We spent the good part of the last week in the Northern Territory. We've both never been there before so we were really excited!
Now if you aren't an Aussie, the majority of what you probably know about Australia is either from Crocodile Dundee or the Crocodile Hunter. Sense a theme? Even as an Australian myself, I don't fancy the idea of being eaten by a crocodile. I've grown up with the knowledge that if you go to the Northern Territory or Far North Queensland, you don't swim anywhere but a pool or it's dinner time (and you aren't the one doing the eating).
So when our sister in law said we were headed to rockholes the next day to go swimming I was freaking out, like seriously freaking out. Apparently there are certain rockholes that are designated swimming areas. If they are closed, do NOT swim. If they are open, swim. Apparently the Parks & Wildlife check them and have crocodile traps. Let's just say I wasn't so trusting.
The first place we went to was closed. I wasn't feeling very encouraged to swim! I could just feel the crocodiles lurking below the brown water just waiting for us to step closer to the edge.
We travelled along the roads, further south-west. A few rockholes further away were apparently open. Just on the drive it felt really amazing to see just a tiny part of the Australia our country is known for - the outback! Like these amazing termite mounds that were taller than Tom.
We ended up at Litchfield National Park. The water was beautiful and clear and you could see the bottom. I, however, was still terrified. I spent the first hour or two sitting near the edge. If there was a crocodile I still would have been eaten on the edge that close to the water, but considering everyone else was swimming the deep water I felt just a little bit less like I might die at any second. I started to immerse myself in the water at one point and some bubbles rose up in a dark part of the water and it took me all of two seconds to get out again.
I felt pretty cosy in this spot and less prone to die at any point. So I was here for most of the several hours we were there swimming. You should be very proud that at one point I jumped off the edge, into the deep part of the rockpool (and then took 3 seconds to get above water and to the edge again!).
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Something was eaten that day... and it wasn't me! This is as close as we came to a Crocodile - as an entree! and I sure did enjoy it (it really does taste like chicken - but chewier).
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| ROAD-TRAIN! |
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| We saw a lady who had a rescued baby wallaby. |
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| One of our many ice-cream stops. |
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| The goanna that visited our swimming spot (I stayed well away!) |
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| Florence Falls |
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and because this is was our favourite part of our trip (and the reason we went), here is our family in Darwin. Our beautiful nephew (Toms brother's baby) was blessed at our church on the Sunday.
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If you come to Australia - you must visit the Northern Territory. Take my word for it.
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