So the 9th started off with more pulling garlic and blisters on my blisters, then entertaining the rest of the (still working) crew after I had my shower, and waiting for Terry to come pick me up.
Off to Grafton! Just the drive down alone left me with an awesome amount of new music to catch up to, thanks for all the blues-rock Terry :) More explanation about the areas we drove through as well, made for an interesting road trip, and a better understanding of the layout of the countryside we were travelling through. Had a good dinner and listened to more good music, and to my great surprise, I had mail! Birthday cards from the Netherlands and New Zealand. Didn't expect that.
I had already seen pictures of the house Terry & Chris lived in, but beeing there was a whole different experience altogether! A beautiful house - I love verandahs, escpecially if they go all the way around the house - and a beautiful area. Terry took Sam, Nikki and me for a walk around the land, through the bush and past Poison Creek, and after the little tour we had a go at fishing in the dam. Caught and gutted my first fish. Saw Sam & Nikki off to Sydney and then went for a swim with Terry at Minnie Beach. A quick tour of Grafton and a walk through the local Art Gallery and then back home and looking for a spot to stay in Sydney the next day.
Righty-oh! Off to Sydney - in for some serious driving! We don't drive back home, we just go to the shopping mall in comparison! 2 hour drive and a little break, starting around 8, and we got to Manly (just north of Sydney) at 4...From there we took the ferry down across the gap, and into Sydney. (Although it's the only way I've arrived in Sydney, I reckon it's the best, beautiful view of the Bridge and the Opera House).
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Boomerang Creek Farm - 2/9 november
Driving into the hills from Byron Bay towards Lismore. The sea in the distance and a marvellous amount of hills and valleys meeting me up ahead. Simply amazing.
I had arrived at a beautiful, small-scale, organic farm, with bushtoilets and a rainwater system, and my own little extended camper in which I could sleep the coming week. Met the whole family, and went out to watch Will play Aussi-tag (offseason rugby, no injuries).
First working day was spent digging out lillies, weeding and rearranging the plant-nursery. Replanting the lillies to reclaim the natural riverside flora, and after that prepared beds for tumeric. When Vanessa came back from work, and the kids from school, they took me out swimming at some waterfalls near them. Early to bed, because Will and Vanessa are up early - me as well, but not at 4:30...phew!
Next day more tumeric planting and growing blisters on my soft little computer hands. Started clearing the shed for the harvest as well, and did a 'testpull' of a hundred garlic plants to see in what condition they were. Listened to some raggea/ska in the evening on the new sound system which had an ipod input - had to try that of course!
On Saturday there's farmers market in Lismore, so we loaded up and went there. Had some time to walk into the town itself, quite big actually...watched the movie Rio with the kids in the afternoon, Will had trouble with the pump, but I couldn't be of much help there, had an awesome curry for birthday dinner and apple pie after.
Sunday Will dropped me off at Minjon Falls, at 8 o'clock in the morning, hiked down (2 ours) swam in the pool at the bottom - freezing cold - just as I got out people startted showing up, and I met more on the hike up (1 hour - sweating my ass off) and as I got back to the top the car park was full...perfect timing for my walk :) Caring for the tumeric in the afternoon and met Will's rugby team which came over for pizza party - pizza oven in the back of the garden, so home made stone oven pizzas for dinner!
Harvest started the next day at 7:30, been trimming garlic most of that day and to bed before 9, because we'll be doing the same tomorrow!
Got blisters on my fingers (yes, again) from pulling garlic - did a speedrun with Jason - it's not a race (knowing me, yes it is) then some more trimming, and then some more pulling. Phew! Last full day of harvest though, I'm being picked up the next day by Terry - turned out Terry & Chris had lived right across the street from Will and Vanessa, at the old postoffice in Corndale. It's a small world after all!
Amazing experience, the whole Boomerang Creek Farm made me feel part of the family (even the dog accepted me - no barking) and I was sad to leave this beautiful place. I'll be sure to go back when I have a chance!
I had arrived at a beautiful, small-scale, organic farm, with bushtoilets and a rainwater system, and my own little extended camper in which I could sleep the coming week. Met the whole family, and went out to watch Will play Aussi-tag (offseason rugby, no injuries).
First working day was spent digging out lillies, weeding and rearranging the plant-nursery. Replanting the lillies to reclaim the natural riverside flora, and after that prepared beds for tumeric. When Vanessa came back from work, and the kids from school, they took me out swimming at some waterfalls near them. Early to bed, because Will and Vanessa are up early - me as well, but not at 4:30...phew!
Next day more tumeric planting and growing blisters on my soft little computer hands. Started clearing the shed for the harvest as well, and did a 'testpull' of a hundred garlic plants to see in what condition they were. Listened to some raggea/ska in the evening on the new sound system which had an ipod input - had to try that of course!
On Saturday there's farmers market in Lismore, so we loaded up and went there. Had some time to walk into the town itself, quite big actually...watched the movie Rio with the kids in the afternoon, Will had trouble with the pump, but I couldn't be of much help there, had an awesome curry for birthday dinner and apple pie after.
Sunday Will dropped me off at Minjon Falls, at 8 o'clock in the morning, hiked down (2 ours) swam in the pool at the bottom - freezing cold - just as I got out people startted showing up, and I met more on the hike up (1 hour - sweating my ass off) and as I got back to the top the car park was full...perfect timing for my walk :) Caring for the tumeric in the afternoon and met Will's rugby team which came over for pizza party - pizza oven in the back of the garden, so home made stone oven pizzas for dinner!
Harvest started the next day at 7:30, been trimming garlic most of that day and to bed before 9, because we'll be doing the same tomorrow!
Got blisters on my fingers (yes, again) from pulling garlic - did a speedrun with Jason - it's not a race (knowing me, yes it is) then some more trimming, and then some more pulling. Phew! Last full day of harvest though, I'm being picked up the next day by Terry - turned out Terry & Chris had lived right across the street from Will and Vanessa, at the old postoffice in Corndale. It's a small world after all!
Amazing experience, the whole Boomerang Creek Farm made me feel part of the family (even the dog accepted me - no barking) and I was sad to leave this beautiful place. I'll be sure to go back when I have a chance!
Byron Bay - 31/1 November
After having beautiful weather pretty much the whole way through from Alice Springs to here, it was time for some rain. So the night before I left turned out to be storm. Beautiful storm.
Next day was still grey and dreary, but that doesn't matter sitting in a bus. Drove through a town called Miami, and when I got to Byron it was beautiful weather again. Added an extra hour to the clock, as I had arrived in New South Wales (time travelling!).
Met up with an Englishman, Sam, and walked out to the lighthouse (beautiful walk btw) and the most eastern point of Australia. Turned out Sam was an avid surfer, so he was checking the surf constantly. Good thing though, because that ended up in free tips on when to go surf, and what to do while surfing. Next day rented a board and headed out - good surf - a bit too good for this starter on his long board, but nice for Englishmen catching barrels until they rip their foot with one of the fins. Took my longboard to a different beach, perfect surf, long and small waves, perfect for longboarding.
Next day was still grey and dreary, but that doesn't matter sitting in a bus. Drove through a town called Miami, and when I got to Byron it was beautiful weather again. Added an extra hour to the clock, as I had arrived in New South Wales (time travelling!).
Met up with an Englishman, Sam, and walked out to the lighthouse (beautiful walk btw) and the most eastern point of Australia. Turned out Sam was an avid surfer, so he was checking the surf constantly. Good thing though, because that ended up in free tips on when to go surf, and what to do while surfing. Next day rented a board and headed out - good surf - a bit too good for this starter on his long board, but nice for Englishmen catching barrels until they rip their foot with one of the fins. Took my longboard to a different beach, perfect surf, long and small waves, perfect for longboarding.
Surfers Paradise - 29/31 October
From Brisbane down to Surfers Paradise, and as the Lonely Planet already said - Surfers don't go there much, and the paradise is a long way from there. Nice to see it though. Interesting experience for starters. Walked into the supermarket which had pepernoten and hagelslag, and the city centre had all the shops you can think of. Stayed at the YHA which was out of town, in Marine Cove, to get back to Surfers was about half an hour to three quarters of an hour walk along the beach, so I did that a couple of times :)
Next to having an outrageous amount of holiday/family parks, fortunately there's more to do in Surfers, like the Federation Walk, which was a walk up the Spit/Main Beach (7.5km return trip) Once at the end of the split you get a nice view of Surfers from the end of the jetty. Was bloody hot walking there, and turned out to be the main 'dog' beach, but fun nonetheless!
Next to having an outrageous amount of holiday/family parks, fortunately there's more to do in Surfers, like the Federation Walk, which was a walk up the Spit/Main Beach (7.5km return trip) Once at the end of the split you get a nice view of Surfers from the end of the jetty. Was bloody hot walking there, and turned out to be the main 'dog' beach, but fun nonetheless!
Brisvegas - 25/28 oct
Next stop Brisbane - also known as Brisvegas...didn't see much of the partying though. So what did I do?
Well....
First two hours on the plane, which were spent asleep - always good. Stayed at Chill Backpackers, I got dragged in by the view over the city, but pretty much all the backpackers were next to each other, so the view would have been pretty much the same from every hostel there, oh well. Nice 'cinema-room' here though, so watched Gladiator and went to bed after.
Breakfast on a rooftop with a view of the city is always nice. After that walked through the botanical gardens - including swamp - and the Art Gallery. Modern Art Gallery as well, but half was being redone, so not much to see there. Didn't plan a lot for that night, but ended up doing a tour of Brisbane with a German girl, Tina. Trying to get an apple, which were way too expensive, we ended up with free Travellers Pies...how about that. Wouldn't give us an apple, but meaty snacks no problem...
On to finding Desktop Magazine, which featured an interview with The International Office - including a picture of Emmy in there as well :P gotta get me a copy of that! took me a while to find a shop which sold it though...
Well....
First two hours on the plane, which were spent asleep - always good. Stayed at Chill Backpackers, I got dragged in by the view over the city, but pretty much all the backpackers were next to each other, so the view would have been pretty much the same from every hostel there, oh well. Nice 'cinema-room' here though, so watched Gladiator and went to bed after.
Breakfast on a rooftop with a view of the city is always nice. After that walked through the botanical gardens - including swamp - and the Art Gallery. Modern Art Gallery as well, but half was being redone, so not much to see there. Didn't plan a lot for that night, but ended up doing a tour of Brisbane with a German girl, Tina. Trying to get an apple, which were way too expensive, we ended up with free Travellers Pies...how about that. Wouldn't give us an apple, but meaty snacks no problem...
On to finding Desktop Magazine, which featured an interview with The International Office - including a picture of Emmy in there as well :P gotta get me a copy of that! took me a while to find a shop which sold it though...
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Adelaide Adventures - 21/25 Oct
Up at 8, in time for free pancakes. Changed to another hostel, MyPlace, bit cramped, and have to get used again to new people and find a new group/set of friends. Met up with the tour-group though, and walked along the river, through the botanical gardens, the main shopping area (including Mall's Balls) and watched the rugby 3rd place game, put the French (from the tour) on the bus to Melbourne, and said my farewells to the rest of the group.
Spent the next day in the museum and the art gallery - more specifically in the Aboriginal section of the museum and then a little time in a Saatchi gallery. Met Matthias, a nice german guy, who shared his sandwiches dinner with me (shops were closed when I got there - good shopping on weekends) and then learned two new card games with a bunch of the people from the hostel, English, Belgians, Israelians and the German guy. nice relaxing evening, and a good night's sleep (compared to yesterday - you'll have to ask for details)
Headed out to the Solar Challenge - racing on solarpower - saw the NUON and Universiteit Twente cars :P together with Koen and Thomas (the belgians) and Matthias, and then on to the Oval, cricket match was a bit expensive though, so walked around a bit longer instead of watching the game. Went to the Sportsbar round dinnertime to watch the Rugby World Cup finals - go All Blacks!! and then another 3 hours of playing cards...how else do you spend your evenings?
Next day was time for free dinner - yup - free dinner. Play a tune for a pizza at the Dukes' :) so I played a song and got a pizza, talked to Tiffany, the barmaid and her gayfriend Brad :P hung out with them until the bar closed at 11...it's a monday today :) Got a lot of free beer as well...that's gonna be wonderful tomorrow-morning...
Spent the next day in the museum and the art gallery - more specifically in the Aboriginal section of the museum and then a little time in a Saatchi gallery. Met Matthias, a nice german guy, who shared his sandwiches dinner with me (shops were closed when I got there - good shopping on weekends) and then learned two new card games with a bunch of the people from the hostel, English, Belgians, Israelians and the German guy. nice relaxing evening, and a good night's sleep (compared to yesterday - you'll have to ask for details)
Headed out to the Solar Challenge - racing on solarpower - saw the NUON and Universiteit Twente cars :P together with Koen and Thomas (the belgians) and Matthias, and then on to the Oval, cricket match was a bit expensive though, so walked around a bit longer instead of watching the game. Went to the Sportsbar round dinnertime to watch the Rugby World Cup finals - go All Blacks!! and then another 3 hours of playing cards...how else do you spend your evenings?
Next day was time for free dinner - yup - free dinner. Play a tune for a pizza at the Dukes' :) so I played a song and got a pizza, talked to Tiffany, the barmaid and her gayfriend Brad :P hung out with them until the bar closed at 11...it's a monday today :) Got a lot of free beer as well...that's gonna be wonderful tomorrow-morning...
Alice to Adelaide Adventure Tours part III - 19/20 Oct
Can't believe how fast a week can go!
Headed out to a local reserve to spot yellow-footed rock wallabies. Awesome, they're just sunbathing on the rock. Then hiked around Wilpena Pound in the afternoon, and then on to Quorn, where we were staying the night. Nice pictures of old trainwrecks and the station, which I'll post later.
Next day was an ode to...me! nah, not really, but we're climbing the Dutchman Stern :) forgot to take a picture of the iron sign saying "Dutchman" so I'll have to go back there some day. On the peak we took our last 'group picture' and after that were in for a long drive to Adelaide. Couldn't miss that though, increasing amount of traffic lights, and traffic jams...crazy. Put me back in the outback. Had dinner with the group at the Cumby and then went out to the Duke of York, where live music and a DJ were playing, nice goodbye-party. First night being up that late in a while though...2.30AM and up the next day because I wanted to go and explore Adelaide!
Headed out to a local reserve to spot yellow-footed rock wallabies. Awesome, they're just sunbathing on the rock. Then hiked around Wilpena Pound in the afternoon, and then on to Quorn, where we were staying the night. Nice pictures of old trainwrecks and the station, which I'll post later.
Next day was an ode to...me! nah, not really, but we're climbing the Dutchman Stern :) forgot to take a picture of the iron sign saying "Dutchman" so I'll have to go back there some day. On the peak we took our last 'group picture' and after that were in for a long drive to Adelaide. Couldn't miss that though, increasing amount of traffic lights, and traffic jams...crazy. Put me back in the outback. Had dinner with the group at the Cumby and then went out to the Duke of York, where live music and a DJ were playing, nice goodbye-party. First night being up that late in a while though...2.30AM and up the next day because I wanted to go and explore Adelaide!
Alice to Adelaide Adventure Tours part II - 17/18 Oct
For starters; this is an awesome group I'm travelling with. Everyone gets along, has fun, and it's a bunch of completely random people. Really cool that it just works that way :)
Back to the tour - we were staying in Marla, drove down to Coober Pedy, famous in Australia for its Opal mining. Got to see the national symbol of South Australia; the south australian pea, and trust me, it looks nothing like a dutch pea. Another awesome part of Coober Pedy is that because it might freeze in winternights, and gets up to 50C in the summer all the houses are built below the ground. From cavelike bunks from the old days to huge luxurious villas - they've got them all!
We did a tour through the Opal Mines, and after that got to 'noodle' around for some opals ourselves - harder then I thought it would be. Searching through huge loads of rockdust for a little glimmer. After that went in to see a "kangaroo-daycare-centre" with cute little joeys and big kangaroos licking your arm (cuz you're salty, not because they like you). Then on to the local pub - play foosball and airhockey, and planned that we'd have a reunion someday, somewhere - Amsterdam perhaps? :P
Spent most of the next day driving down to Flinders Range. Around noon past a huge salt lake, where there have been rocket tests as well, but now it was mainly just sightseeing. Took some fun perspective-distorted pictures, and were just in awe of how big and empty this was - and snuck out some red sand to take back home as well...sorry, couldn't resist. Spent the evening doing "truth or dare" and getting a few good laughs at that.
Back to the tour - we were staying in Marla, drove down to Coober Pedy, famous in Australia for its Opal mining. Got to see the national symbol of South Australia; the south australian pea, and trust me, it looks nothing like a dutch pea. Another awesome part of Coober Pedy is that because it might freeze in winternights, and gets up to 50C in the summer all the houses are built below the ground. From cavelike bunks from the old days to huge luxurious villas - they've got them all!
We did a tour through the Opal Mines, and after that got to 'noodle' around for some opals ourselves - harder then I thought it would be. Searching through huge loads of rockdust for a little glimmer. After that went in to see a "kangaroo-daycare-centre" with cute little joeys and big kangaroos licking your arm (cuz you're salty, not because they like you). Then on to the local pub - play foosball and airhockey, and planned that we'd have a reunion someday, somewhere - Amsterdam perhaps? :P
Spent most of the next day driving down to Flinders Range. Around noon past a huge salt lake, where there have been rocket tests as well, but now it was mainly just sightseeing. Took some fun perspective-distorted pictures, and were just in awe of how big and empty this was - and snuck out some red sand to take back home as well...sorry, couldn't resist. Spent the evening doing "truth or dare" and getting a few good laughs at that.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Alice to Adelaide Adventure Tours part I - 14/16 Oct
6:15 Start of the tour! Drove out to Kata Tjuta - the Olga's as they were known by the Europeans, walked around there, pretty impressing - it's about the same height as Uluru (Ayer's Rock) but way bigger, but less well known I guess. Beautiful place to be though! After that drove out to see the sunset at Uluru, which was pretty neat as well, guess everyone has about 300 similar pictures of the Rock now though.
So the next morning we wake up at 4:15, to get everyone ready to be at sunrise in time. Man, incredible how bloody busy it was. Reckon if you're small you would've missed the huge rock because of all the people standing in front of you looking at it! After sunrise did the 'base-walk' which gives you a lot of different views of Uluru besides from the 'regular' postcard look. Had an aboriginal guided tour as well, interesting explanation about special cultural events taking place at Uluru, giving more understanding as to why it's special to them.
On to Kings Canyon! Raced Sam (yet another crazy frenchman) up "heart attack hill" - the first 50 steps at least...then we were both done for :P another good walk, with beautiful views out into the valley, and with remnants of the old inland sea visible in the rock (you could see the waves, seriously) and visited the Garden of Eden...doesn't look anything like I'd expected it to. ;) After that a long drive to Marla, allowing us to play a nice little game of "Guess the Movie Soundtrack" - got in third...I hate losing, still...
Had an awesome couple of nights in swags (rainproof-australian-sleeping bags) sleeping under the stars, waking up by an annoying light sometimes (yes, it was the moon). One of the tourguides (when staying with other group in the same place) brought a guitar, so I got to play a moonlight serenade, with a huge group of listeners whose faces I never saw. Pretty fun. Met some of them the next day; "See that guy - he was the one playing the guitar". Lol
So the next morning we wake up at 4:15, to get everyone ready to be at sunrise in time. Man, incredible how bloody busy it was. Reckon if you're small you would've missed the huge rock because of all the people standing in front of you looking at it! After sunrise did the 'base-walk' which gives you a lot of different views of Uluru besides from the 'regular' postcard look. Had an aboriginal guided tour as well, interesting explanation about special cultural events taking place at Uluru, giving more understanding as to why it's special to them.
On to Kings Canyon! Raced Sam (yet another crazy frenchman) up "heart attack hill" - the first 50 steps at least...then we were both done for :P another good walk, with beautiful views out into the valley, and with remnants of the old inland sea visible in the rock (you could see the waves, seriously) and visited the Garden of Eden...doesn't look anything like I'd expected it to. ;) After that a long drive to Marla, allowing us to play a nice little game of "Guess the Movie Soundtrack" - got in third...I hate losing, still...
Had an awesome couple of nights in swags (rainproof-australian-sleeping bags) sleeping under the stars, waking up by an annoying light sometimes (yes, it was the moon). One of the tourguides (when staying with other group in the same place) brought a guitar, so I got to play a moonlight serenade, with a huge group of listeners whose faces I never saw. Pretty fun. Met some of them the next day; "See that guy - he was the one playing the guitar". Lol
Bloody desert, bloody 39C - 12/13 October
So I flew out to Alice Springs after staying with Max and Dorrit for another few nights in Perth.
Walking to the original Alice Spring in the 39 degrees heat, along dry riverbeds, drinking about 3 litres of water on a return trip of 8kms, and then back along ANZAC hill - comemorating the Aussies and NZers that fought in the world wars. So a nice little lizard, a dry spring, some historical sites, and after dinner had a nice stroll through the centre where a little market was taking place. Tomorrow up early for the trip down to Adelaide with Adventure Tours...sounds promising!
Walking to the original Alice Spring in the 39 degrees heat, along dry riverbeds, drinking about 3 litres of water on a return trip of 8kms, and then back along ANZAC hill - comemorating the Aussies and NZers that fought in the world wars. So a nice little lizard, a dry spring, some historical sites, and after dinner had a nice stroll through the centre where a little market was taking place. Tomorrow up early for the trip down to Adelaide with Adventure Tours...sounds promising!
the southwest part III; Manjimup - 4/9 oct
So back up to Manjimup, one night in the hostel and then on to Fonty's Pool for a week of WWOOFing.
Got picked up by Kelly, and together with her husband, Jeremy, she runs the caravan park. They were fixing up 'The Lodge'. Spent the first day raking the driveway - they don't come that big back home - trust me, the driveway was huge. 8 Ute-loads of leaflitter later it was starting to look clean....
Found a guitar in the corner of the room, so I got to play some songs - completely out of tune of course, but hey, I'm not complaining, it's a guitar!! Spent two days doing odd jobs, which was perfectly fine, and then some woodchopping - get a nice workout. Playing monopoly (card game version) a few nights in a row, pretty cool game! Stephan and Carlie taught me how to play a bit of football as well, nice local culture experience :P
This was followed by one day of "I can't do anything right" - try to cut metal, you burn your pants. Mess around with asbestos, get covered in rat-shit, and some more...
Next day Jeremy gave me the car and a surfboard and send me out to Salmon Beach, to see if there was any surf. Had a beautiful drive through forests, and a lot of rain on the road, so no surfing, but a really nice trip and viewpoints out into the rain.
Got to play Lego with Travis (Kelly & Jeremy's 5y-old) - under the guise of 'babysitting'. In the evening watched a movie called Madmen about the Kimberly and people living there - local movie, Sundance Festival winner, pretty interesting. Next morning Kelly and Stephan ran for the local cancer-fund-raiser. I'm working on the roof of the lodge today, getting out the rivets so Jeremy and Stephan can get that off to replace the chimney later in the week. Midday break watching the Wallabies beat the Springboks (Rugby) and watched the Bucket List in the evening.
Next day Kelly dropped me off in Manjimup, got a goodbye hug from Travis, after he did some surfing on my backpack (it was on the ground, don't worry, he was safe). Bus trip back up to Perth for the rest of the day.
Got picked up by Kelly, and together with her husband, Jeremy, she runs the caravan park. They were fixing up 'The Lodge'. Spent the first day raking the driveway - they don't come that big back home - trust me, the driveway was huge. 8 Ute-loads of leaflitter later it was starting to look clean....
Found a guitar in the corner of the room, so I got to play some songs - completely out of tune of course, but hey, I'm not complaining, it's a guitar!! Spent two days doing odd jobs, which was perfectly fine, and then some woodchopping - get a nice workout. Playing monopoly (card game version) a few nights in a row, pretty cool game! Stephan and Carlie taught me how to play a bit of football as well, nice local culture experience :P
This was followed by one day of "I can't do anything right" - try to cut metal, you burn your pants. Mess around with asbestos, get covered in rat-shit, and some more...
Next day Jeremy gave me the car and a surfboard and send me out to Salmon Beach, to see if there was any surf. Had a beautiful drive through forests, and a lot of rain on the road, so no surfing, but a really nice trip and viewpoints out into the rain.
Got to play Lego with Travis (Kelly & Jeremy's 5y-old) - under the guise of 'babysitting'. In the evening watched a movie called Madmen about the Kimberly and people living there - local movie, Sundance Festival winner, pretty interesting. Next morning Kelly and Stephan ran for the local cancer-fund-raiser. I'm working on the roof of the lodge today, getting out the rivets so Jeremy and Stephan can get that off to replace the chimney later in the week. Midday break watching the Wallabies beat the Springboks (Rugby) and watched the Bucket List in the evening.
Next day Kelly dropped me off in Manjimup, got a goodbye hug from Travis, after he did some surfing on my backpack (it was on the ground, don't worry, he was safe). Bus trip back up to Perth for the rest of the day.
Monday, October 24, 2011
the Southwest part II; Pemberton - 30 sept/2 oct
On to Pemberton! YHA fully booked, so I'm really happy I got to take Max & Dorrit's tent. Got a beautiful spot next to the creek in the Caravan Park so can't complain. Went out to make the most of my day, and climed the Gloucester Tree; 56m high, steel pikes out of the side, and go. Down is no problem, and the view was stunning, just getting up there though...
Hoped to walk to the Bicentennial Tree the next day, but that turned out to be a bit too far though. So instead walked up to the Cascades - walk was long enough. Past enormous flowering yellow bushes which were swarming with bees - almost like standing next to a wall of sound. That's another 22k's to add to the walking count today. Realised today I've been travelling for a month as well. Celebrating that on my own in the pub :)
Next leg; RAIN! BLOODY RAIN! and a lot at that. Turned out the seams of the tent weren't all that strong anymore, so some stuff was wet. Rain all day, put a plastic bag in there hoping that would stop the most rain. Met two cyclists, Dutch, of course, and when I went for a walk later on ran in to a lady with a weird accent (for the people that know her - she sounded like Mevr. Vissers) turned out this lady was from somewhere in Brabant. Switched to 'dutch' and when I left her she said "HOUDOE HE!!" - she had been in Australia for over 22 years. Guess 'houdoe' does stick...
Hoped to walk to the Bicentennial Tree the next day, but that turned out to be a bit too far though. So instead walked up to the Cascades - walk was long enough. Past enormous flowering yellow bushes which were swarming with bees - almost like standing next to a wall of sound. That's another 22k's to add to the walking count today. Realised today I've been travelling for a month as well. Celebrating that on my own in the pub :)
Next leg; RAIN! BLOODY RAIN! and a lot at that. Turned out the seams of the tent weren't all that strong anymore, so some stuff was wet. Rain all day, put a plastic bag in there hoping that would stop the most rain. Met two cyclists, Dutch, of course, and when I went for a walk later on ran in to a lady with a weird accent (for the people that know her - she sounded like Mevr. Vissers) turned out this lady was from somewhere in Brabant. Switched to 'dutch' and when I left her she said "HOUDOE HE!!" - she had been in Australia for over 22 years. Guess 'houdoe' does stick...
the Southwest part I; Walpole - 26/29 sept
Took the bus down the Southwest, arrived late in the afternoon in Walpole. I wasn't sure I was actually there, because it looked like a reaaaally small town - turns out it was; somewhere along 500 people...
Compared to Perth a total change of weather and surroundings as well, rain, colder, and trees everywhere, drove through some amazing scenery coming down here! Next day went for a nice walk - 18+ km. First time I explored the Bibbelmun track, which leads from Perth to Albany, with stops every day for people to camp - I'm just doing pieces, but it's a beautiful track to walk along (which I found out soon after I started) went down to 'Sandy Beach' (need I say more) and then to 'Rest Point Jetty' watch some pelicans and the view of Walpole across the inlet. Then back up, through town along two other jettys and then back along the heritage trail into town.
Met up with a lovely 'old' Canadian couple, who were planning to head to the Valley of the Giants the following day - lucky me, I get to go along - next time I'm definitily getting a car when I'm going there, because there is so much to explore here, but just impossible to get to some parts if you dont have a (4x4) car. Saw the Valley of the Giants and the Giant Tingle Tree, pretty impressive! Turned out I was the only one in the hostel that night though, so it seemed kind of lonely, but the 'lord & lady' supplied me with 'whiskey & internet' that makes for an alright evening, right!?
Next walk was even longer, harder - and more fun. 23 km. Walked to Mt. Clare and had no view from there. Nice sitting out on a rock-outcrop though, and enjoying the sun for a bit though. Saw some nice birds, and the Nornal (black snake) from which the neighbouring town's name is derived; Nornalup (place of the Black Snake). Sunset at the jetty was awesome, definitely happy I didn't miss that. (Wait for the pictures before you disagree)
Compared to Perth a total change of weather and surroundings as well, rain, colder, and trees everywhere, drove through some amazing scenery coming down here! Next day went for a nice walk - 18+ km. First time I explored the Bibbelmun track, which leads from Perth to Albany, with stops every day for people to camp - I'm just doing pieces, but it's a beautiful track to walk along (which I found out soon after I started) went down to 'Sandy Beach' (need I say more) and then to 'Rest Point Jetty' watch some pelicans and the view of Walpole across the inlet. Then back up, through town along two other jettys and then back along the heritage trail into town.
Met up with a lovely 'old' Canadian couple, who were planning to head to the Valley of the Giants the following day - lucky me, I get to go along - next time I'm definitily getting a car when I'm going there, because there is so much to explore here, but just impossible to get to some parts if you dont have a (4x4) car. Saw the Valley of the Giants and the Giant Tingle Tree, pretty impressive! Turned out I was the only one in the hostel that night though, so it seemed kind of lonely, but the 'lord & lady' supplied me with 'whiskey & internet' that makes for an alright evening, right!?
Next walk was even longer, harder - and more fun. 23 km. Walked to Mt. Clare and had no view from there. Nice sitting out on a rock-outcrop though, and enjoying the sun for a bit though. Saw some nice birds, and the Nornal (black snake) from which the neighbouring town's name is derived; Nornalup (place of the Black Snake). Sunset at the jetty was awesome, definitely happy I didn't miss that. (Wait for the pictures before you disagree)
Pinnacles - 24th September
Max & Dorrit took me on another trip up to the Pinnacles Desert. Limestone pinnacles that are left in a desert area after all the other soil and sand has been blown away. Just a little bit inland, you can see the sea while you're there, and huge white sanddunes as well. The pinnacles desert is yellow though, pretty amazing to see all that contrast. Saw my first emus on this trip as well, spotted beside the road. Also visited a self-proclaimed settlement living completely isolated, surviving on rainwater, have their own little community, crazy stuff. And of course, when you're that close to the beach, you might as well drive your car over it, right? Right! A sunset dinner at Lancelin beach to conclude the wonderful one day trip.
Right...
Ok, I'm sorry...
it's been waaaaay to long since I've put anything on the blog. This is due to me travelling and doing something everyday and that way not having a lot of time to put stuff online, and all the computers I find aren't what I call 'high-tech'. So adding those two together it ends up at this sucks. :D
I'm gonna try and start to update a.s.a.p., probably just text first, but that'll give you a good idea of what I've been up to, and then I'll try and put the pictures on there...that might be the start of November, but that's already pretty close...cool? cool!
it's been waaaaay to long since I've put anything on the blog. This is due to me travelling and doing something everyday and that way not having a lot of time to put stuff online, and all the computers I find aren't what I call 'high-tech'. So adding those two together it ends up at this sucks. :D
I'm gonna try and start to update a.s.a.p., probably just text first, but that'll give you a good idea of what I've been up to, and then I'll try and put the pictures on there...that might be the start of November, but that's already pretty close...cool? cool!
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Fly by Fremantle - 20 Sept
Spent a nice (but awfully quiet) day in Fremantle. Guess I can blame it on the weather and it being during the week, not as much people as I expected. Oh well.
Started off in the maritime museum - where I found an exhibition with thanks to the Rotterdam, Den Haag and some other dutch places, because they were lending stuff which was on display...travel across the whole freakin globe, and you still see the same stuff...nah, just kidding. It was well worth it, especially the remainders of the Batavia (Dutch VOC ship). Had lunch at Little Creatures Brewery, that was good beer! I at least had the decency to go to the museum first, the old folks on the train went straight to the beer. Guess they've had their fair share of history already.
Toured the jail - impressive, strange, haunting and beautiful all at once. The size of it, the feeling you get while you're in there, the gallows and the paintings in there...walked around the rest of town for a bit, reckon I should go there with good weather during a weekend - sounds more promising. Oh right, get this; on the way back I saw two old men looking into a XXX-shop, having a really serious discussion by the looks of it, and I hear one saying to the other - it runs on three AAA batteries...
Enjoyed the sunset on the way back in the train, all the other people were staring at me because I got up and took a picture of it...guess they didn't realize what they were missing/neglecting
Started off in the maritime museum - where I found an exhibition with thanks to the Rotterdam, Den Haag and some other dutch places, because they were lending stuff which was on display...travel across the whole freakin globe, and you still see the same stuff...nah, just kidding. It was well worth it, especially the remainders of the Batavia (Dutch VOC ship). Had lunch at Little Creatures Brewery, that was good beer! I at least had the decency to go to the museum first, the old folks on the train went straight to the beer. Guess they've had their fair share of history already.
Toured the jail - impressive, strange, haunting and beautiful all at once. The size of it, the feeling you get while you're in there, the gallows and the paintings in there...walked around the rest of town for a bit, reckon I should go there with good weather during a weekend - sounds more promising. Oh right, get this; on the way back I saw two old men looking into a XXX-shop, having a really serious discussion by the looks of it, and I hear one saying to the other - it runs on three AAA batteries...
Enjoyed the sunset on the way back in the train, all the other people were staring at me because I got up and took a picture of it...guess they didn't realize what they were missing/neglecting
Walkabout WA - 12/18 Sept
So after having seen some more of Perth, getting to know the city, botanical gardens, a nice day out cycling along the beach and looking where I want to go after Perth it was already time for the next road trip.
We started of on Max's birthday, getting chili/chocolate cake! Then a whole day of driving to end up at Hyden Rock, with it's famous Wave Rock. Next morning walked around the Wave Rock, and Mulka's Cave (old Aboriginal cave paintings) and then on to Southern Cross for the next night' stop.
Driving to Kalgoorlie after that, visited one of the pumping-stations that transports water from the coast (Perth) over almost 500km's to get water to Kalgoorlie...
then again, they do have a huge dig-out there, where they mine gold, called the Super Pit. Quite mind-blowing, and by the time it's done it'll be half a kilometer deep. Mining machines with fuel-tanks of 12000 odd liters, with a max speed of 2.5km/h. Spent the end of the afternoon watching the Wallabies (Australians) at the World Cup Rugby - way better then watching soccer in my honest opinion...
The drive back - just like the pipeline, almost 500 km's, but this time we went west across the Great Eastern Highway, which does speed up your trip a little. After having good weather up until now, the sky literally burst open, heavy rain and big gusts of wind. At least it explains where all the flowers get their water from.
We started of on Max's birthday, getting chili/chocolate cake! Then a whole day of driving to end up at Hyden Rock, with it's famous Wave Rock. Next morning walked around the Wave Rock, and Mulka's Cave (old Aboriginal cave paintings) and then on to Southern Cross for the next night' stop.
Driving to Kalgoorlie after that, visited one of the pumping-stations that transports water from the coast (Perth) over almost 500km's to get water to Kalgoorlie...
then again, they do have a huge dig-out there, where they mine gold, called the Super Pit. Quite mind-blowing, and by the time it's done it'll be half a kilometer deep. Mining machines with fuel-tanks of 12000 odd liters, with a max speed of 2.5km/h. Spent the end of the afternoon watching the Wallabies (Australians) at the World Cup Rugby - way better then watching soccer in my honest opinion...
The drive back - just like the pipeline, almost 500 km's, but this time we went west across the Great Eastern Highway, which does speed up your trip a little. After having good weather up until now, the sky literally burst open, heavy rain and big gusts of wind. At least it explains where all the flowers get their water from.
Promenading through Perth - 07/11 Sept
Right, so I have arrived in Perth. Took a shuttle into the city, stopped in front of a big office building and met Max. Dorrit and Max are family of mine living in Perth, and they were so kind to take me in for a while during my stay in the west of Australia. Turns out they had some weekend trips planned for the upcoming two weeks, so I had the luck of joining them :)
Fixed an Aussie phone number, and walked along the beach the next day, took the wrong bus heading back, so I got picked up. Next day was time to explore the city! Started with the Art Gallery and Museum, both really interesting - preferred the art gallery though :P Then did the 'Lonely Planet-walk' along all sorts of sight, including some nice brick-building and some pretty neat architecture from the 60's and of course the bell tower. Then on to Kings Park for a view of the city from the top of the hill, and that evening actually left on my first trip into the Outback!!
Two day trip via Toodyay, Dowerin and Wyalkatchem, lots of wildflowers to see all around, not just red sand, but fields of yellow, pink and white flowers. Amazing!
Visited Wongan Hills and New Norcia as well, and headed back via Yanchep Park, taking a peek at the local koalas and kangaroos. (Kangaroos taste good btw...)
<- Nice picture eh!? they built the friggin thing in the 1960s! How's that for architecture. And I love the way the shading makes a whole new pattern on the window itself...all sorts of blue...
Oh, and before I forget - click any of the pictures to go to the corresponding album - there's more pictures in most - Singapore & Seoul are in the same group, due to my mess-up but the rest should be sorted :)
Fixed an Aussie phone number, and walked along the beach the next day, took the wrong bus heading back, so I got picked up. Next day was time to explore the city! Started with the Art Gallery and Museum, both really interesting - preferred the art gallery though :P Then did the 'Lonely Planet-walk' along all sorts of sight, including some nice brick-building and some pretty neat architecture from the 60's and of course the bell tower. Then on to Kings Park for a view of the city from the top of the hill, and that evening actually left on my first trip into the Outback!!
Two day trip via Toodyay, Dowerin and Wyalkatchem, lots of wildflowers to see all around, not just red sand, but fields of yellow, pink and white flowers. Amazing!
Visited Wongan Hills and New Norcia as well, and headed back via Yanchep Park, taking a peek at the local koalas and kangaroos. (Kangaroos taste good btw...)
<- Nice picture eh!? they built the friggin thing in the 1960s! How's that for architecture. And I love the way the shading makes a whole new pattern on the window itself...all sorts of blue...
Oh, and before I forget - click any of the pictures to go to the corresponding album - there's more pictures in most - Singapore & Seoul are in the same group, due to my mess-up but the rest should be sorted :)
Sightseeing in Singapore - 03/07 Sept
Alright, arrived at Singapore safely!
Saw this airport once, coming back from Indonesia to Holland, was still exactly the same as in my memories. Fun :)
Oh well, got in line to get a cab, because apparently there's about a 100 people trying to get a cab in the middle of the night from the airport into Singapore city center...I got the address I was supposed to go from Jess, but the taxi-driver didn't seem to speak too much English, so I ended up in the parking garage, exactly as predicted. Good luck finding the entrance - thanks cabguy!! Warm welcome by Sean and Jessica and then off to bed, seeing as it was in the middle of the night and I was still trying to neglect jet-lag :)
The following days were all well spent with a flurry of activities, starting off with a bushwalk through the Singaporian rainforest (no mosquitoes, and in the middle of the city) including monkey-attacks, giant lizards, swaying bridges and a dinner on the side of the river with Chinese lanterns all around. And that's just ONE day...
Spent the next day discovering Chinatown with Jess, and the day after exploring Little India (both suburbs), gotta love the diversity they have around here, all sorts of temples and religions, even art-deco buildings, and monkeys, monkeys :)
On to botanical gardens, the Merlion (the national symbol of Singapore) and a Dali-exhibit in a crashed UFO (well it sure looks like one...) When it was dark up to the 41st floor to take some pictures of the skyline, and then off to bed, as the taxi would be waiting on me at 4:15 the following morning - which it wasn't so I called a new one. Was in time for my flight though :)
Saw this airport once, coming back from Indonesia to Holland, was still exactly the same as in my memories. Fun :)
Oh well, got in line to get a cab, because apparently there's about a 100 people trying to get a cab in the middle of the night from the airport into Singapore city center...I got the address I was supposed to go from Jess, but the taxi-driver didn't seem to speak too much English, so I ended up in the parking garage, exactly as predicted. Good luck finding the entrance - thanks cabguy!! Warm welcome by Sean and Jessica and then off to bed, seeing as it was in the middle of the night and I was still trying to neglect jet-lag :)
The following days were all well spent with a flurry of activities, starting off with a bushwalk through the Singaporian rainforest (no mosquitoes, and in the middle of the city) including monkey-attacks, giant lizards, swaying bridges and a dinner on the side of the river with Chinese lanterns all around. And that's just ONE day...
Spent the next day discovering Chinatown with Jess, and the day after exploring Little India (both suburbs), gotta love the diversity they have around here, all sorts of temples and religions, even art-deco buildings, and monkeys, monkeys :)
On to botanical gardens, the Merlion (the national symbol of Singapore) and a Dali-exhibit in a crashed UFO (well it sure looks like one...) When it was dark up to the 41st floor to take some pictures of the skyline, and then off to bed, as the taxi would be waiting on me at 4:15 the following morning - which it wasn't so I called a new one. Was in time for my flight though :)
Seoul's got soul...and lots of people - 02 SEPT
So I'll start of with a bit of backtracking...
I left Amsterdam for my leg of the trip heading out to Seoul, South-Korea. I spent a day there, but didn't feel like hanging around the airport terminal for 12 hours. Luckily there are a lot of 'one-day-transfers' in Seoul, so they have one day tours prepared for ya! How convenient!
Had a nice little tour group with which I visited the biggest Buddhist temple in Seoul, one of the palaces, a nice market street with all sorts of stuff for sale, had lunch in a small restaurant, typical South Korean meal (don't hear me complaining, yum) and a newly designed 'river' which ran through the center of the city. Strange to see there's pretty much only highrises here, but then again, this one city needs to hold more people than the whole of the Netherlands...go figure...
back on the airport I crashed (hadn't really slept much, was trying to prevent a jet-lag) and when I woke up I could walk into the next plane taking me to Singapore!
I left Amsterdam for my leg of the trip heading out to Seoul, South-Korea. I spent a day there, but didn't feel like hanging around the airport terminal for 12 hours. Luckily there are a lot of 'one-day-transfers' in Seoul, so they have one day tours prepared for ya! How convenient!
Had a nice little tour group with which I visited the biggest Buddhist temple in Seoul, one of the palaces, a nice market street with all sorts of stuff for sale, had lunch in a small restaurant, typical South Korean meal (don't hear me complaining, yum) and a newly designed 'river' which ran through the center of the city. Strange to see there's pretty much only highrises here, but then again, this one city needs to hold more people than the whole of the Netherlands...go figure...
back on the airport I crashed (hadn't really slept much, was trying to prevent a jet-lag) and when I woke up I could walk into the next plane taking me to Singapore!
Right...
So this will be the spot for people to catch up with my adventure while I'm abroad. I'll put it in English though, seeing as that's what I'm speaking most of the time while I'm writing this. Due to the fact that my camera-battery is out, I'll have to wait with the posts with pictures, but this will at least give a set-up for what's about to come! (I've got some catching up to do - but it's raining, so that'll be ok) Enjoy
Oh, in the meantime - you might as well check out my website with 'work' on it.
Me, Designing
Cheers!
Oh, in the meantime - you might as well check out my website with 'work' on it.
Me, Designing
Cheers!
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