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G'day everyone!
My last post was three weeks ago so it was time to update all of you on my travels! I left you in Byron, in New South Wales, where we entered our new time zone. Byron Bay has easily been one of my favourites in Australia. We spent 5 days there where two things were our main priorities: party and surf. The party was full on in Byron, al though some times a bit tacky. The main backpacker bar is called Cheeky Monkeys, and yes, it is full of very very drunk Cheeky Monkeys. Let's say, we can just tick it of our list that we've been there, and it wasn't very helpful for our surfing skills and we weren't able to do another lesson. Our argument was, we are going to do heaps more surfing in Australia, as our next spot on our trip was a surfcamp calles Spot X.
The surf was terrible though. No waves. We managed to catch a few but for the rest Jenny, Annie and me had the ocean to ourselves and decided to sing songs lying on our surfing board in stead of pretending to catch waves. The camp was the only part of civilization in the area, so upon arrival you were offered so called meal deals. We decided to buy a voucher for one dinner, in case the food wasn't very good and we wanted to drive somewhere to buy our own. The food turned out to be delicious (barbie, salads, fruit) and nobody asked for your voucher. Inevitably, this resulted in us having free food (brekky, lunch & dinner) for 2 days. As Jenny said: "We've won the travellers lottery!!" Aparently there were people staying there who hadn't been paying for food for more than 7 days....
From Spot X our Ozzie road trip continued South, via Newcastle to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains. The first night we stayed at a colleague of Aniek, who lived near Katoomba. It was a very nice change to stay in a homely environment as a change to hostel life, although Aniek wasn't too happy when her colleague had a 1,5 year old who was unstoppable. We were so tired from the drive that it was a little too much, to say the least. Anieks face on the photos says it all! Her colleague Lotte was very welcoming though, so welcoming that she even offered us to use her washing machine, which we managed to clog after 3 washes. Lotte forgot to tell us to dissolve the washing powder before putting it in the machine... No worries, it's working again!
The day after we 'fled' to our hostel in Katoomba, The Flying Fox (the enormous bats here are nicknamed flying foxes). This may have been my favourite hostel in Australia (next to Travellers Oasis in Cairns). It was a little chilly outside, and the hostel had a log fire and a REAL christmas tree. After a 5hr hike in the Blue Mountains we got back to the hostel for dinner and sat in front of the fire drinking tea and mince pies wearing Santa hats. AND they had free tim tams. Tim Tams are the national biscuit of Australia. You are supposed to do the 'tim tam slam' with them. This means, biting of a piece on both ends of the chocolat biscuit and then slurping your tea through the middle of the biscuit (they have a soft center, or caramel) which makes the biscuit go soggy and then put the whole thing in your mouth. Anyone who knows me just a little, can see that this is something that I love. I've managed to keep myself from eating too many tim tams and doing a lot of hiking in stead... The Blue Mountains are called blue as there is a blue haze over the mountains when you look at them from the various view points. The most well known view point is Echo Point, from where you are able to see the Three SIsters rock formation. On Wednesday it was just Jenny Annie and Me, three sisters at the three sisters :) We climbed the Giant Stairway of 900 steps. On the sign posts it said that this walk was 'Hard'. Most of the times people who make these kind of sign posts are very good at exagerating, but this time they were pretty accurate. Picture us panting and sweating like pigs, having to stop half way for a rest. And all three of us are pretty sporty! Hopefully you can understand now that we deserved those tim tams and mince pies! The day after Joel joined us for our final day in the Blue Mountains before saying goodbye to Jenny who was going to Sydney for Christmas.
Joel Annie and me were mentally preparing ourselves for, as Annie referred to it as, the HORRIBLE 12hr road trip to Melbourne on Christmas Eve. In the end it took us 11hrs, of which I drove 8 as I passed on my cold to Annie who felt terrible. Unfortunately Joel wasn't able to drive as we were only insured for the two of us, so his job was to DJ and keep the driver awake. No sleeping for him! It was so hard to believe it was Christmas eve, and the sentence repeated about 10 times that day was:" I can't believe it's Christmas Eve". Picture this, it was 40 degrees outside, sun shining and we were on a 900km road trip to Melbourne, of which one highway was 700km. 700km one way, one BORING motorway with a maximum speed of 110km/hr, which is the same everywhere in Australia, although there is nobody on the road (except koala's and kangaroo's).
For Christmas we stayed at Joel's friend and we spent Christmas day at Annie''s long lost family. It's easy to say that this has been the weirdest Christmas ever. The food and cultural part of the day are the same as I'm used to in England, but it's warm outside, the meat is cooked on the barbie, everyone is wearing summer dresses and 'White Xmas' songs are played in the supermarkets while you're trying to make your way out into the scorching heat. I guess it's just that we're not used to it!
Our main idea of driving to Melbourne was to drive the Great Ocean Road. We underestimated this drive as it was 'only 200kms' but the roads were so bendy and the average speed was approx 45km/hr. When we arrived at the 12 Apostles - which in total are actually just 7 OR 9, you may decide on that number for yourself - there was a sign post for helicopter flights and we couldn't resist. It was the best decision ever. The sun was going down and the coast was coloured golden! Hopefully I'll be able to put the video online. From the Great Ocean Road we stayed at my dads friend Frank and his wife, in Healesville, for a night. We were happy our car made it without overheating in the hills of Victoria. I think Frank was pretty surprised we managed to find his house, without GPS and using an old fashioned map. He referred to our car as a tank!
From Healesville it was time for our last road trip. With pain in our hearts we left Victoria to drive back over the 700km boring Highway to Sydney, New South Wales. The trip was a little over 900km now and we were absolutely exhuasted when we finally made it. Just looking at the road and cars passing us made me nausious. Upon arrival in Sydney we handed in our precious ford falcon (I nearly cried) and from then on it was all about the New Years celebrations. We spent most of our time with my Ozzie friends who I know from Uni in Amsterdam. We saw the fireworks from the Harbour Bridge and we started 2011 as the happiest people alive. However, being in Sydney also meant nearly having to say goodbye to Australia. My dream came true. This is where I wanted to go for so long! I'll try to sum up my 6 weeks in Australia in bullet points:
- 6000kms in 6 weeks, of which 2000kms greyhound bus and 4000kms by car. The distances in this country are out of this world!
- our roadtrip, in our 11 year old ford falcon
- singing the whole 4000kms in the car
- our 'longest' travel buddies, Joel and Jenny, who had to listen to our singing the entire way (they participated though) and had to wait hours for us in the supermarket as I am so slow! (according to them)
- Fraser Island and meeting some of the nicest people in the world who are still nice after 3 days of camping and no showers
- expensive food and drink. Solution: less food, no going out for dinner, drinking goon and BYO (bring your own) (even when we weren't allowed)
- surfing is harder than it seems, the lifestyle isn't.
- partially overcoming my fear for the ocean by snorkelling, diving (Great Barrier Reef, Whitsundays) and surfing
- tim tams, home made thai curry, coles supermarket
- NO WORRIES
- 'wildlife' you don't see anywhere else in the world
- Australia, the country that's supposed to have 300 days of sunshine a year and I think I've had at least 30 of the rainy days
- arriving in Cairns with a backpack which weighs 14kgs and leaving Sydney weighing 23kgs. And I used all my shampoo and sunscreen. Still haven't figured that one out.
- the rising number of cockroaches in hostels
- matrasses that are so thin you feel the springs in your back
- continuous pain in our backs from sleeping in bad beds, tents, the car and portacabins
- The music that has been consistent through this entire Australia trip will stay with me forever and it will always remind of the things I did in Australia. Here are some songs that I loved to have on repeat forever, to my fellow travellers extreme irritation... :
1. Macy Grey - I try, Do Something, Still, Why Didn't you Call me.
2. Empire of the Sun - We Are The People
3. Paolo Nutini - These Streets CD
4. Kings of Leon - all cd's
5. Whitest Boy Alive - all cd's (I managed to get them a new fan)
6. Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition, Love Lost, Fader (I became their new biggest fan)
7. David Guetta - Memories
8. Zoe Badwi - Freefallin'
9. Florence and the Machine - You've got the Love
10. All Saints - Pure Shores
11. James Morrison - Broken Strings
12. And NOVA radio station around Melbourne
I hope I gave you a good impression of what MY Australia was like. I loved every second of it and I really feel like I had a bit of a taste of the Ozzie life, although it was from a backpackers point of view. We arrived in Christchurch, New Zealand, yesterday and it is strange to be in a country you don't know anything about yet. I read a quote in a hostel which I think fits this moment, as you do feel a bit lost after leaving a country you've started to get to know so well. I'm going to keep this quote in mind this coming month, during my exploration of this country!
"I see my path but I don't know where it leads. Not knowing where I'm going is what inspires me to travel."
- comments
Floor JEALOUS!!
Agnes s*** Saar ik kreeg er kippenvel van! Legen.. wait for it..... DARY!!!!
Agnes Bedankt Kilroy, voor de sterretjes. Ik wilde natuurlijk geen vies woord gebruiken op deze blog.