So, a little over three weeks have passed and I’m still *expletive* in Darwin. The only change is that I am finally sleeping on the catamaran at least. The captain’s 3 daughters are on board this week and the plan was to sail around with them first before taking of to The Kimberly. But as per usual, there’s a slight bump in the road. Or more like, a tear in a sail and a broken alternator. So Eli, the other Workaway crew member and I have been cooking and cleaning for our keep while helping out Peter with his daughters. The problem is that, we’re still docked in Darwin so during the day when they’re off doing activities we are stuck back in Darwin. The Land of nothing to do.
The last three weeks haven’t changed too much from my last posting. The bright side is I’ve met friends who’ve made it much better and we all agree, Darwin is not the vision of Australia we’d had in mind. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still loving my travels but as of right now, I think I’m loving the prospect of the adventure ahead. At this point I’m just hoping it actually happens.
It just goes to show you, the people you meet along the way have a huge impact on your trip and it’s important to put yourself out there. It took my awhile to mingle with people at my hostel. It was cliquey and most people were living there long term. Thank god for Melissa and Hettie. Melissa is from Northern Ireland and had been traveling around SouthEast Asia for the past 6 months before arriving in Darwin. Hettie is English and was towards the end of her Working Holiday visa.
We were lucky that Hettie befriended a tour guide from one of the tours she’d been on in her time here. She woke me up one morning whispering, ” Dana… do you want to come to Litchfield?” Yes, I absolutely did. Litchfield is a national park about an hour and a half drive outside of Darwin. You either need to rent a car or purchase a tour to get there. We were going for free because of Hettie’s connection to and awesome Aussie named Trent who wanted to go for the day. Melissa and I got to come along. It was by far the best day in Darwin. And a better picture of what I hope Australia will be. There are multiple waterfalls and swimming holes that make up Litchfield. To sum it up quickly, it was magnificent. It only added to the experience that the man taking us was an experienced tour guide for the area. At one point he stopped along the trail and said, ” do you hear that…? BATS!” Trent proceeded to stare into the trees until he’d spotted huge, bats spreading their even bigger wings. Along with a wild emu we saw on the dirt path we drove back on, it was the most Australian wildlife I’ve seen so far.
As of right now, Eli and I have found ourselves mooching off of the free wifi at the Doubletree while Peter and the girls are experiencing Litchfield for themselves. She is literally and figuratively on the same boat as I am. We need to set sail soon or scrap the whole boat trip idea to find adventure elsewhere. These Explorers have had enough of Darwin. Stay Tuned!