Back from Litchfield NP

Hi!!

Just got back from camping about half an hour ago! The trip was great. We rented a car from some company in Darwin city. All the rental companies look a bit shady around here but we managed to get a reasonable deal on a small car which was a yaris.

Drove to Litchfield national park which is not too far away. The first site we pitched up at was really crappy. Big rocks in the floor, and a tap. That was about it. Oh and a toilet. But if you wanted to get to the toilet you had to get past the webs.

It was extremely hot the first night and was pretty manky sleeping in the tent, but there were lots of mozzies outside so it was a tough decision as to which was better.

The next day we headed to a different campsite and this one was brilliant. A couple of dollars more but it had flat ground, decent showers, toilets etc and laundry so I could wash my stuff.

I was a bit concerned about renting a car, I always hate the idea of it being rented in my name because I always assume the rental companies will try and scam you. So we haggled a good deal, by lying outright about what the quote lady had told us the price would be. My memory failed me for those few minutes, so the guy matched the 'quote' we had been given. I think you are allowed to do stuff like that when youre travelling. They kind of expect it. Anyway, we took the Yaris a bit more offroad than I would have liked but to get to the camp sites we had to go down some pretty bad roads. We were pretty much doing jumps at some points. I had kissed my savings goodbye by this point! Then on the second day we were driving and the inside mirror just bloody fell off!!! So we kept it in the glove compartment mostly, and held it up as and when necessary.

The weekend was a nice mix of hopping from hiking trail to waterfall and checking out all the good places to swim. Lots of the water holes were closed as its the end of the wet season and crocs sometimes still hang around. The worst we came into contact with was a pretty big lizard. I wonder if that's what a goanna is??

So on returning the car today the rental guy said we had gone over out allowed km limit. I assured him we hadn't and that he had agreed to give us 200km a day. I also said that in view of the fact the car was falling apart, theres no way I was gonna pay any extra km. His reply was 'shit happens'. Brilliant! So we agreed to disagree. But its not a problem because I managed to convince him my debit card was a credit card so as to cover any damage which occured. As it happens he can't take any more of my money anyway! You have to try and stay one step ahead you know!

So I'm just killing some time here at the internet cafe. I have all my bags and am technically homeless while I wait to meet Liam about the trip to Cairns. I am heading to his hostel around 10 as he overslept. All good. Means I can update the blog.


So anyway, I think my phone signal will be pretty hit and miss for the next few days. Should be in Cairns in around 3-4 days I think. I'll try and get back online then.

Talk to you then...

Oh and for some reason pictures aren't working again, but I will add some more when I am online next.

Cheers