Our journey is beginning in Darwin, Australia, now just 4 days until we set off for sunny Bali.
Me and Brett met in Darwin and we keep coming back here to spend time with his daughter Jaime. I will always love Darwin, it's like no other place in Australia, in fact it's like no other place I've been. To describe Darwin I'd say it's like a rough and ready tropical paradise, things that were outdated 20 years ago in other cities still go in Darwin. That's all part of it's charm. Any attempt to change the ways up here is treated with disdain - "bloody soft southerners trying to impose their southern ways on us." (with maybe a few stronger swear words). The people are collectively the most down to earth Australians I've come across. Work hard, drink until you're s*** faced - that's the Territory way. But there's also a certain old fashioned level of respect and manners. That said, for all my fond memories, I won't be sad to leave this time round. We've been here 2 months now - and with no spare money in the middle of the wet season, that's felt like a long time! It's been a quiet 2 months in general. It's ironic that the same town I spent 4 months in an alcohol fuelled blur I should return to as a practically T-total, yoga loving, responsible step-mother figure! I like to think this isn't the end of my more hedonistic ways, just a bit of a necessary break.
The NT News - This is Darwin's only daily newspaper and where I've been spending my days getting some newspaper journalism experience. The paper itself is sort of like a cross between the Sun and the Cornish Times (although probably more like the former than the latter). When there's no crocodile dramas to report, the headlines are full of Darwin's weekly wet T-shirt competition, fondly known as "Tits out Tuesdays" - will they or won't they close it down? Maybe to some not the subject to engage an entire state in heated debate, but hey - that's Darwin! It's a strange world working at the newspaper, where business thrives on disaster and every upheaval is a potential lead story. I loved it! I hate to say it but it's true, it's exciting and the more sensational the better! Oh dear - good bye integrity, we had a good run but the dark side is calling me!
Anyway, this is nothing to do with our travels from Indonesia around some of South East Asia but it does set the scene for where we begin our journey. We've bought a 2nd hand lonely planet for South East Asia, we've got our fly spray, we've spent a small fortune on malaria tablets (which I am now dam well taking as it has just bankrupted me getting a prescription in Australia but I was warned on pain of death from my parents that I had to get!), we're now almost ready to go.
And I am determined that I will travel light! That is properly light, not my usual style of cramming my one rucksack full until it's bursting at the seams and then smiling sweetly at the airport check-in people as I hope they don't notice that my bag is actually 5 kilos over the max weight limit! Not this time my friends, this is the new, improved, light travelling me!
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