Kakadu National Park

Friday, 26th March. I went on the Kakadu tour today and had to get up at 5:30am. Only got a few hours of sleep today because I went out last night and met up with a few people from the Litchfield tour.
Today we have a double decker bus with the seniors on the bottom and the youngsters on the top. I guess we're not going to be doing much walking on this tour. It was a long drive to Kakadu, about 4 hrs, so i'll be able to catch up on sleep during the drive.

We went to Warradjan Aboriginal Culture Centre. The AC unit broke down and it was very hot and humid in the building. The stories were interesting to read but I skipped half of it so that i can go into the gift shop and enjoy the cool fresh AC air. I guess I'm not a very cultured person.




Then we went on a 1.5hr nature boat cruise on the Yellow river. We spotted a few crocs and birds. I don't think I'm a bird person either cos I was falling asleep during the boat ride.




This was one of the crocs we spotted on our cruise.

After lunch, we went on a walk in Anbangbang. It was a very short walk and we were shown some rock art. They look like children's drawings. It was so hot and humid out. I was constantly sweating, even while I was standing still. I really dislike high humidity places.




Aboriginal rock art in Anbangbang.

I think this trip was a waste of time because we spent almost all of the time on the bus. I should have booked a 2 or 3 day tour but I thought that I was flying out tomorrow. I got my departure date wrong, um actually flying out on Sunday!

Darwin - Litchfield

Thursday, 25th March. I took it easy in the last few days in Darwin. It rained in Darwin for the past few days and it was not just any rain. It was heavier than my shower nozzel output in the UK. You would be completely soaked within a few seconds. Fortunetely it doesn't last for very long.

Today I went on the Litchfield tour. I had a large constrictor python wrapped around me. It was a little heavy. The skin was smoother than I imagined. It was really early in the morning and I was still half asleep so I wasn't frighten at all. Then it tied to get into my shirt...




Then we went on a jumping croc cruise for an hour. I saw quite a few crocs that jumped for us. The guide hung a piece of meat on a stick to lure the croc over and the croc will need to jump to get the food. I saw one that was over 4 meters long. We were advised to keep out hands in the boat.

Saw a very large termite mound. It looked like a large vertical pile of mud. Then went you get up close, there's thousands of them running around like mad. It gave me goosebumps.

We visited 4 waterfalls in Litchfield. Swimming was closed in the first 2 waterfalls. However we were able to go into the last two falls. The water was refreshing, but it would be nice if it was a bit more cooler. The last pool area had many levels with little waterfalls. I sat underneath a few of the waterfalls but they are quite powerful. I had to keep a hand on my bikini because of the force of the water. I can feel it peeling off my bum.

I managed to tread water in one of the calmer but deep pools. Yeah for me!

Bye bye rock

Monday, 22nd March. Today I took the evening flight from Alice Springs to Darwin. I went out last night with my group and I had one drink too many. The bar closed at 1:30 and I got back to the hostel in good time but I had to go out at 3:30am for a walk because I couldn't sleep. I had to check out by 10am too so once again, I only got 4.5hrs of shut eye. I was like a zombie for the entire day.

As soon as I stepped off the plane in Darwin, I was hit by a massive wave of heat and moisture in the air. It felt like Bangkok all over again, but I hated Bangkok. Hopefully my body will be able to cope better this time around.

I'm staying at the Youth Shack on Mitchel street. This is one of the best hostels that I've stayed it. I only came across it by chance. At the Darwin airport, I found two German backpackers to share a taxi into town. They have been here before and they were going to stay at the Youth Shack so I went along with them. I'm glad I did that.

The Rock Tour - Day 3

Sunday, 21 March. Last night I saw 2 shooting stars before falling asleep. The sky was clear and beautifully lit by all the stars. I saw the milky way. Sam taught us how to navigate by using the southern cross. With just our naked eye, we could identify south within 2 degrees accuracy.

Today we had to get up at 5:00, roll up our swag and be on the bus by 5:25. We drove to last night's sunset location to view the sun rise. We had breakfast there too. The rock looked awesome and I couldn't believe how well my body was functioning with such little sleep.

We did the 9.8km Uluru Base Walk after some toast and cereal for breakfast. We were expected to complete the walk in 2 hrs. I was in the slower walking group and we kept on getting rushed. We wanted to take lots of pictures so we arrived 30 minutes late. Felicitas and I broke out of the slow group near the end and sprinted to the finish line so we weren't last.

The climb to the top was closed today. But I don't think I would have climbed it anyways because to the aboriginal people, this is their sacred land and they prefer that no one climbs it. After learning about Uluru on this tour, I will respect their wishes. However, the climb is permitted because the government still has control over the land. Eventually the land will be handed back to the aboriginals, but not for another 50+ years.

On our way back to Alice Springs, we stopped by a camel farm. I went on a camel ride and took shot gun on the two seater camel. Our camel raced with Luke and Roman's camel. Even though the handler was holding onto both the reins and jogging with the camels the entire time, I think my camel came out ahead. Ouch, my bum was a bit sore after that.

On our drive back, Sam spotted a thorney lizzard on the road and stopped the van to pick it up to show us. We were driving at 100 km/hr so I'm surprised that he even spotted the little fella.

After we got back from the tour, our group met up again in the evening at the Rock Bar for dinner and drinks. Then we went to another bar after the rock bar closed and stayed there till it closed at 1:30am. This bar has a live feed on the Internet. I wonder if anyone saw me dancing online?

After the bar shut, I was going to walk back to the hostel but all the locals insisted on taking the taxi. Apparently Alice Springs was not a safe place to be walking around at night alone. The aboriginals may decide to mug you. I've been told that these aboriginals are the ones that have been kicked out of their tribe because they have done something wrong. So they are not the most friendly aboriginals out there.

Overall, the tour was awesome. We had a great group, a great guide and I think that's what made this tour the best tour that ive been on. We had so many laughs together. Our guide was the best. Sam, was very knowledgeable. He told us interesting aboriginal stories that have been passed down for generations. He told us about bush medician and the aboriginal culture. He showed us how the aboriginals made paint to use on the rocks. I learned about the significance of white paint and a few aboriginal symbols. An awesome guide.

The Rock Tour - Day 2

Saturday, 20th March. I got only 5 hrs of sleep last night. I got up at 5:45am because everyone around me started to pack up their swags. I guess I missed the morning call.

Breakfast was only toast and cereal. Again, this was not substantial enough to do the up coming hike.

Today we have tackled Kata Tjuta. It was around 5.5km and it took about 2.5hrs. I carried 3 litres of water with me again. We started this hike at 9am so the temperature wasn't as hot as yesterday. About 1km to the finish, one of the English ladies in our group showed signs of heat stroke and had to sit in the shade for a bit. That gave our guide a fright. But she was fine after 5-10 minutes. By the time we got back to the van, it was blistering hot.




Picture taken on Kata Tjuta

For today's lunch we had wraps with yesterday's beef and beans leftovers and lots of fresh vegetables. I helped cut the tomatoes, so that I don't have to do the dishes. We also opened 2 cans of tuna. Remember the amount of flies that I mentioned earlier? Well they haven't gone away. While we were making and eating lunch, it was hovering and landing on all our food. Especially the tuna, the flies love them, and a large concentration of them were hovering around it. I had to constantly wave them away from my plate.

Then we did the Mala walk and Kantju gorge. It was an easy 2km walk that took us 1 hr. Sam, our guide, told us many stories along the way. They were childrens stories because thoses are the only ones that he was allowed to share with us.

We stopped at the Aboriginal Culture Centre to be cultured. I read a few letters from the Sorry Book. The letters were from the tourists that had climbed the rock or took pieces of the rock. They apologised for their actions and some people report having really bad things happen to them and by returning the piece of rock, they're hoping to change their fortune.

We spent the evening watching the spectacular sunset over Uluru. Sam cooked us dinner while we took in the sights. We watched the rock change colour over a period of an hour. We did quite a few silly things there too. But I can't say because what goes on tour stays on tour! :)

We spent the night at Ayers Rock campground and had the only bush tucker site. We slept in swags again. We had a large campfire going and I massaged a few necks that evening with my muscle reliever. That was an instant hit. I went to bed after midnight and starred at the stars. Luke and Felicitas told me that they saw shooting stars the night before so I will try to spot some tonight.




Collecting firewood for the camp fire and for cooking our dinner on the first day.

The Rock Tour - Day 1

Friday, 19th March. Today was the start of my Rock tour. Breakfast was 2 slices of toast at 5:30am from the hostal and I was picked up at 6am, along with 19 other people.

We drove about 3 hrs to Kings cannon. It was 34 degrees and we had a 5.5km hike to do in the dessert cannon There were no water refill stations once we left base camp. So we had to carry all our water with us. The hike will take 3.5 hrs. Our guide refused to let us start the hike if we didn't carry 3 litres of water. They recommend drinking about 1 litre of water per hour.

Before the start of the hike, I was thinking back to the trek that I did in Thailand. You know, the one that I almost passed out on, and I was praying that this would not happen again.

Fortunately, the Kings Cannon only had one section at the beginning that was a steep incline. The rest of the hike had gradual inclines and declines. But we were hiking on loose rocks instead of a nice flat trail so I had to be careful with each step. The last thing that I wanted to happen was a sprang ankle.

The scenary was magnificent. I was surprised at how physically good I felt. At the beginning of the hike, I drenched myself with water to cool down and this was before the hike even started. You can easily get into trouble here without preperation. A helicoptor ride from the cannon to the car park cost 800 dollars and the helicoptor ride to Alice Springs hospital costs well over 1000 dollars. So you definitely don't want to get in trouble here.

Half way into the hike, we stopped for a quick dip in the cannon pool. That felt so good. Everyone was overheating and the cool water was refreshing. Before we started the hike again, I drenched myself once more.

In one area, we had to crawl to the edge of the cliff because our guide didn't want to do any paper work in case one of us falls over the cliff and goes splat.

At the end of the hike, I was able to go through only 2 litres of water. My feet was a bit sore, but I was so happy that did it without complications. I guess my body was not as feeble as I thought it was. I felt good!

We drove for ages before reaching our bush camp. It was 8pm by the time we got there. I volunteered to be on cooking duty so that I didn't have to do the dishes afterwards. I was partly in charge of the meat dish, beef and beans. We also had 2 vegi pots and a pot of rice. We used the bush method to cook all the dishes.

Dinner was so delicious. I ate so much. Especially since lunch was only a small sandwich and an apple. With the amount of exercise we did today, we needed to consume more food.

I slept in a swag for the first time. It's a bag with a mattress on the bottom. Then you put the sleeping bag inside the swag. So you can look up and see the stars. It was so hot this night, I slept with just my silk liner. I think I managed to get about 4.5hrs of sleep. We got up at 5:30am the next day.

Say tooned for some pictures later. I need to get them off my camera first.

Alice Springs

Thursday, 18th March. Today I flew from Perth to Alice Springs. Alice Springs is in the middle of Australia in the Northern Territory. I've already booked myself into a 3 day tour. So I'm going to be very busy when I get there. I hope my body would be able to handle it.

As soon as I stepped out of the Alice Springs airport, I was shocked by the amount of flies everywhere. These flies were not like the ones I've ever encountered. They would land on you even when you are moving. They are not afraid of humans at all and don't fly away when you try to poke it.

I booked myself into Toddy Backpackers, in a 4 ppl dorm. The rock tour will be coming to pick me up at 6am. So a very early morning for me. At midnight, I'm still awake and packing a smaller bag for the trip. The other people in the dorm has still not returned. Looks like I will get less than 5 hrs of sleep for the night. OMG, how will I survive with such little sleep!

Beautiful weather in Perth

I really enjoyed the down time in Perth. I needed to take some time off from the last 30 days of solo travels. So I sat around in the lounge and watched a lot of telly. I think Steve was a bit annoyed at the amount of time I spent in front of the telly. I managed to do a few things when I'm not staring at the black box. Steve took some time off work to show me around town. Oh, bless that nice lad.

We took a stroll around Kings Park at night, enjoyed the night view of Perth city and whispered into the whispering wall. I wasn't able to hear Steve's whispers from the other end of the wall, but when he spoke in a normal voice, I could hear whispers.

We took another stroll around Kings Park in the afternoon, in another part of the park. We went on the walking trail, but didn't finish it because it was quite long and I got hungry. They really need a couple of hotdog stands in the area.


Went to Caversham wildlife Park. I saw lots of animals that were native to Australia. The kangaroos and koala were my favourite and I spent most of my time there with the kangaroos. I went around to pet and feed them. A few days later, Steve made us kangaroo steak for dinner. It was tender and very delicious.


There were a few koalas at the park. They spent most of their time sleeping. We got to pet one of them. They each take 20 minute petting stints, and the keeper was there to identify the current koala that was on petting duty.


We caught the farm show, that demonstrated sheep sheering. I volunteered to try and crack the whip. It took me 3 tries before I was able to make the loud cracking sound. On my second attempt, I managed to wrap the whip around myself. Don't worry mom, I didn't hurt myself.

Went to Hillarys Boat Harbour and enjoyed a nice cold bottle of cider. At the same time, enjoyed the sunny weather and the beautiful view of the harbour. I was smashed after that cider.


Walked around in Perth city, saw the famous bell tower and wheel of Perth. The wheel of Perth is like the smaller version of the London Eye.

Took a stroll around Fremantle and had lunch at Joe's Fish Shack. We were sat right next to the windows where we could enjoy the harbour views while we ate.

Steve took me to a few beaches: Scarborough beach, city beach, and a beach by Freo. I went for a dip in all of them and experienced real waves. I also sampled the sea water in all of the beaches, not by choice of course. It tasted very salty. I don't recommend consuming large quantities of this.

After 3 weeks in South Africa and 30 days in the blister heat of Thailand, I managed to get sun burn within a few days in Perth! Ouch!


We took the ferry to Rottnest Island, rented a bike for the day and went to a few different beaches where I snorkeled for the first time. I was freaked out at first, because breathing felt quite different, and a bit harder.

We managed to see a Quokka, little furry creatures native to the island. One of the tourist was feeding it chips, even though there was a sign a few meters away that said not to feed animals.

We went to a club in the city with a few of Steve's mates. I had to buy a pair of decent looking shoes to get in. I had a bottle of cider and got smashed. Don't worry mom, Steve was there to make sure that nothing bad happen.

The Aussie's love to shorten words. Fremantle is Freo, Rottnest Island is Rotto, McDonalds is Maccas, Crocodiles are Crocs...

The Aussie money are very colourful, just like the Canadian ones, but the size for each note is different and they are made out of plastic... very hard to fold.

Tomorrow (Thursday March 18th) I will be leaving Perth and flying out to Alice Springs, where i've joined a 3 day tour to see the famous Ayers Rock.

A whole day of travelling...

Tuesday, March 2nd. To anyone travelling to Phuket Thailand, you can take the mini bus from the airport to your hotel in Phuket town for 100 baht, which was what I did. But then when I called the number for the mini bus, they charged 500 baht for the trip from the hotel to the airport. My hotel was only a 5 to 10 minute walk from the bus terminal so I walked there and took the government run airport bus to the airport instead. At 85 baht, it was a bargain.

My bag weights a bit more then when I first started the trip and it's probably at 7 kgs now. But I managed the 10 minute walk without any problems. I think I could probably go for an hour or 1.5 hrs before I really needed to sit down for a rest. Take it from me, packing light is good, less things to worry about. You really don't need much to travel around the world.

Today I spent the whole day travelling. I had a flight from Phuket to Singapore in the afternoon. Then after only 1 hour of stop over, I flew from Singapore to Perth. With such a short stop over, I didn't spend any time in the entertainment area in Terminal 2. I flew with Singapore Airlines on the Singapore to Perth leg. I love this plane, the on demand movies were great and there was plenty to choose from. The flight was a little over 5 hours long but time passed quickly for me. I watched two and half movies and we were already there. I landed at 00:30 and I managed to get through customs in a few minutes. I had no baggage to pick up so I almost made it out the secure area within 5 minutes of getting off the plane. However, I was stopped and they searched my bag. The only thing that I was confiscated was a rose apple that I forgot to eat on the plane. So I finished it in security area while the customs lady supervised. Eventually I made it out at around 1 am. I was quite exhausted from all the travelling today and was really relieved when I saw Steve immediately. I'll be staying with Steve during my time in Perth.

Busy in Phuket

Monday, March 1st. I had a very busy day yesterday and was out most of the day and night. I was hanging out with two Singapore girls that were staying in my dorm. We went to the Central Phuket mall and feasted on sushi in Fuji, the Japanese restaurant chain. Then we walked around for what felt like days in the night market and my feet was tired from all the walking. I was driven around all day by one of the Singapore girls and it was a bit naughty cos I didn’t have a helmet on. It was a really exhausting day so at the end, we all went for a foot massage.

Today was my last full day in Thailand. I spent the morning trying to check in online for my flight to Perth. However I was unable to because I needed to get a visa for Australia. I spent the whole morning stressed out about that. Then after some research, I was able to apply for the visa online and luckily I was approved immediately. So I was able to check in.

I caught the local bus to Karon beach in the afternoon. It cost only 30 baht and was about a 1.5hr ride from the bus terminal in Phuket town. However my moto taxi ride from the hotel to the bus also cost 30 baht and it took 5 mins to get there. Taking the taxi to the beach would set you back 400 baht.

I spent a short time at the beach and enjoyed a fresh coconut before taking the shuttle back to Phuket town. My hotel provided a shuttle back from Karon beach that started running today, so I was lucky. But since it was their first day of operation there was a tiny hiccup. They forgot to dispatch the evening bus so I spent some time with the hotel staff trying to communicate with them. I met a girl from China that was also waiting for this hotel bus. Eventually the hotel got us a bus back.

I had dinner with this girl from China, then I decided to treat myself to a 2 hour spa package for my birthday. I got a foot and hand massage for an hour, followed by an oil body massage for another hour. It was awesome and I smelled like tea afterwards because I was covered in Jasmine essential oil.

Tomorrow I’m going to spend the whole day travelling. I’ll be taking the 14:55 flight to Singapore, stopping over for an hour before flying out to Perth, Australia.