Kadz and Sazmo's Great Adventure! : January 2013

Wednesday, 30 January 2013

Travelling in style

The train from Darwin to Adelaide takes 3 days and 2 nights.

The Ghan:

The train is over 1km in length with sleeping, dining and lounge cabins.

My little sleeping cupboard (i.e.. single sleeping cabin)

2 person cabin with ensuite

First stop

Another boat cruise but at this time of year there is only enough water to travel up 2 of the 13 gorges in Katherine

The 2nd and most famous is Katherine Gorge

After our first night we arrived at our second stop

Santa's sleigh...pulled by kangaroos?

Enjoying a pre-dinner drink in the lounge

SO much food was consumed over 3 days...3 courses for every meal

Transformed for the night, with chocolates on the pillows!

Barossa Valley near Adelaide:

LOTS of vines

Haha!

New best friend!

Jacob's Creek (vineyard number 3 of 5 in the day)

Still standing....just...

Crocodile Dundee stood here!!

On to Darwin and the nearby national park for a little bit of culture.

Darwin Waterfront

No swimming in the lagoon then!

Wee history lesson

Kakadu National Park:

We were shown lots of aboriginal rock art by our guide Sheldon

White fellas are allowed to visit the art but are never told the whole story behind it

The paintings depict different stories which teach children valuable lessons, such as to watch out for crocodiles

...or they tell other aboriginals what food is available in the area. Can you see the fish?

This is Nabulwinjbulwinj. He is a dangerous spirit who eats females after striking them with a yam. Sarah was not impressed but Mum couldn't keep a straight face when she heard about the yams.

Boat cruise down East Alligator river (the first explorers misidentified the crocs as alligators and then named the rivers)

Sea Eagle...poser...

After our Botswanan plane incident Mum and Dad were the only ones to brave the scenic flight

Uranian mine

The escarpment looked more impressive from the air

Standing where Crocodile Dundee stood

Boat cruise down South Alligator river

Our aboriginal guide Robert spotted this but we didn't, until he drove the boat up riiiiight next to it

White fellas usually need a permit to visit Arnhem Land (the land still owned by aboriginals), but we were lucky enough to have a 10min wander

Robert demonstrating his spear throwing. The spears are flexible so they wobble after piercing an animal, this rips the flesh.

This ochre is used as paint in rock art. The red ochre was most commonly used because it lasts the longest time. Some paintings are thought to be up to 1000 years old.

Hand prints feature often in the rock art. The hand is used as a stencil while paint is spat on to the wall.

Common sign in Kakadu...check out the bottom picture!

Saturday, 26 January 2013

Since we are having such an amazing time travelling, Mum and Dad decided they didn't want to miss out and so joined us for 3 weeks travelling across Australia. Starting in Perth we travelled to Shark Bay then Darwin where we visited Kakadu National Park. After which we spent 3 days on the Ghan (train through the centre) before heading to the Barossa Wine Valley. Then to Melbourne for Christmas before finally ending in Sydney for New Year. With so much to do and so little time we will sum up our Australian adventures through pictures.

Shark Bay:

Worlds smallest airport at Monkey Mia

Visiting the oldest living creatures- stromatolites- at Hamelin Pool, which looked very like rocks!

Mum tried to recapture an old picture from St Kilda's 7 years ago and so we spent 10 minutes walking up and down the beach until it was perfect.

Shell Beach- absolutely stunning and made of just shells (felt like we were in Davy Jones' Locker)

Natural Aquarium at Eagle Bluff with a walkway where we spotted sharks and rays

We went fishing for David's 17th Birthday and I caught the first fish. This turned out to be my only fish as both Mum and I spent the remainder of the trip with our heads over board!