Monday 6.8.12

Today is our last day in Darwin so Dad, Mum and I went back to Darwin Waterfront Wave Lagoon.

When we got there the afternoon session had already started. Dad and I got in but Dad didn’t have a tube so he was pushing me over the waves. When Dad finally got a tube we had races down the waves and it was awesome. Sometimes we would hold each other back so the other one could win.

After getting out we went over to an ice-cream place called Trampoline. All the flavours looked really yummy but I got Spotty Dog which tastes like Milo ice-cream and Easter Egg which is vanilla ice-cream with chocolate bits and caramel sauce. It was delicious.

As today was our last day in Darwin I am sad because I have had a great time up here and also because it means we are heading south which means back home  :*( , but I am still looking forward to the rest of the remaining part of of our trip

Tuesday 7.8.12

Today we left Darwin at 8:30 to get to Litchfield National Park.

On the way in we found a gigantic magnetic termite mound. They are called magnetic termite mounds because they are thin and the thin edge runs North-South. The termites build them this way to help with heating and cooling of the colony.

We arrived at Wangi Falls and it took us a long time to find two camp sites next to each other but eventually found two.

After setting up we all went down to Wangi Falls which we all agreed were spectacular. We climbed up the water fall and found a thermal spring with a mini water fall in the rocks and we just hopped in and relaxed.

After we hopped out Mum, Karen and I walked up the board walk and we looked up and saw hundreds of fruit bats roosting in the trees.

 Later that night we saw the bats flying randomly overhead looking for food.

Wednesday 8.8.12

Today we did Florence Falls and Buley Rock Holes.

The walk to Florence Falls was really easy but the water was freezing. The walk to Florence followed Florence creek which was really pretty. When we got to Florence falls it was really pretty so dad took lots of pictures. When dad and I were both in we swam over to the water fall, dived under and came out behind the waterfall and it was really beautiful because it was like our own secret spot away from the crowd.

Next we walked to Buley Rock Holes. When we got to what we thought was Buley Rock Holes we hopped in. The pool we were in had leeches in it so we hopped out and kept walking. When we were ready to go we asked the boys if they could go get the cars, so it would save us walking back for lunch and then back to the rock holes for a swim. When we finally reached Buley we met Dave and Dad at the carpark where we had lunch.

We went to the first rock hole and started doing bombies and went for a swim in between lazing about for a couple of hours. We went to another rock hole further down the creek and I was lucky enough to find an pair of Maui Jim sunglasses lying at the bottom. This was probably our best find yet (three pairs of sunglasses and $10 dollars).

Thursday 9.8.12

Today we did Tolmer Falls lookout, Blyth Homestead and Sandy Creek.

Tolmer Falls is not a long walk but the lookout is amazing. When we got to the lookout and first looked at the falls it was really pretty because you could see the falls, the pool before the falls and the pool after that. The reason you can’t swim at Tolmer is because it is home to a couple of endangered species of bats (ghost bats and orange leaf-eared bats).

Blyth Homestead was the outstation of Stapleton Station occupied by the Sargent family. Blyth Homestead was 25 miles from Stapleton Station and was used as a base by the older children to mine Tin (Sn), and to work the cattle.

When we arrived at Sandy Creek we had lunch and then started the walk. The walk was only 1.7km but it felt like a lot further because it was hot and sandy. When we got to the falls I was so hot that I could not wait to get into the cold plunge pool. The plunge pool was one of the biggest and deepest plunge pools we have been to so far.

Tomorrow we plan to travel to Mt Bundy Station for a few days of horse riding and fishing.

Friday 10.8.12

Today we arrived at Mt Bundy Station on the Adelaide River.

After setting up we had lunch and then I had to do my journal while Karen and Dave went swimming. After finishing my journal I went to find Dave and Karen and sure enough they were still at the pool. I sat there talking to them until they got out and then I walked back to camp with them. We walked back along a barbed wire fence and close to the end we found a fruit bat caught in the fence. I ran back to dad and told him while Dave went to reception. Karen stood there and tried to shade the bat from the sun with her shirt. When Dad and I got back we tried to get him off but luckily Dave came back with a pocket knife and between us all we were able to free him. Once he was off we put him into a tree and watched him climb up to the top where he would of felt safer.

Next I went for a swim and because the pool was so cold I went and had a  hot shower straight afterwards. After my shower I was bored so I went for a walk. While I was walking I found a girl and a boy whose names were Samantha (but she likes to be called Sam) and Jarod. I started talking to them and found out that Jarod had a brother called Corey. They were actually waiting for Corey to come down, so we went up and found him in the pool.

That night after dinner we played spotlight and it was fun.

Now I have made three new friends.

Left to right. Corey, Jarod, me, Sam and Louise

Saturday 11.8.12

Today we went into Adelaide River to have a look at the World War II Cemetery.

When got to Adelaide River I saw that is wasn’t very big, so we had a look at the local Saturday markets before going to the cemetery.

The youngest buried guy that I found was 16 years old and the oldest buried guy that I found was 66 years old and they both served in the Navy.

That night Corey and Jarod came down and sat around our camp fire with us and we played games.

Sunday 12.8.12

In the morning we went to Robin Falls which was filling in time before Karen, Mum and I were due to go horse ridding in the afternoon.

Robin Falls was a short walk (which was good) but the falls at the end was not as spectacular as we expected.

When we got back Louise and I got bored so we went to the pool with Sam, Corey and Jarod for a swim. While we were there we had a lot of fun pushing each other in because it was so cold.

When it was time to go horse ridding I was so excited because I hadn’t been horse ridding in a long time. We were each given a horse and my horses name was Russel, Mums was Starlight and Karens was Chairman. Russel was well behaved and he wanted to trot most of way which was ok by me. Close to the end of the ride I went for my first canter which was surprisingly really easy.

The three Amigos

That night I was sad because I had made good friends and had a good time at Mt Bundy Station and we were leaving the next morning.

Monday 13.8.12

Today we left Mt Bundy Station to go to Douglas Hot Springs.

Before we left we Corey, Sam, Louise, Jarod and I all got pictures together and exchange e-mail addresses. I was sad to be leaving them :*( .

When we got to Douglas Hot Springs we set up and then we were straight into the water.

When you first got in it was really hot so we started up in a big pool to get use to the temperature of the water. The reason the water was so hot was because it was bubbling up through the rock form the earth. Where the water was coming out it was so hot that it would scold you. It was really pretty the way the water was bubbling out of the sand.

After lunch we went to Butterfly Gorge and the gorge was pretty amazing. Dave and Louise were the only ones to go in the water because Dad and Mum didn't like the look of the water and I didn't want to go in without them. Just before Dave and Louise were about to swim back Karen spotted something in the water, and it was a croc. We took a photo of it and we estimated that it was about 2m long. We kept an eye on it for a long time but it disappeared under the water. When they were about to jump into the water Louise noticed Karen doing arm signals and called Dave back. Luckily Louise caught Dave's attention and before he swam to far into the pool and he was able to swim back. This meant that they had to climb over the gorge to get back around to the other side rather than swim back and risk the crocodile. We were happy when they reached us back on the beach safe and sound.

When we got back to Douglas Hot Springs we went back into the water and then we had dinner.

Tomorrow we hope to get to Mataranka.

Monday 30.7.12

Today Dad, Dave and Karen got up at 6 o’clock in the morning to go fishing.

At 9 o’clock Mum and I got up and noticed that Louise was already awake.

At 10 o’clock we left to go to Jabiru and Ubirr Rock for the day.

When we go there we noticed that the town was not that big so we went into the supermarket and had a look around. When we went outside Karen, Dave and Dad had just arrived so we went and had lunch.

After lunch we went to the visitor center and it was amazing. It had a discovery room which you could find out lots of interesting facts.

Some of the stuff that we saw in the discovery room was  a rotating earth which showed where all the heritage sites in the world are, the different sounds Australian wildlife make and also you could pretend to spear a fish. 

After that we went to Ubirr rock which is an aboriginal rock art gallery and a sunset lookout.

When we got to the first rock paintings there was a free ranger activity which was a talk on the rainbow serpent. We had missed the start but still listened anyway.

After that we went to the main gallery which was a big rock shelter for different aboriginal clans. Mum and I stayed for the ranger talk which was very interesting.

We then took the steep and rocky climb to the lookout.

When we got to the top we could not find Dave, Karen, Louise or Dad, but mum eventually spotted them.

We watched the sunset and then went to the a store called the Border Store to have dinner. It is called the Border Store because it is a store on the border between Kakadu and Arnhem Land

Tuesday 31.7.12

This morning we went on a Yellow Waters river cruise. The river cruise was really fun because you could see all the wildlife up close from the safety of the boat.

When we had just started the cruise we found a crocodile called Waters because he is in charge of the first part of the river. Waters was huge.

When I first saw Waters it was a bit scary because he was so big, fat and mean looking.

Close to the end of the cruise we found another huge crocodile called Pluto who was in charge of a different section of the river.

When we had hopped off the boat I thought to myself that was quite fun.

After lunch Dave, Dad and I went for a swim in the pool.

At 3 o’clock Karen, Dave and Dad all went on a Barra fishing charter on the South Alligator River.

Wednesday 1.8.12

Today we drove to Darwin.

As we were driving into Darwin I had butterflies in my stomach because I had never been there before.

When we got to Free Spirit Caravan Park (the caravan park we were staying in) we went into reception and had already booked so that we had 2 sites together but they had shuffled us around and we were put on 2 separate sites.

Thursday 2.8.12

Today we went and saw Fannie Bay Jail and Darwin Museums and went to Mindil Beach sunset markets.

Fannie Bay Jail was the first labour jail to be built in Darwin. It housed men, women, children, mental patients and people with leprosy. 

The jail cells had really skinny doors because there was only one guard on duty at a time and it was so all the prisoners could not rush out at the same time and over power the guard.

There was a room called the Infirmary where they hung the last two men in Darwin (August 6th 1953) after being convicted for the murder of a local taxi driver.   

In the afternoon we went and had a look at Stokes Hill Wharf where we saw a huge cruise liner (Dawn Princess) which was only in  the harbor for 1 day.

That night when we got to the Mindil Beach markets and they were really busy, noisy, colourful and exciting. 

I wanted to get a Henna tattoo on my hand (Henna is a type of Indian tattoo that is not permanent) but Dad would not let me.

As the sun was setting over the beach it was beautiful. Just before the sun went behind the horizon a big sail boat came past and sailed in front of the setting sun and it was a really pretty sight.

I really enjoyed going to the markets because it was exciting and fun.

Friday 3.8.12

Today we went to the Darwin Waterfront Wave Lagoon.

Wave Lagoon is a big pool that has a machine that produces waves in three cycles. Each cycle goes for 20mins and has a 10mins rest.

When we got there it was really packed but that was because it was the morning session that was just finishing.

When you first got in the wave pool it was cold but as you got used to it, it was really nice.

On my last round of waves I got 6 rides in.

Saturday 4.8.12

Today Mum, Louise and I went to Crocodylus Park and Zoo.

We saw lots of animals but mostly crocodiles. We saw two dingos which were males, we also saw two ostriches, one was a male and the other was a really big female which was stealing all the food.

We also saw different types of monkeys. Some of them were cute. We also saw the type of monkey that they used in the movie “Night at the Museum” which is a Black-Capped Capuchin. 

At the end I got to hold a baby crocodile. He was heavy and his skin felt really tough and leathery.

Overall I had a really good day and it was really awesome.

Sunday 5.8.12

Today Mum and I went shopping while Dad and Karen went fishing on Darwin harbor.

After dropping Dad and Karen off at the Wharf Mum and I went down  to the Smith Street Mall. There were lots of shops but most of them were souvenier shops.

I got a snow globe for my cousin and a T-shirt for me that says “Actually, Yes, The world does revolve around me” which we all thought was really appropriate.

After shopping Mum and I went back to the Wharf for coffee and cake and to pick up Dad and Karen.

Dad had good day out fishing catching four barramundi.