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| Crocodile Dundee's backyard. A view from Ubirr Rock |
It has been too long since my last entry and lots has been happening. Marc and I have been in Australia for 4.5 months already!! Being in the Northern Territory is much like being in the Land of Crocodile Dundee, many of the movie clips taken in Australia were shot in Kakadu National Park and for the last several months we have been living and working on Kakadu's door-step.
But I must digress a bit... After my last entry when leaving Paradise Island Marc and I decided to extend our travels in Asia just a little bit longer and flew back to Vietnam. My grandfather has a 'summer' home there and we had the privilege of meeting and staying with my Grandfather's wife's family in a small fishing village on the Mekong Delta in Vinh Long.
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| The view of my grandfather's backyard as the moon rises. |
It was truly a treat and the culture shock I was craving! We were literally the only westerners in the entire area but everyone was so friendly. The language barrier was a bit of challenge with the older generation but lots of times we were able to translate conversations with the youngster who were still in school and learning English. My extended Vietnamese family were very hospitable and graciously accommodating. Marc and I were treated like celebrities and invited to many meals within the village. It seemed in celebration of the new guests that the tradition was to drink shots of home-made rice whiskey which I can only compare to gasoline or moon shine. The stuff could probably fuel the little 50cc Hondas that are ever so prevalent throughout Asia!
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| The rule is if someone toasts you, you have to do a shot!! | | | | |
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Some of the highlights of our time in Vietnam was going to visit the island of Phuc Quac. Another paradise island just below Cambodia. We had the joy of swimming in warm, crystal blue waters, snorkeling and night fishing for squid!!
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| The walk from our guest house to the ocean on Phuc Quac! |
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| A beautiful beach we had the joy of playing on!! |
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| A happy fisherman with his prized squid!! |
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| Enjoying paradise!! |
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| My cousin, Vu singing his heart out! |
On our way to Phuc Quac we stayed with some of my Vietnamese cousin's friends and got invited to a Bachelor party. Imagine very loud Vietnamese Karaoke and lots of rice whiskey!! A very different and fun night!!
Staying in a more remote place and living with locals was an experience I will always treasure. Marc and I were invited to a traditional celebration which can only be described as "death day". It sounds morbid but it was actually very touching. In Vietnamese culture they celebrate a loved ones death as we do birthdays but add a 'thanksgiving' type feast to it. It was truly an amazing experience and the spread of food was incredibly delectable to the palate. It was so much fun meeting family that remembers my mom from when she lived in Vietnam when she was 14 years old, they were all so excited to meet me and very curious. There was lots of laughter at the table when they wanted to know what I thought of the food (through charade like gestures) and I gave a simple thumbs up. The food was gorgeous, the company was gracious and we were the entertainment of the party!
Now, back to Kakadu and Northern Australia! As soon as Marc and I set foot on Australian soil we were very motivated to find work. Within a week we each landed a job at a caravan park and resort that was only 30 kilometers from Kakadu National Park's entrance! Kakadu National Park is a World Heritage Site being one of the oldest National Parks in Australia and the largest!! Lucky find! We both got to try our hand at completely new jobs which included maintenance work, bar tending, serving, reception and house-cleaning. The resort was right on the Mary River so we got to do lots of Barramundi fishing and in addition doing so many diverse things in the service industry has bulked our resume's that much more!
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| My first Wallaby sighting! |
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| Out on the river with friends/co-workers. |
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One of the major advantages of working in the tourism/hospitality industry is that we got to do several of the tours for free so we could better educate our guests with first hand experiences! One of my favorite adventure tours was a 4x4 tour that took us to famous Twin Falls and Jim Jim Falls. Tourists from all over the world come to see these beautiful waterfalls and Australians come back year after year. When I got to see them first hand I could see why!
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| Twin Falls |
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| Jim Jim Falls |
Another highlight was getting to do a Wetlands Boat Cruise where we got to see many of the natural wildlife including a wild water buffalo completely immersed in the water to cool off!!
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| The gorgeous wetlands of Mary River! |
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| Lily pads galore! |
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| A beautiful sunset amidst the water, a perfect way to finish the cruise! | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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Lastly, but not least, we got to do a scenic flight tour over Arnhem Land and Kakadu!! To have the opportunity to view the flood plains, wetlands, monsoon rain forests and escarpments from the air was something that I will never forget! An eagle's eye view really gave you and insight to the vastness and expanse of this land!! Needless to say, there were lots of perks to our job!!
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| One of the many sights from the air! |
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| Amazing escarpments and the vastness beyond. |
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| There simply are too many pictures to choose from but you get the idea. :-) |
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| A Barking Owl that flew into the staff area. |
Finally, I would like to show a few pictures of some of the wildlife that we got to see and in some cases experience first hand while we've been in the 'Outback'.
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| A baby 'saltie' croc |
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| Wild Brumbies |
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| Yes, that's Marc holding a baby crocodile outside our room!! |
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| A larger croc! |
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| Wild pigs on the campsite and apparently not afraid of humans at all!! |
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| My first (and only legal) Barra I caught!! |
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| A beautiful sunset on the Mary River after an afternoon of fishing! |
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| A beautiful sunset with great friends on my last day of work. What a way to end our time spent here!! |
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After several months spent here we have decided that it's time to pack up and relocate to try and see some other parts of Australia. On a spontaneous impulse we bought tickets to Bali (flights are very affordable from Darwin) before we head out west. When we get back from Indonesia we will be driving southwest and see where the traveler's wind takes us! :-)
That's all for now...
