The Trip - Day 1

Trip Start Mar 16, 2005

Trip End Oct 31, 2005

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Flag of Australia Lichfield National Park, Darwin, NT, Australia
Friday, July 1, 2005

We were picked up at 7am by our tour guide - a lady called Jamie. Our first stop on the trip was to Lichfield National Park. Lichfield was originally owned by the Aborigonals up until when the first white man came over to Aus - ROBERT LICHFIELD. Lichfield traded copper and steel but after a while the trade went dead and he ended up forcing the aborigonals out of Lichfield, it was declared a National Park in 1989. Lichfield was a 2 hour drive away. on the bus down we met the other people on our tour - a couple of american girls, a group of canadian girls, an english and welsh girl and a korean lad. we were really lucky because the tour was only half full so we had loads of room on the bus and even managed to have a seat each! lucky us!!
the first stop at lichfield was to see the termite mounds. some were as high as 5 metres and the termites had built them so that when the sun is east they can be heated from the east and vica versa (or something like that, we wernt really listening because termite mounds arent the most intresting topic really!!)
after that thrilling sight we went round to The Buley Rock hole

Charlie the Buffalo

. it was a group of small waterfalls + deep splash pools which were very slippery, as you can imagine we both fell flat a few times!! The water was lovely and warm, it felt like we were swimming in a giant bathtub.
after that we had to walk 30 minutes through a small forest type area which bought us to Florence Falls. It was stunning, they were giant waterfalls surrounded by lots of greenery and plants. it looked like something you see on the travel shows. we went for another swim and sat on a massive rock in the middle of the pool just watching the water falls - it was very romantic.
when we left there it was on to another water fall, this one was called Wangi Falls. again it was very romantic but you know me and dean - we still managed to bicker!! i got out of the pool area in a strop and bashed my knee on a big rock and cut it open in 3 places so i was in even more of a bad mood!! dean still wasnt my friend though.
when we all got out we found a lovely grassy area in the sun and had a picnic lunch with all of the group. this was a great chance for us to get to know all of the group and we got on really well with the Canadian and welsh girls. they gave us loads of advice on where to go in cairns and all of the pubs happy hours!
Jamie then thought that it was a good time to tell us that the water we had been swimming in all day actually had fresh water crocs in them!

Dean diving into Buley rock hole

! but apparently it was ok because they dont eat humans unless provoked. dean was adamant that he wouldnt of got in the water had he of known that there were crocs in there!
after lunch we got back on the bus and headed to our camp for the night at Hayes Creek.
We stopped off at a place called Adelaide River, we went to one pub and it had the real Charlie the Buffalo from Crocadile Dundee stuffed on the bar counter. ive never saw the film but a few people were getting quite excited at this!
once at hayes creek we put our tents up (eventually) and sorted our sleeping bags out. we all sat round the camp fire and chatted for a bit and jamie got her digereedoo out for everyone to have a go on. i didnt have a go but dean managed to get some sort of noise out of it.
we went to the camp pub at about 7 and had fish and chips from the restaurant, it was delicious and even better as we didnt have to wash up after. after a few games of pool and a few drinks we headed to bed at about 10 so we could be up early for the next day.
we were surprisingly warm in the tents but i didnt like it when dean kept scaring me by pretending that someone was coming up to the tent!

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