I left Jacqui's mid afternoon for the Mercury hotel Perth, and having checked in relaxed for the afternoon and evening, before meeting my new travel companions the following morning!
Before I continue I must once again say a great big Thank You to Jacqui, Peter, Andrew and Thomas for welcoming me into their home, giving me a base to stay, a real 'home from home' and Christine and Geoff for also scurrying round, making sure I didn't miss anything and taking me down South - you've all been great and loyal friends, my travels in Australia would not have been anything like as good without you all!!
Saturday morning 29th October I met my fellow companions on the tour, as expected... I think I'm the youngest... or act like I am!!
830 am we were all on the tour bus, for a tour of Perth, quite interesting really, considering I thought I knew my way round!!, then it was off to Cottesloe, on a wild, windy morning, unusually cold for this time of the year (where have I heard that before??) anyway a wander along the beach blew the cobwebs away....
before back on the coach, and a drive into and around Fremantle, where we were dropped off to wander around 'at leisure'... quite a busy day in Fremantle, there was the 'blessing of the boats' of the fishing fleet, a 'Little Italy' food show (and lots of free food), and entertainment here and there, alongside the interesting indoor market in the town. I wandered through the tunnel built underneath the 'round tower' to drag whales into the processing plants...
By 5-30 pm we were back on a boat for a cruise along the Swan river back to Perth, and our 'welcome meeting' with our tour guide - indigo blue!!
A few of us had a great meal out at a Korean restaurant in the town, before an early night!!
Sunday 30th October we were up early to gather just after 8 am, for a bus down to the boat jettys for a trip across the bay to Rottnest island, a popular spot for trippers, I was to find out why later!! ...and I was to be the 'tour guide' for the day - great fun between the 10 of us who went!
It took almost two hours to get there, with a stop at Fremantle north, collecting more passengers (the boat was full!!)
Having got to Rottnest I was quickly off, and along the coast to a secluded bay for 30 minutes of snorkelling on the reef there - the waves were quite strong, and there was a sudden drop off the edge if the beach into deeper water...
Then back to The Lodge for our included lunch, which was very good and filling!! A relax after lunch, where I wandered into Trinity church
before we jumped on an island tour bus, to take us around the small island (10 kms long) in hot afternoon sunshine, although still windy!!
Quite an interesting tour, especially as there was a large Japanese tour group also on, and there was lots of mention of the Japanese bombings in the war!!
Back to the port area, where there were lots of Quokkas wandering around
- these being why were first thought to be rats by the first island arrivals, hence its name (Rats nest!!)
430 pm our time on the island was finished and we were loaded onto the full to capacity boat, for a real 'white knuckle ride' journey back across the rough sea towards the mainland - great fun, and perfect seats as we were all on the upper deck with great views, but out of the sea water hurtling over the side rails!! Having dropped some passengers off in Fremantle we continued at a more leisurely pace towards Perth, watching the setting sun over Perth.
We were picked up in Perth for our transfer back to the hotel, arriving back just before 8 pm, a long day!!
Monday 31st October I was up at 6 am ready to finally leave Perth... we headed out to the airport, for an 845 am flight to Darwin... and losing 1 1/2 hours as we did for the differing time zone!!
We landed in Darwin, up in the Northern Territory, real hot jungle atmosphere of 90% humidity, and a welcoming 35c!!
Having boarded our tour coach we were off on a tour of Darwin, along the waterfront, and a stop for lunch at an Aboriginal museum,
eventually arriving at our hotel - the Vibe after 430 pm, it was chaos, no porters and long long corridors!!
Anyway I was soon settled in, showered and ready for a walk along to the harbour front for dinner of Steak and prawns at Crustacean restaurant, sat next to the water watching the fish swimming beneath the jetty, whilst people were throwing food to them!!... and lightning lighting up the dark skies in the distance... it's now officially the 'wet season' up here, but they're waiting for the rains to arrive, with the oppressive humidity building up and up each day...
Tuesday 1st November a leisurely start and after loading the coach (and the driver complaining about my heavy case!!) we set out for 9 am through Charles Darwin national park, another differing countryside, not particularly barren, nor lush!!
Our first stop was at the 'windows on the wetlands' visitor centre
where we could look out over the area of wetlands below with various birds flying around... before continuing to 'Humpty Doo' for a cruise on the Adelaide river of the 'spectacular jumping crocodiles'!!
There were lots of wild salt water crocodiles in the area, and we cruised the water, looking for them - having spotted one the crew would try to tempt them by holding out meat (on the end of a pole) for the crocs to jump it at!! - as you can see I was fairly close to the action!!
The crew also tempted the kites from the area to swoop down for food. Quite an interesting 2 hour cruise up and along the murky river...
Back on the coach we continued, towards the Kakadu national park, stopping for lunch, coincidentally being also able to watch the Melbourne gold cup (the race that stops the nation - like our Grand National) and who won the sweep!!?? and the $65 prize!!
We continued after lunch further into the Kakadu np to stop at an area where there were lots of ancient rock art paintings, and a climb up to a look out giving great views over the area
Arriving in the woods at Kakadu lodge, a simple and basic chalet camp just at sunset.... I tried the 'tasting platter' for dinner - meats of Buffalo, Emu, Crocodile, cheeses and chutneys.... and some paper bark... which I ate, even though I didn't need to!!
Wednesday 2nd November was a really early start, at 530am, ready for a cruise on the Yellow river and wetlands area... by 630 am were were being loaded onto the boat, and driven out by our guide - a humorous aboriginal chap, along the river and into the flooded wetlands area, just as the sun was coming up.
There was lots to see - Ospreys nesting in the trees, water Lilly's along the bank, crocodiles (estuarine crocs) hunting, and preserving their 'kills' A very interesting and informative (and humorous) two hours followed, then it was back to the bays, loaded onto the coach, and off to view more rock art further in the park - better in my opinion, and another lookout point for all round views
It was very hot and humid with temperatures reaching 39C and 95% humidity - very oppressive!! We continued, stopping briefly at a drying creek/billabong...
And also some large termite hills
continuing to the sleepy mining town of Katherine, and an old motel that was like out of the 1970's movies!!
Dinner at the local RSL club, followed by an early night 830... finished the day!!
Thursday 3rd November a nice leisurely start to the day, where we started just before 9 am for a cruise along the Katherine gorges - spectacular gorges that are changing all the time with the yearly rainfall filling them up, and drying out again as the season wears on... another very hot and humid day, in fact as I got into the boat the metal was too hot to touch..
Firstly cruising up along the first, and wider gorge,
quite impressive, then out of the boat to walk across a rock band into the upper, and far more spectacular gorge
with rock art on the upper cliffs above us
After the two hour cruise we disembarked, and started our long drive back to Darwin, stopping for lunch in Pine Creek at amateurs tasting the 'famous mango smoothies!!'... then carried on driving, stopping at the .303 bar on the Adelaide river crossing, and a viewing of Charlie, a film star from the Crocodile Dundee film!!...
and continued back to Darwin and the Vibe hotel in the 39C heat and high humidity!!
A great sunset accompanied me whilst I wandered along the quay for a great snack of rush and chips... and an early night!!
So my first week of the tour is almost completed, still fairly fast paced, and long days... not exactly adventurous, however still what I expected to see!!
Friday I'm off to the 'red centre' of Alice Springs and Uluru (Ayres rock)...
I'll be in touch!!
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