I'm losing track of the order of events. I guess that's what happens when you start late. Anyways, after Kakadu, we returned to Darwin. Our program made a trip to Mindil Markets, a great night flea market. I couldn't keep my eyes off anything. Each stall had a unique array of arts and crafts and I just wanted to buy it all! I finally decided on a gorgeous lapis necklace. I also tried a fruit smoothie and a croc bite, which supposedly had croc in it, but it was too mushed up to tell.
The next day took us to the Northern Territory Wildlife Park. Our first stop was a sandbar where they asked for volunteers to feed some stingrays. Alas I was the 7th of the half dozen they needed. We were then let loose to explore. I was disappointed to find that about 25% of the park was closed due to renovation. Nevertheless, I did see some amazing animals.
We ended our time in Darwin at a celebratory dinner at the Monsoon nightclub, where we had pizza. Calvin tried for half an hour to get me on the dancefloor. When I started dancing, the guys seemed shocked and surprised at my ability and made a big deal of out it. Esther, an art student, was my dancing buddy. We had a great spot right in front of the stage with lots of room. We danced and imitated Beyonce in Single Ladies and grooved to Lady Marmalade.Unlike most of the others there, I didn't need intoxication to have fun.
We left Darwin and arrived at the Blue Mountains on 6/24/2012. Our lodgings were considerably finer than the Maleleuca. I took many photos of our abode there in comparison to the zero back in Darwin. It was quite a shock though going from hot sunny Darwin to the freezing rainy Blue Mountains. Many fell sick. I was one of the lucky ones. We shared the same roommates as in Darwin and each room had a name. Ours was Empress Falls, which I thought was aptly named since I felt we were all empresses. It was a very cozy place. I felt like Laura Ingalls from Little House on the Prairie. We went on a hike the next day and boy was it the hike of my life. The scenery was breathtaking, but so were the multitude of stairs. At one point were were going straight down. Like a 15 degree decline. It would have been a bad tumble. It was truly a test of stamina. Thankfully, at the end there was an ingenious placement of a gelato shop and I treated myself to a scoop of mango gelato made with 100% green energy. I have to note the wardrobe of our fearless guide and leader Wynn. He looked just like a giant garden gnome complete with purple knit leggings and a red beanie. He would be the star of any fashion blog.
A visit to Secret Creek reserve immersed us in the land of dingoes, quolls, wallaroos, and wallabies. A friendly wallaroo came up and grabbed my gloves, hugging them tightly to his chest. I suppose my grey fingerless gloves seemed to him like the outstretched hands of a mommy wallaroo. I could've died right there right then.
Dinner at Papa Dino's was an unforgettable experience. While waiting for our pizza, we must have looked extremely bored since the owner came over and handed us rolling pins, mats, and pizza dough. We looked around and the only others we saw equipped with such goodies were 5-year-olds. We had a blast making a variety of pizza animals. The pizza itself was delicious. Kelvin accepted the challenge of finishing our pizza. Kelvin is a student from Hong Kong who asks extremely insightful questions and is an affluent swearer. He cracks us all up. All the time.
I forgot to mention that upon our arrival, we took a short hike to the landmark of the Blue Mountains, the Three Sisters rock formation. It was quite beautiful. There was a hike to the bridge that led directly into the rocks, but our tight schedule did not allow us to fit it in.
No comments:
Post a Comment