Frogshollow Lodge & Backpackers Darwin

The flight touched down in Darwin airport just after 4am. After going through passport control all passengers have to stand still while a little sniffer dog checks them and their hand luggage. It took about 15 minutes for my bag to come through on the conveyor belt, then all luggage has to be scanned and the declaration form handed in before you can leave the airport. Just before 6am I paid 6AUD to take the shuttle bus from outside the airport, which stops at your accommodation as requested. ...

I woke up quite late and got out of the hostel for about 11 or 12, walking into the little town centre to look around and go to an internet cafe and get some padlocks for the storage cupboards at the hostel. It's very easy to walk around Darwin, it seems to be a 'smalltown' in size and mentality. It was like being in "Home and Away" (sadly not "Neighbours" - because of the beach) with the sun, heat (around 30C), wide open roads and beach. There are a few down-and-outs that give the occasional...

The sun rises strangely at Gunlom Falls, not a smooth tranisition as I'd expected but in jumpy steps. Perhaps this is because of the cliffs. We had breakfast around the campfire and packed up camp, piling everything into the trailer and squeezing into the back of the 4WD again for more uncomfortable bumpy riding along the dirt tracks until we hit the highway through the park. It took a couple of hours to get to Ubirr, a site of Aboriginal rock paintings, stopping at a Park Centre on the way w...

Things might be a little fuzzy because I am trying to recall back a number of months, but I will give it a shot and see what happens. When first I arrived in Darwin Katie met me at the airport with Cookie and Lola, two of her hostel friends. She was pretty excited to see me for the first time in over a year so she made this really strange cowboy outfit out of paper and wore it into the airport (let's just say it was memorable). A car ride and a beer later we ended up a Frogshollow where I was...

Hello Everyone! This next entry consists of all my tales from my Chinese New Year and Semester Break hiestas to Australia! It was an amazing trip - exactly what i wanted + more! I got a break from NTU life to enjoy catching up with Haley and visiting family. Just to note: The map pins on the map are a little off.... but i am sure if you are unsure of the places i have been a quick google or wikipedia search should sufice. Feb. 14 Departure... Well I ended up "running a little late" and had to...

You don't realise how big Australia is until you get here - the world map does it no justice and it is only when you start comparing that you notice it is practically the size of the USA. It also made me realise that I had set one big challenge -getting from Adelaide to Darwin in just four days! Excitingly for me my friend, Liz, was joining me for 4 weeks while I was in Australia and after spending a day and a half in Adelaide exploring the art scene and working out just how we were going to ...

Darwin

Well what can I say.............it's been a very jam-packed, fun-filled week here in Darwin! Firstly, it was amazing seeing Kat & Bex at the airport in Brisbane & then chatting the night away on the flight over to Darwin. We didn't have a great start to our time in Darwin though. I'd booked us in to a hostel & when we arrived there at 02.00 in the morning, they had no recollection of our booking & so we couldn't stay there! Not amusing!! We had to wander round & after look...

It's good to be out of winter and into somewhere more tropical. Darwin - land of the free and sweaty. It has to be the perfect time to visit this place as there are no bugs, the temperature is a couple of degrees below the 32 degree average of the rest of the year, and the humidity is way down to the 30-40% level. Very pleasant. Ten days here will be good acclimatisation for more northerly Asian environments. Bring it on! The last part of my Ghan train journey was completed yesterday afternoo...

Darwin