Cage of Death!!!

Wed April 7^th

Last day in Darwin! We slept in all the way to 8am! Much better then 5:30am. Finally got to eat the free breakfast at the hostel. Turns out is was bread, butter, and orange marmalade at the front desk. He had to go upstairs to the kitchen to even toast it. We were a little disappointed. We then had to pack up all of our stuff and store it at the hostel and check out. We walked across the street to the tour company because we had no been reimbursed for our park fees yet. It was a huge hassle of back and forth. Eventually they said that the travel agent I booked the tour through had the money and I had to contact him in order to get refunded.

We then walked another block to the Crocasaurus Cove. Here we got to see crocs, hatchlings, juveniles, turtles, and other reptiles. We wanted to hold the baby croc but there was such a long line of children that we just stayed our of the line. Don't worry. They rubber banded the mouth shut.

Oh yeah…and we survived the CAGE OF DEATH!!! We climbed into a plexiglass cage and were lowered via a crane into the same water enclosure as the crocs! It was quite a rush.

We were first dropped into the cage of Houdini and Bess. They were a breeding couple. We splashed around and made noise but they didn’t even bother to turn their heads. (First is Houdini then Bess)

We then went into Choppers cage. He was lying in the water with his eyes and tip of his nose above the surface. We splashed around and made a bunch of noise but we were only able to get him to sink 2 inches until his eyes and nose went under water.

Last, we went to Denzel’s cage. Again he just laid there. I learned a very valuable lesson. If I even get thrown into a crocs gage. Don’t panic. They really don’t care and won’t even notice you.

We brought a waterproof camera with us into the cage and got pictures. The staff at the croc cove also took a ton of pictures and even took video. It was $45 for 1 picture or $99 for a DVD of all the pictures and video footage. So we bought the DVD and decided that we would play it at our reception!

Here is the movie.

We were able to go to a shower and rinse off the croc water at the Crocasaurus Cove before we got dressed. Since we had checked out at the hostel we no longer had a place to shower. We then went to the mall area and found a bakery. We tried chocolate chip hot crossed buns. I got a slice of pizza and Matt got a giant bacon and cheese loaded loaf of bread. For dessert we bought a chocolate mud scone. We had never had a scone before. Guess what? It was scrumptious!

We went back to the kitchen/ lounge area of our hostel and ate the food and watched the storm roll in. We then went souvenir shopping in all of the rain! After shopping, we went back the hostel’s kitchen lounge area and caught up some on our blog entries. Again the internet was pretty bad so we could only post a few pictures. When I get back to Perth I will upload all of the pictures. We left Darwin around 10:30 on a shuttle to the airport so we could catch our redeye flight to Sydney at 1:45 am. Once on the plane we both fell asleep very quickly.

Kakadu Day 2

Tuesday April 6^th

We woke up at 5:30am AGAIN! There were 5 tour groups all going to the same water fall today so our guide thought it would be a good idea to get up super early so we could get there before everyone else and get the spot all to ourselves. This sounded like a good idea until about 1 am when we were still awake because it was too hot and too humid to sleep.

We woke up and went immediately to the bath house to get ready for the day. We forgot one crucial step… mosquito spray. We were eaten alive on the way to, in, and from the bath houses. We learned that the Aussies call them mossies.

We packed up and took off. We arrived about an 1 ½ hours later. Our guide stopped by some “dunnies” (out houses) so we could go to the bathroom before we headed down on our 45 minute hike to the water fall.

The hike was about 3 km. It was actually pretty descent weather, mostly because it was overcast. We arrived at the beautiful Motorcar falls. Here are some pictures.

Matt and I have pics of us under the waterfall on the disposable camera. It was safe to swim here, no crocodiles. We were bummed because we forgot to bring out goggles. We found a few spots where we could rock climb a little bit. Between the algae and the wet/ smoothness of the rocks we could only climb about 2 feet out of the water. We packed up and took off on our hike back to the bus. This time it was sunny out. But neither of us wanted to stop and put on sunscreen because it seals the skin and makes you sweat three times as much.

Once back at the bus we traveled to Moline Falls. Very gorgeous. There were a lot of spiders that had made nice webs on the 30 yard walk to this water fall. They were about the size of the palms of our hands. We were a bit more successful at rock climbing this time. We were even able to get behind the water fall.

There were 4 of us who were the last ones out of the water. The guide said that we were going straight back after this. So we decided to change out of our wet bathing suits into dry clothes so we would not have to sit in wet suits for the next few hours. This made us about 5 minutes late. The guide freaked out! She was back at the bus and drove closer to us and started honking her horn. We really were only 5 minutes late. I think she was just eager to get back.

During the entire 2 days everyone had their specific seat where they had sat and stored all of their stuff. Most people fell asleep, including the person beside me. Both of us were awake. Since I was in the first row and Matt was up front with the guide we couldn’t really talk. So we played hangman on a piece of paper and passed it back and forth. This lasted for about 4 minutes of entertainment and the guide yelled at us because we were distracting her. I understand she was driving and needed to focus but we were the only vehicle on the road. So we humored her and stopped and sat there bored out of our minds. At one point Matt was biting his nails and she yelled at him to stop. I understand this is a bad habit and Matt did stop immediately. At another point in time she yelled at him for moving his hands. He would touch is face, his ears, rub his eyes, fidget around in the uncomfortable seat. She looked at him and said “Do you realize you move every 15 seconds?” this was followed by and stern glare. We realize that she was in a bad mood and wanted to get home. But we paid $450 each for this 2 day excursion. It is not her job to treat us like annoying children and it is most certainly is her job to at least fake a good attitude until she gets home. Otherwise it spoils the trip. Don’t worry we got to fill out evaluation card. We felt a little better after filling those out.

We got back around 4 pm. We immediately checked the Internet for my results on the dietetic internship match. I was placed at Texas State- San Marcos! This was my number 2 choice! My number 1 was National Institute of Health. NIH is the ivy league version of internships. It is completely free and only takes 4 people. So I knew it was a long shot. But I am SUPER excited that I got into Texas State. This was my #1 realistic choice.

Then we took showers to get the 2 days worth of sunscreen, sweat, dirt, and lake water off. We got dressed and took off for dinner. Matt had been wanting a burger since he arrived on Monday March 29^th. So we went on a hunt for the best burger in Darwin. Well on the main strip of restaurants anyways. We went to a place called Monsoons. The security guy out front told us to go to Shenanigans. Went there and they only have burgers on their lunch menu. So the Shenanigans security guy told us to go to Outback Jack’s. Same situation, only at lunch. So we walked across the street to where there was a giant Guinness sign. This is Matt’s favorite beer. It is hard to find in Australia. The place crossed the street was called Kitty’s Irish Pub. We each ordered a super burger! The menu said it came with “the whole lot” we had no idea what that meant.

There were a handful of gambling machines. So while we waited for food we decided to play. We each took a dollar coin and put it in a slot machine. Turns out there were no handles to pull, only buttons to push. We had no idea what we were doing so we just kept pushing random buttons. At one point a made 60 cents and then lost it. Neither of us were successful. A group of Alaskans came in and started playing pool right beside us. They were very drink, very comical, and very friendly. They asked where we were from and when we said Indiana one of them had eyes that lit up. Turns out his dad was from Richmond, IN.

Our food arrived and Matt was in the restroom. The Alaskans couldn’t believe that I didn’t order a salad and that I was going to eat the giant burger in front of Matt. I told them that they had better believe I was going to eat it. (these pictures were taken on Matt's cell phone because I left my camera in the room. Sorry about the poor quality).

From the bottom up it was; bottom bun, cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickled sugar beets, meat, egg, pineapple, ham, bacon, caramelized onions, ketchup, and top bun. We think the bun was a sourdough Kaiser roll. These burgers were HUGE and DELICIOUS!!!

I was able to eat all of mine plus my fries. Matt ate about ¾ of his and hardly any of his fries. I gave him quite a hard time about it.

We then decided to go to Baskin Robins for dessert. It is $7 for 2 scoops. So we went to the grocery store across the street and bought small individual tubs for $2 each. We then went back to the hostel and passed out.

Kakadu National Park Tour

Monday April 5^th. Kakadu 4wd Aventure Tour

We woke up at 5:30am in order to catch the bus by 6:00 am. We were up before the front office had even opened so we missed out on our free breakfast. It is a good thing that we bought food from the grocery store the night before. We paid $453 each for the 2 day tour. When we arrived at the pick up spot they charged us $25 each for a park entry fee and $20 each to rent sleeping bags. We were a little pissed that those were not included in the entry fee. Turns out the park entry fee was included and we had to talk and hassle the guy. Unfortunately, we paid for the fees with a card and he would reimburse us the next day. So we were the last ones on the 15 passenger bus. I sat in the front row next to a guy named Luke and Matt had to sit up front with the tour guide. And then we were off! Everyone fell asleep.

Our first sight was Fogg Dam. It was built in order to help create flood plains and produce rice. They did such a good job that it attracted A LOT of migratory birds that nest in the flood plains and eat the rice. The area also attracted crocodiles. So the rice fields idea was dropped and the dam stayed up. We drove across the dam and were did not stop because of crocodiles in the area. So we were unable to get pictures. The dam was really a road that was built up about 2 meters above sea level. It was a lot like Lindburg Rd in West Lafayette.

These are the flood plains from Fogg Dam.

Our next stop was an aboriginal walking tour. It was too hot and too humid. We think it was about 35-37 C (high 90’s F) with 70% humidity. The aboriginal guide welcomed us buy putting water from the near by billabong into his mouth and then spitting it on our heads!!! He said that we were lucky because other tribes spit on a newcomer’s head AND take sweat from their armpits and wipe it on the newcomer’s arms! YUCK!

After the welcoming ceremony he showed us different plants that were used for medicinal reasons, food, and poison for the tips of spears. We also got to see a tucker. Some people in Australia will call a microwave or an oven a tucker. This originates from the aboriginal “tucker” which is a hole in the ground layered with rocks. They heat the rocks up with fire fed by iron wood (lasts for a whole day) and lay the meat on the rocks to cook. The cooking meat is then covered with paper wood (think long and wide pieces of bark) to keep smoke/ heat in and bugs out.

We were then taught a lesson about how they make didgeridoos, painting (they have added black for a total of 4 colors of paints), clapping sticks, and beating sticks. If there was ever an argument between two individuals they would take these sticks (bigger and heavier than baseball bats) and alternate hitting each other crossed the back until one would fall. This did not establish a victor but ONLY settled the dispute.

We also learned the process to making baskets, plates to eat off of (the bottom of a basket), seats (a bigger and more decorative plate), and dilly bags (bags to put their collected food in).

Last, they taught us how to make and throw spears.

After the aboriginal walking tour we traveled to Margaret River within Kakadu National Park and boarded a boat for a Jumping Croc Cruise. It was pretty freaking cool. The boat guide had a long stick that he tied a chunk of buffalo meat to. We then rode up and down the river and when we would see a croc we would stop, slash the meat in and out of the water, and the croc would come up to the boat and then jump up into the air to retrieved the meat. We were informed that females will be smaller than 4 meters long and males will be greater than 4 meters long. We got some pretty good footage. The crocs were massive! Here is a video of a croc that is 4.5 meters long (13.5 feet!) At the end of the boat ride our guide took the scraps of buffalo meat and called over falcons to the back of the boat and fed them.

After the crock cruise, we traveled to Ubirr Rock. This is a place of some of the oldest aboriginal paintings dating back to before 20,000 years ago! These paintings tell of stories, lessons, and of food that the aboriginies ate. The paintings are protected by the silicon in the rock and then over hangs from the rock.

Here we are climbing the last top third of the rock.

When we climbed all the way to the top of Ubirr Rock the view was so gorgeous that pictures would not do justice. So here is a 360 degree video of what we got to see and admire. We also took about 50 pictures. It was absolutely breath taking. Here you can see the flood plains, rocks, forests, and mountains in the distance.

It also rained while climbing Ubirr Rock and we could not have been happier!!! It was so nice to get drenched and cool down.

After Ubirr Rock we climbed back into the bus/truck and headed to camp.

The campsite was a permanent camp site. So the tents were on wooden platforms and came with 2 twin beds and mattresses. The camp site itself was really nice. We got there right at sun down and were not able to get any pictures. Sorry. Matt was super excited though because the campsites came with showers!!! The showers and toilets were lined with big spiders and tons of little white geckos. Luckily we were able to borrow some bug spray. That night is was so hot that we just laid on top of our sleeping bags. We still sweated like crazy because there was no breeze on the tent. It did rain again in the middle of the night. The rain actually came through the tent and soaked us. Not sure how rain made it through 2 layers of tent and not a single bit of wind did. But we were ecstatic because it cooled us down enough to the point where we could fall asleep.

We are part of a tour of 15 people and 1 guide. The people are from a variety of places including London, Melbourne, Germany, Canada, and Japan.

From the tour bus we were able to see a few snakes along the road and a blue winged kuckaburra in flight.

The aboriginies also informed us that if we ever go swimming and a croc is in the water coming towards us, we should dive down under the water. Crocs can't open their mouths under water because it fills with water. They only eat above the water.

First Day in Darwin

Today was our last day in Broome. We got up, packed, ate, and had checked out by 9:30am. This means we were out of our room and just locked away our luggage in a storage closet. We then went to the shops in Chinatown (the poor side of town in Broome). We were able to get a few souvenirs given the few stores that were open on Easter Sunday. After shopping we came back to the hostel and swam in the pool one last time. It was a high of 35 C again today (about 100 F). Everyone that we talked to this morning informed us that Darwin was going to be hotter and more humid than Broome. So needless to say we were dreading going to Darwin. We walked our butts to the airport at noon. We did this in our wet bathing suits as a preventative measure from over heating. We arrived at the airport and couldn't find a bathroom to change into normal clothes. So We covered up a little so we could check in, and hopefully get to bathrooms on the other side. The lady told us that we had to be properly dressed in order to get checked in (which was weird because everywhere else in Broome is all about the extreme end of casual). So we had to put our clothes on top of our wet bathing suits. We checked in, went through security and then immediately went to the bathrooms and changed. It was too late. We looked like we had wet our pants.

Boarded the plane, flew to Kunanarra for a quick lay-over (10 mintues) and then continued on to Darwin. Kunanarra looked to be about the size of Fowler. We were very surprised that it even had an airport. Yes that picture is o the entire airport. This was the gate that we sat at. It is all open to the outside. We boarded again, this time for Darwin.

We arrived in Darwin to a 2 1/2 hour time change and 29 C temperature (80's F). We were incredibly excited that it was no nearly as hot no humid. We are currently in a hostel called Chillis Backpackers. It is downtown Darwin! We are across the street from Baskin Robins, right beside the grocery store, and 1 block from the beach!

We were able to walk around and orient ourselves a little bit. We discovered a ramp escalator in the grocery store! So I decided to surf it.

We are waking up at 5:30am (3:00am Perth time) in order to go on a 2 day tour where we will camp out in the outback! I'm excited, Matt...not so much. So we will not get to post tomorrow night.

We did snap a few pictures of our much improved room. We get a bed, air conditioner, mini fridge, sink, and lockers.

Here is the dining area at the hostel. As you can see it is very open to the outside.

Here is the kitchen at the hostel. Matt is in the background using the microwave for our dinner.

It is a normal thing to see water heaters on the roofs of buildings here in AU. The wierd thing is, they don't use electricity, just solar heat. So, the heater is actually a tank; the water flows through the solar panel and is heated and stored in the tank. Greg told us that the energy commision of AU was now working on funding installation of electric heaters becasue the current ones are really quite worthless at night! The new electric panels would credit your electric bill becasue you are now using less grid power overall. It's moving to be more like what we have in the states!

We went to the grocery store to buy some food and bought a candy bar called a Wispagold. It is a textured milk chocolate bar with caramel in the middle. It was really good. Matt and I also bought a $4 chocolate bunny and ate it too.

HAPPY EASTER!!!!! I hope it is a good one!!!!

Last Day in Broome!

Matt and I went out at 9:30 this morning with a friend/co-researcher of the Boushey Lab group I used to work for. Deb and her husband Greg took us to see Gantheaume Point. That is a place here in Broome where you can see dinosaur footprints! But, only when the tide is VERY low. We arrived around 10:00am and the tide had covered the footprints by then. That was fine by us because the scenery was absolutely breath taking. I could not get over how red the dirt was and how blue the ocean was. It was such a great contrast.

After that, we got to see/ learn first hand about the aboriginal people. In all of Australia they make up about 2% of the population. In Broome they are 1/3 of the population. The trouble with aboriginal people is that they are nomadic. They don't really live in houses. They have all of their stuff in a pile in the middle of people's yards, parks, and side of the roads. When the move to a new location they just leave their stuff. The result is piles of garbage around the town. So the aborigines are thought of as a problem. Greg pointed to a group of aboriginal people and said that they were going emu hunting. He then explained that the cheapest beer in Australia is called Emu Export. The aboriginies will buy it and drink until they pass out.

We picked up some friends of Deb and Greg named Helen and John and took off towards Willie Creek Pearl Farm. We were going to arrive very early so we decided to take a quick trip to the beach near by. We traveled for an hour on a very bumpy road. I took video footage.

You would think that I was having a seizure while taping.

I made the video and then 20 minutes later we got a flat tire. Not just any flat tire, one where the tread came off of the sidewalls.

So we spent about 45 minutes trying to fix that in the 100 degree heat. We did have plenty of water so we were not worried. By the time it was fixed it was time to head back to Willie's. We realized later that we were on the wrong road to the beach. It should have only taken about 20 minutes to get to the beach. The road we were on would have taken us for a 2 hour drive before finally reaching a beach!

We got to Willie's with about 15 minutes to spare. So we decided to go the Willie's cafe and grab lunch. The cafe was out of EVERYTHING except coffee, carrot cake, and ice cream pops. We got a very funny and lively talk about the inner workings of pearl farming; real pearls, fresh water or salt water, are farmed, however, the process for salt water pearls differs greatly from their fresh water counterparts, hence the much higher price tag. First, an oyster is harvested from the ocean and brought to a ship. There, the oyster is convinced to open and a wedge is placed in its mouth to hold it open. Then, the oyster is cut near its glands and a 6mm nucleus (A sphere cut out of a separate oyster shell) is placed inside the incision. This starter pearl is the base for a two-year growth of a pearl. The seeded oyster is placed in a sack and held 3m below the surface for two years. Every two to three weeks, the exteriors are cleaned and inspected. After that, the oyster is removed and coaxed into opening again. The pearl is removed and the process repeats up to three more times. Each seeding produces larger pearls even though a 6mm starter is used every time. 8mm the first, 10mm the second, 12mm the third, and greater than 14mm the fourth. The rejection rate increases with every seeding however. 85% make it the first seeding, 50% the second, 35% the third, and less than 15% the fourth. After the fourth seeding, the oyster is harvested completely. A strange niche market has opened up for the oyster meat of a fourth seed oyster, called pearl meat. The pearl meat sells for $150 per kilogram in AU, and over $700 per kilogram overseas. People that have tried the meat say it is not worth the price tag.

After our tour, we had a much less eventful drive home, but we did get to see a road lined with giant ant hills. I'm standing about 3 feet in fron of this one.

We then went to Deb's hotel for a swim. We decided to also go to Cable Beach for a view of the sunset. Greg brought cheese and wine for a twilight picnic on the beach. It was quite lovely!

We returned to their hotel where we decided to go out for dinner. We traveled back to the wharf where our kayak tour began. It was a nested little seafood place where Matt got oysters and a seafood bowl and Kaylin got a chicken noodle bowl. Yes, Kaylin tried barramundi, a local fish, and one of Matt's oysters. Greg and Deb dropped us back off at the hostel and we took showers and got ready for bed.

Here's to our last night in Broome! If you don't hear from us for a couple of days, do not fret! We are in the outback camping in Darwin. Updates as we get internet!
With love,
Matt & Kaylin

Sea Kayaking!!!

Our alarms went off at 8AM, but we didn't want to get up, so we laid in bed talking about the trip and things to come for another thirty minutes before we went to get breakfast. The hostel provides a free breakfast consisting of two different, but hearty cereals, coffee or tea, and milk. We ate and Matt checked his e-mail and such. We did dishes and headed back up to pack for our trip. With just ten minutes before the bus arrived, we threw together a bag and rushed to the curb to wait. We nearly forgot to put the sunscreen on so we did that while waiting.

The tour guide came to the door to grab us, he had parked in the front since the drive to the entrance is not trailer friendly. We were greeted by two other couples in the van as well as a second guide. We made our way from the city and picked up six more guests before arriving at the launching platform. Aussies don't have to reverse very often, roundabouts make that a rare occurrence for most drivers; so needless to say, it was fun to watch him try to back in a straight line with plenty of room!

We put our kayaks on the beach and got a safety briefing before we launched. Some highlights to the briefing include: Watch for stingers (not sting rays, but box and jikungie jelly fish, both of which can be fatal in a matter of minutes if left untreated), whirl pools, and strong currents that would land you in Hong Kong if left untreated.

We then launched into the waters at low tide, taking note of the water level because it would change about 10m during our 2hr excursion. The 2 pictures above show the difference in water level. The first was taken at 9:30am and the second at 11:30am of the exact same location.

Along the trip, we were on the lookout for sea turtles, but none were seen within 100m of our vessels so we didn't really see anything. We took a break near a large rock on the beach where we found hundreds of hermit crabs. The crabs were placed in the center of the circle and the first to exit the circle won. Kaylin picked an excellent crab, making it to the edge of the circle first, but cowering away to its shell before crossing; she got second place! Matt's, however, didn't even make it 10cm from the start...his name became Speedy. We then had refreshments, Ritz crackers, spread, and a concentrated juice drink called cordial. The guides packed up the snacks and we launched again into a canopy of mangrove trees. By this time in the trip, the water had risen about 8m so we were now at the top of the vegetation! On the return, we got to see fins breech the water's surface when our guide said “I hope those are dolphins!” They were dolphins pop, no worries mate! We passed under a jetty (bridge over the water) and we could have probably touched the road with our paddles, the water had risen that much! Hugging the edge of the beach, we navigated some swift currents and made it passed with no guests lost at sea. We paused and watched some Aboriginal kids fly off of a cliff into the water, probably the height of a 7.5m platform. We continued to the launching platform passing by a rock formation that previously was not covered by water. Our guide navigated his boat through a narrow window opening in the rock (that used to be about 8m above the water at the beginning of our voyage) and he nearly made it through until he bottomed out. Using the waves, he eventually made it through. We got back to the van and brought our boats to shore. Most of our pictures of this trip were on our 35mm underwater camera so we will not have them posted until Matt makes it back to the states. We paid for our trip and the guide brought us back to the hostel. (We couldn't believe that we didn't pay or put a deposit down for the trip until it was over! Definitely not how it's done in the states!)

We hopped into the pool to cool off since we were not allowed to safely swim in the ocean and we changed for lunch. That's when we saw exactly how poorly we applied our sunscreen. Both of us have cherry red thighs and shoulders; darn that reflecting water! Since we had nothing else planned, we decided to go to the larger of the shopping centers about 1.2Km away from the hostel. It was later noted, that the heat was 32C, with a heat index of 41C, that's over 110F with 70% humidity! The journey here was for Aloe, but also a time kill in the air conditioning. We were in sight of the center when we saw how empty the lot looked. Remembering what our mate James had said the day previous, “Get what you need today, tomorrow's Good Friday so all the shops will be closed,” we were met a the door with a padlock. There was a BP mini-mart in the lot so we stopped in for an ice cream and a bottle of water. “Matt, we don't have to live here anymore” Kaylin said on our walk home.

We came back to out room to watch The Office and cool off in the AC. Kaylin had a hankering for some chocolate but with all the shops closed, our only option was the McDonalds about 0.5Km from the hostel. Watch for the McCafe inside McDonalds to really look like a coffee house, they had cheesecake, tortes, and “American Style Brownies.” We got two tiny (only size) McFlurries and a large (medium) coke for Matt. The internet is still awful, two episodes of The Office (an hour of total show) took 2 hours to stream so we are low on internet time at the moment. Now we are getting ready to make spaghetti for dinner and enjoy a live DJ for the rest of the night.

From Broome, Australia,

Love Matt n' Kaylin!

P.S. Any of you that have been to a robotics competition, you'll know what I am talking about: the music selection here is awful! I have heard the Poker Face song 5 times today...they are a few months behind on the new music so it's the popular song here! Oh well, the night goes on.

Still no pictures bc the internet is too slow to upload them and we have to pay by time. We will let you know when we get them up. Also , we took the sea kayaking pictures with a waterproof disposable camera. We will have to get those developed before we can scan and upload them onto the blog.

First day in Broome!

Today Matt and I woke up at 4:30 am!!! Andrew picked us up and took us to the airport. We arrived and made it through check in and security within 15 minutes!! No troubles with Matt and his explosive chemical traces. YAY! We brought breakfast with us to the airport. We were supposed to leave at 7:00am but we waited an extra 15 minutes for 3 people that didn’t show up. I wish American airlines would do that! Just in case I’m ever running late. The airplane was very chilly. Everyone was wearing sweatshirts and bundled up in blankets. We arrived in Broome, located in the north west corner of Australia, at 9:30 am to 100 degree heat with about 90% humidity. It was a little bit of a shock. Matt was pretty darn excited though. Not because of the weather but because we arrived at a small airport and he got to exit from the back of the plane onto the tarmac. We grabbed a taxi and it drove us for about 1 minute and 9 seconds to Broome’s Last Resort (the hostel we are staying at). I guess we could have walked it. Our room was not going to be ready for another 2 hours.

So we put on our “bathers” (swim suits) and jumped into the pool! It was absolutely AMAZING!!! We met a guy named James. He was more than happy to show us around the place and tell us about his adventures. He also took us to the grocery store so we could buy food for lunch. It was pretty cool to walk into a store with only our bathers on and James didn’t even wear shoes! The best part is, it is NORMAL. Nobody stared or thought anything about it. We learned that the local population is just like another other city in the fact that we are on the side of town where most are underprivileged and we got to see it first hand on our walk. This will come into play later for dinner. We also learned that items in the grocery store are more expensive because Broome is considered to be a remote location. There are also fewer items in the grocery store for the same reason. We made it back and stored all of our stuff in one of the 4 refrigerators in the kitchen. Had lunch and then swam some more, and more, and more. We met a few more backpackers traveling through. Some are from France and Austria others are Aussies from the east coast. Matt and I enjoyed some air-conditioned time in our red room watching The Big Bang episodes.

Our room is RED. All of the walls, trim, and ceiling are red. It contains a full bed and an air conditioner. That is it.

Here is a pic of the pool. It has a waterfall in it too!

Here is the cabana beside the pool. There is SHADE, tables, and 2 hammocks.

Here is the community kitchen. There are 4 refrigerators and a freezer that are not shown. But all of the pots and pans and cooking things are community. There is even a sign that states "If you are caught NOT washing dishes, you will be evicted on the spot" I think it is great. They should have one of those signs for all college apartments to help end roommate arguments.

Also, here's the bar. not too fancy, but it did the trick, all the backpackers loved the prices, about $5 per beer! Usually, $7-$8 was the norm.

We were supposed to go out to dinner and to see the stairway to the moon with some friends. The stairway to the moon is a natural optical illusion (like the northern lights) where reflections off of the tidal pools create a staircase image up to the moon. Unfortunately, a storm rolled in about 4:30pm. It rained for 30 minutes, but brought in enough clouds to ruin the effect. So our friends called and canceled.

Instead, Matt and I went out to a place called Matso’s for dinner. We had to take a taxi there even though it was only 6 blocks away because it is dangerous to walk on this side of town. The cab driver told us a story on the way over that a girl fell victim to an attempted rape 1 block from the restaurant. YIKES!

So Matso’s is a local brewery (Matt’s choice). We had the Ocean and Earth platter for 2. It came with VERY fresh Salmon, spiced prawns (shrimp), herbed chicken, and very raw kangaroo. They offered beer made with spicy chilies in it and another with mango in it. Neither of which Matt tried. Something about a spicy beer and he is allergic to mangos. So Matt tried a local porter beer instead. It was all pretty tasty. At the beginning I snuck away “to the bathroom” and talked to our waiter and had him bring out some chocolate cake for dessert as a part of Matt’s birthday celebration. Yes his birthday was yesterday (Aussie time) but it is today US time. So we dragged it out. His cake came with a flower shaped sparkler on top. And he was surprised. We took a taxi back to the hostel and bought internet $10 for 4 hours (anytime use) so we could post this blog. We are going to get up early to go Kayaking (since we didn’t get to at Penguin Island).