One month of Northern Territory

Dear all,
Such a long time ago...I'm sorry...but now, finally I found some time to write a blog about the past month!
Where to start...I might start at the beginning: 5 hours delay when flying from Melbourne to Alice Springs. But is that the beginning? Maybe I should start with all the stress of the last week and all the saying goodbye...but that is boring :)
So, the 5th of June Sterre, May and I flew to Alice Springs. On our way to the hostel we met Eveline, a girl from Switzerland who would become our 4th team mate. Together we hired a car in Alice Springs and drove down to Uluru, almost 500 km trough the outback. Driving through the outback was wonderful! Long highways, through a slowly changing landscape which, to my surprise, was not boring at all!
And then there it was, the big red/brown monolith, rising from the ground in the middle of nowhere, it does give a special feeling when you see it, suddenly, after a random curve in the road. Sunsets and sunrises give the rock an incredible, though very short, moment of splendor! We took a day to walk around Uluru, which was a beautiful hike in the shadow of that big red rock, although it also felt a bit intruding after all the things I learn about Aboriginal issues and Aborginal relationship to country and sacred sites. The following day we went to Kata Tjuta, less known, but at least as beautiful, a group of rocks where you can also hike and be amazed by the landscape, the colors and even some camels (!) in the distance!!!
On the 10th of June our ways parted, May went back to Melbourne, Eveline stayed in Alice, Sterre took the bushbus to an Indigenous art project north of Alice Springs and I took the plane to Darwin, to go wwoofing for two weeks.
I stayed with a lovely family, with four kids aged 2, 4, 6 and 8. There I picked pawpaws, planted zucchinis, eggplants, tomatoes and basil, played with the dogs, got completely pierced by mosquitoes, escaped a few dangerous snakes, lived together with frogs, spiders and cockroaches, played nanny, learned how to operate a wipper snipper and gazed at the sky completely loaded with stars until the mosquitoes drove me back into my caravan. Two weeks of warmth, hard work, lovely people and peace in my head, exactly what I needed after a busy semester in University.
On the 26th of June I met Sterre again in Darwin as well as Sissel. So nice to see them again! We chilled in the park, enjoyed the warm weather and exchanged stories. On the 28th Sterre and me went on a 3 day tour to Kakadu National Park which was absolutely fantastic!
During those three days we camped under the stars, cooked on the fire, hiked to waterfall tops to jump in there for refreshment, saw crocodiles, birds and of course a lot of mosquitoes and enjoyed beautiful landscapes! It was absolutely relaxing and exiting at the same time!

I was not looking forward to go back to cold Melbourne after that month of warmth everyday, but once I arrived there I felt so at home...I didn't realize I had made myself so much at home in that city until I felt how normal it was to sit in the train again, to walk those streets, see certain people, go to certain places...I almost felt like I could start a new semester there right away...but then...it was cold, there were too many plans and I'm too much looking forward to go back to Holland to even consider the thought of staying there!

And then, on the 5th of July Ilse arrived! At 5 o'clock in the morning I was trying to stand strait up on the airport to welcome her in the city that I have been calling home. The next days were very busy with everything Sterre and me wanted to show Ilse and also still wanted to or had to do ourselves before leaving. Days flew and before I realized my nose was glued to an airplane window after Holland jumped to the finale on the world cup, hoping to see a last glance of Melbourne, a glance that was stolen from me by the clouds that might have wanted to make saying goodbye easier by painting Melbourne in an unattractive grey but who only succeeded in making me sad.

Sydney was here to welcome us next, with a dazzling urban landscape, I think the prettiest I have ever seen, especially by night, when all the lights seem to mirror a sky full of stars, with the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge majestically gazing over the deep and dark waters of the bay. Although the rain pours down almost every hour of the day we managed to see the botanic gardens, visit the world press photo exposition, go to a modern art exposition on Cockatoo Island, walk through the CBD, and, of course...go to the Opera in the Opera House!!! That was really very nice :)

Today we bought a guitar and tomorrow we get our campervan, the road trip can begin! We'll try to get north of Brisbane in a few days, like birds traveling after the warmer weather, in search for sun and the good life...

Love to you all
Sara

Uluru by sunset

Walking around Uluru

Kata Tjuta

The farm

Being Nanny :)


Croc in Kakadu

Beautiful wetlands

Campfire

Top of a waterfall

And bottom of another one!

Winter in Melbourne

My beloved skyline for the last time!