Feb 2007

Today we woke up bright and early to go caving. We got dressed and left our favorite hostel so far on the trip. We met up with the tour guide took care of paperwork and then we had to get dressed. Apparently it is freezing cold in the caves so we got wet suits, wet suit jackets, socks, rubber sock things, another pair of socks to go over those, and gum boots. Gum boots are these little rubbery boots you wear, I guess you can think of them as fishing boots. We also had a helmet with a light on the top of it so we could see in the cave. As you can imagine we were looking pretty hot!
The cave was about a 10 minute drive out of town and a 30-40 minute hike through the bush. We loaded into a mini bus and headed out. There were 4 Australian people who were coupled up and an asian couple. Then there was the two of us. It was Valentines day and I don't think that they celebrate it here but everybody was coupled up so it made Meribeth and me think of it even more.
We walked through the bush, over some bridges, through the mud, and down to the cave. We turned on our lights and headed in. It was pretty cool. We just walked straight through the water. You couldn't really see where you were stepping so you had to trust you weren't going to fall down a big hole.
Now before we did this a girl from home had told us that a flood came into the cave and all the people drowned. So that was intersting to know that as we were walking through this cave. haha.
So we had to make our way through the cave up and over rocks. It was quite a good hike. There was a small waterfall that went straight down into a small hole formed by the rocks. The water was quite deep at this section so we had to tuck ourselves into a ball and basically fall straight down the waterfall. don't let me fool you the waterfall was about 4 feet high but the water was really deep underneath and that was completely unexpected since the rest of teh cave is only about ankle to thigh deep. So I was shocked when I fell down the waterfall and got completely dunked underwater. The water was ice cold as well. It is after all water that is underground. It was shocking when the water came over my face. It was so much fun though!
After that we grabbed some inner tubes and floated down a very narrow river path through the pitch black cave with our lights off. It was an amzing experience. Tehre were small glow worms and the top of the cave that gave off the only light in the whole place.
The glow worms live there and they turn their light on when they're hungary so insects are attracted to them. They release a small fishing wire type substance that the insects get stuck to, and that's how they survive. They're very tiny and they look like a children's lite bright.
We got off the tubes and headed down as far as we could go before the cave was completely filled up with water. Then we sat and had al ittle break with a candy bar and some hot chocolate.
We headed back and repeated the process until we got about 3/4 of the way out of the cave. We then went through a place that was called the "love tunnel." The love tunnel was a different way through the cave that was very tight. We had to crawl through on our hands and knees pretty much the whole way and wiggle our way through a small hole on the other side. I couldn't imagine anyone too big trying to fit through this cave.
We made our way back out of the cave and up to what they called their natural hydroslide. Which is basically a natural waterslide. It was a long smooth (ish) rock that had water runnign down it. Meribeth went first and had a pretty decent ride. You have to do everything exactly right or you could really hurt yourself.
The next person went down and she turned sideways and all over the place. That kind of turned people off. The next guy went and he went completely sideways, his helmet flew off as he landed in the puddle at the bottom. Everyone went running after him! He looked like he was going to kill himself. I went running half way down the hill before I realized I really do want to try it. So it's my turn and I sit down on the mat and give myself a push. I let go of the mat and slid off of it going sideways down the hill. I'm really suprised I didn't kill myself. But it was a blast and I'm glad I went back up and did it.
We got back in this military looking truck and headed back to the office. There they gave us a glass of wine and we got to sit in the spa, while they showed us a slide show of the pictures they took. It was great fun. We then had a shower at there facilities and headed on our way to Franz Josef.
We stopped at a small town for a second and then headed off again. Well apparently, I was headed out al ittle too fast and I went around a corner and falied to stay in my lane. Word of advice, don't do it in front of police! Yep, I got pulled over and got a ticket in a different country. Not too many people can say that! The cop only gave me a ticket for failing to stay in my lane. BEcause I was only going 114 kph in a 100kph zone. That is really only like 8 miles over the speed limit if you do the math. So ya lucky me. haha. Oh well you live and learn. It's not going to spoil my trip. I know mom...I'll be more careful.
AFter that we went out to a look out space that turned out not to be a lookout point just an old harbor or something. So we headed to shanty town.
Shanty town is a little town that has been here for a long long time. They used to gold mine in Shantytown. So we got to gold mine in the little wooden, well I don't really know what to call them. We got to gold pan I should say. It was a fun little experience. We went through a little mock town of what it was like in the olden days. They had a fire house with a manual hose and a little firetruck they used back in the early 1800's. It was really cool. I have picture. I got a lot because I figured Jason would be interested.
It was a fun little experience but we had to get back on the road. So we headed to Franz Josef. Franz Josef is the glacier. We had a glacier hike scheduled for the morning. We called the hostel we were supposed to stay in because we were lost.
Well it turns out that I organized accomodation in a completely different town. I felt really awful because it was this really nice old man, and it was pretty obvious they didn't get many customers. He was probably thrilled that I called and needed two beds. So I felt really awful that we had to tell him we weren't going to make it.
The second problem was every hotel, motel, bed and breakfast, and hostel were fully booked! We looked everywhere. Finally I walked into a place and gave him the big puppy dog eyes and told him we couldn't find anywhere and I had booked in the wrong city. He called a friend from another place and they hooked us up with a double bed private room at a backpackers. Apparently they saved it as an emergency room but the girl was ready to go home and wanted to give it away before she left. So we were saved. We hung out made some dinner, watched some t.v., and went to sleep.
Tomorrow we are going on a full day glacier hike. What an amazing experience!

We woke up at 8 and were out of the hostel by 9. We decided to get an early start to Hamner Springs. We heard there were thermal pools so we couldnt' wait to jump in them. Especially in the freezing cold weather. So we drove off into the mountains once again. The sad part was the way we had to go was the 2 hour scenic route we decided to take the day before. So once again we saw the deer and the hills, which pretty makes up all of New Zealand. It just wouldnt be a rode in New Zealand if it didn't turn every couple of meters.
WE arrived in Hamner springs and saw the Thermal pool entrance. we were so excited and we walked up and it was just man made pools that a bunch of old people were floating in. It was not at all what we imagined. We imagined small little pools in the mountains that were made by nature. Instead we found man made pools with a few rocks placed around them to look like nature. We decided it was not worth $12 or our time to sit in a small heated pool. So we decided to go to a 30 minute climb to the top of Conical hill. The hike was straight up hit so it was quite a work out. The scenery was absolutely beautiful. you could see for miles and miles. There were small houses below that outlined very small countrylike towns. It overlooked 3 or 4 small towns which looked like about 500 people lived in each. In the background in all directions was hills and mountains. Beautiful green trees where everywhere in all different shades of green. It was absolutely stunning. WE stayed up there for a while to take it all in before we hiked back down.
WE decided to stop in the library to use the internet to book the next two days.
It was time to hit the next destination. We were off to Greymouth. Greymouth was another 3 1/2 miles across the country east to west. We arrived and found our hostel that we had booked earlier that day. It was a great hostel with cute litte rooms. The theme was somewhat myan or aboriginal. It had masks and Myan looking designs all around. There was a spa, free bikes, kayaks, a bbq, and a fire pit. It was an awesome backpackers. The best I have stayed in yet.
On our little tour around the hostel we saw the kayaks and immediately ran to our room changed and hopped in the kayak. We rode down a little river in the back of the hostel. Another girl was getting in at the same time so we rode with her a little bit.
We went for about an hour then it was time to head of to see the pancake rocks.
The pancake rocks were about a 40 minute drive. We made our way out there to see these rocks that were stacked like pancakes. We arrived and took the walk down to the rocks on the beach. It was absolutely beautiful. The sun was setting and it made the sky an amazing orange that coated the sky right about the water and the rocks. It was truely picture perfect, and I have the pictures to prove it.
We hung out by the pancake rocks for a while. Hight tide was at 8:30 and sunset was at 8:45. So we wanted to see both. The rocks looked like giant pancakes stacked on top of each other. They were everywhere. There were caves underneath in some places. In one place the top of a cave caved in and it formed what they call the blow hole. At high tide the water comes up through the hole and spouts out. unfortunately it didn't do that while we were watchign so we missed out. It was quite impressive nonetheless.
As were there we met two people from America that were doing a mission across New Zealand to I guess spread the word about Jesus. For a few minutes she tried to convince me to read the bible and wanted me to go the hostel with her so she could give me a travel bible.
A little bit after that we started talking about New Zealand and places they have been and all that kind of stuff. It was nice to hear from other Americans.
After that we headed back to the hostel and something jumped out in the middle of the road. It was a possum. not the ugly ones we have, but a cute and innocent one just walking across the street. And I ran right into it!! There was nothing I could do, I tried to swerve but these roads are so narrow I would have driven straight off the side. Oh it was the saddest thing I've ever done. What a horrible feeling too as it made a clunk a few times as we ran over it. Oh it was just so sad.
We are back at the hostel safely now. Just hanging out in the lounge and writing on the internet. Tomorrow we are going caving with intertubes and glow worms. I will write about it when I get a chance. Thursday we are doing a full day glacier walk and Friday we are in queenstown! We are thinking of bungee jumping. So that's it for now and I will keep you posted on my travels. For now I'm signing out and freezing in New Zealand. =)

We left for the airport about 3:00 only to turn around to get Meribeth's passport. The two of us are one forgetful duo! We went through the check in line at Pacific blue airlines and the guy joked with us that we couldn't get through. haha funny... Anyways, the flight was quick and again Meribeth forgot her flight paperwork and our rental car paperwork at the airport so we had to convince customs she was on the same flight as me. We made it through okay and got to the hostel.
The hostel was just a basic hostel so we went to bed for a good start.
Day 1-

We woke up about 9:00 ready to get our rental car at 10. We were in Christchurch and it was a very quaint small town with a small cathedral in the center of town. it was under construction so it was not too cute at the moment. The weather was absolutely freezing! I ran next store to a souveneir shop to purchase a beanie and some gloves. Good purchase! We waited and the car didn't come. So we decided we probably told them 11. Meanwhile Meribeth went to try and track down what company we used so we could give them a call. We couldn't figure it out so we waited and waited. Finally at about 12:30 we found the right company and it turns out our hostel told the company we weren't staying there, so the rental company never came! Talk about annoying. So we were finally on our way. I drove first and we decided to stop at a beach on the way called Amberely beach.
The beach was ugly black filled with rocks. It was freezing cold so we decided to only stay for a minute.
We jumped back in the car and thought it would be a lot of fun to take a scenic route. Well what a mistake that was. For one it's New Zealand, every route is scenic whether it tries to be or not. SEcond, it took us 2 hours out of the way!!
It was nice though with rolling hills covered in every different shade or green you can imagine covered with white specs which as you drive closer turn into sheep. People told us there were sheep here but wow! There are sheep on the road, behind fences, getting sheered, just absolutely everywhere. We also saw a huge farm full of deer which was cool and unusual. WE decided that NEw Zealand was more like California then Australia.
We finally got to Kaikoura and it was just one street. We had dinner at a cute little bar and grill. I had a great vegetable stir fry. After dinner we found a hostel to stay in that was just a building with some rooms thrown in it. We were tired so we pretty much went straight to bed. The next day we were heading to Hamner springs. So until then...

Our trip to Darwin was an unforgettable one.
We started out on a Sunday night around 9 o'clock and made our way to the Brisbane airport. We hopped on a flight and got to Darwin at about 1:30 a.m. We decided that it would be too much hassle to try and check into a hostel for only a few hours before we left for our tour. We picked up our bags and headed back up to the gates to find a place to sleep. The airport was full of night time travellers for a few hours and then it suddenly emptied and all that we heard were the garbage cans opening and closing for the janitors to change the liners. We fell asleep in a corner until it was time to meet the shuttle. That is when I realized my shoes were no longer with us. I must have left them in the security check point because our bags had to be hand searched for aerosel (sp?) cans. So here I was going on a hiking and camping trip with no shoes!
With nothing to do about it we headed down to the shuttle to make our way into the city. To our dissappointment the shuttles were not longer there because they only hung around when flights came in. Since it makes way more sense for all flights to come in at 1:30 a.m. and not 7 a.m., there were not shuttles. WE took a taxi in.
We were a few minutes early so we hung around the hostel until the tour guide came to pick us up. Well at 7:45 we realized the tour guide was about 30 minutes late so I turned my phone on and I had a phone call. It was the office and apparently tehre was miscommunication and they were looking for us at the wrong hostel. Things were not going too well at this point...
There were three people from Demark also waiting for the same tour so it wasn't too bad.
I told the tour guide I had no shoes and he seemed to think that I would be able to do everthing with flip flops. We all piled in to the 4wd and headed off to Kakadu National park.
On the way to the park we did a crocodile cruise where we jump on a small boat and feed crocodiles buffalo meat so they jump out of the water for us. On our way to the cruise our drive made a sharp stop and u-0turn. He saw a cukabara on the side of the road and decided to pick it up to get it some help. A cukaboro is a very loud bird here that sounds like a monkey. It has a large beak and it's quite cute. WE all took pictures before he turned it in. On the way to the cruise we also saw a buffalo and a few wallabys bouncing around. The whole group got to hold a water python before we started. I sucked it up and had it around my shoulders for a few minutes. Once it turned it's head towards me I was done.
It was time for the cruise. We walked down this little ramp to the 20 ft boat and began our journey on the crocodile infested water. There was an unbelievable amounts of flys. Even with our group soaked in bug repellent the bugs seemed to be unharmed by the wall of poison around us.
The lady in front tied buffalo meat to a long sticka nd held it about the water. She then hit the water with the stick a few times to grab the crocodiles attention. Sure enough two eyes began to swim towards us causing a small wave behind him. The only way we could tell that a huge monster was appoaching us. She hit the water with the meat and the crocodile jumped out of the water exposing his whole body to the air. This process was repeated several times.
The driver of the boat was an eerie man and he kept warning us that crocodiles are going to become a huge problem. He said that there are so many now and tehy are in every body of water in the northern territory of Australia. They usually don't attack things bigger then them but there is now an overwhelming amount that are over 3 meters long. That is 12 feet for you metric system beginners.
The driver banked the boat and the meat keeper held the meat out on land to make the croc go out of the water. THis particular one was about 3 meters long but all you can see his teeth when his wide open mouth attacked the buffalo meat only a few inches away from the boat. It was a scary thing to watch but so exciting at the same time.
On our way back the driver noticed a white tailed eagle and the women held up some meat. The eagle swooped down and grabbed the meat in a matter of seconds. IT was so beautiful to watch the bird fly down with it's massive wing span. It was just unbelievable.
After our tour we loaded back up in to the 4 wd and took off for Kakadu. By now it started to really rain hard but we decided that we would go on the hikes anyways. He took us up the rocks to see caves that were left by the aboriginals. It was a pretty place but we were absolutely soaked as the sky opened above us and the whole ocean poured down on us. We decided we were already wet so we might as well continue our hikes. We hiked up some rocks and some people went swimming in a water hole. It was a prety site. It was pretty hard to walk up slippery walks with only flip flops on but I made it work. It was absolutely beautiful.
AFter that we headed for camp to have dinner and get settled for the night. It was pouring down rain so we go tall settled in the "waterproof" camp. It was a huge tent with a dinner area and somewhat of a kitchen and about 8 small tents for 2 people each to sleep in. We all changed out of our soaking wet clothes and helped prepare dinner. We ate kangaroo, veggies, and mash potatoes. After dinner our guide taught us the Didgiree Doo. The Didgiree Doo is an instrument that the Aboriginals used to make music. It is basically a hollowed out piece of wood that you blow into. It was fun to learn and a lot harderd than we thought.
Our guide (his name is Steve) then went outside and did some fire spinning. He spun around fire on two strings around his head. It was pretty cool to watch but then he got so into it he didn't pay attention to anything else.
The bathrooms were far away so we all loaded up in the truck so we could make a toilet run. There was a swimming pool there as well so we decided to go for a swim.
As we were swimming there was lightining everywhere and it started pouring on us. It was really fun though. We told jokes and swam around. I think I probably had the best jokes. haha
It was getting late so we headed back to camp. We all changed out of our swimsuits and headed to bed.
It poured all night long. I mean really all night long. If you walked out of the campsite for 1/2 a second you would have been soaked. Everything around the site flooded outside. I had to use the bathroom in the middle of the night and there was no where to go. So I panicked for a few minutes. then I woke up Meribeth asking her what I should do. I said it's raining and there might be snakes outside, what should I do. She said bring your towel. lol. She rolled over and went back to bed. So I was on my own. I grabbed a towel and my cell phone. I put the towel on my head and opened my cell phone so I could get as much light as I could and I made a run for it.
Really it's probably one of the funniest things somebody could have watched. I'm getting absolutely soaked like I just jumped into a pool. My big dry towel turned into a damp hankerchief over my head. My little cell phone light gave me about 1 inch of visibility so I'm running through the bushes with my little light trying to scare away the snakes. I decided on a spot then realized earlier that the guide said if you go right in front of the campsite the water will carry it in. So I'm on the run again almost in tears because I am so scared of the snakes. What snake in their right mind is just going to be hanging out in the pouring rain right near our campsite I have no idea. But this logic doesn't run through your head at times like this. So I finally found a spot and then ran back into the camp site. I hung my towel up to dry and then I just went to bed. I was so frustrated and overwhelmed of the experience I didn't even want to find dry clothes. haha it's pretty funny to think about now.
So we woke up in the morning and it was still pouring down rain. Lightning hit about 10 meters from our site. That was pretty scary because people up there get hit by lighting quite frequently. So we pakced up and headed for the truck.
The plan for today was to do a hike but since it was raining so hard we detoured towards a cultural center to watch a video on Kakadu and learn about the Aboriginals. It was pretty cool to learn about the area. We saw a video about crocodiles and how they pretty much live in the same area, when it's wet or dry. When it's dry they bury themselves in the mud until it gets wet again. So they could be anywhere, not just in rivers or streams.
After the cultural center, the rain slowed down so we were able to continue with our walks. The idea was to go to a waterfall and then climb up some rocks to get a beautiful veiw of the area.
Well the hike turned into water wading for about 2 kilometers. The water eventually got up to our waist and I was starting to freak out. We had just watched a video about how crocdiles could be anywhere and here we were walking through waist high water. If there was one around we had no hope!
We made it out and up to dry land where we decided to have lunch. Apparently this little trickle of a waterfall had turned into a monstrous downpour of water because of all the rain we had. The water just took over the land causing huge ponds of water up to about 4 feet deep.
I thought to myself phew that is way too much for us to cross over we're not going any deeper. My thought was interrupted by Steve saying well we should all link arms so we can get through this. What!?!
It took everything in me not to cry. It was either stay here by myself for hours or suck it up and walk through this possibly crocodile infested, and god knows what else, water and go the rest of the way with everyone. So we linked arms and headed into the unknown.
The water was about 4 feet deep. There were tons of branches and rocks underneath the water because this is usually dry and just land here. So we had to jump over rocks and walk slowly in case there was an unexpected drop or the water got stronger and we were picked up and carried away.
All of us made it across and thank god we were going higher and up rock so we didn't have to go through water anymore. We climbed these huge rocks up to a rock cave where Aboriginals have made painted hundreds of years ago. I had to stop here because I didn't have shoes to walk with and it was too dangerous with flip flops. So I had to sit with another girl while everyone else ventured to the top.
Finally they headed down and we all preceded back to the dreaded swamp we had to cross over.
We went back over and I thought okay the worst is over. Well we get to a crossing point and he decides we're going to look at another waterfall. The water is travelling pretty fast from this direction and I was not excited about this! We walk a little ways and there is a huge sign saying Be ware crocodiles infest this area! Oh no there is no way I'm going and by this time there are 3 other people that decide it's not a good idea either. Well for some reason they change their minds and it's time to go into the water. My eyes are teared up again and I'm becoming quite the cry baby. I j ust have this vision that I am always going to be the one that gets eaten. The water is getting stronger and stronger here and quite deep. Finally we get to one stop and the guide finally decideds it is too dangerous to continues. The water is running too fast and there are too many rocks and branches to fight through to get there. so we turn around and go back. I hit a rock and fell into the water pretty hard. I still have the scar to remember it by.
We finally make our way out of the water and hit dry land. We are all soaked and eaten alive by insects so the truck could not have come any sooner.
We had to now head to another camp because the camp we stayed in the night before was flooded. The ride was about 3 or 4 hours so it was not too exciting for us. But we survived and talked amongst ourselves throughout the ride. We got to the new camp and once again made dinner. This one had an enclosed area for dining and then it had a seperate bunk room that was air conditioned for us to sleep.
We made dinner and then went straight to the rooms to clean up and go to bed.
In the toilets in the bathroom there were green frogs in the bowl of the toilets. There were 3 toilets and all of the bathrooms had frogs except for one. so the line was a mile long waiting for that toilet. The last thing anyone wanted was for the frog to try and escape while someone was using the toilet. So we all waited...
There were spiders, mosquitos, and biting flies everywhere! Insect repellent was not gaurd against these suckers either. I looked like I had chicken pox by the time I left the place.
So we went to bed. As were in bed we saw lightning strikes all over the place. Meribeth and I wanted to go out and see it so we took off outside to watch the lightning. it wasn't raining so we were okay. The lightning was beautiful.
while we were out there we met a guy from another group. He was Canadian and he was in the military for them. he was just out travelling for a while before he had to go to Afghanistan. We chatted with him for a while and then turned in for the night.
the next morning we again woke up bright and early, packed up our gear and headed over for breakfast. For breakfast we had cereal and toast. today we planned on going to see some more waterfalls and go for a swim.
We hiked about 3 kilometers to a giant waterfall. It was absolutely beautiful. it reminded me a lot of Yosemite. The guide jumped right in but decided the water was pretty strong and everyone should take it easy.
Another group came up and everyone just jumped right in. So our group got a little more gutsy and jumped in. there wasn't really a chance for crocodiles because the water was really deep and we were pretty high up. Crocs don't like to climb rocks so I guess we were okay. We swam for a while, took pictures, and laid around. then is was time to go to another waterfall.
We walked about 3 kilometers to the next waterfall. This waterfall was beautiful. it was 3 pools that poured into each other. We all jumped right into this water. We swam directly under the waterfall and took tons of pictures. A couple people thought it was funny to go under water and grab our feet. I did not find that too funny...
We ate some lunch by the side and then ventured up to the very top of the waterfall. It was a little hike straight up through the rocks. Once at the top we had a beautiful view of the water fall all the way down and the whole area surrounding them.
We went for a swim up there and the water was very deep. I started getting nervous of how deep it was and not being able to see the bottom. The guide then went down to the area where the water went off the rocks and straight down. He swam across and me and another girl followed hiim. As I jumped in the water started trying to carry me down the cliff! What a great idea this was. Well it scared me so much that I decided to get out and go around the other side so I dind't have to cross the water again. I went up and jumped in the water at the top and jumped out of the water and scared the people half to death at the top. It was pretty fun.
We made our way back down to the bottom, gathered our things and headed off. We had another long trip ahead of us. We were all talking and having a great time. Our guide had got a little cranky so we stayed clear of him for a few minutes until he got over it. We stopped off to see the Charlie the buffalo from Indiana jones. We all unlaoded and started walking around this place trying to find where a buffalo would be. It looked like we had stopped at a bar/rest stop so we werne't sure why they would have a buffalo there. Well we went inside the bar and there was the buffalo. Big and stuffed in the corner! Steve hadn't informed us that we were coming to see a stuffed buffalo. so that was a pretty funny surprise.
We loaded up on drinks and snacks and started to make our way back to Darwin. We stopped again at an Aboriginal store and bought some CD's that were made with the didgiree doo. It was pretty good music. So we each bought a cd and then copied them for each other. We saw a pig and bird that had more personality than most people. It was great entertainment to watch the bird dance and talk. It was a Gala which is a parrot but with pink and white colors. It is beautiful.
Well we finally made it back to Darwin and got dropped off at the hostel. STeve told us we had vouchers for a free dinner at one of the bars. So we all made arrangements to meet up in an hour and a half.
It turned out we made a reservation at the wrong hostel. So we had to walk down the street to the right one. The lady was not very nice and the hostel was a bit dodgy. We already paid so we just settled for it and went to our rooms.
We ended up in the same room as another girl that was on our trip. So we got cleaned up and headed to dinner. Everyone showed up except for the older lady. We got a free dinner which ended up to be lasagna and chips. It was pretty good. The manager of the bar threw some pitchers of beeer on the table for us and we just hung out for a while and enjoyed each others company. The manager also gave us some raffle tickets. The winner got a 50 dollar beer tab. There were three winners and Meribeth had one of the winning tickets. The three people had to chug down a glass of gingerale and whoever did it the fastest one the tab. Meribeth killed the other two and we got the beer tab.
As we were hanging out a guy walked over to me and he really did not know how to approach someone because he stood behind me and said where are you from. I was like what? I wasnt sure he was even talking to me. He probably should have started out with a hi or something. So he sat down and we ended up talking for a lot of the night.
He decided it was time to kiss but I didn't really agree with that so he lost interest and walked away. I ended up hanging out the rest of the night with his friends. haha. They were great and they taught me alot about the area and about the crocodiles. They go wakeboarding and stuff all the time. I said what about the crocs. They said well nobody has ever been taken yet. haha that's not good enough for me.
During the night it was black light night so everyone could go get body paint on and they would light up under the lights. Meribeth got start all over her legs and another one of our friends got some stuff all over her arms and chest above her tank top. I didn't quite make it over there.
Meribeth ended up drinking a little too much and one of the bouncers started screaming at us that she had to leave. I took her into the bathroom and the bouncer followed us and said she had to leave. Me and another girl grabbed her and started taking her out. Then our giganitc Denmark friend (like 6'5 ish and about 300 lbs) swooped her up and took her out of the bar. Finally she was able to walk by herself and we slowly made our way back to the hostel.
It was a pretty crazy night to end an incredible trip. We met some of the coolest people on our trip and we are still friends with them. We are meeting two of them tomorrow and we met up with two others about a week ago. It is so great to take trips like these and meet such incredible people.
The next day we took a walk around Darwin and saw the sights. Darwin was at the front line of WWII. It was pretty cool to read a little bit about that. I had no idea Australia was that involved. There are aboriginals all around the city asking for money. It's really sad to watch. they have no jobs and they just beg for money. We all met up together and had one final dinner before Meribeth and I headed off to catch a plane.
When we got on the plane I met th emost talkative airplane passenger on the whole plane. The plane ride was about 3 hours and it was at 1 am in the morning. All I wanted to do was sleep. Lucky for me the guy next to me can't sleep on planes so he had lots to talk about. haha. He actually ended up being a really cool guy and I enjoyed talking with him. he works at the mines around Australia and gets to travel every couple of months to a new one. He was a very interestin guy and if anyone was going to keep me up all night on the plane I'm glad it was someone that was fun to talk to.
We finally arrived at about 5 in the morning. We had to wait a few hours for a ride. We came home and pretty much went straight to bed.
It was a great trip. My favorite thing so far in Australia. not Counting New Zealand.

Its' been a while since I have written anything. It's been pretty crazy over here. A lot has been happening.
Thursday January 25th we started softball again. So I was at practice and a few people said oh it's going to rain. I was in the middle of a pitching lesson and we saw some dark clouds forming. The clouds looked like there was a huge fire with black smoke filling the sky. About 2 minutes later it started raining on us. When I say raining I mean God took the biggest bucket he could find and dumped it straight over our heads. I had to run about 15 feet to get to a cover and I was soaked by the time I got there. The storm lasted for about 45 minutes and there was nothing we could do but wait it out. It was way too hard to start to drive in. the whole place around us turned into one giant river. Water was gushing out everywhere. I have never seen a storm so hard in my life.
so we ended softball early obviously and I jumped in the car with our friend Tek. The next day was Australia day so she was going to take Meribeth and I with her to the damn for some jet skiing. Australia day is like our 4th of July.
We woke up early in the morning and headed up to the damn. they are in such a big drought here that the damn is only 20% full.
Now I really don't understand how in the world this place is in a drought because it rains almost every day here. It rains harder than I have ever seen in my life. If you dug a whole it would be a swimming pool in an hour. So somebody screwed up horribly when designing their water systems here. now they're talking about people drinking recycled sewage water. Man I hope that doesn't go into effect until April 2nd.
Anyways, so we get up to the damn and unload some stuff and put the jet ski in the water. Tek has two little kids, Tiana whose 7 and Corey whose 2 1/2. We rode on a thing called a ski bob which is like banana shaped and you straddle the thing, and personally I think the point of it is to see whose knees break first but that's just me. We did some wakeboarding and I actually got up a few times so that was a lot of fun. I got so excited that I was up out of the water that I would forget you still had to stay up.
We had a great time enojoying the water and the heat.
After the damn we went straight over to a bbq at our friend Grunters house. We ate some good food and just hung out with a lot of the friends we made. It was nice but nothing too crazy.
Other than that we have been doing a few things here and there. We moved out of our apartment. That went smoothly. Our landlord was really nice and friendly. Man we have a lot of stuff though. it will be interesting to see how we can get it all home.
We also stopped working. It's a wierd feeling not having a job anymore. But it's so nice too. I'm not sure how I'm going to go back and be a real person again after this trip.
Last week we went to Wet and Wild which is a water slide park. It was really fun. The water slides are pretty much exactly the same as ours but the park was a little bigger than ours I think.
We played our first softball game after the break yesterday and we lost 5-3. There is no hope of going to play-offs so we only have 3 games left.
This trip has gone by so fast I can't believe it. Tonight we leave for Darwin. IT's kind of crazy because we heard their might be a cyclone coming their way. I'm really excited though for all the experiences we have even if it's in the middle of a cyclone.