Hi Everyone!
First of all, Happy Thanksgiving! We trust that you’re all full of turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie! Unfortunately for the three of us, we spent our Thanksgiving Days working/at placement. But the good news is, we had a nice little getaway over the weekend.
Since Leah doesn’t always have to go to placement on Thursdays, and since I was still on holidays, the three of us were able to have a little getaway up to the Northern Territory. We flew up Wednesday night and arrived in Darwin at around 11:00pm. We could feel the heat and humidity the second we walked out of the airport as it rarely drops below 25 overnight up there.
We spent our first day in the city of Darwin – it’s a very small city so we were able to see most of it in just the one day. We had breakfast at an outdoor cafe before heading down to the harbour where there was a little beach and a wave pool to cool off in. After we walked around the harbour, we walked along The Esplanade, through the park, checking out the views of the ocean and mountains in the background, and of course catching some shade when we could!
We wandered through Smith Street Mall, and then grabbed a quick lunch. Following a quick stop at the pub, we headed to Doctor Gully’s Road for the Fish Feeding Frenzy at high tide. The fish know that when the tide comes in, the tourists come out. People of all ages get some pieces of bread to see hundreds of fish (five or six different species) rise to the surface looking for anything to chew on!
Once those guys were fed, we headed to Mindil Beach Markets to take a walk through the vendors and of course get some food of our own! A short trip back to our hotel ended with a dip in the pool – so refreshing! And of course, what better way to finish off the day than ice cream?!
The next morning was the beginning of our 2 day tour of Kakadu National Park; a very popular spot in the Northern Territory. Our guide, Darren (a member of a local Aboriginal tribe), picked us up around 7am and we were on our way. Our first stop was at the Adelaide River to witness crocodiles in their natural habitat; something new to all of us! But first, Heather was feeling a bit brave and decided to have a go at holding a snake – when in Rome!
After all that craziness, we hopped aboard our boat and headed out into the croc-infested waters. The brave cruise director’s assistant put some raw meat on a string at the end of a stick and lured the crocs over to the boat – once these ferocious animals pick up on it and position themselves, they make a jump for the meat – literally!
The entire top halves of their body come right out of the water... very cool! One little guy at the end even got his back legs out – just a sign of how strong their tails are.
After that, we drove to have lunch next to a billabong, before moving on to an Aboriginal Cultural centre to learn about Aboriginal lifestyle, values and beliefs – and get cooled off by the A/C! After this, we experienced a bit more culture as we wandered around an enormous rock covered in Aboriginal rock paintings; a way of communicating and keeping records in Aboriginal tribes. Most of these paintings were over 100 years old according to Darren, who was able to interpret the meaning behind some of these paintings as well. After that, it was just a short drive to our camp site where we had dinner (stir-fried kangaroo and veggies on the fire) and spent the night.
While we were driving to our campsite, Darren suddenly turned the truck around and hopped out to go looking for something in the bush along the side of the road. Within a minute he called for us to come towards him, and he was holding a frilled lizard! None of us could figure out how he could have possibly seen it from just driving past, especially since we weren't travelling slowly! These little guys move extremely quickly, and are believed to be the only living descendent of dinosaurs in Australia.
Saturday morning, we woke up and headed to Twin Falls via a very bumpy road; truly an outback experience. A short walk, a cruise and another short walk lead us to the site of where Twin Falls trickles over the rocks; it was a very secluded, quiet sight with some of the clearest water you could imagine.
It was nice to just sit back and relax and take in the sounds of nature. After this, we headed back to the truck and drove to Jim Jim Falls – no cruise this time, but there was a much longer hike over the rocks to get to our destination! But at least this time after trekking through the heat, there was a little natural fresh water pool for us to cool off in. Very refreshing. This was the last item on our itinerary before heading back to Darwin.
On our way back to the city we stopped at one of the very large termite mounds along the side of the road. Lots of termite mounds are found throughout Kakadu National Park and surrounding areas but this was one of the largest ones we saw. We stopped for a quick chat and Darren told us about how these act as a 'recycling plant' for the environment ... must have been a while as Heather was there in the light and Leah and I were there after sunset!
We finished the night off with some dinner with our fellow travellers before boarding the plane back to Sydney, or “The Big Smoke” as Darren would say.
Now, we’re back in the swing of things. Leah has just 5 weeks to go at Bankstown Hospital before she has her Master’s Degree! Heather has just another 10 days or so before her last day of work and she starts to see this glorious country Leah and I have seen so much of. As for me, I have just 8.5 weeks left with my kids at Coogee Public School. But we’re still taking it in, in fact we just got back from the Sydney International Food Festival to taste the multicultural cuisine available in this city. But mostly, it was great to get out and enjoy the nice weather we’re finally getting!
Trust you are all well... stay tuned as we’ve got a few more exciting things coming up in the near future!
Jeff, Leah & Heather
xoxoxo
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