocks and blowholes at high tide. We arrived just after high tide so we checked out a cavern before checking out the rocks. We were hoping to see some glow worms, and well... we saw 4. Nothing to spectacular, but at least Andreas got to see one before he left the country.
There was a nice walking loop along the shore side to see the pancake rocks. Pretty neat formations. We planned to check them out the next day at high tide before catching the bus out of town to see the blowholes.
After talking to the staff at the I-site, we went on a 3 hour walk up through the forest. More of that lovely subtropical forest with palms, ferns and tall trees. We crossed a suspension bridge over Punakaiki river at the beginning and walked along side the Pororari river on the way out. About half way through, we stopped to take a picture of this big mossy tree over a stream, and as I casually looked back at the trail, there was a flightless bird staring at us. I said "WHAT IS THAT!?" Really excited, thinking "KIWI". But, it was still daylight, so we weren't completely convinced what kind of bird it was. The bird then walked to the side of the trail, pecking at a dead possum, (Umm, strange, aren't Kiwi's vegetarian?) then walked to my backpack and had a nibble. Since it wasn't edible, it took off down across the steam and disappeared into the forest. It started making calls and we heard another answer up behind us. But, after a few minutes, we figured, that was it for the sighting and carried on. Andreas got a video of the bird pecking at my bag, so we thought we'd check with a local what it was once back in town.
Then, once we're along the river we spotted 2 more but with 2 chicks! This family was pretty shy and jumped off into the bushes fairly quickly.
By the time we got back to the hostel, the sun was setting so we had a late dinner and chatted up a nice English fellow before calling it a night.
In the morning, we asked the hostel owner what the bird was, and it was a Weka. Think of it as the New Zealand's "wild chicken." Too bad, not a Kiwi. Oh well, at least it was wildlife, right?
We dropped our luggage off at the cafe in front of the bus stop and went to check out the blowholes. When there was a nice wave surging against the rocks, it would pass under some tunnels and come out the top. Even had a "Chimney". The water vapor would come through this small opening from all the pressure of the surge. Neat stuff.
Our bus came around 12:30 pm and we headed off to Greymouth for a night. We checked into Noah's Ark Backpackers. I liked the animal theme and there was a friendly golden retriever to great you and a shy calico short haired kitty. It was a very clean and spacious hostel. It also had a free hot tub and bikes, so we took the bikes out for a spin to see the town. Greymouth only was one street with shops, so after 15 mins, you've seen everything. We went to the end of town, and biked along a fitness track following along the beach. There was a few day hikes around, but we thought we'd take a break. After the ride we went out to nice cafe for dinner and then watched a movie, with another bunk mate joining us. We watched "Horrible Bosses." It had it's funny moments. Enjoyed it anyway. Then we called it a night.
The next day, I was catching a bus to Franz Josef and Andreas was taking a train to Christchurch as he was heading home the following morning. I accompanied him to the souvenir stores so he could buy gifts for his family. After that, we went to the station and had to say goodbye. I was sad, we'd been traveling for about 9 days together, and were so used to doing all our activities together that it felt strange to part. Who will be my travel buddy now? You never know. It's a small country and you tend to bump into people you've met before :)
It was about a 4 hour ride to Franz Josef. I stayed at the Montrose Backpackers. It was extremely big and the owners were super laid back and friendly. I organized my tour for the next day to do a full day hike up the Franz Josef Glacier and took an early night.
My guided tour with the Franz Josef Glacier Guides started at 9 am so I went over to get all my gear. They gave me a toque, mittens, raincoat, rain pants, socks and boots (but I used my own) and crampons. We started with a 45 min walk from the car park to the bottom of the glacier and walked up an ice mound covered in flinted rock. Once we were on at the top of the mound we strapped on our crampons as it was all ice from there. Had to step with feet shoulder width apart and place feet firmly down, to allow it to catch the ice. It was surprisingly warm with the sun beating down from the cloudless sky. I was able to wear just my t-shirt!
We weaved though the crevasses and narrow channels seeing brilliantly blue ice. There were two areas were water was dripping down and I got a bit wet. That was cold! I made sure to put my raincoat on for the second passing.
We went as as far as a flat plateau where all the clean ice was for lunch before heading back down along the edge with the water flow.
We were able to drink the glacier water. It was so good! We spent a total of 6 hours out of our 8 hour day on the ice.

I made friends with a nice young girl Genevieve (Jinny) from Spain and we planned to meet up after dinner to go to the Glacier Hot Pools since it was included in our tour. We had 2 more people join us, my bunk mate Teng, from Malaysia, and Ernesto, from the USA. What a nice way to relax after the day. The hot pools were gorgeous. They kept it as a natural setting, building around the rocks and trees so the were along side the pools. Great atmosphere.
We all went out to the Blue Ice Bar for a couple drinks and wedges. First time I've seen video games in a pub. Not sure which game system, but it had a sensor to read your body movements. Bowling and soccer were the 2 games that people were playing.
After saying goodnight, Teng and I went back to our room and I thought, since it's supposed to rain tomorrow, it would be best to go on a night walk tonight to try to see glow worms. Teng wanted to join so we left and walked down the Terrace walk in the forest at the end of town. After 8 mins down the track, there was a fallen tree and under all the dirt stuck to the uprooted roots were a little galaxy of glow worms. Just fabulous! We had our lights off and tried to get a couple pictures with the long exposures, but they're really hard to get. Just a bunch of green pinpoints on a black photo. But, at least we enjoyed them as they were. Since it was 1 am, we headed back and went straight to bed.
I met up with Jinny for a bit the following day and showed her where the glow worms were in case she wanted to go see them herself one night. It was pouring rain and a day best spent inside so we arranged to meet up after dinner at 8 pm to watch the rugby game. It was a relaxing afternoon of reading and booking my bus ride and accommodation for the next day, and I soon went to the Monsoon Bar and Restaurant to watch the Scotland vs England match with Jinny.
Today, I caught the bus in the morning to Queenstown. An 8 hour ride. Got in at 4 pm and walked the short distance to Aspen Lodge Backpackers. I like how close to town it is and it's very quiet considering my 10 bed dorm room is full. There's 2 kitchens and plenty of bathrooms. One of my favorite hostels so far. I'm planning on going to Milford Sound tomorrow since it comes highly recommended by my fellow travellers. We'll see how that goes!