From Adelaide to Melbourne and back

The real aussie mailboxxxxxx

This is the link from my friends blog:

http://ploempje.wordpress.com/

Hi you allllll,

Damn time is going fast, i'm already here for more then one week. I really enjoy it so much...

Now we are back in Adelaide and tonight our big trip to the centre, the heart of Australia start. We have to take a Greyhoud bus (those are the travelling buses in Australia and they cross whole the country) at 6pm and we drive till 5.30am the next day. Then we have a stop in Cooper Pedy. Then the next day we travel back by bus to Alice Spring. Here we have a tour for 7 days and it could be that i don't have connection with my phone for the whole 7 days, because my operator really s..cks.

Problably we don't have internet either so we will vanish from the earth for 7days, so NO WORRIES ;-)

Okey so what did i do the last three days:

I rented a car for 3 days an drove to Melbourne to pick up my friend, Marijke. In the hostel they called my crazy because it's by highway a drive from 10h, but no worries he, i started this one tuesdaymorning around 11am. I had to wait this long because i had problems with my visa. So after a while when Marijke fixed this in Melbourne i could start driving.

In the beginning i was bloody nerveus because off the left driving. I wrote on my hand a big L from left, but after a while you get used to it.

But i did some funny things haha:

-when i wanted to put my gears (learned a new word here) in the car, on the passengerseat, i took the wrong side, all the time...

-when i wanted to put my seatbelt on, i grabble the wrong way :-), so funny, i did this a couple of times.

-the slow vehicles has to drive on the left (totaly the other way around like in Belgium), and when you want to pass an other vehicles you have to do this from the right...so strange feeling, but you get used to it

-on the way to Melbourne you have so many different parrots, the small ones, different colours..we only see them in the zoo...

-oh yeah, the car was an automatic, luckily mummy Smet in California learned me how i had to drive this one. But still i needed 30minutes to figure it out how to use it. Because this systems was on the steeringwheel

- So, i left Adelaide at 11am and arrived in Melbourne at 7.30pm, i changed from state.
Adelaide is in the state 'South-Australia' and Melbourne is in the state 'Victoria', they have 30minutes time different.

I was lucky that i could stay over with a friend , Charlie, from Marijke in Melbourne...So thanks Charlie, i had the best bed and the best shower ever ;-)

In the evening we went to a bbQ party and around 2am we went to sleep.

NEXT MORNING:

Next morning we left for the ocean beach. First we went to the centre of Melbourne to meet a friend Matthias. We parked our car in a parkingplace under the ground and when we came back we payed 33dollars....F...ck, this was sooooooo expensive if we just knew ;-)

Then our journey started to the Great ocean road. This one in a road on the coast and it s 300km long.

We passed by beautiful beaches and of course the most famous rocks, the 12 apostels.

When we arrived the 12 apostels, sunset started and it was getting dark.

The aussies adviced us not to drive in the dark because of jumping kangeroos. But still we decided to give it a try because we wanted to see a small piece of the Grampians Natural Park the next day. We only had one more day.

So, we still drove on the highway for 2 more hours and then we went in the national park on safari :-)...keep your eyes open for jumping kangaroos or Wallybies ;-0

Around 10pm we arrived our hostels so tired of all the concentrating, but we didn't bump into any animal.

During our trip we saw also a lot of wildlive like Koala's.

The next day our tour started into the Grampians, but unfortunately we had some fog.
But the Mc Kenzie waterfalls were really beautiful...

After visiting the falls, we still had to drive for a couple of hours to Adelaide.

We arrived around 9pm, opened a good bottle of wine ;-), that's live...

On the road to Adelaide we had some discussions, who has the answer?

- How does a waterfall start? I mean the level difference?

- If you're in the plane and you go to the toilet, what happens with this? :-), i thougt it would leave the plane right away,but Marijke said that this change in ice cubes hahaha

-How could you see the difference between a male kangaroo and female kangaroo?

Oh yeah, and a bottle of coke,here it isn't 500ml but 600ml

big huggggggggggggggg

More pictures you can find on my facebook

kangaroo island

Hi everyone!

Thank you so much for the different replies on my blog, it’s always very nice to know that there are people actually reading what you’re writing! ;-)

It’s now Sunday evening about 22.34pm and I’m so dead but I couldn’t sleep yet! I arrived some hours ago from my trip to Kangeroo Island and this one was so great.
We left in the early morning from saterday – very early about 6.30am, and I had to get up about 5.30am – at out hostels.
First I had to make my luggage first and checked out the hostel, only for one night because tonight I’m sleeping again in the same one.

I booked the trip through an agency and the tour is especially organisated for young backpackers.
We had a group with 15people from different countries. There where Germans, people from Canada , a girl from the Netherlands (she’s really lovely! , tomorrow wer go together and walk through Adelaide), people from china (oooh no Robert, I didn’t had wine after the trip ;-) , haha, those people were pretty ok, they didn’t had bad manners!But then, now I’m sitting in ‘the living room-kitchen’ – so many again and all making disquisting noice –again, burping, slurping,….damn! )
Any way,

our group for two days

our guide and renee, the dutch girl, she s lovely, she talks and talks haha

Our guide was a really ozie – man! ;-) He was about 35years and has been travelling during 5 years in whole Australië. Now he lived in Adelaide and guiding some tours, he give surfing courses…. He loved surfing and we did get the most lovely stories about sharks, snakes,…He is a person that really grown up in the nature and knows so many things about seals, penguins, birds,…plants…incredible! We get all details.

We left Saturday morning with a little bus and we took the ferry direction Kangeroo Island.



When we get there the first thing I noticed that ‘I didn’t get any self phone contact anymore’!! Damn, haha , getting crazy! I put in my other card from Belgium and again I didn’t get any contact anymore! This was actually the first time in my live that I was without a self phone. Sometimes when I’m really getting tired off him, I just put him down, but now I didn’t have any choice ;-)
I have to admit, I put him away and after one hours I was so used to this! I loved it to loose contact with the real world. They already told me, that when I’m going to the middle of Australië that this would be the same!
Then we drove to different stops on the Island. We stopped at the most beautiful beaches ever!
If you’re interesting about the island, just put in the name in google, “kangaroo island”, you can see probably a map and some beautiful pictures.

Some information about this island:
- it’s the third largest island from Australia.
- It’s 4350 km² large
- You have two different city’s on the island.
- There living 4400 people there

Then we drove to the farm where we would sleep for one night. The farm was a bit old but very very beautiful, it was located somewhere on the south coast of the island and it was the only house in the whole environment.
You could also sleep in a swap! I try to find a picture on the internet.
It’s like a sleeping back with a matras in, you can close it all, and you have a net for insect above your head. So you’re really save for all animals. I didn’t do it yet because it was to cold but when I’m going to the middle of Australia I probably have any choice J
We are going to sleep in a swap for 5 days. Beautiful, J and the weather will be a it warmer and no rain!

(some pictures of eating and the farm)

The nearest town was … and there living 1400 people there , on the whole island there living about 4000 people.
We get our beds and the guide started the BBQ for lunch. With the whole group we started to prepare the vegetables. After dinner we drove further to the seal beach. I remember when I was visiting California there was also wildlife near the coast. Different seals where resting on the beach. In the USA you can’t get close to them, but this beach we where allowed together with a guide to get on the beach and see the sea animals from more closer. This was really one experience!



After this we went sandboarding J ! I try to put a movie from this on the blog but it’s already hard to put pictures on it.
This all happened in the Little Sahara. J if you see you pictures you know from where the name is coming.



When it starts to get a little bit more dark and damn cold we went to a bay (Hanson bay) where you can find ferry penguins, little ones!

Normally when it’s getting dark there coming out of the water and coming on shore. We didn’t so much but a few. We weren’t allowed to take pictures because the flashes would blind them. We saw little ones and bigger ones, this type of penguins isn’t really big. I bought a book with all the local animals in it and this one says that they can grow max to ….

Day one was already finished! We drove back to our farm, during the driving we did a little bit of safari and tried to found wildlife near the road. We actually had a lot off luck! We did see possums, wallyby (a smaller version of a kangaroo), the bigger kangaroo.
During the evening we maked some meals, some fire and just hang out with some beer around the fire. But everyone knows that there is in the south of Australia wintertime and in the beginning I thought that they mend 20-25degrees but damn I was wrong!
It can be very cold around here and around 24pm I was so frozen that I went to bed with all my clothes on. I didn’t care, the next day I will be In the hostel washing everything! But I was freezing! ;-)

The next day we get real Australien pancakes! Delicious! Those aren’t so sweet as ours! After this we left back around 8am to continue our tour!
Oh yeah, the Australians eats vegemite with there pancakes! Jak! It ‘s something with jist (what’s the rigt English word for gist?)in it, it really smells like beer!



First we went to the beach that a couple of years ago get the name of the best and most beautiful beach of whole Australia. After that we drove further to …. National park. Here you could very good see that a couple of years ago there were very big fires! The guide was telling stories about a tour group that was lucky to get out of there and about a young man from 22years that didn’t get out it!
The fire has his positives and negatives sites. He told us that some areas are counting on natural fires every several years. Because after a fire the vegetation can grow more faster and better. The animal live is getting bigger.
Also there is one plant in Australia that grows very good after a fire and the plant is called “jakker”.



He brought us to different spots in the natural park. We went to the ….stones, the lighthouse where you also can found different seals and beautiful views! This spot has been the only one where there was a shark attack a couple of years ago. So a hint from our ozie-man ‘don’t go swimming here of surfing!’
After that we had a lunch and we drove to the north site of the island, he really want to show us that there was a big difference north and south.
Here I get the challenge to go swimming in the sea J , well, I did it!
The water was 14degrees and the air about 15 degrees! It felt wonderful! Of course in the beginning it’s bloody (hahaha, Robbert again, they use this word also here! ) cold but after that it was wonderful! The only thing I hope is that I’m not getting sick now ;-)

Okey folks, I’m going to sleep! See ya tomorrow!

Goodmorning all! I slept so bad, first off all I ‘m still having problems with the bloody jetlag because around 6am I was totally awake! Plus my roommates make so much noises when they get up around 7am and 8 am that I didn’t sleep anymore. It’s now 9am and I had a coffee already and put a laundry in!

Oh yeah, some nice things I wrote down during the trip that I really had to write on the blog:
- first off all, the Australian accent is terrible! I can’t understand a thing. For example they you the word ‘reckon’. Example: ‘I reckon that’s a bird’. It’s means : ‘I think that’s a bird’ It took a long time before I understood that! Haha
- then they also use the word ‘heaps’ it means ‘a lot’.
- Always ‘hi mate’ J great word!
- Oh yeah and the last thing:
Some mammals: I bought a really good book, because everyone is talking about animals and I can’t imagine how the look like! So now I can look it up!

Those I saw!
Possum



Common dolphin, they were jumping behind the boat when we get back to mainland!

Koala:
I only saw one and he was sitting far away in the three, they promised me when I’m getting more up north, I’m going to see some more! J

Wallyby: they are looking the same like kangeroo’s but a it smaller.

Kangaroo

Seals

I think that’s all!
Alright! Today I’m going to pay our buses and rent a car. Tomorrow morning I’m driving on the highway to Melbourne to pick up my friend and we’re driving back to Adelaide in two or three days through the Great Ocean road and Grampians national park. First I was thinking she would go better by bus but I really wanted to see this also. I would regret myself if I wouldn’t do this and just stay whole week in Adelaide.
I’m can’t see Sydney because there isn’t plenty of time but then I saw anyway the great ocean road ;-)

Big hug all!!!! It would be probably the middle of the week when I put more on my blog, and I put some more pictures on facebook!

See ya!

Adelaide day 2, damn jetlag!!!! :-)

Hi everyone!

Damn, i have big problems from my jetlag! This afternoon I was walking with a girl from Germany and I was telling here that I really felt tired and dizzy. It looked like I drunked a lot, having a hangover! My head is all the time making noice J, she had the same J
Who off you had the same experiences? Very ennoying!!

I’m sleeping in a room with 6 girls. Two are from French, one from Scotland (she’s so funny J, her accent is really strange and I don’t understand her all the time.
It’s like the Australiën people, damn, there worst then people from London (haha, sorry Robert ;) )then there is a Dutch girl, a girl from Canada and me J
Very nice, tomorrow we all leave different ways, some off them are going to the ocean read, me I’m leaving to Kangeroo Island.

Only the weather really sucks, it’s has been raining practical whole day! Cold, very cold!
I had a really busy day today, I booked all my tours for this month, my hostels, plain and buses.

The tour I’m going to make I amazing, really.Well,, I have a friend who’s going to travel with me, Marijke. She’s coming probably from Melbourne on the 7th.
We’re leaving in Adelaide 8th of august with the bus to Cooper Pedy, there we have one day. We are going to sleep in a dorm, a hostel build in the rocks, under the ground. Then we travel to Alice spring. We are going to visit the heart of Australië, Urulu. It’s a trip of 7 day with guide and we’re going to sleep in tents and under the stars. J
We’re making the way up to Darwin.Visiting Kings Canyon, Kakadu National park (they have crocodiles there ;-) ) Aboriginal rock art, ….
In Darwin the temperature are now 31degrees, so lovely, when we arrived we have booked for 2 nights in Darwin. Then we are taking a plane to Cairns. It’s the great barrier rief, we are going to visit the rainforest, taking the boat and go to an island for one night, go diving for one day in Great Barrier reef! Really cool, I asked the person of the travel agency “what about the sharks?”.Well, with a big smile she told me that I don’t have to be afraid, every 4 km away there can be swimming a shark but the guides, they know where to go and how to handle it….mmmmm ;-)

Anyway after that I take the bus back to Brisbane, it’s a ride of 22hours and then I fly back home. The tile will fly!
Tomorrow morning I leave at 6.30 for the Kangeroo Island, I’m veru curieus.

Today I went also to the Botanique gardens, very nice! But so strange to see palm trees in this weather, you can imagine, but it’s really not so warm here. We’ visit a museum with different plants from the rainforest, I’m so exciting, because when I’m in Cairns , I really gone walk there. 75procent from the rainforest are despaired here! They make room for houses and stuff like that really terrible.

Ok!! I’m going to make my back for leaving tomorrow, see ya all!

Big hug!

O yeah, school is still running here, it’s very funny because everyone is wearing uniforms. They have a big holiday during Christmas, when it’s summertime over here!

Arrival in Adelaide

Hi everyone!!!

It’s the first time for me i’m writing the blog in english :-) !

Finally the blog is alive again :-), now i’m somewhere above the Bay of Bengal, already been flying for almost 10hours, 11277 meters high!. I left in Brussels around 5.15pm to Frankfurt where I had to wait for ore then 5 hours.
The trip from Brussels to Frankfurt was amazing. I get in to the airplane and I had seats in the front, a lot off leg place and view on the pilots. I was looking them and thinking by myself that they where very young, they had to be the same age as me!
Then I looked better and I recognised the pilot. Like 6 years ago we played softball in the same club!!!I went to the steward and asked if I could put my head into to the cabine to say hello. Peter recognised me and he asked me if I wanted to stay whole trip – landing, and leaving – to join them! This was the most best experience I ever had. I have been flying already a lot but this was amazing, especially the part of landing, the view we had in the front and the systems how pilots works. They are all the time checking everything, the breaks, it’s everything on , off…luckly ;-)

When I arrived in Franfurt I had to wait 4hours. The line for Sydney was so big when we had to check-in . The plane can take easly 400 people. Peter told me that a normal charter plane can take 48000kg (I hope I’m right ;-) ). Can you imagine how much this plane can take.

The time difference is very strange. I left Frankfurt at midnight and arrived in Singapore about 7pm, I have been flying for 10hours! Luckly I didn’t slept the night before and for almost the whole trip I have been sleeping, before I knew I arrived in Singapore.
I had to get out here for 30minutes and then we left for Sydney. This trip takes 6hours and 30minutes. When I arrived in Sydney the tile was 5am.So that means I lost one day! Right?
I have been flying for almost 20hours!!
Oh yes Robert, for you I have been writing some distance: look

Brisbane to Los Angeles : 11531 km!!!!
Frankfurt to Singapore: 10281km!!damn!!! 10hours flying
Singapore to Sydney : 6289 km !!6hours flight

After Sydney I had to take for the 4th time and other plane to Adelaide. So now I’m in the youthhostel, really nice and clean. I can get internetconnection on my computer for 4 dollar.
Adelaide is really not so big. If you see in whole Australie it’s the 4th biggest city.

Everyone told me that Australien people are really very nice , I have to admitted this! It is true. From the airport in Adelaide I took a local bus to the YHS and two kindly ladies from Brisbane started to talk with me.
They gave me there coordinates and when I’m in Brisbane (I’m leaving here back belguim) I did have to call them!

So!What are the plans.
I stay in Adelaide for 4 days, today I’m going to settle myself, going to get some foods, cooking (you have different kitchens here where you can cook! So nice! All young people togheter, love it!)
Tommorow I’m going into the city for the whole day!

I have booked 2 nights here in the YHS and I’m going to book a trip to an island. Kangeroo Island. It’s a guide trip with young people and you stay here one night. You go by ferry, to the little Sahara, walking with the Sea lions, looking to little penguins, sightseeing….
I’m leaving on this trip on saterdaymorning and coming back on Sunday evening.Then I will leave to Melbourne. Marijke, my friend from Belguim is arriving there 2 august and I’m staying there with some friends of here. Then we’re planning to leave for Canberra, Sydney and flight to the North where it’s more warmer. Because you know that I’ts winter now here. It’s about 15degrees and sunny. They expect rain tomorrow and the locals are very happy with this!haha
Because the river is all dry!
Okey I think it’s all for today folks!
Big hug!
PS

Robert, do you know facebook? If you don't know this, (i can't imagine that you don't because it's something real american) but if you have time, make an account, some pictures from Greece are standing on the page!