Coral Bay, WA. This is basically 1 minute from the backpackers where I am staying. I got here early this morning and managed to get sunburned before 2 pm. Although, the sun does rise very early here, around 5:20 or so, I probably got burned from being in the water. It's really nice, around 23 degrees, still a bit cool but hey, it's full of fishes. And sea turtles, and manta rays. I swam with 2 turtles for a bit, but I didn't see any manta rays. Maybe next time. Basically on sunday I will leave for Monkey Mia. I can't put any of my own photos up on this computer, but I will when I get to somewhere with facilities. This place is basically a 20 hour drive from the middle of nowhere. Seriously, it costs so much to bring food here that apples are for real 80C per apple for poor, small, mealy apples.

This is a fairly severe case of mango rash about 9 days in. According to knowledgeable sources, I have another 5-6 days of this. It is not unbearable, and while it is annoying, at least it is not painful. Except that my ears hurt. They are all swelled up and red. I'm leaving for Broome tomorrow morning. I have used all my mango earnings to purchase a bus ticket that will take me around west australia, and eventually back to Darwin. Hopefully by the time I return here, I will be ready to fly to thailand.....and a few thousand dollars richer. I'll try and post again from broome. I might get a job on a boat. That'd be different.

Here are some pictures, mango trees at sunset, and myself and Claudia, holding it down for the west side, (she's from west germany).

I'm back from mangos. As you can see, I've only lasted for half of the season. This is due primarily to my heretofore unknown mango allergy. Yes, after 3 weeks of picking mangos with not so much as a sunburn, I broke out with a rash. Apparently my body had a good amount of tolerance, which is why it took so long. That's what I was told anyways. I think it could also be all the chemicals they use on the things. At any rate, I made enough money to stay in Darwin for a while and see the place. It's pretty small. I'll post some pictures soon and then I'll mail some postcards, to those of you who are lucky enough to be on the list. Anyways, I'm leaving next week to go to the next stop, somewhere in West Australia, where I will also try and find harvest work.....I'd prefer tree planting or wool gathering, but I'll take anything except mangos. Photos by sunday.