Hi Johanna,<BR>Australia felt very safe--I spent a month there recently and had no problems as a single woman traveling alone. In fact, it was the easiest solo holiday I've ever taken! <BR><BR>When planning my trip, I considered doing the multi-day group tour thing, but decided that I wanted to be more flexible. Instead, I signed up for the occasional day tour so I could visit out of the way places. The rest of the time it was me, myself and I--well, that is until I met someone along the way! I not only enjoyed the country but the people were amazing! I felt very welcomed by most everyone. <BR><BR>If you have any specific questions, just post and I'll try my best to help out.<BR><BR>Good luck!<BR>Debbie<BR><BR>PS Dimple Shah--I'm not trying to hijack your wonderful report. It's so comprehensive and has so many terrific tips! Lots of travellers are going to find it very useful :-)

Dimple Shah, your report was fantastic!<BR><BR>I'm in the middle of planning a trip to OZ from the USA and had so many questions. You have answered quite a few of them.<BR>Thank you for taking the time to post your trip information. (:)

Thanks everyone for the kind words. Let me see if I can help out with some of the queries raised before I move on. Johanna, yes we did do all of our bookings and arrangements on the web, I thank God for the internet everyday as it is so useful and convenient. As far as ideal no of days go, that’s a tough one, there are times you feel that you could stay in some places forever. If you are asking for my wish list based on the places I went to, I would say about 5 days in Sydney, a week in Port Douglas and the surrounding area, maybe 2 –3 days in Ayers Rock, 4-5 days in the top end, and about 5 days in Melbourne. This would give you enough time to see everything, as well as not feel as if you are running around like a mad chicken all the time, it will make for a more leisurely pace for sure. And give you the time to really take in the place, chat with the locals, browse around, etc. Then again with more number of days I might feel tempted to include Kangaroo Island, the Whitsundays, etc, so like I said, its really a personal choice. I suggest you start with the number of days you have, then come up with the places you want to see for sure and then plug in the gaps. There were quite a few women we saw who were travelling alone, I don’t think safety is really an issue as long as you stick to following common sense rules as you would anywhere else such as no hitchhiking, wandering around lonely places after dark etc. Planning is half the fun, and you will enjoy planning for your Oz trip. As regards the websites, they are easy enough to find, just type the name of the tour operator or hotel etc plus another key word like Australia or Darwin, for eg, in any search engine and they should throw the sites right up. If you have trouble finding any particular site, let me know and I’ll find the url for you. <BR><BR>Debbie, no worries (I seem to have effortlessly inducted this favourite Oz phrase into my lexicon ! ) about hijacking the report in any way, its wonderful to see my experiences becoming a nucleus for more ideas and tips. Speaking of which, on we go……<BR><BR>We met some people while waiting for the shuttle whom we had met in Kuranda and they had spent their time after coming down at Tjapukai. Apparently, most people that day seemed quite disillusioned with it, with adjectives like kitschy, touristy, etc floating around. People were coming out fairly quickly after going in. We never did go, and had not planned on going as we were hoping to see aboriginal culture when we went to the Northern Territory, so I cannot give you my own opinion on this attraction. <BR><BR>We returned by shuttle and spent the rest of the day in Port Douglas town, picking up some gifts, etc. One place I would recommend checking out is Bilby’s Art Gallery, pretty good aboriginal art and craft, and a good place to source from if you are not going to Darwin. We had dinner at Caf&eacute; Ecco. There were a couple of things we did not get to do while at Port Douglas, one was the Rainforest Habitat for the breakfast with the birds which we had heard a lot about, and the other was Hartley’s Crocodile Farm, would have liked that picture sitting on top of a croc ! Of course we had no time, but I think the other reason is that if you do not have your own wheels, it is quite a bother to get transportation arranged even for short distances, you are relying on shuttle, their timings, how booked they are etc. It seems like a nice place to rent a car for a day or two, gives you much more mobility and freedom I think. <BR><BR>We had arranged our return shuttle to the airport the next morning through the hotel itself, $ 50 for the two of us, and we left Port Douglas at the godforsaken hour of 4.00 a.m. the next morning to catch our flight from Cairns airport to Ayers Rock. <BR>

Ah Ayers Rock. To go or not to go, the debate continues. We read enough on both sides of the fence on this forum and decided to do it, purely because it is such a symbol of Australia. But in deference to all the nay sayers we decided to do devote just one day to it. Accordingly, we arrived at around 9.00 a.m. into Ayers Rock airport by our flight from Cairns. One suggestion, if you are really keen on seeing the rock from the air, you can do it for free if you sit on the left hand side of the plane. As it lands, it flies past the rock and you get a really good view. I hope this is true of all flights that land here, no reason why it should not be. So get your boarding passes accordingly, as even if there are free seats, the stewardesses will want you to remain in your original seats because the flight is landing. <BR><BR>The Ayers Rock Resort sends a free shuttle bus that meets every flight. Being the only accommodation anywhere near the Rock, we had to choose from the 5 or 6 options that they had. We settled for the Outback Pioneer Lodge dormitory. Our reasoning was that we were there for just the one night, and this was the cheapest option at $ 40 per person. They take a $ 10 key deposit at the time of checking in, which is refunded when you check out. We had opted for the 4 bed dorm and that is pretty much what you get, a small room with 2 bunk beds. The linen etc is changed and clean though. The rooms are air conditioned which is a must as the weather is very hot and very dry as well. The weather does come as a huge shock after the cool experience in Sydney and the mild weather in Port Douglas. There is also a fridge in the room. The showers and loos are in a separate building just a few steps away, and there is a common recreational and barbeque area and pool as well. We dumped our bags and moved out to check out the place.<BR><BR>The resort has an internal shuttle bus that goes around the various properties at 15 minute intervals. This is really appreciated as although the distances are short, the heat makes any walk quite oppressive. There is a central area called the shopping centre which has shops and the restaurants as well as a supermarket. We browsed around there for a bit first, before taking the shuttle bus to the other hotels in the complex, most of whom have some other shops or galleries. Can spend an hour or two this way for sure. Each hotel has its own look out point to Uluru, and there are others around the resort as well so one can take in a couple of those as well. <BR>

Hello Dimple Shah,<BR>I am enjoying reading your additions to your trip report. Thanks for taking the time to post it.<BR><BR>I am now curious about your conclusion regarding Ayers Rock. Was it worth it? How much did the plane tickets cost? I am trying to plan a 4 week intinerary for July, and am wondering if I should exclude Ayers Rock...I am having trouble deciding.<BR><BR>Thank you,<BR>Keri

Keri<BR>Uluru (Ayers Rock) is the spiritual heart of Australia. If you can do it, you should. Check qantas.com.au for fares. Yes, it is expensive, but - will you be this way again? GO!<BR><BR>Dimple Shah - I'm really enjoying your continuing reports.

I am headed for Australia (Sydney, GBR, and various other places) on 11/11 for a 21 day honeymoon. I had a simple question about whther an adapter is needed for electricity for camera chargers, PDA chargers etc..

ehas<BR><BR>Yes

First off, Margo is right on both counts. Ehas, you do need an adaptor for recharging your camera batteries, also, you will need to remember to carry a multipoint plug pin as some of the hotels have 3 pins and some 2 pins. The pins are flat pins and not round pins. Keri, Uluru is such a big icon that we felt it would be amiss to not do it at all, and at the same time, we did want to do other things as well, so the compromise was to spend just a day there. As Margo says, it is not cheap since you have to fly to get anywhere near there, but our reasoning was that in future it might be easier to get to Sydney or Melbourne on another trip, what chances will you have to plan a trip to the red centre easily. As I mentioned right at the start of my report, since we were flying internationally and domestically on One World alliance partners, our domestic tickets were cheaper than even the internet deals on Qantas, since we were entitled to the one world coupons. Your travel agent should be able to give you more information on this. <BR><BR>Our experience with Uluru was scheduled to begin that afternoon. We had booked a half day tour with AAT Kings, one of the largest day tour operators. The tour covered a visit to the Olgas and a walk around there, followed by sunset viewing of Uluru with wine. While we assembled to embark on the tour, we were informed that the road to the Olgas had been closed off due to bush fires which were raging in the area. As a result, we would not be able to visit the Olgas at all. The company then switched us onto another tour which covered a visit to the Uluru Visitor Centre, a walk to the Mujitlu (sp ?) waterhole in Uluru itself, a drive around the rock and the sunset viewing. This tour is cheaper than the one we were originally booked on so I must look out for the refund on my credit card.<BR><BR>Speaking of refunds on credit card, just remembered the GST refund and I might as well get that out of the way lest I forget. Unlike the UK, Australia is brilliantly uncomplicated about this. All you need to do is spend $ 300 or more in a store to qualify for the GST refund. It has to be $ 300, $ 299 will not do. You can club receipts from the same store as well. They will need to inspect the goods when you leave the country. The GST refund is after immigration, so if your items are in check in luggage, the airline officials at check in do the inspection and stamp the receipt. Items in hand luggage are sighted by the GST refund desk itself. They check the goods, and then process the receipts and you can get the refund on your credit card, no cash. There is no processing fee unlike the UK which is great. One very important thing that we realised here is that you have to make sure that your receipts have something called the ABN No. which is some sort of store reference number used to process the GST. Without this number, they are liable to reject your receipt as they cannot process your claim. Many stores do not have this number pre printed on the receipt sometimes. Two of our receipts did not have this number, but luckily, we had the telephone numbers of the stores, and the GST refund desk staff was kind enough to call them and take the number down over the phone. We were the only people at the desk at that time, so may be that had a bearing on it, if they were busier, may be our receipts could have been rejected. This is not something that a tourist has to be or even is aware of, but it is something that we encountered. So if you are buying anything over $ 300 in a store, get a receipt and keep it safely, but make sure that it has this number on it. <BR>

The Visitor Centre at Uluru is run by the aboriginals and there is are exhibits explaining the history of the tribes in the area and their beliefs and way of life. Photography in the center is not permitted. That’s one other thing, the aboriginal people do not like their photographs taken, so in case you want to, always ask permission. I don’t blame them, must be tiring to have people gawking at you all the time. There is also a caf&eacute; and two shops. The merchandise is authentic, but my opinion is that you should restrict your purchases to souvenir kind of things. If you seriously want to buy authentic aboriginal art or craft, you should wait till you get to Darwin. <BR><BR>After the Visitor Centre, we were driven up close to Uluru, and we embarked on our walk to the watering hole. Be prepared for droves of tourists. The walk is about 15 minutes on level ground and by then the sun was losing its bite, so not too unpleasant but still very dry. At the watering hole, you are told some of the fables and beliefs that the aboriginal people have about Uluru, and its significance, and there is also some rock art. Time for a few photographs and then back to the bus for a drive around Uluru to see its various views from different angles, till finally we get to the sunset viewing area. Must have been about 25 buses and busloads of tourists there, more like a massive barbeque crowd, sipping wine and taking pictures ever so often. The colors on Uluru that day were disappointing, I had hoped for more, and the atmosphere is far from serene. Probably the smoke from the bush fires had something to do with it. If you are luckier though, remember that the best way to take photographs is to take one every 5 minutes or so. That way, even though your mind cannot see the change in color, the camera will capture it for you. <BR><BR>That was our interaction with Uluru and to be honest, it was just about Ok with us. We had no intentions of climbing it, our logic was why go against someone’s belief if you have a choice, and unlike a lot of others who would trudge out there for the base walk or the sunrise the next day , we got what we had come for, an interaction with one of Australia’s most well known icons, and some wonderful pictures. We returned to the resort and hurriedly had dinner at the Mediterranean caf&eacute; in the shopping centre, quite good. We were not interested in the Sound of Silence dinner having been to Egypt, Jordan and Israel, as well as our own Rajasthan, so we have had occasions of dining in the desert before. We rushed back to the Outback Pioneer, as we had a pick up scheduled for the Night Sky Show, which is 75 minutes of looking at a clear desert sky both with the naked eye and through a telescope. You are driven to the Ayers Rock Observatory, which is a small shed like building, and there is an astronomer who explains basic concepts and shows you constellations and star groups. We were a little concerned about visibility given the bush fires, but things had cleared up pretty well, and the sky was amazing, so many stars, its sad to think that they are there all the time, only we can’t see them back home due to the pollution and harsh city light cover. It was quite enjoyable, and although I did not learn anything new, it was fun looking through the telescope at stars and other galaxies. Don’t expect what you see on Hubble telescope pictures obviously. <BR><BR>Back to the dorm and to bed. We shared the dorm with just one other person that night, a Japanese lady. We had to be up at 4.00 a.m. to embark on our trip to Kings Canyon. <BR>

Dimple. For one, you sure have packed in a great holdiay in 16 days. <BR><BR>And the details are great for planning my own holiday.<BR>Just wanted to check - did you do the daily full day Cape T tour with BTS?<BR>And, which cruise did you do with Quick Silver?<BR>Thanks.

Ok first up Tongsa, yes the day trip to Cape Tribulation is the one that we did with BTS Tours. And the trip we did with Quicksilver is the day trip to the Agincourt Reef, which is an Outer Barrier Reef. They also have a day trip to the Low Isles. I think you’re going to be in Oz in December, since you mentioned a X’mas concert at the Opera House. You are in for a great time for sure. <BR><BR>We were up early and off to Kings Canyon. This trip again was with AAT Kings which meant a coach group of 50 people, but we did not find anyone else willing to do this within our planned framework. The drive to Kings Canyon takes about 4 hours, hence the need to start really early. On the way, there is a breakfast stop at a cattle station where you pay for your breakfast, which can range from the eggs, bacon sausages, to just toast and jam or sandwiches. Quite an experience seeing many Paul Hogan look alikes making omelettes ! We reached the base of Kings Canyon at around 9.30. <BR><BR>The experience at Kings Canyon provides for two options. One is a walk on the floor of the canyon. This can take about 90 minutes, is mostly on level ground and is suited to people who do not want to exert themselves, it is graded as an easy level walk. The other is the walk around the rim of the canyon. This is a 6 km walk, for which you need to be moderately fit, there are steep ascents, the path is pretty uneven, but you are rewarded by spectacular views. This walk takes about 3 hours. We opted for the rim walk, as did most people in the group. The bus driver as well as another AAT Kings representative act as guides on this walk. <BR><BR>The toughest part of the walk is right at the start. There is a steep ascent that takes you on your way to the rim of the canyon. The guides told us and I can concur in retrospect now, that if you can manage this first 25-30 minute ascent, the rest of the walk is in the bag as it is much simpler. They in fact make the floor walk group wait for a bit first while we started off on the rim walk, just in case some people who went for the rim walk found it unmanageable and wanted to retire to the easier walk. It is a little laborious, being a climb, but over fairly quickly. <BR><BR>More on this in my next post.

First of all, thank you so much for such a terrific report- I am planning my first trip for the middle/end of March, and reading this is just making my mind hunger for more information!! <BR><BR>I have a question that I hope you can give me an answer to (or your opinion). I was trying to decide about Ayers Rock - I don't want to go overnight, and was thinking about just about 4hrs (flying and out of Connellan Ayers Rock airport, not Alice Springs). Is that do-able? Or should I just keep that for another trip? If this is a do not miss, and would require an overnight, I will have to rethink my plans.<BR><BR>Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.<BR>Monica

Monica<BR>And are you coming back next year to do it properly? Flying in for 4 hours is, in my opinion, a waste of time and money. Flying in from where - for goodness sake. Uluru is the spirit of Australia. At least spend one night there. I don't wish to sound too critical, but.....

Margo,<BR>Not being critical at all - that's why I asked. I will be spending time in Sydney and Cairns. I am going for work to Sydney, and am able to extend the trip by only a few days. I don't know when I would be returning, but I know I will be back - there is too much more to Australia that I want to see.<BR>Thanks<BR>

Monica I can understand your predicament ‘coz we went through pretty much of the same thing when we were planning for our trip. On the one hand you have the most famous monolith in the world, on the other hand you think, its just a rock. Well let me say this, although by the time you get to Uluru, the novelty is all gone ‘coz you have seen it over and over plastered on just about everything even remotely touristy, there is something about actually standing in front of it and seeing it for real, and realising that it is exactly what you thought it would be. There does seem to be something spiritual about the place and more than anything else, I was surprised that I would feel it since I thought that Uluru due to over exposure in my mind would be a jaded experience. I don’t know how much sense this is making, but that’s how I felt. Practically speaking too, I think that 4 hours seem to be cutting it too fine. The various tour groups operate at specific times, so if you are not going to make it for one of them, how are you going to manage to see things. That would possibly mean renting a car and driving out to Uluru and seeing things for yourself and getting back to the airport, which is doable, albeit will be tiring, but do you want to do things that way, or have some sort of guided experience that tells you more about the spiritual significance of Uluru and the myths and legends surrounding it. I know I’m muddying the waters rather than clearing up your confusion, but my feeling is that unless you are really sure that you want your interaction to be just for a few pictures and nothing more, an overnight is probably the most economical amount of time to spend here. Hope this has helped some. <BR><BR>Something just occurred to me that I forgot to mention before, pertaining to Uluru. The rock is part of the Uluru National Park, which means that you need to buy a ticket to see it. The fees are preposterously high, $ 16.25 per person, which entitles you to a 3 day pass. The pass is minimum for three days, there is no discount for a single day’s sightseeing which is what we would have liked. In fact, when we had checked into the dorm, we were approached by a couple who were willing to sell us their 3 day passes at a discount, since they had used it the day before, and were leaving and not making use of the full 3 days. We at that time did not take them up on their offer, we thought we would get our own day pass, but it seems to me that there must be a thriving market for second hand underused passes. You are expected to write your name etc on the pass, but no one checked it or anything. When you pass by the ranger checkpoint in the coach, all you do is hold your pass up at the window so the ranger can see that everyone on board has a pass. <BR><BR>

Getting back to Kings Canyon, after you reach the top, you spend the next two hours or so walking around the rim, stopping to see the unique vegetation and for the views. It is really very very hot, and if you are lucky, there may be a breeze that makes things a little more bearable, we had a decent breeze that day. AAT Kings provide you with 2 litre waterbottles that you fill from their ice box at the start of the trip and most of us ran through them very easily before the walk ended. They are big round blue plastic waterbottles that can be slung around your shoulder or crosswise and hence make it easier to climb. You definitely need to wear a hat and please use huge amounts of sunscreen, my husband went a little easy and had a heat rash afterwards.<BR><BR>The most beautiful part is the walk through the vegetation called the Garden of Eden, and the walk down to a waterhole. Of course, that means that you have to walk up as well ! The views are stunning and make for good pictures. At the end of it all, you are tired, thirsty, hot and sweaty from the exertion, but its well worth it. The tour company then takes you for lunch to the Kings Canyon Resort, which is operated by the same group that owns the Ayers Rock resort. Lunch again is a pay as you go affair, with several options possible in the caf&eacute;. There is also a small convenience store attached to a gas station for some munchies, ice cream, and some run of the mill souvenirs. <BR><BR>The other reason we had opted for this particular tour was they gave the option of either returning after the Kings Canyon excursion to Ayers Rock, which we did not want to do, or going on to Alice Springs, which fit into our plan perfectly. After lunch, the group was divided into two depending on where people were supposed to end up , and we were on our way to Alice Springs by about 3.00 p.m. The drive to Alice was long and uneventful, stopping for a tea break along the way at an outback diner and gas station, which had a small art gallery attached. While waiting for the bus to leave again, I looked around me at this lonely quiet spot in the middle of nowhere, the quintessential Australian outback, and to my mind, as close to the real Australia that you can possibly get. Its not all about cities and harbours and happening attractions. This was the real thing, and the people in the diner were hardy sheep and cattle farmers who lived and worked in a seemingly harsh landscape that they had made their peace with. That was a great feeling, and the photograph I have of that lonely gas station in the middle of nowhere is splendidly evocative of a true and pure way of life that I touched for a few brief moments. <BR><BR>We reached Alice Springs at around 7.30, and after the usual round of dropping people off, were dropped off ourselves at our accommodation for the night, Toddys Backpacker Motel. Again, the same logic, one night, no fuss, cheap at $ 58.00. It is a typical backpacker place, the owner drives a Harley and walks and talks the part of a biker. Our room was large with a double bed and four bunk beds, but fairly run down. The TV did not work, some of the woodwork needed to be fixed, but we were tired and did not even go out for dinner. They have an all you can eat BBQ option at the motel itself, which would not have done my veggie diet any good anyways. Centre of town is about a 15 minute walk away. We had purchased some munchies along the way and made a meal of those after a long hot bath and tumbled into bed. We had some leeway the next morning as our flight from Alice Springs was at 12.30 p.m., but we needed to catch up on our sleep.<BR>

Breakfast next morning was a rudimentary affair of grab your plate and knife, toast your own bread and help yourself to a communal pot of jam and butter, and wash your plate once you’re done. Included in the room rate. Toddy’s has a free shuttle service to the airport which we had booked into at check in time itself, and that’s a good thing coz it gets filled up pretty quick, and then you have to request the paid airport transfer coach. On the way to the airport, the theme song was Smokie’s “Livin’ Next Door to Alice” ! <BR><BR>The flight to Darwin lasted 2 hours and was uneventful. On arrival at Darwin airport, we took the shuttle into town, same funda again, can pay for a return trip and call them when you need to book the return coach time. It was $ 13 per person one way, $ 26 return. We were staying at the Value Inn Hotel, and I cannot recommend it enough. It has a fantastic location, right in the heart of town on Mitchell St, 5 minutes walk from anywhere, be it the shopping area, the Esplanade, restaurants, whatever. The rooms are small, seriously, but very clean and comfortable, and I don’t think you can find a better option for $ 60.00. <BR><BR>We dumped our bags and headed out. As I mentioned before, Darwin is the place to look for serious aboriginal art and craft, ranging from paintings by award winning artists, to didjs. By the time we were able to get out, it was nearly 3.30 p.m. and shops all close at 5.00, so we had barely enough time to look. I would recommend three places to check out. All are within a five minute walk of the hotel, one is just 2 minutes away. The first is called Indigenous Creation. Then there is the highly reputed Raintree Gallery. The third is the Aboriginal Fine Arts Gallery which is on the ground and first floor on Mitchell St itself. We are avid collectors of art and craft were looking to buy a didj as well as a painting to add to our collection of Indian art and we spent a fair bit of time in the latter two. We did not get a painting eventually as anyone who buys art knows that you cannot normally reach a decision to buy something in 30 minutes flat, as surrounded as we were by choice, but we did get a didj from the Aboriginal Fine Art Gallery. We paid $ 550.00 for it, but that’s because it is a real collectible, and is made by a gentleman called Djalu Gurriwimmi (sp. ?) who is world renowned for his didjs. So that was a good buy and we were very pleased. They give you an authenticity certificate and an artist profile on request as well. We never saw any other place with the kind of choice and originality of aboriginal art that we saw in Darwin, the only place that was relatively comparable was Didj World in the Rocks Centre in Sydney. I would still recommend waiting to make that one special purchase in Darwin if its on the itinerary. I just wish we had more time to look at the art, but both the Raintree and the Aboriginal Fine Art Galleries are on the net, so we can always go that way.<BR><BR>We had also given our overfull camera memory stick for transfer to CD in a Kodak Express shop right around our hotel, so after collecting it, we went for a walk on the Esplanade. By now, we had massive withdrawal symptoms for Indian food, so dinner was at Hanuman, which is a 5 minute walk from the hotel on Mitchell Street. It serves Indian, Thai and Japanese food, and while I cannot comment on the latter two, the Indian was top notch. We turned in early as the next day was an early start for our visit to Katherine Gorge.<BR>

Katherine Gorge in Nitmiluk National Park is about 5 hours drive one way from Darwin, hence the need to start really early. Again, the one day tour is conducted only by big operators, so you get to go with AAT Kings, or APT. This is honestly the only bone I have to pick about the whole thing, the need to use larger tour companies simply because there don’t seem to be options in terms of smaller operators taking limited numbers for day tours, especially in the Northern Territory. I could be wrong, but we did not find any. Anyways, this was the only way we could see Katherine Gorge, so we took it. One thing that got our back up right away is that around 7.30 a.m., we stopped at a point on the road and waited about 45 minutes for another bus to join us. This time wasted basically hounded us for the rest of the day, as we had to hurry through our break at Edith Falls as well as through lunch, to make up for the lost time and ensure that we made the boat cruise. <BR><BR>As I said, it’s a pretty long ride. The first stop is for breakfast at the Adelaide River Inn. Breakfast is again pay as you go, with a large number of options. Highlight of this place is Charlie, the bull or bison that starred in Crocodile Dundee, he has been stuffed and mounted on the bar counter. So there’s that one of a kind photo op with a film star. After breakfast and a bit further down the road, you stop at the Adelaide War Cemetery in honour of Australian soldiers. A 15 minute browse around the tombstones and engravings and you’re back on the bus. Our next stop was Edith Falls. It’s a lovely spot, a freshwater hole with a waterfall. We were supposed to have time here for a swim, and it sure looked like a good idea. The heat is really oppressive. However, due to our morning delay, we were given about 20 minutes here, certainly not enough time to swim out to the falls and back and dry off before continuing onward. A few brave souls did venture into the water, the rest of us sadly dipped our feet thinking of what might have been. <BR><BR>Next stop Katherine Gorge. Once you reach the Visitor Centre, you have lunch, which is included in the tour price itself. I was getting pretty sick of the potato salad and bread diet I was on by now, but there seemed to be cold cuts and chicken for the others. Lunch again was a rushed affair as we had to make the boat cruise. Now, there are two ways to see the Gorge. The first and most interesting way is to canoe down the gorge. The Katherine Gorge is a system of 13 gorges in all, and if you stay there long enough you can canoe down the whole stretch, but most people do either 2 or 3. In the dry, as they call the summer, the gorge levels can drop quite a bit, so very often you have to paddle down one gorge, get out, cart the canoe over a set of rocks before setting off on the next one. If this is the way to go for you, you have to ensure that you get to the gorge by 9.00 a.m. as that is when they let out the canoes. Well nigh impossible if you’re travelling form Darwin, which means you have to be staying in Katherine itself if you want to do this. Those bussing up from Darwin, like we did have only the second option open, that of the boat cruise. Here too there is a 4 hour cruise that takes in 3 gorges, which again the bus tours have no time for, and a two hour cruise, which takes in 2 gorges and is the one most day bus tours will take you for. <BR>

Dimple, <BR>Your trip report is terrific, I printed it out but have not finished reading it yet...as I wanted to reply with a thank you. My husband wonders why should listen to anyone on the internet but he read your trip report and says there are a lot of good things in it. Ha. You have made a believer of a sceptic.<BR>We are planning an AU-NZ in Jan. 2003 and are trying to put the month long trip together and not be up and down in the air for 30 days.(our current plan has 12 different flights which includes our flights from our home to LAX to SYD both ways)<BR>Thanks again for your thorough, complete trip information.<BR>Dee