Day 15 - The Top End (Austrlia)

According to a survey completed by the NT News to dismiss a previous survey showing that Darwin, as voted by its own residents, is Australia's least liveable city, the things that make Darwinites so happy to be such are: fishing, no snobs, laid back lifestyle, sunsets and markets. Well after ten days in the Top End, we have successfully completed all tasks and can see exactly why people would love to live here.

Having spent a fulfilling week experiencing Darwin life at its best, we decided to take a trip to Kakadu National Park. Instead of booking an expensive bus tour, we hired a car for two days, packed our fishing rods in the boot and stayed in a Bush Bungalow (as seen on Getaway) at a caravan park in Jabiru. The reason we chose this form of accommodation was because it was by far the cheapest, but in fact we realised that it was a great way to experience the flora and fauna of Kakadu. The walls were in fact not walls, but sheets of mesh, and the roof was a canopy, surrounded in trees and shrubs and all sorts of greenery.

We took a river cruise on the beautiful Yellow Water at sunset, where we had the opportunity to experience the unique wetlands on the Northern Territory. We climbed Nourlangie Rock where we had superb views of the surrounding rock formations, billabongs and rainforests. This so far is the most spectacular location at which we have eaten our packed lunches. All the locals seemed to be using the bridges of the 110kmh main highway as finshing spots, so we followed suit, parked our car at the edge of the highway and fished from the edge of the road.

On our way back to Darwin, we decided to drive via Litchfield National Park as we were really longing for a swim in a natural pool of some sort, and all the ones in Kakadu are either croc-infested, flooded, or unable to be accessed during the wet season. We found a beautiful spot where we swam away the afternoon, before returning to the big smoke.

This is now the last day we will spend in Australia until our trip is completed. We have until 1am to get to the airport, and by this time tomorrow we should be in Manila - one country down, sixty or so to go.


If anyone would like a really interesting read on many current and pressing issues, have a look at the NT News. We have found it both informative and invigorating during our time in the Northern Territory.