On the East Coast, in Queensland

Hey hey hey.

After hopping on and off of busses over a 3 day period we finally arrived in Townsville on the Australian east coast last night. Before leaving Darwin we had a great time in Kakadu and Litchfield national parks. We spent 3 great days in a 4WD driving in Kakadu National Park where we witnessed a stunning sunset, got a feel for aboriginal culture at the famous Ubirr rock-art site, slept in swags under the stars and went for a swim in places so idylic they should only exist in dreams and movies. Litchfield was like Kakaku, only smaller.... which seeing as Kakadu National Park is the size of Wales is still very substantial :)

Of course we got to see the infamous predators of Australia, the salt water crocodile or "salties" as the aussies call them so lovingly. We saw them on 2 occasions. Our first encouter was on a wildlife cruise in a billabong near the Mary River. Very impressive. But not as impressive as seeing them the second time, which was on a 'jumping croc tour'. We went out on the Adelaide river (highest concentration of salt water crocs in the world) on a boat and actually saw the crocs getting fed in the wild. They lunged out of the water to get to juicy clumps of meat hanging from a long rod off of the boat. One of the crocs we saw was 5.5 meters long... enourmous. And the eye some of the crocs gave u when they came in for their feed was very unnerving. It was like they were contemplating if they wouldn't be able to get to us, the passengers, instead of just setteling for their treat of meat. Great experience! Of course they made sure not to overfeed the crocs, they are "wild" afterall.

So now were in Queensland on the East Coast of Australia. Today we mainly spent planning the next few weeks. We'll be running a very tight schedule cramming as much in that timeframe we can possibly get. Tommorowmorning we're leaving for Magnetic Island (So called 'cause when captain Cook passed their on one of his trips his compass went gaga), about 8 km's off of the coast. It's supposed to be a wonderfull place with many secluded beautiful beaches and great hiking trails. I've heard the beach and island have a real "Lost"-feel to it, for u guys who have seen the series. We'll be hanging around there for a few days with our tents. After that we'll return to Townsville and make our way further up north to Cairns from where we're planning to rent a car and drive up to Cape Tribulation and Port Douglas. Using Cairns as our base for a few days I'm also planning to go white water rafting on the Tully River (considered as one of the best white water rafting rivers in the world) and go out snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef. After that we'll make our way south again stopping in Earlie Beach (from where we'll be going on a 3day cruise of the Whithsundays), Hervey Bay (taking the boat to Fraser Island, largest sand island in the world, from where we'll spend a few days driving a 4WD around the island. After Frasier Island we'll be going whale watching), Brisbane, Byron Bay and finally Sydney where we'll be cathing our flight to Kuala Lumpur and back home the 20th of july at 14:20.

moving on

It's been a good 2 months. Darwin really is a nice little city. It has PERFECT weather every day and a relaxed atmosphere. The people who I work with in the Wisdom Bar have been great. Their staff is a mix of backpackers, australians and colourful immigrants -young and somewhat older- which makes for plenty of fun and conversation. We've been lucky with our housemates too, all top notch people.

Darwin is starting to suffer from world cup fever which will all culminate on mondayevening when the "socceroos" will play their first match of the world cup against Japan. It promises to be a memorable night with all the bars showing the game on huge screens and everyone shouting the socceroos on. Hopefully we can spend the night celebrating their first win. Tuesday I'm starting work at 8 in the morning though, so that might prove to be a hard day in the kitchen :)

It won't matter in the end though, 'cause wednesday will be my last workingday in Darwin! We've started to settle a bit here and could easily stay here a month or so longer, but it's time for us to continue travelling. Next weekend we'll spend 3 days exploring the famous Kakadu National Park 300 km's east of Darwin. After that we'll visit Lichtfield National Park, which is often discribed as Kakadu, but then compacter (Kakadu being bigger than Belgium) and more beautiful. On the way to Lichtfield NP we'll take the time to do a jumping croc cruise where you get to get up close and personal with these huge prehistoric animals. After returning from that (hopefully with all our limbs intact) we'll probably take a day in Darwin to relax before getting on the Greyhound coach for a long drive to Cairns on the North-east coast of Australia. From there the Great Barrier Reef and the Withsunday islands are less than a day away. After exploring that area we'll slowly make our way down south to Brisbane, Byron Bay and finally Sydney.