We checked out of the lovely hostel but they hung onto our bags for us. We spent the day round the lagoon, a beautiful public swimming pool that even had its own white sand beach at one end. We tried looking for guide books in the shopping centres again, but Australia is proud that it only seems to sell Lonely Planet books, and the one we want is actually printed in Bath! We spent almost the entire day in the shade, reading, and then we went for a walk along the esplanade and watched the pelicans (huge fellows, as big as a house) wallowing in the muddy sand by the beach.

We headed back to the hostel in time to change into slightly warmer clothes (I'm always cold on aeroplanes) and book a taxi, and it arrived in virtually no time at all. We had an hour at the airport debating whether or not to buy a snack, but we decided that whatever Qantas served us would do for supper. It was a packed flight, only a couple of hours (and they told us about the 30-minute time difference this time) and we were given dinner: a salad. I was not impressed! We'd be landing in Darwin at past 9pm, so we wouldn't really get a chance to eat anything else. We'll learn for next time.

The hostel had been recommended in the guide book and I didn't want to give another Australian YHA our money. It was another typical, horrible place: the kitchen was tiny but closed; everything smelled of vomit for some reason; there were five sets of bunk beds in our dormitory and the room itself had breeze-block walls, a grubby-looking concrete floor and a fan that squeaked all night. And there was no ladder again to the top bunk so Mikey had to clamber up.

We went to bed determined that we'd stay in nicer places when we got to Asia!