The flight from Alice Springs to Sydney worked out (thanks, Chelsea) and I've been back in Sydney for a few days now, getting ready to leave Australia. One thing was funny, though: when I checked in they told me, that since I was flying stand-by, I'd have to leave the plane in case it was overloaded! So, can you imagine - me scanning the departure-area for fat people? LOL. But everyone on board was young and slim and it all went well :-). More »
On thursday I returned from my three day tour of Ayers Rock (or Uluru as it is mainly called now), the Olgas and Kings Canyon. I was dirty and tired and my clothes reek - but I had a really good time. And yes, I did climb The Rock. You see, climbing it is slight controversial, 'cause the traditional owners, i.e. the Aboriginal tribes, request that you don't climb it, since it is holy to them. But you can still do it, if you really want to and hundreds of people do it every day. So while me climbing Uluru might not have been a great display of cultural sensitivity, I'm still happy that I did it. More »
I just arrived in Alice Springs, smack in the center of the continent. That I am here and not in Sydney is a bit of a surprise for me as well, but here I am an it's all good. And tomorrow I'll leave for a three day camping trip to Ayers Rock and its surroundings. How I got here was a bit chaotic, though. More »
It seems like the car liked me more than I ever realized. Either that or I just had the most uncanny feeling for when to sell the car and to whom. Why? Because the guy who bought the car sent me this txt-message: "The car blew up after 30 minutes of use". Ooops. More »
After Canberra coming back to Sydney was a real relief: The city is beautiful, there is heaps of things to do, I met some old friends and made some new and I sold my car! At first it looked like selling the car might be quite difficult: There are hundreds of backpackers who are currently trying to get rid of their cars, and at you can read their mounting desperation on the sales-signs you find at the hostels: "Holden/Ford, Good condition: 2700 AUD, 2000 AUD, 1600 AUD, 1000 AUD, All offers considered". More »
I just arrived in Canberra, Australias lackluster capital. Everybody in Australia dizzes Canberra, but since it's on the way between Melbourne and Sydney I decided to spend a night here. It turned out that even the people living here don't like their city! When I told the girl at the reception that I just came from Melbourne she exclaimed: "Oh, Melbourne! Melbourne is so much nicer than Canberra!" More »
Today I had to leave Melbourne - unfortunately. But I have to get back to Sydney to sell my car. I really hated to leave Melbourne and The Nunnery, though. Together with the Innetown Hostel in Margaret River this was nicest hostel with the nicest group of people I've stayed at in Australia. More »
I visited the Melbourne Museum today and was once again reminded how huge this country is! They currently have an exhibition on Aboriginal history at the museum and next to a photo of members of an Aboriginal tribe was a notice that this tribe had it's first contact with Europeans in 1983! More »
Holy cow! Someone almost stole my car last night! Fortunately they didn't get very far - those immobilizers seem to be a good idea after all! More »
I just bought a scarf! Seriously. I mean, I knew it would be cold down south, but l didn't expect it to drop down to four degrees Celsius at night! Well, it did in Albury where I stayed the night before last night: Ten degrees during the day, four at night. More »
I'm in Sydney! I don't know why, but arriving here triggered a big endorphine rush, a "Yeah, I did it"-feeling. Strictly speaking I had already crossed the continent in Byron Bay, when I was at Australias most eastern point, but somehow arriving in Sydney made it feel more real. More »
I'm just recovering from two days of "Splendour in the Grass", a massive music festival that was held in Byron Bay over the weekend. In the beginning I wasn't sure whether I should dish out the 130 AUD for a weekend pass (including a pizza), but in the end I figured: I haven't had pizza in ages! More »
Just returned to Byron from Brisbane where I spent the night partying with Chase (it was his birthday) and a lot of people from my course. We had a great night! Even though coming into the place where were supposed to meet, was more difficult than I thought. And it was not because of how we were dressed. More »
I'm having a bit of a lazy day today, just idling. I had to get up at 7am since I had to bring my car to the garage - again. The boot doesn't open any longer and I couldn't get it open, even after I had taken the back panel off and used both oil and brute force. Afterwards I went to the beach for a bit, had a tea to fight my cold (doesn't seem to work, though) and started to follow intriguing links on the net. The site I just came back from told me, I am THE FOOL. And I think they are dead on! More »
Left Brisbane yesterday and headed down to Byron Bay, a small costal town that is known for beeing sooooo laid back and cozy and for being a good surf spot. Laid back is certainly right: the place I'm staying at is full of hippies (both old and new) and the smell of weed is all around us. More »
Did you hear about Whoopie Goldberg? She lost her contract with SlimFast after having made a lewd joke about George W.s last name! Go, figure. The funny thing is they are actually selling t-shirts here with "Good Bush" "Bad Bush" written on them. The image above Good Bush portrays George W., the one above Bad Bush shows - well, I'm sure you can imagine. Now, here's the question: Should I buy that t-shirt before going to the U.S.? More »
Just received this joke from a friend. I think it's absolutely brilliant:
Trouble readjusting to life back home after spending time travelling?
Here are a few handy hints that should help you settle back in:
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I made it! I am an accredited "Teacher of English to Speakers of Other Languages" (TESOL) now! That means I have a completed an internationally recognized course, have a shiny diploma and can teach English all over the world now. Of course now I have to think about what to do with this new qualification. The most obvious answer is: Move to China! More »
Thanks to all of you who have remembered my birthday and called, emailed or otherwise wished me all the best! Being far, far away it was just great to be remembered! And it made me very, very happy. I'll write all of you individually - later. More »
It's my birthday! It's my birthday! O.k. - posting this here on the internet might sound like I'm a bit desperate for people wishing me all the best, but what the hell? It is my birthday after all! More »
Brisbane is cool! I have been here for two days now and really like it. It's a bit cold (only 21 degrees Celsius, but o.k., it's winter) but the city is pretty, has tons of good bars and a lot to offer. And: I started my English course! More »
A white, pristine beach, not a single house, strand bar or hotel on it and crystal clear water. I think I've seen some of the worlds most amazing beaches on my trip. And so, initially I was quite sceptical when people told me that I'd just have to see the Whitsundays. After all, it's just another beach, right? But it's more than that: It truly is one of the most beautiful beaches in the world! More »
I've just been to the Great Barrier Reef! It was really great, even though the weather was pretty bad. It was drizzling for a lot of the day, pretty cold and the waves were quite high (at least I thought they were high)- I had to keep my eyes steady on the horizon for most of the trip and keep a firm grip on the reeling to stay on board; that boat was rolling in the sea quite heavily! More »
...read the sign we passed between Cloncurry and Normanton. And boy, do I support this initiative! If they had installed a little donation-box under that sign I would have given money at one! 'Cause, believe me, the so called Matilda Highway is no highway at all. More »
Well, there are much worse places to get stuck for a few days than Cloncurry. Elliot, for example (uuuh - shiver). And while that is true, it was almost a bit funny how Louise and I kept reminiding each other of this fact. Typically this went a bit like this: More »
Well, it turned out that the garage wasn't able to patch the car together so that we could get at least to Townsville. Apparently the water-pump is about to fall apart (now, that explains that funny sound I've been hearing since Broome) and they recommended strongly against going any further. More »
Yesterday was a pretty hard day for my poor car. First I did something really stupid and then something even more stupid happened. And so we are sitting in Cloncurry, just 120 km east of Mt. Isa, hoping for it to get fixed enough to get us to Townsville. More »
It's time to leave Darwin - and I'm a bit sad about this. I hung out with a couple of really cool people here and generally had a good time. Besides I think that Darwin is actually a pretty nice place. More »
I just had the best week ever! Going to Mary River National Park to volunteer was definitely one of the best things I've done on this trip so far. We got to ride quad-bikes (that's something of a cross between a motorbike and a small tractor) all day, saw loads of beautiful scenery and wild animals and even got to start a bush fire! More »
I'm back from the bush! And I had heaps of fun! I'll write a full accord of what happend and what it was like later, but for now the photos from the trip have to be enough. Click here to see all photos. More »
I really couldn't believe it! I went to a nightclub yesterday and was asked for my ID! That hasn't happend to me in - what? Eight years? I mean, people have told me that I look better, younger and leaner now than I do on the pics I have from home. But under 18? More »
Rowan, Rossi and Joni left me! They went to Sydney last night. What a shame, what a shame! I had a really good time with the three of them - and that's not only because they are just gorgeous. Though admittedlyI got a lot of joy out of simply looking at them. More »
Ok, I managed to find out a bit more about the weeding that I could do for a week in Mary National Park. And fortunately it does not involve crawling through the rainforest with a nailclipper. More »
I had a really good day yesterday. We went to Litchfield Park, one of the smaller National Parks near Darwin. Smaller it might be, but I can't imagine the famous Kakadu National Park to be any better. Besides, Litchfield is free :-). More »
Since I came to OZ I saw two movies that I found very annoying. I've also read quite a lot of books and most of them were quite ok. But I guess that none will be as memorable as the one I'm reading at the moment. More »
What a pleasant surprise! Joni, Rossi and Rowan decided to turn their backs on Kununarra and travel with me to Darwin instead. They couldn't find any fruitpicking-jobs because it had rained so much recently and the fields were all muddy. So they decided that if they'd have to do something like waitressing, then they could just as well do it in a nice place (like Sydney). More »
Austalia keeps surprising you, that much is certain. Take today: We drove to Fitzroy Crossing from Broome through more rain (How I hate those locals who keep telling us how great and exciting it is to have rain this time of the year since it hasn't rained this time of the year for more than 30 years) only to discover that the hostel in Fitzroy Crossing isn't there any more. More »
Things are looking good: The sun has been shining for the last two days (finally), the Scottish girls from Tom Price are going to travel with me to Kununarra and I even have managed to sell a story to a German news-site! More »
I had my final disagreement with the girls yesterday evening. Actually I had it mainly with Esther (as always) and felt a bit sorry about Sarah getting caught in the middle but that's just the way it went. It's a bit of a shame that the end was a bit nasty, but I'm still feeling better because of it. More »
I finally managed to upload the photos I took within the last two weeks. If you want to take a look at them >>>> click here <<<< More »
I'm certainly getting more than enough of my share of the local wildlife here. I mean, Emus, Roos, Ekidnas - but last night beat it all: A two meter long Black-Headed Python crawled into my room - and I slept right through it! More »
Arrived in Broome after almost eight hours of hard driving. Unfortunately though the windscreen got seriousy fucked on the way. Well, that's what happens if you pass one of those big road trains on a bad stretch of road.
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Having survived Karijini we travelled to Port Headland, about 400 km north of Tom Price. The trip was uneventful - i.e. we didn't kill or hit anything for a change - but we probably found what must be Australias most expensive internet place. More »
We heard from a lot of people that Karijini National Park is one of the best parks you'll find in all of Australia. And it's true - it's gorgeous. But it's also not without risks as we learned on our two-day tour when we had to abandon our four-wheel drive and lug all our baggage and all the water we could carry to the nearest road to find help. More »
The trip from Exmouth to Tom Price was another one of those "you have to have done it to be able to know what it's like"-trips. Six hours fo driving and we only met five other cars on the road - and a lizard. More »
The last three days have been pretty good: we spent almost all the time on Turquois Beach in the Cape Range National Park nearby Exmouth - a beautiful white beach with blue water and loads of colourful fish and generally had a good time with little or no arguments. More »
I went snorkeling today! Yes, Timo dared to jump into the middle of the Ocean - and I absolutely hated it. I think I'll stick to boats or land from now on. More »
Why is it that you always loose out on arguments with girls, even if you are right? I mean, how do they manage to put you in the wrong even though it is quite clearly them who are wrong? Alright - this is what happened: More »
I always found it hard to understand why some people say that the sheer boredom of driving through Australia can drive you insane. I mean, yes, I did find it boring as well, when I travelled from Albany to Esperance, but surely all this talk of "deadly boredom" was exaggerated. I don't think like this no more. More »
We slept through the first feeding of the dolphins but that's probably a good thing. From what I heard there really were 1.000 tourists to see them at 7.30 am, whereas we were only abou 100 at the second time they got fed around 11ish. And imho that's a way better time to get up! More »
We travelled from Kalbarri to Monkey Mia today where we - and 1.000 other tourists - will feed the dolphins tomorrow. The trip was rather unspectacular and though two kangarros crossed our path we thankfully didn't come close to hitting any today. My personal higlight was seeing the Stromatolites - 3.5 billion years old organisms that are "living rocks". More »
Just arrived in Kilbarri, a seaside ressort some 600 kilometers north of Perth. On the way we passed another country and hit a huuuuge kangaroo. But relax - nothing happened and we and the car are alright. The kangaroo, too, btw. More »
Been to the dentist yesterday and was quite positively surprised. He had been recommended to me by a guy from Kalgoorlie and that recommendation was spot on: He even treated me for free! There is also news regarding my car. More »
Even though I'm having a minor problem with my teeth and loads of problems with my car I'm still enjoying Perth more than the last time. And it's definitely not the weather that has improved since my last stay - it's even colder now then three weeks ago. I think the main difference is the hostel I'm staying in. More »
This whole car-thing is really getting on my nerves. Especially since I'm so bloody indecisive! But I think I have come to a decision now - at least temporarily. More »
Yesterday, when I was driving from Kalgoorlie to Perth, the car has been acting up a lot again. I gave some people from the hostel a lift into another part of the town and the car has been positively bucking. One of them apparently knows something about cars and he said he thinks, that she is not getting enough fuel. More »
I decided not to look for a job in Kalgoorlie for he time being. The decision was partly triggered by something that has nothing to do with the town or the work at all: part of one of my crowns fell off and I needed a dentist. But to visit one I had to drive 600 km back to Perth. More »
If you talk to anyone who's spent some time in Kalgoorlie then he or she is bound to nod wisely and say something like: "It's...special.". And hell - I certainly won't disagree. In a way, Kalgoorlie is everyting you'd expect from a miners town. It's a bit rough, a bit gruffy and in a way very much a "real mans" place. But there's also an amazing number of miners who aren't real men at all, who are in fact - girls! More »
I just did my finances. And just as I feared, I spent nearly 2.000 Euros since I came to OZ. And that does not include the car, but it includes the repairs. I crunched some more numbers and figured out that, yes, I can afford to spend money at this rate. So should I get ajob or should I not? More »
I just arrived in Kalgoorlie, Australias biggest mining town. I'm gonna look for a job here in the gold mines here, but that is not the main thing I want to write about today. My real gripe today is about Australias internet charges! More »
Today I drove through the "real" outback for the first time: 477 km from Albany to Esperance and hardly anything in between. I got started a bit late since I paid a brief visit to the garage and then made the mistake to thing that noone would mind me going a tiny bit faster then what the speedlimit says. Wrong - there are cops out there! More »
Driving from Margaret River to Albany, I passed through some of the most impressive forests I've ever seen, including the aptly named "Valley of the Giants". And I always thought that Eucalyptus was a bush! Standing on the top of a 64 meters high Eucalyptus tree and trying to fight the feeling of vertigo, I realized that I was obviously very wrong. More »
Safely arrived in Albany, a very, very sleepy (i.e. dead) town of 30.000 on Australias southcoast last night. The journey was fantastic, going through some stunning forrests. Unfortunately the computers at the otherwise lovely "London Backpackers" (20 dollars/dorm) are pretty rotten, so that I'm not gonna write much today - you know, it'd be really nice if the letters on the screen stayed in one place...
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