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Reports

During my travels, I received free accommodation for a night in exchange for writing a daily travel diary. This diary documented how I reached my next destination, the hosts who welcomed me, the food I was offered, and other experiences along the way. Below, you will find the archives of these extensive reports. Please note that English is not my native language, and most entries were written quickly, often around midnight. Enjoy!
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Friday, 21 June 2002
--> Kakadu National Park 3 day Safari (day 3)

Day 3. After a simple cereal breakfast I found out this was the toughest day. From the campsite we drove back to the Jim Jim Falls and today we were going to climb it all the way to the top.

It was an early morning bush walk and I was happy with that early morning, because you don't want to do this in bright afternoon sunlight! The walk was rated as 'difficult' and was quite hard from time to time. I mean, we don't have rock walks like these in The Netherlands.

From time to time we had to make a stop to drink water from our water bottles, but after a two hours walk we finally caught our breaths back on top of the Jim Jim Falls.

Boy this is imposing! It's like standing on top of the world. Down below was the rock pool where I had my dive yesterday, just 212 metres straight down! We were not allowed to stand on the edge, because if a wind would catch us, we would be tumbling down like the waterfall does in the wet season. We were only allowed to crawl to the edge and lay down there, but it was an amazing event.

The hike back and all the way down to the car park seemed so much easier, however I totally lost the feeling in my knees when we got down. To refresh ourselves from our sweat, we had a quick swim down the river.

At this time of the day it was already getting 2pm, time for the ride back to Darwin, which would take another while, because we had to make some 500km distance. On the road we had some stops, like the one at one of the giant termite hills, and we enjoyed the sun set right in front of us.

Believe me, if Australia ever expects a invasion, it can only be done by termites. I mean, they populate the entire outback already!

The day ended with dropping off all the passengers at their hostels and together with Ed Turner from AussieOverlanders I got back to his office/house/hostel/whatever, where I met with other tour guides and travellers during a little barbie party. The main topic at this moment was the World Cup Soccer of course, as the last week was about to start. After as necessary shower (hot water!!!) I really enjoyed those beers Ed and his brother Wayne offered me!

Good night Darwin!

Ramon.

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