Welcome to the land down under and crocodiles

And I've made it! I'm in Australia and my trip is almost over. This is my last stop on my grand tour and it makes me really sad. Though I complain and whine about traveling, this really has been the most amazing experience I've ever had. But before I leave it all behind, I still have one continent left to explore albiet for only 3 weeks.

Though I only have an EXTREMELY short period of time here (most people I meet spend between 3-12 months here) I have a pretty good itinerary, if I do say so myself. I'll be starting out in Darwin for a few days, then onto Alice Springs and Uluru where I will meet up with my parents, then to the Whitsundays for a bit of sun and surf, Townsville to scuba the Yongala (weather permitting) and finally to Sydney where I will bid a final adieu to my world travels and head back home to once again become a law-abiding citizen on the great Mouse Wheel of Life. Sigh.

Anyway, so far the trip has been fabulous! I arrived at Darwin at the very eager hour of 4am after having about 10 minutes of sleep on my flight from Singapore. At least I was able to get some free wine (when you are on a budget like mine, "complimentary" takes on a whole new meaning). I could barely keep my eyes open as the airport shuttle bus dropped me off at a hostel. They unfortunately didn't have any beds available but the guy took pity on me (probably after seeing the most hang-dog look ever - if he told me ice cream didn't exist anymore, I don't think I could have been more disappointed) and let me sleep in a recently vacated motel room. Its pretty grubby to sleep in someone else's room but I didn't care. After about 4 hours asleep, I was ready to function once again.

So the big thing to do in Darwin is to visit Kakadu National Park, the land of Aboriginal rock art and crocodiles. So I was really keen to see both until I saw how expensive the tours were. I know, this is going to be a running theme throughout my Australia posts but really, things here are more expensive than home, both in nominal and real terms (this isn't just adjusting from Asia prices talking here)! Anyway, what can you do? So I went ahead and booked a daytrip into Litchfield National Park to see some waterfalls and crocs and to Kakadu for an overnight "adventure tour".

Australia also marked my return to hostel living. SE Asia accomodation is so cheap, I could stay in a (shoebox) room on my own for cheaper than a dorm bed down here. Ahhh, good old hostels. I love how cheap they are, the facilities and how easy it is to meet fellow backpackers. But I'm pretty tired of sharing a room with 10 other snoring people who go to bed and wake-up at odd hours. And contrary to popular belief, communal bathrooms can get tiring after awhile. And there are always encounters like the one I had in Darwin. I got up at the UNGODLY hour of 5am to catch my tour bus when I noticed a guy, sleeping gently and snoring a bit but curled up on the ground with his boxers hanging around his ankles (Christine, its like your worst nightmare!!). Why? I don't even know where to start. But that's hostel life!

The trip to Litchfield wasn't as action packed as I had hoped. We ended up in a big huge tour bus, being shuttled from waterfall to waterfall and not really walking as much as being hurded around the sites. But I at least opted for the Jumping Croc boat ride, which sounded a lot more innocent than it ended up being. I thought we would just be boating up and down the river, spotting crocs and hearing the oohs and aahs of tourists as they snapped happily away at their cameras. It was that but also soooo much more. We were all sitting in our seats when the commentator spotted a "4-meter beaut" off the right bank, enjoying the sun and views. As I leaned over the railing to take a photo, I was almost smacked in the face with a raw porkchop roughly the size of my head. Apparently, spotting crocs wasn't enough. They actually DANGLED porkchops off sticks in order to entice the crocs closer and to jump up and eat the meat. These are MAN EATING creatures than can be up to 20 feet in length and weigh up to 2 tons! And they were bringing them close to a boat full of scrumptiously plump tourists??? It was so insane! It was hard not to cower in the middle of the boat as you saw 3 of these man-eaters circling our boat.

Here they come, circling around our helpless boat!

Do you see the teeth on that thing?? And look how far it can jump up? Are these people crazy?

The crocs weren't the only ones interested in the dangling meat. It was like a scene straight out of Hitchcock's The Birds, which you all know I HATE.

One of the many waterfalls we saw that day. They were all stunning and very inviting. Except when I found out that they may be croc-infested. Seriously?

Fruit bats, hanging out waiting for night to descend before turning into vampires and sucking your blood.

No, we didn't stumble into a graveyard. Those are actually termite mounds. Some of them get to be incredibly huge, like 20ft! Apparently, there are a lot of termites in Australia.

The next day, I got up yet again at 5am in order to catch my overnight tour to Kakadu. I thought I was still hallucinating when I saw our 4wd but it was real. It was this huge beast of a car - all the comforts and big seats of a tour bus, but mounted on top of these monster wheels that looked like they could devor any poor unsuspecting sedan. I got to sit in the front seat and the bottom of the cabin came up to my chest. I've been on lots of 4wd trips but this was something. Our tour leader was even a real bush man, straight out of a cliche - a modern day Crocodile Dundee. I think we were all a little afraid of Andrew, especially when we saw him whip out the biggest knife ever to just pick at his fingernails or stop the car suddenly to track some pigs or sniff some tree. But he was incredibly knowledgable about everything bush and Aboriginal related. And after a few (more like 10) beers, he warmed up considerably and we had some good laughs. Overall, the trip was fantastic. We saw some amazing sites like billabongs (they aren't just a surf clothing line) teeming with wildlife, ancient rock art and endless stars above our campsite. We also visited the most picturesque waterholes for a good dunk after long hot days.

There's our bad boy.

I forget what type of bird this is but is pretty interesting and common around these parts. I know, I could never be a bird watcher (but isn't that really a good thing?).

Yay! More croc watching! We took a boat around a billabong (basically a pond) and they were everywhere - both salties (man-eating ones) and freshies (not man-eating but can still take a big chunk out).

Look at that hansome mug! A freshie waiting for his close-up.

Beautiful lily plants though apparently, they aren't native to Australia and are choking the waterways. Even roses have thorns, right?

Who wouldn't want to swim here? There were a bunch of little waterfalls that fed into this big pool where we could jump from rocks and even swim through this small passageway under the water.

You just don't see sunsets like this everyday.

A perfect end to a great day.

Some of this Aboriginal rock art has been around for centuries. What's interesting is that this isn't from a dead culture. Tribes of Aboriginals still use the same painting methods to illustrate their creation stories. Its amazing to think that the oldest culture in the wrold still lives on today.

Our very own bush man showing us what each of the symbols mean.

Australia really is an amazingly beautiful and wild land. To think how the Aboriginals lived off this land before Europeans came and wrecked it all.

I could live this way. Really.

The mosquitoes though were merciless. The bugs in general here are bigger, more ferocious and way too persistant. Trying to get away from an Australian fly is really an artform. I'm usually pretty good with repellant and wearing my mosquito-repellant clothing but I ended up with over 20 bites on or around me bum, as the Aussies would call it. Yup, 20. How they got there is a mystery though I have my suspicions. I think I might of scooped up one of the buggers in my pants or I might have encounted an overly hungry one in the toilet. Who knows? But it was so awful! They itched so badly but I could exactly go at them in public. TORTURE!!!

But this is just the beginning! I still have the outback and the coast to see. But Darwin was a great introduction to the Land of Oz. The people here have been so friendly and quick to share some corny joke over a beer. Its also nice to be back somewhere that reminds me of home. The accents aside, we could have been in the States, maybe out in the National Parks around Utah and Colorado. Now onto Alice!