Life-a learning experience: What goes up, must come down

The low temperature for our first night in the outback was forecasted at a hot and humid 28 degrees C. Thankfully our tour company took pity on us and upgraded us to the permanent and air conditioned dorm rooms at the Gagudju lodge. Considering this was my first proper camping experience, my fifth grade class trip to Camp Oanis does not qualify me as a seasoned camper, I had it pretty easy...some might even say we were glamping instead of camping.

With the sleeping arrangements sorted for our bunk bed situation, I was on top and Jon on the bottom, we made our way to the kitchen area to grill up some steaks and enjoy dinner with our tour group. Signing up for a tour is a bit like walking into a Casino, you have the chance of being really lucky or not. In our case we hit the jackpot, everyone on our tour was wonderful and the group meshed well together.

We called it an early night in preparation for our 5:30 am start the next day. You have to be a morning person, or at least be good at faking it, when visiting Kakadu during the summer wet season. The only way to properly visit and hike the park is to get an early start so you can beat the heat and humidity that settles over the area like a heavy blanket by 2 pm.

Bright eyed and bushy tailed, we left camp in the morning and made our way over to Gubara in the Nourlangie region. Our original plan was to make the 6km hike past sandstone cliffs to enjoy the shady monsoon forest pools. Jordan asked if we would be interested in a little bit of a bush walk, off the beaten path, up to the top of the peak. Our adventurous group did not need long to take Jordan up on his offer, so off we went into the bush. It was 9:30 am and I had already drank 6 liters of water in an effort to cool off from the heat. We all safely made our way to the top of the peak, an accomplishment given the difficulty of the scale.

We took in the gorgeous view from the peak and then found ourselves struck with the realization - what goes up must come down. If we thought it was hardgoing on the way up, what was it going to be like to come down?! Answer, just as hard. I was the only one to take a bit of a digger on the way down, resulting in some minor scrapes...a small price to pay for making a walkabout in the bush.

Just as we were about to enter the monsoon forest pools, I found myself out of water. You never want to find yourself thirsty, in the bush, without access to water. The stream feeding the pools came from a rain water source. There was no shame in my game as I dipped my bottle in and topped up my supply. The water was safe to drink and actually tasted better then some of the tap water I had throughout other parts of Australia.

We left Gubara at 12:30 pm, dumbfounded by everything we had a accomplished before lunch, and made our way to Jabiru and then Port Richmond. Mobile reception is very spotty in Kakadu, as it should be. You do not enter the outback with the intention of checking emails and makings phone calls, the purpose is to go out on the land and disconnect from it all for a bit. Unfortunately for Jordan who was looking to finalize the plans for his first home purchase, the spotty reception could not have come at a worse time. We crossed into an active network area and Jordan's phone came alive with message alerts. He had 16 missed calls from his partner, yikes. Jordan pulled over and took a call from his girlfriend. He returned to bus, his face lit up with pure unadulterated joy...he had just purchased his first home. There is nothing more moving then seeing joy or pain on a persons face, they are the rawest of emotions to witness in someone. Thankfully in this case, we got to experience Jordan's joy and he will remember our group every time he thinks about when he purchased his first home.

We pulled into camp for the night and found the area surrounding the camp sight littered with wallabies and wild buffalo. After our busy day of adventure we fell into bed again. We were peacefully sleeping away until some cuckoos birds decided to pay a visit outside our tent. Their call sounded a lot like what I imagine aliens to sound like if they were discussing whether or not to abduct the two people inside the tent. Although Jon and I both heard the sound during the night, we remained silent...until the morning when we asked each other if aliens were outside our tent last night.

We were given a bit of a reprieve with with a 6 am start the next day for our visit to Litchfield National Park.

Entering Gubara in the Nourlangie region of Kakadu National Park.