Texans Down Under (Week 1: Maitland and the Northern Territory)

So one of my very best friends from high school, Caitlin Higgins, decided to come visit me in Australia! We planned a two week trip traveling to Uluru, Darwin, Cairns, and Melbourne. And this is how it went:

Day 1 (24/04) - With all the recent flooding in and around Maitland, Caitlin couldn't have picked a worse time to come visit. Then again, she couldn't have picked a better time because it got me out of doing all the cleanup work in and around the house.

     *If you didn't read my last post, on Tuesday, May 21, Maitland and the surrounding areas had one of the worst storms in over 60 years. They classified the cyclone's damage as a natural disaster, and there was only one road leading in and out of Maitland at the time we left (still almost a week later). 

Anyways, I left the house at 5:40am to drive to Hamilton train station (because Maitland's tracks were still under water), then hopped on a three hour train in order to pick Caitlin up from the Sydney airport be at 8:35am. Once we finally spotted each other, we stopped for a much needed cup of coffee (Caitlin still adjusting to the Australian currency, tried to give the barista a twenty cent piece thinking it was worth $20) and booked a train back to Hamilton. It had only been an hour, and we had already switched trains, when Caitlin started freaking out because she couldn't find her phone and passport. Her passport being the single most important thing during this trip because we have five Australian flights during this two weeks! We looked everywhere, and even thought she might've left them on the last train or back at the cafe in the airport. Sure enough, after about fifteen minutes of searching and freaking out, she found both of them in one of the pockets on her backpack! Shwew. 

We arrived in Hamilton around 1:30pm, and decided to go walk around the beach in Newcastle so that Caitlin could stretch out her legs after the long fifteen hour flight. That and, if we'd gone back to Maitland, we'd just be stranded at the house (and not even my house; my roommates and I were living with the landlord because mine had flooded during the storm). We took a long walk around the beach and to the lighthouse, then went to Casa de Loco for a late lunch. 

Now I've been wanting to try this Mexican food place for AGES but hadn't had the chance to get around to it, either because of work or the fact that they were only open dinner hours everyday but Friday. I had a delicious (but overpriced) margarita and a Mexican salad. The salad, oh my gosh, so good. I can count on one hand the number of times I've had Mexican food while living in Australia and this place was by far the favorite. 

After dinner we went back to Maitland, where Caitlin met Maxine, Sarah, Jeremy, Lachlan, Mitch, Phil, and Snoop, Honey, and Kobi (the dogs)...everyone I was living with at the moment. She showered her twenty-four hours of travel away, then we all played Uno and drank wine until dinner was ready. Caitlin almost fell asleep at the dinner table, jet lag is a you-know-what. She ended up going to bed around 8:30pm, while the rest of us played six more games of Uno before calling it a night. 

Day 2 (25/04) - Today was Anzac Day, which is basically the equivalent of Memorial Day, in Australia. Because it was a public holiday almost everywhere in Maitland was closed. So we woke up and headed to McDonalds for coffee; McDonald's being the obvious choice because they were open, not flooded, and offer free wifi. At 11:30am, after muffins and coffee, we headed to Largs Pub to meet everyone for Anzac Day festivities, the most famous and anticipated being "Two Up." 

The game of "Two Up" is only legal on Anzac Day; there's this big pit where no one but the "spinner" and the judge can be standing. The spinner tosses the coins in the air, and you basically make constant bets on whether or not the two coins will land on heads or tails. If you bet heads, both coins have to land on heads for you to win; if you bet tails, both coins have to land on tails to win your money. If they're split, one heads and one tails, it's called "oned em" and it's a re-flip. Everyone betting on heads is yelling "head 'em up" and everyone betting on tails is yelling "tail 'em up" after all bets are made. The bets get larger and the atmosphere gets louder the longer the game goes, which was from 2pm to 7pm. Caitlin and I were there from start to finish. I hate betting my hard earned money, leaving everything to chance, so I only bet once (and lost). Caitlin made a few bets, and ended $20 up. Then we started betting our friend Jeremy's money...and we won, a lot. He liked calling us his good luck charm. Whatever works. 

So "Two Up" is definitely something you need to experience once in your life if you're in Australia on this day. After all the fun I had, I was still upset that I had ended the day $5 down. But, just as we were leaving the pub, some random guy asked for a ride home for him and three of his friends, and said he'd pay me $100. So of course I took him up on his offer, his house was only 10/15km away...which meant I ended the night $95 up! And to top it off, he worked as a mechanic and told me where to take my car in for a service (which it desperately needs). So I won big twice on Anzac Day! Go me. 

Day 3 (26/04) - It was a bit like déjà vu for me today. Caitlin and I woke up at 3:40am so that we could drive to Hamilton to catch the 5:30am train to the Sydney airport. After three hours on the train we arrived at 8:30am for our 10:30am flight to Ayer's Rock/Uluru. 

All last night we were going over our packing lists, making our bags as small and light as possible so that we could travel with only carry-ons and not have to pay any extra fees. To be honest, I thought we did a fantastic job. I'm generally an over packer, and I packed two weeks worth of stuff into a 50L backpack (which wasn't maxed out). However, FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER in my twenty-fours years of travel, our bags were actually weighed and measured at the boarding gate, AFTER we had already cleared them through security. Like c'mon?! Caitlin and I each had two bags, both perfectly capable of fitting as carry-ons (one under the seat and the other in the overhead compartment), but they were too heavy...like 5kg (10lbs) too heavy, each. So we jam packed as much stuff into Caitlin's backpack, to avoid paying two $50 checked baggage fees. We managed to lighten our bags just enough comply with weight and size limits; and fortunately we only had to split the cost of one $50 checked bag fee. My advice to anyone reading this, don't fly Jetstar...restrictions are ridiculous, and their seats were terribly uncomfortable. Unfortunately for Caitlin and I, we still have two more Jetstar flights on this trip...

We landed in Uluru at 1:30pm, took a twenty minute shuttle ride to our hostel, checked in and headed right out to Ayer's Rock on the last shuttle available. Because we got in so late, we were only able to spend a couple hours at the actual rock, and didn't get the chance to hike all the way around it (which was about a four hour hike) or climb it (which takes about two hours). Instead we hiked forty-five minutes to the gorge, and then climb as high as we could in the thirty minutes we had left (which ended up not being that far because Ayer's Rock is super steep and we were out of breath before we even got to the most difficult part). Ayer's Rock is really and amazing place to be...it could even be classified as "majestic" in my book. Our only mistake was not buying fly nets; the flies during our hike were out of control! At one point I looked over at Caitlin and there were about thirty just sitting on her back. They loved being all up in our faces and nostrils, too. So gross. 

After we left the rock, our shuttle took us to the sunset viewing point where we sat and watched the sun go down over Ayer's Rock. I don't know if it was just because there weren't any clouds in sight, but the sunset was nothing compared to a Texas panhandle's sunset. We still enjoyed it the view though. We had been told that there would be an aboriginal dance in the town square at 7:30pm that night. Thinking we had plenty of time, we grabbed a bite to eat first then caught the shuttle to the square. Apparently the dance started at 7pm, and ended at 7:30pm, so we just missed it! With nothing else to do in the area, and it being too dark to go on any hikes, we just showered and went to bed at 9pm. 

Day 4 (27/04) - Caitlin and I hadn't planned on waking up early since our shuttle to the airport didn't leave 'til 8:25am, but our internal clocks went ahead and woke us up at 6am. Nothing at our hostel was open yet, and Caitlin wanted coffee, so we walked to the service station and back. Still with over an hour to spare before we left, Caitlin did a load of laundry and then we just waited. While we waited we went over and over our backpacks, trying to pack them and make them look as small and light as possible. We were hoping that since we were flying Quantas this trip they wouldn't be as strict. 

The shuttle arrived at 8:45am, and we checked into our flight at 9:15am. When we went up to the counter to get our boarding passes the woman informed us that checking baggage is complimentary with Quantas, so even if they were too big or heavy it'd be no dramas. We informed her that we already liked them better than Jetstar, and then decided to save ourself the trouble and check our two big bags anyways. 

We had two flights to get get to Darwin. Our first one to Alice Springs was an easy forty minute trip, then we had an hour and a half layover before the three hour flight to Darwin. Earlier in the day Caitlin had said how we hadn't had any hiccups so far on our trip. She also asked if the camper van we were about to rent for three days was a manual. I told her surely it was an automatic; the last camper an I'd rented with friends in New Zealand was an automatic. I decided to call our camper van rental place just to double check our booking anyways, and to ask if the pickup was at the airport or if we needed to get a taxi/shuttle there. The woman at Blueys rentals told me the van pickup was just a short taxi drive from the airport and the van was, in fact, a manual...

A manual!? Oh my gosh. What?! Noooooo. Neither Caitlin, nor I, have spent any length of time driving a stick shift. I've tried lessons three times, once with my sister back in America and twice with different roommates, Ethan and Mitch, here in Australia...all three were failed attempts. Like, I understand the concept; I could tell you exactly what I need to do when it comes to the gas and the clutch and the shifting of gears...but once I'm actually in the car, all that goes out the window, and in flies the frustration when I can't get the release of the clutch to meet with the acceleration of the gas pedal in order to get the dang car started! Caitlin and I are coming up with the most hilarious scenarios of what will happen when we get to the rental place and what's going to happen the first time we get stuck on a hill. We've been googling and calling people asking for advice on "how-to-learn-to-drive-a-standard-in-less-than-three-hours." Talk about adventure, this is going to be comical. Either that, or they're not going to rent the camper van to us anymore...

So we got to the camper van rental place and the first thing we asked was if they had any automatic options available. Their answer...nope; unless we wanted to upgrade to a massive six berth van. We said no to that suggestion (because it cost waayyyy too much), and instead we lied and told them that we were just a little out of practice and then asked where the best place to practice our start and stops would be. We also decided to get the full insurance on the van, you know, just in case...

Now, I have to brag a little bit on myself because, even though it wasn't the smoothest start, I basically taught myself how to drive a standard in an hour. Yes, I had three previous lessons in driving a standard...yes, I had fantastic input from friends on Facebook about how to drive one in the three hours before we picked up the van...and yes, I did stall the first five times trying to get out of the parking lot...but other than that, I'd say I did pretty damn good by myself getting us from Darwin to our first destination of Litchfield National Park (two hours away). My only super stressful moments were when I would come to a roundabout or a complete stop at a stoplight. I hated the thought of stalling in the middle of traffic, and having people honk and yell at me to get out of the way. Fortunately that never happened; but I also went ahead and bought magnetic L plates to let other drivers know I was a learner, so that they couldn't get too upset if they saw our van stalling at random moments! 

We stopped at Woolworths, the local grocery store, to stock up on food for the next five days while we camped. Driving in and around town was the hardest because there were a lot of stop lights and I was in unfamiliar territory. Once we started driving to Litchfield it was relatively smooth; thankfully a good portion of the drive was straight highway and I was able to stay in fifth gear mostly. It wasn't until we were about ten miles from our destination that we started seeing grass fires pretty close to where were were driving. We got a bit scared, not knowing if they were controlled or not, and thought about turning around. But when I couldn't get the van to reverse (because we were on a slope in the ditch) we decided to just keep going to the nearest suburb. We stopped at the first petrol station we came across and got out to ask: 1. if the fires were controlled, and 2. where the nearest campsite was to park our van and sleep. Neither answer we got was very clear, and all Caitlin kept saying was "this looks like a scene from Wrong Turn" (a scary movie where some people take a wrong turn in their car and end up in the woods being chased by serial killers). That's not exactly what I wanted to hear when other people from Maitland had already told us to be careful while driving and to really be aware of our surrounding. 

Anyways, we found the nearest campgrounds and pulled in to book a parking spot. The owner was outside waiting for us when I parked, and he got a kick out of the fact that this was my first time driving a manual; I had told him the reason I parked horizontal was because I hadn't mastered reversing in a manual yet. He was very friendly and gave us lots of tips and advice on where to visit while here in the Darwin area, starting with the best bush walks in Litchfield National Park. After we parked the van, we made up our bed, ate dinner, and relaxed 'til bedtime. 

Day 5 (28/04) - Having only laid down a sleeping bag to sleep on top of, and a bed sheet to cover up with, both Caitlin and I woke up around 6am a bit chilly. We sucked it up until 7ish, then decided to get up, make breakfast (toast with PB&J), and get ready our day of hiking in Litchfield National Park. It took us almost an hour 'n a half to get to our first starting point, and we literally walked around in a circle five times before realizing we couldn't make it to where we were originally wanting to go - Florence Falls. The man at our campground had also said there was a nice short walk from Buley's Rockholes (upper and lower ends) which was where we were at; what we didn't realize was that a "short walk" to him meant five minutes! We were thinking something more along the lines of a thirty-minutes-kind-of-short. 

After Buley's Rockholes we drove to Wangi Falls where we took a 2.5km loop around Wangi Falls; we started at the base of the waterfall and swimming hole, hiked up to the treetop viewpoint at the peak of the waterfall, then all the way back down. That was more like the "short walk" we were expecting earlier. From Wangi Falls we went to the Cascades. Now this hike took us about two 'n a half hours, but once we got to the top there was a nice little swimming hole we took a dip in, and the water was the perfect temperature! Our last hike before heading to Katherine was along Grennant Creek to Tjaetaba Falls. This was by far my favorite stop of the day. 

We decided to fill up with gas at the next possible station; we had this plan to fill up every time we were halfway through our tank, just in case we ever got lost and ended up ages away from the next nearest station, or were being chased by a mass murderer in the middle of nowhere. So, Caitlin was driving at this point, and as we pulled in to the petrol station we misread the signs for the type of gas we were wanting and had to stop and restart. The only problem, was that we still hadn't mastered the whole starting smooth thing yet...Caitlin stalled out about four times, while an audience of about ten grown working men watched. Caitlin was so embarrassed, I was laughing hysterically (glad that Caitlin finally understood my pain and anxiety from the first day), and the men watching started offering us all their advice. Caitlin refused to keep trying, and made me switch to driver. I was just as bad...pressure kills! 

As I was informing everyone around that this was only our second day ever driving a manual they all laughed and asked how in the world the rental place even let us rent the van. Then, when I went inside to pay, I asked the two male cashiers if they enjoyed the show. One laughed and said yes, the other hadn't seen it. So I told him not to worry, it'd be back on in five minutes! And it was. After struggling for about three minutes, one of the cashiers came out and talked us through it. I don't know what it was about him telling us how to start over everybody else, but all of a sudden it just clicked. After that, I had no more problems! And I was even able to teach Caitlin "how to feel it" like everyone kept going on and on about. 

Finally we were back on the road. Katherine was still a good two hours away, and I don't like driving in the dark, so we were just going to stop halfway in a town called Pine Creek. Once we got there though, it was rundown, deserted looking, and had lots of smoke in the air from the nearby burning of the bush...so we kept driving, all the way to Katherine. It took us another hour 'n a half to get to Katherine. Once there, we found the nearest campground to park the van; we were so tired that we ate and fell straight to sleep (by 8:30pm). 

Day 6 (29/04) - We woke up at 7am, went to pay our camping fee since reception was closed last night when we arrived, and then headed out to Nitmiluk National Park. It took us thirty minutes to reach our destination. With only time for one big hike today, we decided to try the Southern Rockholes walk which was highly recommended by the girl at the information desk; it was the only water we could swim in without having to worry about crocodiles. It took us an hour 'n a half to get to the Southern Rockholes. It was by far the coolest spot we'd seen all trip: there was a waterfall (although hardly much runoff), cliffs to jump off, and crystal clear water to swim in! We made some random friends, one guy who used to play volleyball in California, and hung out and swam for an hour before starting the hike back. 

It was a three hour drive to Kakadu, the last national park on our list before heading back to Darwin. We saw so much wildlife during this part of our trip! Twenty minutes into crossing over into the national park we came across a live wild hog in the middle of the road; fortunately, it scurried off just before we had to make a complete stop. Not long after that there was a herd of cattle contemplating whether or not to cross the road, another time Caitlin swerved to miss hitting a bird! I thought I was going to die and told her next time to just hit the damn thing; she said she can't stand the thought of killing an animal, then thirty minutes later ran over a snake :) when we pulled into our campground there were at least twenty wallabies hopping around the area. But the most exciting thing I saw was a wild dingo! I've only ever seen them at the zoo, and this one was roaming free twenty yards from us! 

Caitlin and I made ourselves a nice little picnic before we headed to bed. It was a perfect night to enjoy some cheese and crackers, and wine, while watching the sunset and the animals roam around us. 

Day 7 (30/04) - With all the hikes we wanted to do today nearby, we decided it'd be alright to get a later start. We woke up at 9am, then drove to the nearest information center to buy our park passes. The information center also happen to have free wifi; we lost track of time and didn't leave there 'til 11am. There were only three hikes on our list to do: Ubir Art Gallery, Manngarre Rainforest Walk, and Bardedjilidji Sandstone Walk. 

The Ubir Art a Gallery was this really neat walk that showed off a bunch of old aboriginal rock art. There was one amazing lookout where we were able to see for miles and miles while overlooking the wetlands. It was like we were in two completely different places at the same time: one dry and rocky, the other wet and green! Our second walk was one Caitlin was most looking forward to, the Manngarre Rainforest Walk. After walking for about twenty minutes, ducking under various massive spider webs, we ran into a couple who said the rest of the trail wasn't open due to season closures. That was a big bummer. Our last walk was fortunately the longest, so we'd still be getting some sort of exercise today :) The Bardedjilidji Sandstone walk had a few caves and rock bridges to go under, but man, was it hot! 

After our hikes, we headed to to our final campground. It was still early in the day so since the place classified itself as a "resort" we decided to take advantage of the pool. We laid out for an hour, until Caitlin felt she was burning (because she was still basically coming out of winter back home), then we headed to the bar for a drink and some air-conditioning. 

We left the bar at 7:30pm to head back to our camper van. It was dark already, and all of a sudden Caitlin gasped; when I looked up we were literally standing FIVE FEET from a dingo! And it was staring straight at us. Growing up a dog person, it's hard not to look at a dingo and think of it as a cute little puppy; but last night when we saw one at the other campsite and the groundskeeper had told us "yes they're vicious, it's a wild animal" it had me a little nervous being so close. I was scared, but then again I was hysterically laughing into my hand because it had now started following us as we walked back to the van. Like, what were we supposed to do if it started growling at us and chasing after us?! Fortunately that didn't happen, and after following us about twenty feet, we went right and he/she went left. 

Once we got to the van, I made myself dinner (PB&J, plus turkey and crackers) then we both laid down to read our books until we fell asleep. Tomorrow was going to be an early morning...we had to leave to the campsite by 7am in order to make it to Darwin by 10am to turn in our van. 

Day 8 (01/05) - Caitlin and I woke up at 6:30am, packed up the camper van, grabbed coffee, and got on the road back to Darwin. We were told it would be a three hour drive, but we managed to make it back in two. Just before we returned to van to Britz we topped it off with petrol, cleaned the used dishes, swept it out, and took our final pictures to prove that we had, in fact, survived five days driving a manual without so much as a scratch on the van! 

We booked a taxi to the airport, then layered on our clothes, stuffed our pockets, and made our backpacks look as small as possible to avoid paying another $50 fee for oversized baggage. To put that into perspective: I had on a pair of leggings, a pair of sweatpants, a tank top, a tshirt, and then a long sleeve shirt, a flannel, and my nano puff jacket tied around my waist...then I stuffed my pockets with all my electronics, put my camera around my neck, and carried my ipad, journal, book, and phone in my hands...AND IT WORKED! We made it onto the plane without our bags getting weighed and measured at the gate this time. And I'd just like to point out, my bag fit just fine in the overhead bin (vertically, not even horizontally), and I still had the area under the seat in front of me available. I'd say Jetstar owes us our $50 back! 

We landed in Cairns at 4:15pm, took a taxi to the famous Gilligan's hostel to see if we could book a room, but then decided against it and chose instead the Central YHA around the corner because it would save us $15 per night. Once checked in, we unpacked, made our bunk beds, and then headed off to explore the nearby streets as we looked for something to eat. Of course we chose Thai (my favorite kind of food), and the chicken pad thai there was the second best I've had since moving to Australia...still not up there with Bangkok Tokyo in Amarillo though. Nothing can beat that; until I visit actual Thailand, that is...

When we returned to the hostel, we sat outside on the patio for a bit, used the free wifi, showered, then headed to bed. I couldn't sleep, so I ended up finishing the free book I had taken from the camper van rental place a week ago: The Wish List, by Melanie La'Brooy; a very hilarious Australian novel about a girl trying to find true love (story of my life...haha). 

*More pictures from throughout our entire holiday will be posted to Facebook soon!



XO - Cristin