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!