Amazing times in Darwin (Darwin-Litchfield)

After a little sleep in I got in touch with some of the girls and we headed out for some breakfast. Sitting in the park and munching away on our sandwich we got a surprise shower by the sprinklers that suddenly went off. Not nice but good for a laugh.

We didn’t really felt like doing a lot so I decided I work on some of my to-do’s before I have to leave Australia.

At first I visited my Bank (Westpac) to close my bank account. After transferring my remaining money back to the UK I exchanged some Australian Dollar for US Dollar (exchange rate is a joke with 1:1), to ensure I have some money already for Cambodia. The process was quick and easy.

We ended up in a book shop where I finally convinced myself that it is actually not a bad idea to get a Lonely Planet for Indochina since I have only booked my flights and nothing else. With 40$ it definitly was not a cheap option.

One of the girls was leaving in the night, so we headed to the pool for some relaxation and swim. I was so proud I did not get sunburned, but I didn’t really get tanned either….

In the late afternoon we went to the Doctor’s Gully for some Fish Feeding. It definitly was fun, but with 11$ a bit pricy in my opinion.

After a quick shower we got ready for the nightlife again. A fellow traveller recommended a Fish & Chips shop across the road; apparently they have the best fish in town (and shark). As soon as we started eating, we agreed that this is certainly not the best fish in town. What a disappointment…

Next we went to the Bar The Deck (the bar yesterday was Wisdom if you are interested), a place where the locals hang out for after work drinks. As soon as we entered I knew that we totally didn’t fit in, all of us differently dressed and certainly not in Business dresses. After we enjoined a drink we moved on to the Monsoon, a place mainly visited by backpackers, army and navy people. Good prices and good music (that of course depends on your taste).

Since I booked a tour for the next day I set my curfew at midnight and managed to leave the bar at the dot.

Getting up early in the morning after a night out is never easy, but I managed. While I was waiting for the bus to Litchfield I met a few other people in front of the reception and we all booked the same tour.
 

I really enjoyed the trip and had loads of fun with the people. Luckily the bus was not full since it is wet season in the Northern Territory and the locals find the place too hot to visit.

We started with the Crocodile Jumping Cruise and again I was able to hold a snake, they are seriously so cute and friendly.

The crocodiles in the Alice Spring River are wild and I don’t deny that I was scared of them, they were huge. It is amazing to see such animals outside a zoo (which reminds me to check on my Africa Trip).

We continued to the actual Litchfield Park with a quick stop at a Butterfly Farm, unfortunately most of the Butterflies were in cocoons, so I only saw one. The place itself was a really relaxing oasis.

The next stop was at the Termite fields. We received a lesson in survival in the Bush and received a free meal in form of termites that tasted like pepper and ants that produced lime juice, yummy.

This was followed by the first waterfall for the day and some lunch. Since I didn’t eat anything in the morning I was so hungry that I made myself more than I could eat, but my fellow tour participants were glad to help me out.

We had two swims during this trip and I can’t say it often enough, swimming under a waterfall is just amazing. Shame though that the places are very popular with the locals hence the place was full (ish) of people, I rather prefer it remote. The tour guide took me further up the creek (I admit I found him a bit creepy, but I guess he just wanted to be nice) where the water is still deep but full of fallen trees and other things I don’t even want to know. After approximately 500 meters up the creek I just turned around, it was getting too dark and too far into the forest for me. Upon return I climbed up the little cliff and jumped into one of the waterholes, which was fun. But it is dangerous to do that though and it certainly was not covered in my insurance (whoops).

  

The tour overall was great, relaxed, personal and chilling. We agreed at the end of the tour that we would head together to a restaurant to eat crocodile. Tims restaurant is located directly next to the Chinese Temple and has a nice ambient. The crocodile tasted like a mix of chicken and fish, pretty good.

For the night I was invited to a friends birthday party. We met in Brisbane and had a happy reunion which ended up in a pub later.

Since I didn’t make it home until the early hour, it kind of was hard for me to get up and pack my stuff. I had to check out at 10 am, my flight wasn’t until late in the afternoon, so I joined some of the girls and we went together to the Sunday Market in Nightcliff; a cute little market with loads of handmade art and plenty choice of food.

I headed back to the hostel to pick up my bag and got myself to the airport to fly to the last destination in Australia, Perth. I actually nearly ended up in Melbourne since I entered the wrong Aircraft by mistake. I was one of the last passengers and for some weird reason they took away the lines and I looked at two planes and just took one of them. I wasn’t the only one…..

I had an amazing time in Darwin and managed to do more than I actually expected. I hope Perth is going to be fun as well, ahhhh what am I saying, it will be because I am going to make it fun :D

That’s it again for now and I hope all of you stay tuned for the next update.

Happy travels.