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<-- my life, by webgoddesscathy --> :: Saturday, September 20, 2003 :: Back from Kakadu. Lovely tour! Fantastic food. Luxury camping accomodations. Lots of information, lovely people. Went swimming in the most amazing spots! And the swimming got us out of the blistering sun/humidity, so the heat was not a problem. Haven't been swimming that much since I was a kid. Tonight I have free accomodation at Melaleuca's again, 10 mins free Internet and a meal at the Victoria Hotel. Yay for free things. And I only got about 5 mossie bites. Not bad! Being picked up tomorrow morning at 5:30am on the first leg of my 3-day journey to Alice Springs. I hate mornings. This next bit of my journey will be through the outback. That means LOTS of driving through very boring terrain. At least I'm reading an amazing book: Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald. Picked it up in Cairns when I exchanged my other two recently read books:Toujours Provence by Peter Mayer (read it because Rita from Tales of a Female Nomad read it) and Coasting, about a woman from Sydney who ditches it all to live a simple life in the north coast (Hardy's Bay). I love reading! :: Cathy 1:00 AM [+] :: 0 comments :: Wednesday, September 17, 2003 :: I'm still in Darwin. Today I went on a fantastic day trip to Litchfield National Park. Went swimming in Florence and Tolmer falls which could not be cool enough, given the heat of the day. With a really cool tourguide, two good meals and a private viewing of the life and death of a frill-necked lizard, it was totally worth the $30 I paid!! Now I'm staying overnight in Melaleuca Lodge (yes, the place I left when I first got here as I deemed it too grotty). But it's a free night included in my three-day tour of Kakadu. Itinerary: Sept 18-20 Kakadu. Sept 20 Overnight Darwin Sept 21-23 Darwin - Alice Springs Sept 23 overnight Alice Springs Sept 24-26 Uluru, King's Canyone, Olgas Sept 26 overnight Alice Springs Sept 27-28 Alice Springs to Adelaide Can't be sure when I'll be able to post or when I'll have mobile access. Likely only when I come in for an overnight stay in a real town/city. Tomorrow, I get picked up at 6:30am for my heat-stroke tour. Yay. Bedtime! :: Cathy 5:51 AM [+] :: 0 comments :: Monday, September 15, 2003 :: I'm in Darwin now. Wow. Just stand outside and the sweat pours off me. It's a literal sauna outside. Apparently, I'm here in one of the hottest times of the year. Lucky me. Was booked in at Melaleuca Hostel, but I took a look and HAD to get my money back. I went to the YHA across the street. Not MUCH better, but somewhat better at least. It's the first time I've ever asked for my money back. I felt bad. But I couldn't stay there. Yuk. But I have to stay there for one night when I'm back from my 3-day Kakadu tour. The tour company stays there overnight before taking off for Alice Springs. Sigh. I'm sure it'll be better than camping, anyway. Met a girl named Esther in my YHA room who has a car. We're going to Litchfield National Park tomorrow. Yay! Today I'm going to the supposedly excellent Museum and Art Gallery of Northern Territory. And doing laundry tonight. Wow it's hot. And I'm worried about my tour to Kakadu and Alice and the hostel I'm booked at in Alice. I've heard horror stories about all of them. Really starting to get scared. Well, I'm sure as long as there are nice people on the tour I'll be relatively happy. I'll probably NOT have mobile access when I leave for my tour of Kakadu on Thursday morning. Not sure when I'll have it again, or when I'll be able to do email/post here. Worried. Wish me luck. :: Cathy 6:07 PM [+] :: 0 comments :: Sunday, September 14, 2003 :: Today at the Cairns lagoon, I met Jerome. Jerome is 6 years old and in grade one. He lives with his cousin, Taylor, and her mom and his mom in Churchill, Victoria. He said it took "Twenty thirty hours to get here." He could spell his name, and took some creative liberties with Taylor's name ("T - A - L - I - S - G - I - T - H"). I think Jerome is the first friend that I've made here in Cairns. I would like to report that Global Backpackers, the hostel in the heart of the city, is a really good hostel and I learned that my roommate had sex with some guy in the hostel bathroom last night because there just wasn't anywhere else to GO. I checked out after a leisurely morning tea, left my bags in their luggage storage and booked my airport shuttle with the efficient staff at Global. I spent most of my morning at an Aboriginal Educational Gallery. It was really good (although I don't think many people go there at all) but made me really sad. I'm sad that I'm affected by all of the white Australians who've cautioned me to stay away from the Aboriginals, as they're generally drunk and up to no good. I get all nervous when they pass me when I'm walking by myself. That makes me feel like a bad person. But I think that Jerome was at least half Aboriginal. And I'm really glad that I met him. Kids are the greatest. :: Cathy 10:01 PM [+] :: 0 comments I'm back in Cairns today after a trip to Mossman Gorge, Cape Tribulation (2 nights) and one night in Port Douglas (all of which is north of Cairns). Cape Trib is where the Daintree rainforest meets the Great Barrier Reef. Literally, the water at high tide reaches right up to the jungle. And I stayed in a cabin IN the jungle. And did yoga on the beach every morning. It was all very lovely... except for the 700 bites that I have everywhere (including my face!) that itch like crazy. Thankfully, I think that my dark tan kind of hides the swollen red blotches. Port Douglas is the place where all the rich people from NSW go to vacation. What a town! I worked it so that I'd be there for their Sunday markets. I met some lovely people while hiding from the blazing sun under the artist's tents and exotic fruit stands. Also bought several good used books, so I'm all set... All set to go to Darwin tomorrow. Got one last day here and then I fly off to a place that, by all reports, is even hotter and more mosquito-ridden than Tropical North Queensland! And the pharmacist who sold me the antihistamines for my incredibly uncomfortable bites told me that the medication doesn't work against Croc bites. Well thanks. Apparently, the Northern Territory is FILLED with crocs. I've already seen a couple on the Daintree river cruise that I went on yesterday. Very cool. But they weren't as angry as the ones at Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo. Maybe the Crocodile Hunter should come 'round to stir up THESE crocs? :: Cathy 4:39 AM [+] :: 0 comments
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