Kakadu and Lichfield National Parks

Rolling into Darwin was a relief, as a tour group we had amassed some serious KM’s after leaving Alice Springs. Again we met up for a farewell meal in one of Darwin’s nightspots before preparing for the final leg of my 10 day trip (a 3 day 2 night Kakadu and Lichfield National Park Safari). The weather in Darwin was humid and wet perfect for the “wet” season I suppose! Another early pick and my final tour group were soon on the road heading for the sights of the national parks. We were joined by a few Brits and an Aussy guy called Keith (aka Heath)!

 

 

The essence of this part of the trip was to really experience the wildlife of Australia and we were straight into the action with our first stop looking at some massive termite mounds! Our tour guide Nathan was basically a cross between Bear Grylls and David Attenborough and his knowledge was second to none. We did spend a lot of time in the bus on this part of the trip and designated points of interest where largely geared around swimming spots. The first day we made way to a beautiful natural waterfall complete with natural swimming pools and although it was raining the temperature of the water was perfect…. This combined with a BBQ for lunch was great way to spend the day and meet our new tour party. Or first  nights campsite came complete with pool and after anther swim we tucked into another BBQ feast.

 

 

The 2^nd days activities saw us head into the Kakadu park home to some of the world’s oldest rock formations on the planet (I won’t bore you with the background to it all but it was pretty impressive). Climbing up and around these rock formations we had lessons on ancient Aboriginal art at the ancient art site of Ubirr before climbing to the viewing point for an amazing view looking out over Kakadu and Arnhem Land we was truly amazing. It was not the image I thought I would see whilst being the outback…. It was so vast, lush and green. The photo shows an area where Crocodile Dundee was filmed too if you can recognise it???? After the trekking and photos we made where for our campsite for the night which would be my last one of the trip. Our tour guide managed to secure us air conditioned rooms constructed from Porta-cabins…Again there was pool which provided a great opportunity to cool off before heading off on our crocodile cruise!

 

The final day of my ten day trip was a bit of wash out literally. After days of rain most of our stuff was soaked through! So the fact we started a 3km hike in pouring rain and waded through creeks waist high didn’t really bother us and it was pretty cool. Unless you’re the Queen of the Amazon aka Sara/Saus who really wasn’t in impressed with the hike in her bright Pink Burberry rain mac PRICELESS!!!! The rain was so bad it had washed out or desired swimming spot but none of us were really bothered as the hike was so much fun especially as Nathan was grabbing all kinds of frogs and insects to show us on the way! The poor weather meant a detour to another Aboriginal art spot and a fantastic lookout before heading back to Darwin to dry off and relax….

 

 

 Arriving in Darwin wet and cold we still ventured out for a night on the town back in Monsoon (Darwin’s premier night spot). Wednesday meant it was ladies night and unfortunately Gaz from Geordie Shore was “in the house” this made all the girls weak at the knees… God knows why because he is a complete PIPE! After a brief intro to Gaz the night resumed and we all had a great night throwing some shapes and consuming lots of booze! I now had four days to kill in Darwin and to be honest I was hard work it’s pretty much  centered around two streets and a small man made beach and wave pool. Highlights were the museum complete with 5m stuffed crocodile and an unsuccessful Barramundi fishing trip (thanks Nathan).

 

 

Northern Territory trip complete now back to Sydney!

 

Photos FYI

 

One Love JH

 

 

Alice Springs to Darwin

Everyone in our tour group was now on first name terms and we lost Cara and Thaine as they had only booked a three day trip. We all met in the reception and I think it would be safe to say we were slightly worried by who would be joining us and what our new tour guide would be like. We were greeted by Kim an Aussy who turned out to be equally as good as Rohan even if she did insist on playing Aqua Barbie Girl through the bus stereo!!!!

The 2nd part of the trip was again 3 days however this part of the safari certainly felt more like just getting from A to B the sights were not as spectacular but we had just as much fun. It would be worth me pointing out that we visited lots of different cattle stations and truck stops throughout our trip and these are vital to the people which travel these routes on a weekly basis transporting many different goods around Australia! Without these businesses I don't think Australia would be able to exist as they provide a safe place to stop and relax when travelling these huge distances! 

Each pub/station has its own theme the most interesting being the Daly Waters pub where people leave behind all sorts of momentos most interestingly bras (some of them were massive!!!!). The first point of call was the tropic of Capricorn this signifies the change in the climate and weather we experienced. We were leaving the sauna and going into the steam room! Corny saying I know but that’s the best way to describe it! My new friend Sara gave a pretty poor description of it saying it was "Shit" admittedly it wasn’t much to see but the change was very noticeable and the whole flora and fauna changed to lush green plants, palms and trees!

The notable sights we took in were the Devils Marbles and Mataranka thermal pools which were awesome topped off by another swimming opportunity at the top of the Katherine falls within the Katherine national park! We had a small hike to the top of the falls to ensure we were not swimming in Crocodile invested waters OUCH!!!!

We slept one night in swags under the stars well i say we... it was a select few as the women within the group decided to take haven within the garage at one of the campsites due to the rain! This was a bad move as we were joined by another tour group who started to play music, only for them to be told to turn it down by Rach which was pretty funny! Not the best way to get to sleep in the outback i suppose listening to rhythm is a dancer!

The last night of our trip we finished off with a great meal and again a few well-earned beers in Darwin! This was a good chance chat with my new found Dutch friend Renee and Yorkshire Man Dave along with Queens of the outback aka Sara, Katy, Rach and Nineke before retiring back to the hostel for another early start for the final three days! Also shout out to Mrs Potato Head...Anne!

Again another amazing few days with some great people!!!! 

PICS FYI 

Peace and Love

 

Uluru, Kata Tjuta and Kings Canyon

WOW where to begin! The outback is truly the real Australia full of wildlife and history of the Aboriginal people and amazing sights such as Uluru, Kata Tjuta and Kings Canyon. My chosen method to explore all of these wonderfull places was by a bus on a 10 day outback safari from Alice Springs to Drawin and was accompanied by my housemate Racheal!

The flight from Sydney to Alice was pretty painless and were greated by 40 degree heat and loads of aboriginal folk walking the streets going about their business as if we "white folk" were not there. Already a bit of an eye opener. The city/town of Alice can be expolored in about an hour so as you can imagine it was pretty dead and the bulk of travellers are either starting, finishing or mid way through their safri trips to or from Adelaide or Darwin.

The first 3 days of my trip was awesome our tour guide Rohan was fantastic and the bus was full of great people (yes even you Katy and Saus if your reading). The first day and a 6am pick up we started our drive into the outback and made our way to Uluru and even spotted a Dingo within a few hours. I was quite surprised by how green it was! A brief walk around Uluru and the onsite cultural center was followed by watching sunset over Uluru and Kata Tjuta it was pretty awesome! Although it was slightly ruined by some dude within another tour group who i aptlly named "King of the Di**heads" (KofD) beacuse he was complete and utter pipe. The first nights sleeping arrangments were also explained after our Kangaroo spag bol, and again it was pretty cool. We all slept in swags under the stars taking in the constilaltions and shooting stars pretty cool.

Day two we rose at 3.30am to watch the sunrise and thank God the KofD wasnt there telling us all about his superstar ballerina girlfriend! The view was awesome! We then had breakfast and headed for a 7km walk around Kata Tjuta. For me this was better than Uluru itself and the walk was aweosme! BIG UP to Rachie for completing it even though she was ill! The walk finished complete with Kangaroo and lizard watching (almost lizard riding) for rach and we headed to out campsite fot the 2nd night at converted cattle station complete with swimming pool awesome!

Another early get up for the third day to explore Kings Canyon which required a walk up "heart attack hill" our group adopted an 83 year japanese guy who all the girls loved and wanted photos of! Anyway the hike was awesome full of fantastic sites and landscapes and after the 3hr hike we were all pooped and ready for our BBQ lunch before heading back to Darwin for a PARTY!!!!!

We all ventured out to Annies for dinner and we were soon greated some guy with a snake wrapped around him trying to impress everyone it was cool for about 5 minutes and then it just felt wierd who takes a snake into the pub??? We soon suitably smashed and playing a game of ping, pang, pong and the whole group really came together! My shark joke went down a treat along with some serious shapes on the dance floor which made for a great night out!

The fourth day was a day of rest so i just sat around the pool soaking up the 40 degree sun before another early get up to make our way to Darwin! Hopefully this write up conveys how good these three days were! I could write so much more but i dont want to bore you with every detail! Roll on the next three days!!!!

Christmas 2013

Quite possibly the best Christmas to date so much going on and to be joined by my parents for the first time in 9 months was a truly awesome expirence. I was so excited to see them i managed get totally gassed before realising i had agreed to meet them at the airport and then ended up half cut in arrivals without their flight details waiting for them to come through customs.... It turns out they were delayed so i trudged around and receievd some help from Bob over the phone trying to figure out if they would arrive at all.

Long story short they arirved on the last flight into Sydney and after the tears in the arrivals my Mum and Dad were soon living it up in Coogee. Even though i worked through the Xmas break i still met up with them most days and even stayed at their hotel one night!

Christmas in Aus in my opinion isnt really as "big" as it is in the UK i probably felt like this because it was warm and i worked but some reason it just didnt feel "Christmassy". Anyhow after my Mum had a brief incounter with Jason Donovan in the hotel, we were soon at the top of the Sydney Westfield Tower having dinner at the rotating resteraunt looking ou over the whole of Sydney; What a fantatsic way to see Sydney for the first time! Mum and Dad also met Bob and Sharon who had kindly given my parents the use of their aprtment while they were enjoying their Xmas break in South Australia. THANKS AGAIN BOB AND SHAZZA!!!!

The days wipped by with the parents and we managed to see lots of the Sydney sites such as the Blue Mountains, Bondi Beach, Coogee Beach the Opera house and so on. We spent Xmas Day on a very wet and windy Coogee beach having a BBQ and beers in true english style under a Gazeebo! The great weather and oatcake breakfast on boxing day made up for the poor weather the previous day it wasnt long before we were partying it up on NYE at the opera house bar.

NYE 2013 i dont think will ever be beaten! Water level in Sydney Harbor smack bang in front of the bridge sipping beers watching the stunt planes, boats and fireworks was absolutly amazing! Sharing this with the rents also made it extra special hopefully the photos do it justice.

Like i said the Xmas period was so busy it seemed to fly by i also managed a few nights out in Newtown...Also I unfortunatly managed to get a ticket to the cricket which was hard work as the Aussuies were just tearing us Pommis to shreds!

So all in all a great christmas thanks to everyone who made my Mum and Dad feel so welcome and to Bob  and Sharon for the apartment. Also to Matt and Claire for opening up the "party house" i think you will agree we had a great few weeks!!



A post for Uncle Stu!

I have had to do a blog post for Uncle Stu’s reading sessions… and the fact that it has been over a month since my last post.

Nothing out of the ordinary to report other than I’ve spent most of my time just exploring Sydney and my home suburb of Newtown. This largely consists of going to the pub and taking advantage of the “Tab” or “Pokies” which most pubs have, (betting shops/bookies to me and you). The fact you can sit in a beer garden and watch footy, rugby, racing, dogs and the trots all with a cool beer and the sun on your back often results in unproductive weekends and sometimes drunken face time sessions with friends back in the UK.

Highlights of the past few weeks/months have been the Pukka Up boat party around the Sydney harbor, watching Bookashade and Digitalism at the Ivy, Sydney FC’s first home game v Newcastle Jets and a Sunday lawn bowls session! A few really good nights out in Kings Cross and Sunday sessions at the Kurrajong Hotel in Erskineville which plays fifties style teddy boy music most Sundays!

It would be safe to say the Aussy life is pretty good everyone is really relaxed. Landlords in the UK could learn a lot from their Aussy counterparts in the sense that the pubs aren’t part of huge chains (or they do not appear to be) each one has its own sort of atmosphere, no stupid dress codes to get into places etc. The only down side is they don’t serve pints!

Work has also been interesting. I have been working on a maintenance contract for the Sydney Olympic Park Authority. Site visits and remeasures include checking completed works around the Olympic Park which homed the Olympic Games in 2000. Recent events have been the final of the V8 Supercars known as the Sydney 500. So it was really cool seeing the road network around the park being turned into a race track!

As I am writing the parents are 2 days away from arriving in Sydney for Christmas…so the festive season will be a real treat! This weekend we are having a “Merry Shitmas” party at the house so that should make the next blog post along with other Christmas events!

Pics FYI.

Camping at Upper Colo Reserve

http://www.hawkesbury.nsw.gov.au/community/parks-and-recreation/upper-colo-camping

My first camping trip in the Australian bush was spent at the Colo Reserve for a friends (Matthew) birthday. The site about 100km outside of Sydney is pretty remote and roughly 5km from the main road on small winey track. The site has a toilet block with cold showers only and no suitable drinking water, so basically it is in the middle of nowhere. The site ranger also informed us that the snakes are now becoming more active and advised us not to get bitten by anything dangerous (which is pretty hard in Aus) because the helicopter evacuation service takes 40 mins to get to site. CHEERS PAL!

Seven of us made the trip in total and myself and Claire were first to arrive and set up base camp in the dark. I was quite surprised with how I managed to pitch the tent in the dark in all honesty. Anyway we were soon joined by the birthday boy and a few other lads and with tents pitched and beers cooling in the eski (a cool box to any Brits reading) we set about making the fire so Matt could prepare his all in one pot, stew (which was excellent).

I think I have mentioned before how relaxed everything seems to be here compared with back home… this can be seen when comparing camp sites with those back home. Kids running around enjoying themselves with music coming from different groups of campers throughout the site and the fact that open fires were allowed. My experience of camp sites back home were certainly not the same.

The first night was spent devouring the stew which Matt made from scratch on the open fire (pretty impressive) with crusty tiger bread, before cranking up the tunes and getting on it all gathered around the fire… I am not really sure what time we all got to bed but it didn’t seem long before I was being woken by the morning chorus of the bush…. Kookaburras, macquarie’s and all other birds was pretty awesome. After bacon and egg sandwiches expertly cooked by yours truly some lads had to return home for work so that left four of us to enjoy the river and surrounding area. After a brief trip to stock up on supplies…well just booze manly and enjoying the river we set about constructing the BBQ for Saturday night’s dinner. Matt again didn’t disappoint with some great burgers which went down a treat. The rest of the evening was spent again around the fire until midnight before hitting the hay.

Sunday was over pretty quickly after de-camping and we were on the road for 9.30am and stopped in Windsor for breakfast before returning home to Sydney; back to normality with phone signal and warm showers. A great weekend was had by all thanks again to Bob for lending me his camping kit and to Matt and Claire for organizing all the weekend and all of the food etc.... Hopefully more trips to come!!

Pics FYI.

Sydney Life

No blog posts for a while largely due to the fact I haven’t actually been travelling.

I am now living and working in Sydney and will be here until Christmas to meet up with my parents who are over for three weeks. I have been out of the hostels for just over a month now and I am house sharing. I am living in Newtown which is a pretty cool part of Sydney (Hello obviously- ahahaha). Seriously though it’s a great place to live lots of bars, pubs and eateries and it is minutes from the station which is good, as I catch the train to work every morning.

Arrgghh WORK back to grindstone it is and with thanks to Claire I am working for Downer who are a large Australian Contractor. I am working as a QS on a road maintenance contract covering the NE of Sydney and the job itself is great there are differences regards the working culture but the actual day to day QS roles and responsibilities are still the same (a bit like being Robin Hood stealing from the rich and giving to the poor).

In terms of doing stuff it has been an eventful few weeks with my birthday which was spent in Coogee at great restaurant before throwing shapes in a few bars. I have also been to a Bledisloe Cup match to watch Australia get hammered by New Zealand although we left at half time to watch the start of the football season as the atmosphere was that bad… well compared to the lions anyway.

I have joined a rugby team St Patricks and have been to training and played in the last five games of the season initially starting in the fifth team before being promoted to the thirds. I am all for the way they do things out in Australia regards local rugby… Each club has five teams and the fixtures are arranged so all five teams play the opposing clubs team one after another on the same day e.g. fifth team then fourth team and so on…  once the match has finished each team creates a tunnel to clap and cheer on the next team while they run out to play. Therefore rugby takes up the whole Saturday and everyone in the club watch’s all of the team’s play which is pretty decent.

One difference which that is a bit cringe is that before kick off the team gathers and we do an American Football like chant where the whole team place their hands in the middle of a huddle before the coach gives a call of “pats on three then break” which let’s be honest is tad G-A-Y! Certainly different to Coach Bicknell shouting the orders with or Steve Dono yelling “It’s just another fifteen men boys lets f**king do these…” Pahahahahaha However the great weather and pitch side beers and BBQ’s certainly make up for it!

A trip to Luna Park (a theme park) to watch the Sydney Darts Masters made for a great night out and crossing the harbor at night by ferry to get the venue was really picturesque, a massive contrast to the darts itself. Basically pissed up POMMS everywhere largely in fancy dress… It was a great night and Phil the Power didn’t let me and the other stokies in the crowd down with a fantastic win against MVG. The weekend just passed was spent in the Blue Mountains taking in the fantastic scenery with a great 3.5hr trek following the “National Pass” a manmade walk cut out of the rock face of one of the many mountains which make up the region. The sheer size and vastness of Australia can be seen when walking around up there and is truly breathtaking. Thanks to Bob for the lift up to Wentworth Falls where we started and finished our walk!

Future Plans:

I am going to be in Australia until February next year when I then fly to New Zealand before returning home. In between that I have some plans to travel around Aus more and hopefully see Ayres Rock and the Whitsunday Islands. I also have tickets to the Ashes so I can’t wait for that.

Anyway until next time….

Pics attached.