I had a really good day yesterday. We went to Litchfield Park, one of the smaller National Parks near Darwin. Smaller it might be, but I can't imagine the famous Kakadu National Park to be any better. Besides, Litchfield is free :-).

What really beats me is how the tour companies here can charge 95 AUD per person for a daytrip to Litchfield. I mean: Almost all sites within the park are reachable by 2WD and I doubt that the two attractions you'd need a 4WD for are really worth that money. Besides, you can hire a really nice 4x4 for 95 AUD. And it's not like Karajini either, where you reallu need a guide to get around he park safely. No. Litchfield is simply beautiful nature with great waterfalls and wonderfull swimming holes for the whole family. Apparently this is also why you shouldn't go there on a weekend, since all if Darwin drives out there. And can you blame them? At least here there's a chance to swim without being killed by stingers, mauled by crocodiles (at least in parts of the park) or eaten by sharks.

So we plunged in the creeks, hung out in the rock-pools (others were far more professional and had thought about bringing beers - we hadn't, damn), swam under the waterfalls and just had a really good time.

Who the fuck is Alice?

Since the girls will fly to Sydney from Darwin (it's only 210 AUD, can you believe it?) I'll have to find some new people to share the car with. I haven't really started looking yet, though, since I still don't know when I'll leave Darwin. Well, at least I have decided where I'm going to go. I'm not going to go to Alice Springs and see Ayers Rock (actually Ayers Rock or Uluru as it is called now is another 300 km south-east of Alice Springs) but will go directly to the East Coast. That's a bit more than 2.000 km, so it should be doable in three or four days. There is not much to see on the way - and even fewer hostels - so I won't really miss out on anything by going there quickly. The only thing I haven't decided yet is whether I'll go up to Cairns or down to Brisbane once I've hit the coast.

Weeding? You gotta be kidding!

Which way I'll go will in part depend on whether I'll volunteer at one of the National Parks for one or two weeks or not. You see, I'd really like to spend some time in the parks and thus get a different feeling for the country (besides, maybe it's not as boring to drive if you know what the birds circling your car are or which trees you are passing by), but the only project they have right now is a "Weedathon". That's a two-week trip into a National Park where you camp and get food for free and, well, weed. Now, I've never been someone to like gardening so this doesn't sounds appealing at all! On the other hand I can't imagine that they actually make their volunteers go with a nailclipper through the rainforest for ten hours a day, seven days a week. Hm. I suppose I'll just have to call the woman who's in charge of the Weedathon and find out whether there's also some fun involved.

Good Morning. My name is Mr. Luege. I am your new English teacher

So depending on whether I'll do this crazy gardening-marathon I'll leave Darwin pretty soon or at the end of June. When I'll leave exactly will also depend on where the next course for English teachers will be held in Brisbane or Cairns. Cause I think this is a really good opportunity to get myself an internationally recognized certifiate that enables me to teach English all over the world. Well, maybe not in Western Europe with all it's regulations, But I would be able to teach in Eastern Europe, Asia, Latin America etc.. And that would be a pretty cool way to finance future travels. Besides, these courses are only for about a week in class with another few weeks of assignments, so it's definitely doable.

On the web:
Litchfield National Park