26Jul, 2009

Trip To The Top End

Ive just got back from my 5 week trip and I’m feeling totally revitalised and chilled out. The first 2 weeks of my trip I went to Port Douglas where I took time out to relax in a nice hotel 50 meters from the beach. I did a snorkel dive off a reef close to shore which was fantastic where I saw turtles, coral and loads of cool fish.

The gym at my hotel was pretty basic but as always on holiday I took a set of Olympic rings with me for some outdoor training. On my first attempt I hooked the rings over the only tree I could see that had branches (most of the trees around were palm trees), within 2 mins I had to move to another site coz I was getting attacked by giant green tree ants. After walking around for a while looking for another tree I found a kids playground which became my gym for the rest of my time in port Douglas.

I then flew to Darwin for next leg of my trip where men are men and so are the women. Unlike port Douglas I decided to stay in a backpackers and although noisy was lots of fun as I got to meet more people. I love Darwin – there’s always something to do, the place is buzzing 7 days a week and the town is very new and happening. The markets are great and the sunsets are the best I’ve seen anywhere in the world and literally draw in thousands on people.

I was also lucky to be there for the beer can regatta which only takes pace once a year, this involves drinking as much beer as possible throughout the day then racing boats made from beer cans and round a buoy about 100 metres out. Luckily everyone made it back without drowning – they sure love a drink in the Northern Territory.

After spending 5 days in Darwin I booked a 3 day camping trip to Kakadu National Park which turned out to be the highlight of the trip. Our tour guide was a great laugh and had me in stitches the whole trip, he’s a combination of Steve Irwin, Rodney rude and Crocodile Dundee.

Kakadu is an amazing place and far exceeded my expectations, everyday we were swimming in waterfalls looking at incredible scenery and viewing aboriginal artwork – some up to 50 thousand years old. You couldn’t go swimming in many places as many of the billabongs and creeks are infested with big crocs, but there are plenty of places that are safe.

During the trip we saw just heaps of wildlife including snakes, lizards, buffalo, dingo, saltwater crocs, freshwater crocs, sea eagles, kites, huge 7 meter termite mounds, rock wallaby’s and jabiru’s. We also saw jumping crocodiles in Adelaide river which is the only place in the world you can see a tour like this in the wild.

I booked a tour barramundi fishing and caught my first barra, we were swimming lures past the noses of 5 metre crocs but it wasn’t really the best time for barra fishing as it’s the ‘cold season’ (33 degrees is cold for the Territorians) but we still was caught around a dozen fish up to 75cm in length. We were eating barramundi for days and got so sick of it I gave the rest away to people in the hostel.

I got a ride to Litchfield National Park with two Irish backpackers I was staying with, like Kakadu the gorges and waterfalls are amazing and we spent the day swimming in different waterholes and looking at the incredible scenery.

Unlike Port Douglas I couldn’t train outdoors, it was just too hot for me. I found a good gym 5 minutes from where I was staying and managed to get a workout in everyday I wasn’t on a tour.

Well I can honestly say that it’s great to be back, one of the best things about going away on a long trip is coming back feeling totally relaxed and refreshed. I’m fortunate enough to have job I love and what better place to do it than Sydney’s parks and beaches.

Ill personally be hitting the training hard through August, although I managed to train 3-4 times per week while I was away Ive eaten out too much and will get back into good shape before it begins to warm up in September.

Training in the gym in Darwin was a nice change but I’ve missed training outdoors with kettlebells and sandbags, as much as I love the warmer climate it’s a lot easier training in colder conditions.

All through this week we’ll again be having fitness test’s at our Sydney boot camps, if you’ve been here through July be sure to come to these sessions so you know how much your fitness has improved. If your still thinking about getting started now’s a good time to before the September rush.

I look forward to training you again this week – see you soon.

Train Hard!

boot camp sydney
Dan Clay
Dangerously Fit