bobbin-around-blog - Tumblr blog

[bobbin-around-blog]

Sunday 12th February

Day 1 The adventure has begun! After what has felt like a lifetime, Harry and I have finally set off driving for the first day in our little home on wheels. At first I was a little nervous about the size of the van- but luckily it's a little like Mary Poppins' carpet bag and we can even stand up inside! Of course I insisted on unpacking my things first and Harry has managed to squeeze his belongings in around mine, but for now we've made it home. This afternoon we said goodbye to Perth and headed to the Pinnacles. The Pinnacles is a bunch of giant limestone rocks which emerged from the sand looking like tombstones. I wasn't too bothered about visiting but Harry wanted to go... so we went. Upon arrival we ate the only food that we currently have- some boiled eggs. It may sound boring but Harry does boil up a good egg! After moaning for days about the rainy weather in Perth, Harry was surprisingly displeased with the humidity today. Realising that our van might not make it around the road at the Pinnacles, I suggested taking the walking option. Harry suggested that we just left. I bargained with him by telling him if he was good enough we would get ice cream after the walk. The walk didn't last very long before we both decided it wasn't worth going much further. No ice cream today. We decided that maybe it was a good idea to go for a dip to cool down. A fuel stop was needed so we pulled into a petrol station. A fight began between Harry and the fuel cap which didn't want to come off. He tried all he could before giving in and calling the roadside helpline who advised him to push a button inside the car. I'm sure that guy thought we were absolute idiots. We discussed history and politics in the car as we headed up the road beside the ocean. It wasn't long before we found somewhere that looked good for a dip. By this time it wasn't as hot and the water demonstrated no reflection of the heat of the day. We dipped our toes and felt satisfied. I had a nap and woke up in a pool of dribble on my pillow. It must have been a good nap. We decided to try "Chicken Treat" for dinner as none of the shops were open. We got a fantastic deal and are both overjoyed that there is plenty of chicken left over to eat tomorrow. Our dinner was enjoyed beside the sea sat out the back of our van. It was a very lovely scene but I can't help but feel we disturbed the couple in the van beside us who were eating pizza. I was enjoying their music until they packed up and left shortly after we arrived. Now we are ready to watch a movie in the back of our van. We've stopped at a nice caravan site and are now showered and clean ready for an early start tomorrow and a much needed food shop. Luckily Harry brought a mini fan with him and hopefully there won't be much moaning tonight...

[bobbin-around-blog]

Friday 30th September

We went out on Sunday night and had a fabulous time. Everyone from the trip came apart from the two American girls who had flown somewhere else. Even our guide who lived a 45 minute drive away in Humpty Doo (yes that is the actual name of his town) came all the way to have some drinks with us. I think we were all expecting to meet for “just one” but I’ve come to realise that “just one” is something that just doesn’t happen here. By the end of the night everyone wished me luck for getting up early in the morning ready for the road trip. Jokes on them because I don’t get hangovers so I knew I’d be fine anyway, whilst the other girls worried about how they’d be feeling the next morning.

Awakening like a sweet singing bird early the next morning, I got up and got ready to go to the bank and pick up my card. The estimated time of departure was 9:00, however we didn’t get on the road until about 12:00. I must admit, this isn’t the first delay I’ve experienced since being here. Although I was warned about how laid back it would be here, I still thought I’d somehow be escaping Harry’s terrible time keeping skills, but unfortunately I still haven’t found promptness in my life.

Our first stop was Berry Springs where we had a lovely refreshing swim. The water was lovely and clean. The issue with swimming in lots of natural waters is that many of them have benefits and drawbacks. Whilst some may be the clearest water you’ve ever seen, that doesn’t guarantee and huge lump of mossy crap won’t surprisingly float past your face at some point. Luckily here the water was relatively clear and was very very clean. Due to our delayed departure we weren’t able to stop much this trip so headed straight to the campsite.

Upon arrival we noticed that we’d forgotten something rather important. A goon bag. A goon back is a rather sophisticated alcoholic beverage that many young Australians encounter. A wonderfully cheap wine which you are able to drink from a bag. I had been told that it tasted better the more you drunk it. We then went on a goon hunt walking down the vast and relatively empty highway searching endlessly for a sign of alcohol. After seeing a country club sign and debating whether or not we were dressed well enough to attempt going inside, we decided to have a crack at it. No luck.

Back at the campsite realising we had no alcohol to liven up our evening, we decided to see if we were able to access the swimming pool. Noticing that we were able to go in we couldn’t be bothered to walk back for our towels. It wasn’t until we started to take our modest layer of clothing off that I realised I didn’t have my bikini top on. The other two girls assured me that we were all in the company of friends and it would be fine to just get in in my bikini bottoms. Although this is not something I would usually be comfortable with, it was late and dark and I wasn’t expecting anyone else to be joining us. Not three minutes later a middle aged couple also decided that they fancied a dip. Brilliant. No angelic floating on my back then. This meant I couldn’t get out of the pool until the couple had left, or else I was going to give them more than they’d bargained for on their trip to the pool.

By 10:00pm we were all crashed out in the tent on top of the car, fantastically prepared with only one blanket between us to use as a pillow and nothing else. At 10:30pm we heard a man screaming about something. Although I was slightly concerned, fatigue got the better of me. However after realising there were burglars hunting the campsite Isabelle remained on guard for most of the evening.

Waking up nice and early we set off for Katherine Gorge. Knowing that our trip would require lots of energy I ordered a bacon and egg sandwich at the cafe. Extra crispy bacon- almost burned. Bellissimo! It was an overwhelmingly hot day- perfect for climbing tonnes of rocks and walking for miles (not). Beads of sweat enveloped my body and I wasn’t sure if it was the driest shower I’d ever had or I was simply learning many new things about how my body could thermoregulate. Despite seeing beautiful sights, it was coincidentally another perfect day for a swim. The water was so clear that you could take a picture of your foot under than water and it wouldn’t even look as though you were under water. It was simply beautiful.

On the second evening we were more prepared. Goon! Setting up at a more rustic road side camping ground we put some pasta on to boil and I had a lesson on drinking goon. The sky turned dark and bats emerged from every tree we could see and all headed in the same direction. A storm must have been brewing! We packed everything away and waited patiently for our pasta before attacking it with our forks in the pan. We enjoyed a night of talking lots of crap and looking at the stars. I hardly slept a wink, but every time I opened my eyes a million diamonds above me shone brightly- so it wasn’t too bad.

The next day we decided to go to see the jumping crocodiles on our way back home. We saw them from a boat on Adelaide river (which isn’t actually anywhere near Adelaide). I already knew that I didn’t particularly want to be eaten by a crocodile- but after this trip I was completely certain that this definitely wasn’t a way that I wanted go. They are able to jump so far out of the water it’s unreal!

Arriving back at the hostel at around ¾:00pm I called to catch up with Lauren, Mum, and Dad. I wasn’t sure whether or not to tell mum about the topless swimming but she laughed so I think I’m safe. In the evening I went to meet Isabelle and Sarah to say goodbye and once again “one drink” became more.

Yesterday I enjoyed the day in bed, binge watching ‘American Horror Story’, day dreaming about being a witch. A much needed lazy day I think! Although it’s a holiday here- it’s exhausting.

Lumpy and I are now on the plane to Broome awaiting my next load of adventures at work. Coming to the airport was a bizarre experience this morning as I’m still not sure if I went through security or not. I simply blinked and was in the departure lounge. I bought myself a wannabe Burger King for breakfast and ate about three chips and two bites of my burger before feeling like I would explode. I’m looking forward to meeting Auntie Dorothy and seeing Ken’s feet which I’ve heard to many wonderful things about.

[bobbin-around-blog]

Sunday 25th September

I've just arrived back at the hostel from a three day trip driving around and visiting various different places of interest. After waking up at 5:30am Friday morning, I was relatively worried when the bus hadn't arrived at 6:30am like I was advised it would. After waiting for an extra 45 minutes or so, a sprightly man approached me outside the front of the hostel asking if I was Bobbi. Yes, I am Bobbi. I got into the passenger seat of a van filled with squished people in the back. Perhaps being picked up last wasn't a bad thing! Not only did I escape the sensation of being a sardine packed into a tin, I was also relived that (as it was so early in the morning) I could hold off introducing myself and being chatty until we arrived somewhere. Amongst us there was a very Aussie tour guide, an Aussie girl, a Swiss girl, an Austrian girl, two American girls and two Dutch boys. I have to admit that after three days of only being with these people I can't wait to find an English person to talk to who speaks some of our lovely Queen's English. I was the youngest of the group and the oldest was 25 so it looked hopeful that we'd have a good weekend together. The first stop was a boat tour of the Billabong River. We saw a few crocodiles and many many birds. My main fascination was with the wallabies. We even saw a little baby one climb into it's mummy's pouch. Whilst I thought about how cute they were I tried to focus on how much it might hurt if you were kicked by one. I've found myself doing this lots since being here- I begin to find things cute that probably won't find me very cute. After lots more driving and many "wee" stops and short stops to look at little bits and bobs, we arrived at a huge red rock. When I say huge I don't mean a simple boulder- I mean a rock that looked like a cliff or something like that. Matt (the tour guide) walked us round and spent lots of time explaining the paintings of the indigenous ex-inhabitants and how to determine how long they'd been there for. Although their artwork may be more appropriately described as "modern", the stories they aimed to tell were very interesting. My favourite was a story of Nabulwinjbulwinj who has a very dangerous spirit who ate females after striking them with a yam. It baffles me why he didn't just eat the yam in his hand if he was hungry- but then again, who am I to judge? Eventually we arrived at our camp. It was in the middle of the bush but luckily we had a wet season camp which was under cover and even had bunk beds! I couldn't help but feel like I'd gotten the luxury part of the camp in 'I'm A Celebrity'. For dinner I tried salad- and I liked it! In the bush there were many many noises but we had a fire so I hoped that that would keep any nasty creatures away. I wasn't feeling very tired (probably too scared to sleep) and everyone else had gone to bed so Matt took me to show me some wildlife. He showed me how to identify spiders easily with a torch as they have shiny eyes. And he also explained that most of the rustling noises were just frogs which kept me at ease. Yesterday was our swimming day. We went to one place with lots of rocks and went for a shallow dip in a very confined area. We then drove to another spot. When we arrived Matt showed us the ants on the trees and beckoned us to taste their bums. I did try and got the most sour taste of zest ever! But it did taste nice so if I run out of money here I'll know what ants I'll like to eat for dinner or maybe just a light snack. Kakadu was much deeper and had a beautiful waterfall but it was still quite enclosed and almost secretive. Nobody was there so we had it all to ourselves and enjoyed splashing around under the waterfall for ages. I felt like somebody from a brochure! On one of the pit stops on the way to the next camp I held a snake to attempt to overcome my fears. Once again a deadly creature became something sweet and cuddly in my head. In the evening we played cards and Mafia and ate stir fry. As it was one of the girls birthdays Matt bought a cake and we all went to the pub in the evening. In he pub a micro bat decided to take a liking to me and kept flapping it's wings at me. I did not enjoy this! After the pub closed at 9:30 a few of us stayed up and played Slam which everyone loved. Being the person who taught everyone else to play they all foolishly thought I was very good at the game, and I let them keep believing that as I'm usually a sore loser at home. This morning we woke up at 6:30am and headed to do more swimming. First of all we went to another small rock like pool which was very busy! After someone had blocked Matt into his parking spot, he got into the car and asked one of the boys to help him push it back. I couldn't help but think to myself how this would not be how an English person would deal with this situation. We then headed down to another pool which was huge! The water was so vast and there was a humongous waterfall at the other end of the natural pool. I was the most serene place that I have ever been! After a very long drive back I am now back at the hostel. They checked me into a room with two boys who I haven't met yet, but it is already clear that they smell very bad. I'm currently waiting for my washing to finish so that I can get a lovely shower and hopefully meet the guys who also went on the trip at their hostel later on. The Aussie girl and Austrian girl are hiring a car for three days from tomorrow and have invited me to go with them so hopefully I'll enjoy another adventure this week before flying to Broome at the end of the week.

[bobbin-around-blog]

Tuesday 20th September

Most of my time since my first day has been filled with trips to the phone shop and the bank. I've been trying to organise myself which isn't something that necessarily comes easily to me. On Sunday I met an Aussie guy who was also on his own at the hostel. He wanted to go for a walk so we went to the wave pool by the water front. As a personal trainer he observed that I must be quite fit as I wasn't out of breath on the walk. I thought this was quite odd as I didn't think it was usual to get out of breath during a leisurely stroll- but perhaps he has observed differently at boot camp? Here he asked where I was from and what it was like. I proudly asked him if he has heard of Charles Dickens and bored him for ages with an in depth explanation of the story of Great Expectations. I'm sure my dad would be proud! Later in the evening I went to the night market by Mindil beach with the two friends I had made on my first day. I bought a pizza at one of the stalls and watched them freshly prepare the ingredients on top of the freshly made dough and then cooked in a wood fired pizza oven. It was delicious! We stood eating our food watching a live band which felt almost like I could have been in a pub at home. We looked at some non-food related stalls and I bought myself i bracelet with my name on it. I'm considering putting a return address on the back to put my mum at ease in case anything goes wrong (I'm safe mum I promise!) I came back to the room to find two new roommates had moved in but nobody to be seen. After climbing into bed and being just about to fall asleep they both walked in. I soon learnt that one was from Essex and the other from Buckinghamshire. I certainly felt more at home having them around. On Monday I took a walk to the esplanade and sat to write Harry a letter. Not long after I sat down it began to spit rain. Before I knew it the water falling from the sky was so much stronger than the shower at the hostel that I regretted not bringing shower gel out with me! Getting up from the bench a police van drove past and the driver asked if I was okay. At first I wondered if it was an illegal offence to sit calmly in the rain or if people are just generally much nicer here and are actually just asking if you're okay. I rushed straight to the shower to get warm. In the evening I went to get some Mexican food with one of my friends I'd made. I had Mexican chilli cheese fries with a sangria. She foolishly told me that she used to enjoy dancing when she was younger and enjoyed performing in shows. For anybody that knows me well- you will know it was a big mistake. I was off on one then chewing her ear off about Stage Arts and Drama at school, House Arts and my love for Billy Elliot. I do wonder if this is something that we bonded over or if my enthusiasm just came off irritating. Today I went to get breakfast with one of my roomies and then headed to the post office. It was very hot today so I needed something refreshing to cool me down. Lemon sorbet for lunch- yes please! I then headed down to the water front with my two roommates and read a lot of my book. Arriving back at the hostel earlier on covered in sand and grass and other bizarre things, I realised that some parts of me were looker redder than planned. A quick trip to Coles's sorted me out with some Aloe Vera gel. After smothering myself in Aloe Vera I took a trip to the Mindil beach again with my friend to watch the sunset. What a beautiful sight!Although the sky wasn't completely clear the clouds were illuminated by an orangery pink light and the entire scene was absolutely captivating. I found myself missing attempting to drag Harry to Whitstable when I crave the sound of waves and some refreshing sea air. On our way back I had my first experience of fear since I've been here. Firstly there are bats everywhere. I thought that life was bad when I began playing Pokemon and confused pigeons for pidgeys. Now I'm surrounded by golbats! Then the rustling in the surrounding grass and bushes began. I'm not certain what the hidden creature was- but my best bet would be a snake. No thanks! We began running out of the area we were in but these terrifying noises and unknown creatures was following us. For the remaining walk back every tiny sweet gecko that scurried before my feet frightened the life out of me. Imagine the shock when a frog jumped beside me!

[bobbin-around-blog]

Sunday 18th September

After enjoying a lovely evening with my lovely family the evening before, I left for my travels on the Thursday 15th. I enjoyed my last day in the UK bidding farewell to McDonald's breakfast on the way to swimming in the morning and wrapping up with a boneless bucket in KFC later in the day to get me ready for the long journey ahead. Needless to say Harry and I were both very emotional on the way to the airport. Walking away from him through the entrance to security was tricky in many ways- one because I couldn't bare to leave Harry behind, but also because at the beginning of my journey I already lost my ticket from Heathrow to Manila which had been given to me only one minute before. "This is going to be interesting" I thought to myself. The first journey turned 14 hours into 4 as I managed to sleep face down on the tray for most of the journey. I would give the chocolate cake that came with one of the meals a solid 7/10. Waiting in the Philippines for the next flight I began the hunt for a way of charging my phone. Alas- a USB port! I could finally send mum and Lauren some updates of myself and Lumpy. A panic kicked in that I may not make it passed the border force (I do have a valid visa may I add, but I am fantastic at being unorganised and not having the correct documents with me). Boarding the second flight I had visions of myself being questioned on my visit in a small dull room. On the second flight I was seated beside an older Australian man who told me of his own travels when he was younger. He has even worked for a record company in London at one point (and met David Bowie)! Although he seemed like a very lovely man, wishing me all the best for my upcoming adventures, he did not seem too fond of the small child who was somewhat unhappy for the entire flight. I hope the child has stopped screaming now I was becoming quite concerned for his lungs. Arriving safely in Darwin it was time to FaceTime Harry and tell him how much I missed him already. At 5:30am my time, I suddenly realised I wouldn't be awake this early to talk to him every day (oops). I jumped in a taxi with a lovely Aussie taxi driver who also assured me I'd have a lovely time and spoke to me of his own adventures with his wife. I already felt so at ease! Approaching the Hostel my main concern was how would I make friends with any roommates if our first meeting would be myself waking them up at 7:00am? My day began with a quick trip to the shop as if forgotten to bring a towel and I was already desperate to launch myself into the pool. After this I took a stroll to the esplanade (much different to the one over looking river Medway) where I met my first friend. A Belgium lady, said hi as she sat beside me overlooking the beach. She soon begun telling me about her recent romance/ heartbreak with a German man she had been on a road trip with for a month. With lots of conversation flowing we decided to take a walk up to Mindil beach where walking on the sand was something akin to treading through fresh snow. Back at the hostel I made friends with another woman beside the pool. We helped the Belgium lady with her CV and dipped in the pool to cool down. My newest friend and I played some jenga with another group of people before heading out for dinner at a place called Tap (I felt a little more at home going to a place with this name). I had chicken schnitzel and felt more than satisfied with my dose of chicken and gravy for the day. My first day ended with a jug of apple cider and some philosophical chats with new friends. I made it to bed for about 11:00pm where I felt utterly blessed for having a comfy bed despite having to sleep with no blankets and no Crimbo.