3.August.2016 (Day 60)

Directions East

The day has finally arrived when I begin my long journey home back to the states, an eastward crawl that should get me back to my girls in ~28 hours.

Australia has been good to me, and the NT in particular will always hold a piece of my heart. The people up here and their laid-back attitude towards (literally) everything has been nothing but good for me.

Before coming to Australia, I had a particular vision for what it was like. I’ve found that many Yanks who haven’t been here hold a similar perception.

Scary Australia

I’m here to tell you, unequivocally, this just isn’t the case.

The sheer size and diversity of the place, the different landscapes, and the people, will all be near and dear to my heart forever.

The beaches…

Darwin, NT

Mangrove swamps…

Casuarina, NT

Outback…

Kakadu, NT

And sunsets…

Wave hill, NT

Have all felt pretty unreal.

And most of the ‘cultural’ experiences have been one-of-a-kind.

Daly Waters, NT

The wild feel of exploring Australia is something that has to be experienced.

From towering monoliths…

Jim jim falls, NT

Cascading waterfalls…

Florence falls, NT

To big-sky country so flat and open it seems to go on forever.

Somewhere along Hwy 11, NT

The stars…

Borroloola, NT

Fires…

Harrison dam, NT

And serenity of it all will always stay with me.

Kakadu, NT

The animals are too many to go over here. I could spend days recounting all the amazing wildlife I had the chance to interact with.

I set my sites very high with this trip. I didn’t actually expect to complete three different projects in only eight weeks. Even though I felt mostly overwhelmed by the work-load for the majority of the trip, I feel proud to look back on my accomplishment. The research I’ve conducted, colleagues made, and the chance to have an international experience, will no doubt be a huge boost for my career.

Thank you for reading along throughout this experience. It’s been a wild ride, full of ups and downs and a million different bumps and kinks (most of which I tried to sugar-coat for the blog). 

If I leave Australia with anything, it’s that, in the end, she’ll be ‘right.