OZ - Perth

I arrived in Perth to the rain. Within 12hours I'd landed a half decent job with the government. After another day I had a job at Bumbu backpackers.

My first few days in Perth were spent sorting out work clothes and finding my way round. Perth is ok, but just like any other city.

I started both jobs on the Monday and was over the moon to find the day job had a gym I could use for free.

For the past 8 weeks I have been getting up at 6am and heading to the gym, then doing the day job. At nite I have either been too pooped to do anything or have been working in the hostel. It took me a while to get used to the sleepless nites at Bambu. In my first 3 nites one girl in my room had brought back two different guys! But since then it has been ok and I have met some entertaining guys and will have both fond and not so fond memories. The worst memories will be the Irish guy who pissed in his bed then climbed into somebody else's and pissed in that. Then another guy that got so drunk that everyone drew on his face with a marker. Then he came into the girls room and started to undress. I kicked him out and then he decided to undress and climb onto the kitchen table for a sleep.

As I have only had one day off a week I have become quite lazy and not seen much of Perth. I headed to Fremantle a day to check out the markets. Another day I went to the Subiaco markets. I had a great walk round Perth one Saturday and have to say that Perth has grown on me.

We had a fancy dress party at the hostel one weekend which was wicked.

OZ - Cervantes & The Pinnacles

Arriving in Cervantes late afternoon I enjoyed an afternoon and evening of TV. Lucky me had a dorm all to myself and the Pinnacles Lodge where I was staying was spotless.

The next day I was off for an early morning tour to the Pinnacles dessert. I was a bit worried that to me it would be just some lumps of rocks, but if it is good enough for Billy Connelly to prance about naked then I couldnt miss out.

We had the perfect day and en route we were lucky enough to see some kangaroos and emus. The Pinnacles were amazing and it made all the difference to have blue sky in the fotos and to have all the gallaghs that were willing to pose. A trip defo worth the money.

OZ - Kalbarri

We arrived in Kalbarri to some REAL rain. So the day was spent in front of the TV.

The next day I could barely find the energy to drag myself up, but eventually in the afternoon after the sun had appeared and the clouds had disappeared I dragged myself for a walk along the shore. I was kicking myself as it was stunning and I wished I'd had more time to stroll a bit further. Never mind!

OZ - Denham & Monkey Mia

Monkey Mia is a big tourist attraction for the dolphins that come in for a free feed each morning.




I chose to stay in Denham, some 20km away as I thought it may have a bit more happening. Which it was, but I think the Bay Lodge was one of the most dirty places I have ever stayed. My dorm, which I had all to myself, had defo not seen a hoover this year and there was loads of rubbish under the bunks. Euch!




Anyway, I made the most of the free lift from the hostel to Monkey Mia and did the obligatory line up on the sand with the other tourists and watched over peoples heads as the dolphins came in and people got picked out the crowd to feed them.




A bit unnatural I think. I'd rather see them whilst scuba diving. Anyway, I found the pelicans a bit more interesting.



I was stuck in Denham for 3 days so that gave me plenty time to work on the tan. Other than watching the sunset, there aint nowt to do.

OZ - Exmouth

I arrived in Exmouth at 5am after a 22hour bus ride and was quite excited about getting to dive the 'Ningaloo Reef'.

I hung about where the bus dropped me off then managed to lug all my luggage down to the dive centre. We got all sorted out and then hopped on the bus to the jetty only to find that the weather was too rough so it was cancelled. The next day got cancelled too so it was a wasted journey to Exmouth.

Exmouth is also the place to see the Whale Sharks, but they pass by in May/June so hopefully they are on their way to the Phillipines so I can see them there. At least I got a photo of a plastic model!

OZ - Broome

Couldnt quite figure out why Broome was so busy. The town centre seemed to be just one small street and a shopping centre.





I was staying at Cable Beach Backpackers, but it actually took me 3 days to get off my butt and drag myself to the beach. Then I understood why it was so busy. A totally wicked beach, with loads of camels and stuff.





Anyway, a beach is a beach, but I had to do the obligatory watching of the sunset!

OZ - Kununurra

This place was so wierd. For hours and hours we passed nothing but bush on the bus and then suddenly in the middle of nowhere this bustling little town pops up.

Kununurra is one of the best places to find work as a backpacker, which is amazing as it is such a small place. Seemingly though during the wet season it sleeps, but during the dry season it is mega alive. Even Nicole Kidman and Jack Hughman were in town filming with loads of backpackers working onset behing the scenes or as extras.

I headed to Mirima National Park which was described as the 'mini Bungle Bungles'. Lots of big red rocks and stuff. Nothing particularly exciting. I then watched the sun go down from the top of Knob's Hill and then I was off to get the Greyhound, only to find it was cancelled! So I was stuck in Kunnurra for another day with nowhere to stay. Luckily, the owner of the backpackers took pity on me and leant me his tent and let me camp in his backyard. I got no sleep, but at least it was better than waiting at the bus stop for a day.

OZ - Katherine

Arrived here just in time to get the shuttle bus to Katherine Gorge. Thank god cos it was pretty stunning.

I met a Dutch/Iranian girl so we hung about and I even got in the gorge for a dip. There was lots of wildlife and I was so glad that I had jumped off at Katherine. In Katherine itself there was not much. just a typical boring Oz town.

OZ - Kakadu & Litchfield

It was another camping safari to do Kakadu. Most people do 3 days, but being a tight git I opted for the 2 day trip.

I was picked up by our guide Paul early in the morning and met the other 11 people I was going to be crammed in the back of the 4-wheel drive for the next 2 days. There were 3 Irish - Marie, James & Mike, an Austrian guy - Stefan, 2 Swedish girls - forgotten their names already and an Italian couple who had just got married - forgotten their names too. I can think of better ways to spend a honeymoon!
We headed off to our first stop which was the jumping croc cruise. I was more excited about the free breakfast that awaited us there. We went on the cruise and the crocs obligingly jumped up for the meat which was hung out on a fishing rod for them.

Next we were back in the car and headed into Kakadu itself and stopped for lunch. We then visited the aboriginal paintings on Nourlangie rock. We went to a Billabong then a nice viewpoint then headed to our campsite for the nite.

Next morning we were up early and off to Twin falls for another cruise. It was really nice once we eventually got there, but it involved a lot of clambering over rocks. We stayed for a while just chillin, but I was bored after 10miutes.

Next we headed to Jim Jim falls, which was more of a dribble than a waterfall. The surroundings were nice tho and the water wasn't too cold.

That was about all we saw and it was back to Darwin. The best bit about Kakdau was driving thru a river in the 4xwdrive, which totally flooded the car. Other cars just watched from the side not quite brave enough to go for it.

I cant say it was worth the money. It was ok, but I think we could have seen alot more if our guide hadnt been so laid back about everything.

The next day I did a daytrip to Litchfield park, which was pretty much a mini version of Kakadu, but with loads more tourists.

Our guide did manage to squeeze in an extra side trip to some natural hot pools which were amazing!

OZ - Darwin

Darwin is tooty. I had no idea it had only 100,000 people in it. I had every intention of trying to find a job, but when I saw it only had 2 main roads I decided to do my stuff and get out of there.

The first day I had a walk round town. Nice enough, but not much to do.

I arrived on a great day as the big tourist thing in Darwin is the Thursday nite market at the beach. I headed down early to catch the sunset then hung out for a bit at the market. Was a bit disappointed that there wasnt any aboriginal stuff to buy. But the aboriginal guys were good entertainment. I was listening to some dude playing the digee-doo and they were all jiggin away. They were pretty pissed tho!

The next day I headed to an out of town shopping centre in the hope of finding some good aboriginal craft and art shops. Nothing! So I posted a 7kg box home with absolutely no Oz souveniers!

Apart from my side trips to Kakadu and Litchfield there wasnt much reason to hang about so I was offski.