Tag: Australia
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Arrived in Perth
I arrived in Perth, around lunchtime. A package of film is on its way to my hostel, by reliable Fedex. It will arrive on Monday. I have a tracking number! Hoorah! What is ironic is: the cost to Fedex the package overnight (but really two days, considering the international date line) is not much more…
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Australia: Don’t Mind the Flies
Forget about putting another shrimp on the barbie. The slogan for Australia (at least the Northern Territory) should be: Don’t Mind the Flies! (The other alternative: Australia: Our Postal Service Sucks!) In the towns it’s not quite so bad, but once you get out into the wilderness, you are swarmed by flies whenever you are…
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Alice Springs
I arrived in Alice Springs, yesterday morning. I went to pick up my next campervan. They were very slow serving customers. There were three rentals ahead of me, and it took 1:30 before I was served! The vehicle reserved for me was having problems, so they upgraded me to a camperized Toyota Land Cruiser. It…
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Back In Darwin
I’m back in Darwin, a day earlier than planned, for two reasons. The first is that, while Kakadu Natl Park, Litchfield Natl Park, and the rest of the “Top End” are interesting, they are mostly a lot of the same thing. Once you’ve seen the few different types of scenery and critters, then there is…
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Kakadu National Park
I went straight from Darwin to Kakadu National Park, in my 4wd pop-top camper. I have seen plenty of wallabees (small kangaroos), but no crocs, yet. There are some river “croc cruises” where they hang some meat off the side of the boat, and make the crocs jump for it. I may try this on…
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Tablelands
Yesterday, I took a full-day tour of the Tablelands. This includes a lot of rainforest, sugarcane farms, dairies, a waterfall, a lake (in a volcano cone), and a crazy Spaniard’s castle. The group was rather unsociable. There was a family of four from Northern England who communicated to each in an unintelligible mumble, two Australian…
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Great Barrier Reef
Today, I snorkelled in the Great Barrier Reef. There are countless tour operators running boats to the reef. I went with SilverSwift. They have a fast boat, and maximum of 70 people. Today, we had 52. It takes 1:15 to get out to the reef. The water was choppy. Five or six people were puking!…
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Turtle Tours
I wanted an easy but interesting day to follow my travel day to Cairns, so I went with Turtle Tours for a look at some places near Cairns. Pickup at 10:00am, finish around 4:00pm. We visited a nice swimming hole and a lake. We also went to see a couple of beaches, but the water…
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G’Day, Cairns
After a grueling pair of flights, I am in Cairns, Australia! I was dreading the Shanghai to Cairns flight. I was in economy class, and the ten hour flight left at 9:00pm. Fortunately, in the 2-4-2 seating arrangement, I had two seats to myself, and the seat in front was also unoccupied! I was able…
Michael Chmilar's Travels 