Well, the week after the weekend where I left off last time was my first week of uni. It was quite confusing because the campus is a lot bigger than I'm used to and I wasn't registered or enrolled for one of my classes, and ended up changing another one as well. However, I made it through the week and the next weekend was Mardi Gras. Apparently Sydney Mardi Gras is even better than the one in New Orleans. I don't know how New Orleans is, but the parade was great! Floats and floats full of eccentrically dressed gays and lesbians. Lucie, Linda and I bought these fluorescent pink tops (it seemed to be the thing to do) but it was so cold we ended up putting loads of clothes on top.
I then had another week of uni, but I won't bore you with all too much. I figured out all my classes and my timetable by that time, and I am pretty happy with my classes. I had to buy a bunch of books that were quite expensive, and I have no idea how I am going to get them back home. The original plan for the next weekend was bush walking in the Blue Mountains. That was, until Lucie and I got a better offer. Lucie's cousin's boyfriend (yes slightly confusing I agree) lives in Sydney, and he offered to take us wake boarding! For those of you who don't know what wake boarding is, you ride a board like a snowboard behind a motorboat, in its wake. Well, of course we couldn't say no to that so we decided to go bush walking another weekend. We had to get up very early, but in retrospect it was absolutely worth our while. They had booked a spot on the reservoir behind Manly Dam, which is used for recreational sports. The boys got the boat into the water - with some difficulty - while us girls set up the stuff by the water. I learned that Ben (the guy who invited us) and his friend Nathan, with whom he owns the boat, have been wake boarding for years and have even taken part in competitions. First we let the boys show off a bit - and I have to give them credit here, they were GOOD. They were doing jumps, flips (yes like somersaults) and they even went off this really big ramp that was set up there. Lucie was up first, and after a few attempts she managed to stand up, and after a bit of practice she was doing well, she was doing turns and everything. Well that set the bar for me of course. I actually managed to get up a little more easily than Lucie, because I was lucky enough to have been taken water skiing, so I had an idea of what to do. In the end I think Lucie and I were a good match and I reckon we both did a great job for the first time. We definitely had a lot of fun.
Because we had initially planned to go bush walking on Saturday we had also decided to go surfing on Sunday. We had mentioned this to Ben, and he offered to lend us one of his old surf boards and drive us to a nice quiet beach. Well, being students of course we didn't pass up the opportunity of a free ride to the beach and surfing without having to pay for hiring the boards. Unfortunately what we didn't know was that the board Ben had offered us was far too difficult for us handle. We had both learnt on foam boards, which are very big and relatively stable. This was a small fiberglass board which was much easier to paddle out to behind the waves on than the cumbersome foam boards, but impossible to get up on. None the less, we had a lot of fun that day as well.
Well, since I have been packing my weekends full of fun stuff to do, my weeks have been quite boring consisting mainly of classes, reading, studying and the occasional dinner get together or a trip to the gym. By now it is the middle of March, and it is Megan's, a friend of mine from the USA, 21st birthday. Because she is from America this is a big deal for her, as at home she can legally drink now, although I can imagine it is a bit of an anticlimax since she has been able to drink in bars the whole time she has been here in Australia. Nonetheless we decided to have a big girls night out. Megan even got glittery party hats for everyone! Her friend who is studying in Newcastle (a few hours from Sydney) came to visit and there was a big group of us. We first had dinner at Pancakes on the Rocks in Darling Harbour. The pancakes were delicious! We then went to Cargo, a really nice sort of lounge bar with comfy sofas, for drinks. After Cargo we decided to go to a club called Home, which is apparently one of the best in the world. There was one girl who lives near New York, and goes out there quite a bit, and she managed to talk the person 'working the door' as that's called into putting us on the guest list, and we all got a discount on the covercharge, and Megan got in for free. It was quite a nice club, but nowhere near as nice as the one I went to in Singapore. The crowd wasn't great either, the guys seemed a bit sleezy and slimy, but us girls stuck together and we had a great time!
That Monday was St. Patrick's Day, and I had hear that The Rocks, a quaint old neighbourhood in the city, was a fun place to be then, so Lucie, Linda and I headed into town in the afternoon. We went to a few pubs, heard some live Irish music and got the coolest hats ever - shaped like the top of a Guinness glass with a shamrock on the back! We then went to dinner in a very cute little Italian restaurant, walked over to the opera house to take some pictures and then headed home.
Well, I should now probably get back to doing something useful. like studying. Miss all of you!
Monday, April 7, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
Has it really been that long since the South Coast Orientation Trip?
Somehow university seems to bring out the procrastinator in me. My last post was, I notice with shame, over a month ago. It just seems as if there is always something to be done. Of course I have reading and assignments for my classes, and then there are the parties to go to, the trips to town, birthdays to celebrate and fun excursions to experience. But somehow there is never enough time to tell all the fantastic stories. Hopefully I can remember everything that has happened over the past month, and manage to keep up with this blogging in the future.
Well, I'll just start where I left off. On Friday Sonya and I arrived at Macquarie Uni, and with a bit of trouble --- the house numbers aren't exactly in order --- found my new home. It was a very interesting place at first sight: the walls are green and salmon pink! There were four bedrooms, but there was no one else in the unit, so we put my stuff in my room and had a walk around the campus. Afterwards Sonya left me to my unpacking, which was soon interrupted by the welcome BBQ. I met a lot of new people, as well as meeting up with some girls from Utrecht. I don't think I have seen most of the people since the BBQ, but it was a lot of fun. I met one of my unitmates that afternoon, her name is Amalie and she is from Denmark.
The next morning I went on the South Coast Orientation trip. As I had expected there were lots of Americans (or maybe you they are just louder and therefore more prominent), and I ended up sharing a room with three American girls, Stephanie, Lacy and Brittany, and one Canadian girl Cass. That trip was a lot of fun, we did a lot in three days. We went dolphin watching --- we saw a mother and calf of under 6 months, and a few even swam right next to and under the boat, we went to an emu farm --- I fed them and they are quite, how do I put this, enthusiastic about food, we went canoeing, we went on a bush walk with an Aboriginal woman who taught us a bit about "bush tucker", the boys learned how to play the didgeridoo (it's a man's instrument and women aren't allowed to play) and we learned how to throw a boomerang. We saw "the whitest beach in Australia", we had a performance of an Aboriginal dance group, but mainly we just had a lot of fun getting to know each other. I have had dinners with some of the people I met on the trip, and people I met through them such as their unitmates.
The next week was introduction week, which was actually introduction day since the group was so big it was split into a few days. We got all the boring but necessary information - and then it was up to us to make sure our schedules were OK - it took me about a week to fix mine because I decided I didn't want one course I had signed up for over 6 months earlier, and after one lecture decided that another course was too easy. So I spent quite some time messing around with different courses and time slots to make sure I didn't have lectures or practicals at the same time. On Wednesday we went to the local bar/club called the Ranch. It was a lot of fun as we went with a group from the orientation trip, but none of us were too impressed by the Ranch itself. It was very crowded and hot inside, and didn't have much character or a great atmosphere. On Thursday evening there was a welcome party in a club/bar called Cabana, and it wasn't until then that I really realised just how many exchange students there were. After the exchange party we went back to campus to go to the uni bar - we got back just before the doors closed at midnight - unimaginable for Dutch students, most of whom wouldn't even think of going to the bar or a club before midnight. But I quite like that nights out start a little earlier here, because it means that they also end a bit earlier so you can get some sleep.
That Saturday a group of us went to Manly Beach, one of Sydney's famous beaches, since it was really nice weather. Manly is more of a relaxed, family oriented beach than Bondi, which is very trendy and fashionable. I like both beaches, I suppose it just depends on what kind of mood I'm in. I spent the rest of the weekend settling into my room, and on Sunday we had a bit of a reunion dinner with some people from the south coast trip. Everyone cooked something, so we had a really nice and varied dinner.
Well, this is already a very long post and it's getting a bit late, so I will stop here. I will however write another post as soon as possible, because I have had quite a lot of adventures the past few weeks.
Cheers and happy St Patrick's Day!
Well, I'll just start where I left off. On Friday Sonya and I arrived at Macquarie Uni, and with a bit of trouble --- the house numbers aren't exactly in order --- found my new home. It was a very interesting place at first sight: the walls are green and salmon pink! There were four bedrooms, but there was no one else in the unit, so we put my stuff in my room and had a walk around the campus. Afterwards Sonya left me to my unpacking, which was soon interrupted by the welcome BBQ. I met a lot of new people, as well as meeting up with some girls from Utrecht. I don't think I have seen most of the people since the BBQ, but it was a lot of fun. I met one of my unitmates that afternoon, her name is Amalie and she is from Denmark.
The next morning I went on the South Coast Orientation trip. As I had expected there were lots of Americans (or maybe you they are just louder and therefore more prominent), and I ended up sharing a room with three American girls, Stephanie, Lacy and Brittany, and one Canadian girl Cass. That trip was a lot of fun, we did a lot in three days. We went dolphin watching --- we saw a mother and calf of under 6 months, and a few even swam right next to and under the boat, we went to an emu farm --- I fed them and they are quite, how do I put this, enthusiastic about food, we went canoeing, we went on a bush walk with an Aboriginal woman who taught us a bit about "bush tucker", the boys learned how to play the didgeridoo (it's a man's instrument and women aren't allowed to play) and we learned how to throw a boomerang. We saw "the whitest beach in Australia", we had a performance of an Aboriginal dance group, but mainly we just had a lot of fun getting to know each other. I have had dinners with some of the people I met on the trip, and people I met through them such as their unitmates.
The next week was introduction week, which was actually introduction day since the group was so big it was split into a few days. We got all the boring but necessary information - and then it was up to us to make sure our schedules were OK - it took me about a week to fix mine because I decided I didn't want one course I had signed up for over 6 months earlier, and after one lecture decided that another course was too easy. So I spent quite some time messing around with different courses and time slots to make sure I didn't have lectures or practicals at the same time. On Wednesday we went to the local bar/club called the Ranch. It was a lot of fun as we went with a group from the orientation trip, but none of us were too impressed by the Ranch itself. It was very crowded and hot inside, and didn't have much character or a great atmosphere. On Thursday evening there was a welcome party in a club/bar called Cabana, and it wasn't until then that I really realised just how many exchange students there were. After the exchange party we went back to campus to go to the uni bar - we got back just before the doors closed at midnight - unimaginable for Dutch students, most of whom wouldn't even think of going to the bar or a club before midnight. But I quite like that nights out start a little earlier here, because it means that they also end a bit earlier so you can get some sleep.
That Saturday a group of us went to Manly Beach, one of Sydney's famous beaches, since it was really nice weather. Manly is more of a relaxed, family oriented beach than Bondi, which is very trendy and fashionable. I like both beaches, I suppose it just depends on what kind of mood I'm in. I spent the rest of the weekend settling into my room, and on Sunday we had a bit of a reunion dinner with some people from the south coast trip. Everyone cooked something, so we had a really nice and varied dinner.
Well, this is already a very long post and it's getting a bit late, so I will stop here. I will however write another post as soon as possible, because I have had quite a lot of adventures the past few weeks.
Cheers and happy St Patrick's Day!
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Back in Sydney
I can't believe that I spent a whole week in the city centre of Sydney, and that I am out in the suburbs already! I arrived in Sydney late wednesday evening from the surftrip, and said goodbye to most of my surfmates. That evening I took it easy, and the next morning I went to see the doctor about my thumbnail (or lack thereof). There I was bandaged up properly and told to come back 3 days later to have the dressing changed. I then met up with Emma and Georgie - two girls from the surfcamp - and we spent the morning looking around Sydney. In the afternoon Emma went for a haircut, and Georgie and I went to the Imax theatre in Darling harbour to see a movie about the underwater world. We were a bit disappointed, it wasn't fabulous, but it kept us dry (it was raining again). That evening the three of us met up with Sandra, a friend of Emma's from travelling, and we had a fun night out. We first had drinks at the bar at Georgie and Emma's hostel, where there was quite a good live band. Once we had had enough of that we went to a pub called Scruffy Murphy's - yes, it was an Irish pub - but the main crowd was quite a bit older than us, so we decided to try another place. Sandra knew of a good bar called the three wise monkeys, which has three floors. The first two are like a pub/bar, and on the third floor at first there was a live band playing, and later on they had a dj.
Friday was quite a boring day. Emma left for Melbourne, Georgie moved into the hostel I was staying at and I did lots and lots of washing. Generally the washing facilities at hostels aren't brilliant, so I jumped at the chance to do a warm wash in stead of a cold one, which basically does nothing for clothes you have been backpacking in. Georgie and I then arranged a trip to the Blue Mountains for Sunday, and Georgie made arrangements for her next trips. That evening Georgie and I cooked dinner and just had a relaxing night.
On Saturday Sonya and her mom Viola, came into town and the three of us went to the aquarium. Viola is a friend of my mom's, and Sonya is going to Macquarie University, where I will be going shortly. The Sydney aquarium was really interesting, and we spent quite a while there. We then had lunch and went to a really big bookstore in The Galleries Victoria, close to my hostel. Sonya and Viola had to get back home, and I went back to the bookshop and bought myself a student cookbook with useful tips and quick and cheap recipies. I met up with Georgie for dinner, and we just went out for one drink afterwards, since we had to get up early the next morning for our Blue Mountains trip.
The weather forecast for Sunday had been showers and sunny spells, but luckily for us it was only cloudy and sunny spells. We had to go to a hotel to be picked up, and lots of different tourbuses came who we asked if they were the tour we wanted before ours came. Our busdriver was really nice, but he had some absolutely terrible jokes, and he just kept going all day, but it was sort of amusing to hear how bad they were. First we drove to a wildlife park where you could see lots of native Australian animals, and I had my picture taken with a snake (!) and a bird of which I can't remember the name. You could have your picture taken with a koala and feed the kangaroos, but I had already done that at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane, so I spent my time just looking around. After the wildlife park we went to see a valley with a waterfall from a place called Garrett's Leap. The view was amazing, but I am always a litlle sad that it doesn't translate as well to a photo. After that we had lunch in Leura, and our tourguide told us about a sweetshop with god knows how many different sweets, and a place that does really nice hot chocolate (with marshmallows) . After lunch we went to the Jameson valley and Scenic World. First we stopped at echo point, with a wonderful view of the whole valley, the three sisters rock formation and mount solitary. We then went across one part of the valley in a horizontal cable car from where we could see the Katoomba falls really well. The cable car also had a glass floor, so you could see down into the valley below. We then went down into the valley in another cable car, and from there you could walk along a boardwalk - so that you don't disturb the fragile ecosystem of the rainforest - to the little train that would take you back up the valley. This is the steepest train in the world - Guinness World Record holder - and when you get in it feels a bit like a themepark ride, and you feel like you should be strapped in somehow. The track is indeed very steep, my friend Georgie was quite freaked out. Once we got back to the top we got back on the coach and headed to the ferry which would take us back to the CBD. Unfortunately we missed the ferry that the tourguide had intended for us, so we spent about 10 minutes at the Olympic park to kill time before the next ferry. We went on a citycat, so it wasn't too choppy, but it was rather windy. It was nice seeing the CBD and the Harbour Bridge from the other side (upstream rather than on the sea side). That evening Georgie and I had dinner at Darling Harbour, and had a quiet night because Georgie would leave the next morning.
On Monday I had to go to the doctor to have my thumb dressing replaced, and luckily it wasn't infected and looked a bit better than the last time I had seen it. With the new dressing I can now actually touch my thumb without it hurting, yay! Since it was such nice weather I decided to go to the beach. I had heard that there was a really nice walk from Coogee Beach to Bondi Beach, so I decided to do that. I took the bus to Coogee and started the walk along the coast to Bondi. There were quite a few little bays, and some surfers where the waves weren't braking on the rocks, so I took it easy stopping to admire the views and take some pictures. In the end it took me about 1,5 hrs, while one girl from my room had told me it would take me at least 2 hrs (don't know how slowly she walks). When I arrived at Bondi I put my cozzie on (as australians call a swimsuit/bikini - they also call it swimmers) and spent a couple of hours relaxing at the beach. When I had had enough I went for a look around the shops, and bought a really cute dress for only 20$ (12€). I headed for the busstop the shop owner pointed out to me, and after waiting for about 10 minutes the bus to the city centre came. I was one of the last people he let on, because the bus was completely full - we were standing like sardines in a can! At the second busstop, at the other end of the beach there were also lots of people waiting, but the bus didn't even stop because we couldn't possibly have fitted one more person in. It was quite a long busride with lots of stops, and a bit uncomfortable having to stand the whole way, but I had had a nice day and even such a busride couldn't ruin it. That evening I cooked spagetti alla carbonara from my recipe book. I was really proud of myself that I had managed to finda ll of the equipment in a hostel kitchen - although I did have to cut the onion and garlic with a bread knife, which is not very easy - and it tasted extra good because I had spent time making it myself.
I spent tuesday having a last look around the city. I walked around Darling Harbour, Circular Quay, the Opera House and the Botanical Gardens once again, and I went to Surrey Hills where I haven't been before. While reading an Australian magazine, I noticed that some Australian celebrity (of whom I had never heard) mentioned that Surrey HIlls, and in particular Crown Street was good for vintage shopping, so I decided to go and have a look. Some of the shops were quite expensive, but some had sales on, and I found a bag and another dress, both were very cheap. When I got tired, I decided to go and relax in Hyde Park, because it had been such nice weather that day, but then I noticed that the sky was clouding over. By the time I got to Hyde park a few drops were starting to fall, so I decided to keep going and head back to my hostel (which luckily wasn't far). By the time I had crossed the street along Hyde park it was positively pouring, so I ran from shelter to shelter on my way back to the hostel. Just after I arrived two of my roommates got back as well, and these poor boys had been on a ferry (outside only) when it had started to rain, so they were absolutely drenched!
On wednesday I took the train to Beecroft, where Viola picked me up, as I was going to stay with them for the last two nights before I can move into my uni house (tomorrow!). We got back and had some lunch, and then we went to see the movie 27 dresses with Katherine Heigl. I really liked the movie - it was a nice romantic comedy, right up my alley after such a hectic time travelling around! I have spent most of wednesday and today on the computer sorting out pictures (gosh that takes a long time), out in the garden and with the Bridgers (the family) and their cute dog Mollie. Tomorrow Sonya is going to drop me off at uni, and there will be a welcome BBQ. Then on Saturday I leave on a pre-orientation trip to the south coast for a few days. Hopefully I will meet some nice people as I will be spending more than just a few days with them for a change! So my travelling days are over - for now at least - and I am going to start settling into uni and finally starting my actual exchange. I have really enjoyed travelling and seeing some of Australia - yes some, I only saw a really small part actually! But I am also ready to settle down, and eager to meet some real Australians, rather than German/English/Dutch/Swedish backpackers.
Friday was quite a boring day. Emma left for Melbourne, Georgie moved into the hostel I was staying at and I did lots and lots of washing. Generally the washing facilities at hostels aren't brilliant, so I jumped at the chance to do a warm wash in stead of a cold one, which basically does nothing for clothes you have been backpacking in. Georgie and I then arranged a trip to the Blue Mountains for Sunday, and Georgie made arrangements for her next trips. That evening Georgie and I cooked dinner and just had a relaxing night.
On Saturday Sonya and her mom Viola, came into town and the three of us went to the aquarium. Viola is a friend of my mom's, and Sonya is going to Macquarie University, where I will be going shortly. The Sydney aquarium was really interesting, and we spent quite a while there. We then had lunch and went to a really big bookstore in The Galleries Victoria, close to my hostel. Sonya and Viola had to get back home, and I went back to the bookshop and bought myself a student cookbook with useful tips and quick and cheap recipies. I met up with Georgie for dinner, and we just went out for one drink afterwards, since we had to get up early the next morning for our Blue Mountains trip.
The weather forecast for Sunday had been showers and sunny spells, but luckily for us it was only cloudy and sunny spells. We had to go to a hotel to be picked up, and lots of different tourbuses came who we asked if they were the tour we wanted before ours came. Our busdriver was really nice, but he had some absolutely terrible jokes, and he just kept going all day, but it was sort of amusing to hear how bad they were. First we drove to a wildlife park where you could see lots of native Australian animals, and I had my picture taken with a snake (!) and a bird of which I can't remember the name. You could have your picture taken with a koala and feed the kangaroos, but I had already done that at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane, so I spent my time just looking around. After the wildlife park we went to see a valley with a waterfall from a place called Garrett's Leap. The view was amazing, but I am always a litlle sad that it doesn't translate as well to a photo. After that we had lunch in Leura, and our tourguide told us about a sweetshop with god knows how many different sweets, and a place that does really nice hot chocolate (with marshmallows) . After lunch we went to the Jameson valley and Scenic World. First we stopped at echo point, with a wonderful view of the whole valley, the three sisters rock formation and mount solitary. We then went across one part of the valley in a horizontal cable car from where we could see the Katoomba falls really well. The cable car also had a glass floor, so you could see down into the valley below. We then went down into the valley in another cable car, and from there you could walk along a boardwalk - so that you don't disturb the fragile ecosystem of the rainforest - to the little train that would take you back up the valley. This is the steepest train in the world - Guinness World Record holder - and when you get in it feels a bit like a themepark ride, and you feel like you should be strapped in somehow. The track is indeed very steep, my friend Georgie was quite freaked out. Once we got back to the top we got back on the coach and headed to the ferry which would take us back to the CBD. Unfortunately we missed the ferry that the tourguide had intended for us, so we spent about 10 minutes at the Olympic park to kill time before the next ferry. We went on a citycat, so it wasn't too choppy, but it was rather windy. It was nice seeing the CBD and the Harbour Bridge from the other side (upstream rather than on the sea side). That evening Georgie and I had dinner at Darling Harbour, and had a quiet night because Georgie would leave the next morning.
On Monday I had to go to the doctor to have my thumb dressing replaced, and luckily it wasn't infected and looked a bit better than the last time I had seen it. With the new dressing I can now actually touch my thumb without it hurting, yay! Since it was such nice weather I decided to go to the beach. I had heard that there was a really nice walk from Coogee Beach to Bondi Beach, so I decided to do that. I took the bus to Coogee and started the walk along the coast to Bondi. There were quite a few little bays, and some surfers where the waves weren't braking on the rocks, so I took it easy stopping to admire the views and take some pictures. In the end it took me about 1,5 hrs, while one girl from my room had told me it would take me at least 2 hrs (don't know how slowly she walks). When I arrived at Bondi I put my cozzie on (as australians call a swimsuit/bikini - they also call it swimmers) and spent a couple of hours relaxing at the beach. When I had had enough I went for a look around the shops, and bought a really cute dress for only 20$ (12€). I headed for the busstop the shop owner pointed out to me, and after waiting for about 10 minutes the bus to the city centre came. I was one of the last people he let on, because the bus was completely full - we were standing like sardines in a can! At the second busstop, at the other end of the beach there were also lots of people waiting, but the bus didn't even stop because we couldn't possibly have fitted one more person in. It was quite a long busride with lots of stops, and a bit uncomfortable having to stand the whole way, but I had had a nice day and even such a busride couldn't ruin it. That evening I cooked spagetti alla carbonara from my recipe book. I was really proud of myself that I had managed to finda ll of the equipment in a hostel kitchen - although I did have to cut the onion and garlic with a bread knife, which is not very easy - and it tasted extra good because I had spent time making it myself.
I spent tuesday having a last look around the city. I walked around Darling Harbour, Circular Quay, the Opera House and the Botanical Gardens once again, and I went to Surrey Hills where I haven't been before. While reading an Australian magazine, I noticed that some Australian celebrity (of whom I had never heard) mentioned that Surrey HIlls, and in particular Crown Street was good for vintage shopping, so I decided to go and have a look. Some of the shops were quite expensive, but some had sales on, and I found a bag and another dress, both were very cheap. When I got tired, I decided to go and relax in Hyde Park, because it had been such nice weather that day, but then I noticed that the sky was clouding over. By the time I got to Hyde park a few drops were starting to fall, so I decided to keep going and head back to my hostel (which luckily wasn't far). By the time I had crossed the street along Hyde park it was positively pouring, so I ran from shelter to shelter on my way back to the hostel. Just after I arrived two of my roommates got back as well, and these poor boys had been on a ferry (outside only) when it had started to rain, so they were absolutely drenched!
On wednesday I took the train to Beecroft, where Viola picked me up, as I was going to stay with them for the last two nights before I can move into my uni house (tomorrow!). We got back and had some lunch, and then we went to see the movie 27 dresses with Katherine Heigl. I really liked the movie - it was a nice romantic comedy, right up my alley after such a hectic time travelling around! I have spent most of wednesday and today on the computer sorting out pictures (gosh that takes a long time), out in the garden and with the Bridgers (the family) and their cute dog Mollie. Tomorrow Sonya is going to drop me off at uni, and there will be a welcome BBQ. Then on Saturday I leave on a pre-orientation trip to the south coast for a few days. Hopefully I will meet some nice people as I will be spending more than just a few days with them for a change! So my travelling days are over - for now at least - and I am going to start settling into uni and finally starting my actual exchange. I have really enjoyed travelling and seeing some of Australia - yes some, I only saw a really small part actually! But I am also ready to settle down, and eager to meet some real Australians, rather than German/English/Dutch/Swedish backpackers.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Surf Camp
So to continue yesterday's story, at 8am on Saturday I made my way to the Byron Bay busstop to be picked up by the Waves Surf School bus. To my surprise there were only six other people going on the trip. Two English girls, Georgie and Emma, an english guy actually called Simon but nicknamed Cambridge as that was where he was from, two Swedish guys called Henrik and Jonas, or more affectionately Team Sweden, and one Austrian girl who lived in New Zealand called Chris. There were also a bunch of helpers and teachers on the tour with us.
That first day we drove to a beach somewhere south of Byron Bay, where our teacher was Scott. He tought us the basics of paddeling, catching a wave and standing up while we were on the beach, and it certainly didn't seem too difficult. Until we hit the water that is. Just getting on the board in the "sweet spot" was difficult enough, let alone paddeling for a wave and standing up. That first day is now a blur of seawater and rain, but by the end of the day I could get up (but not stay up). When we wanted to go to lunch a senior citizens tour had just arrived at the covered lunch area, but they didn't take long and they donated some jolly good sandwiches so we didn't mind. After a morning and an afternoon session of surfing we drove on to our accomodation for the night which was in the middle of nowhere, where we just relaxed with a few beers and then had an early night since we were all absolutely exhausted from the surfing.
The next day we drove to another beach for more surfing, and unfortunately it was still raining. While we were on the beach before we went in the water someone spotted a snake, and the surf rescue lifeguards had to come and catch it. It wasn't very big, but it was the first snake I had seen in the wild in Australia, so that was pretty cool. We spent another long day in the water, but the difference with the first day was that we were all standing up more often and staying up for longer. By the end of the day we all were starting to feel quite good about our surfing abilities. At this beach, since it seemed to be a slightly more public one than the last beach we were on there were, thank god, showers. They were just posts outside and only had cold water, but at least we could rinse off before having to get in the bus for 2 hours this time. After the busride we arrived at "surfcamp" where we met the rest of the staff, had showers and settled into our room which was to be our home for the next 3 nights. That evening after dinner we all pitched in for some of one of the instructors special fuitpunch, and played the card game ring of fire or kings cup. Since it was still only our small group plus the helpers that evening we really got to know each other quite well, so it was a lot of fun.
The next day we drove to a new beach and had a new teacher. Seal Rocks beach was our destination for the day for more surfing, and luckily it was only half an hour from surfcamp. Our teacher for the day was Dylan, a funny hyperactive little dude who was very enthusiastic. With some help and a lot of encouragement from him we were all riding waves all the way to the beach in no time, and the boys decided they wanted to go out the back to catch some unbroken waves in stead of starting out in the whitewash. Unbroken waves are a lot harder to catch, and it is extremely exhausting to get through all the waves, so the girls decided to stay in the whitewash and improve our technique before tackling the big stuff. Unfortunately playing it safe didn't really help me all that much. I caught one particularly big wave, and just after I had stood up another one came from behind me and litterally swept me off my feet. I was knocked around a lot in the two waves that had joined to form one really big one, and when I finally came up my right hand really hurt. When I looked down, I saw that my thumbnail had been knocked off completely! I have no idea how it happened, I suppose it hit the board or the fin of the board, but I'm not sure. Luckily there was a first aid kit in the bus, and I was bandaged up well enough to keep me going until we got back to surfcamp. When we got back to surfcamp noone really seemed to think that it was neccessary to take me to see a doctor, or perhaps they just couldn't be bothered since we were out in the middle of nowhere, but the camp manager was a nurse so she patched me up. That afternoon the tour going in the opposite direction to us had arrived, and it was a much bigger group (21 people) than ours, so after dinner we played some drinking/get to know each other games. I did meet some people of the other group, especially with people asking me what happened to my finger, but there was quite a clear separation between the two groups.
On our second day at surfcamp (third day in total, so as not to confuse you) we went to Lighthouse Beach, for which we needed a fourwheeldrive, and we had another new teacher, Nas. Driving to the beach reminded me of Fraser Island, a narrow sandy track with bushes on either side, bumping around a lot, and we even got stuck and the boys had to get out and push. Even though I was missing a thumbnail I decided to get out there anyway, since noone had explicitly told me not to. That morning seemed particularly long and difficult, due to all the circumstances: my missing thumbnail, of course, the constant rain (again) and especially strong currents. By the end of the morning I couldn't even stand in kneehigh water without being pulled over sideways. Nevertheless, my determination or foolhardyness led me to catch several good waves, standing up and riding them in to the beach! Quite an achievement if you ask me (me being extremely unbiased of course)! That afternoon I decided to give it a miss. If the waves had been good, the currents less forcefull and the sun shining then I would have just taken another painkiller and gone back out there, but as it was I decided to sit out with Henrik. Henrik had cut his hand open on the fin of a board earlier on the same day that I lost my thumbnail, and had to go to hospital to get three stitches. So the two of us hid from the rain and the wind in the 4WD, and we were soon joined, one by one, by the rest of the group who had had enough as well.
That evening was everyone's last night at surfcamp. Our trip would end in Sydney the next day, and the other groups would be starting their tour up towards Byron Bay. Well, the staff at surfcamp definitely encourage drinking. I managed to keep it to a minimal level (I did not want to hurt myself any more than I already had) but it was still a lot of fun. We played a game called flipcup, which is basically a relay race with two teams where you drink your drink, set your cup on the edge of the table and try to flip it until it lands upside down. Then at least one person from each team had to join in musical chairs - the unconventional version - where they had to perform opdrachten and get back to the chairs (one less than the number of people) as fast as possible. The opdrachten included getting a piece of underwear of the opposite sex and putting it on, and the final was who can do the most stupid, most embarassing dance. Our team won of course, thanks to Emma! Apparently, after I went to bed because my thumb was really starting to bother me, just about everyone ended up in the pool, and at least one mobile phone was broken. Since I had both my mobile phone and my camera on me, and my bandage wasn't allowed to get wet it was probably a good thing that I didn't stay until the end.
On the last day we only surfed in the morning, although it was a long morning and a late lunch, because after the morning lesson there was a little competition. I decided not to surf this last morning, because I didn't want to make my thumb, which was by now wrinkly and swollen, any worse. Henrik, the Swedish guy with stitches, gave it a go, but stopped quickly since he could feel that it wasn't good for his hand. So Henrik and I were team photogrophers on the last day, and luckily the weather had cleared up so we could get some nice bright sunny surfing pictures. Jonas, the other Sweed, won the competition, and Georgie, the English girl with whom I am now spending time in Sydney won the most improved prize (although neither of them actually got anything). After lunch we returned briefly to surfcamp to go to the loo and collect our bags, and then hit the road for the three hours drive back to Sydney.
I'm sorry if the surfing sounds a bit boring, but you really have to do it to experience it. Technically you wake up, put on your bikini/boardshorts, have breakfast and take a ride to a beach where you spend about 5-10 minutes dragging on a wet and sandy wetsuit. You then pick up a board that is between 1,5 and 2 times as tall as you (depending on your height), and so wide you can barely get your arm around it to carry it. You therefore end up carrying it on your head, which is also not very comfortable. You then trudge out into the ocean to about waist level, where you fight the currents while waiting for a good wave. When one comes you slide onte your board, into the "sweetspot", paddle your arms off and then have to use them to push yourself into a standing postition. Most likely you will fall of almost immediately, and you repeat this until you finally get a good ride. Doesn't sound too exciting, but when you finally do get that ride all the way to the beach it is AMAZING and totally worth it.
So at the moment I am in Sydney, having lots of fun, even though it is raining, and only a week away from my university starting, and the beginning of my actual exchange. I will update you on my more civilized adventures here in the city soon enough, but for now, surfs up dude!
That first day we drove to a beach somewhere south of Byron Bay, where our teacher was Scott. He tought us the basics of paddeling, catching a wave and standing up while we were on the beach, and it certainly didn't seem too difficult. Until we hit the water that is. Just getting on the board in the "sweet spot" was difficult enough, let alone paddeling for a wave and standing up. That first day is now a blur of seawater and rain, but by the end of the day I could get up (but not stay up). When we wanted to go to lunch a senior citizens tour had just arrived at the covered lunch area, but they didn't take long and they donated some jolly good sandwiches so we didn't mind. After a morning and an afternoon session of surfing we drove on to our accomodation for the night which was in the middle of nowhere, where we just relaxed with a few beers and then had an early night since we were all absolutely exhausted from the surfing.
The next day we drove to another beach for more surfing, and unfortunately it was still raining. While we were on the beach before we went in the water someone spotted a snake, and the surf rescue lifeguards had to come and catch it. It wasn't very big, but it was the first snake I had seen in the wild in Australia, so that was pretty cool. We spent another long day in the water, but the difference with the first day was that we were all standing up more often and staying up for longer. By the end of the day we all were starting to feel quite good about our surfing abilities. At this beach, since it seemed to be a slightly more public one than the last beach we were on there were, thank god, showers. They were just posts outside and only had cold water, but at least we could rinse off before having to get in the bus for 2 hours this time. After the busride we arrived at "surfcamp" where we met the rest of the staff, had showers and settled into our room which was to be our home for the next 3 nights. That evening after dinner we all pitched in for some of one of the instructors special fuitpunch, and played the card game ring of fire or kings cup. Since it was still only our small group plus the helpers that evening we really got to know each other quite well, so it was a lot of fun.
The next day we drove to a new beach and had a new teacher. Seal Rocks beach was our destination for the day for more surfing, and luckily it was only half an hour from surfcamp. Our teacher for the day was Dylan, a funny hyperactive little dude who was very enthusiastic. With some help and a lot of encouragement from him we were all riding waves all the way to the beach in no time, and the boys decided they wanted to go out the back to catch some unbroken waves in stead of starting out in the whitewash. Unbroken waves are a lot harder to catch, and it is extremely exhausting to get through all the waves, so the girls decided to stay in the whitewash and improve our technique before tackling the big stuff. Unfortunately playing it safe didn't really help me all that much. I caught one particularly big wave, and just after I had stood up another one came from behind me and litterally swept me off my feet. I was knocked around a lot in the two waves that had joined to form one really big one, and when I finally came up my right hand really hurt. When I looked down, I saw that my thumbnail had been knocked off completely! I have no idea how it happened, I suppose it hit the board or the fin of the board, but I'm not sure. Luckily there was a first aid kit in the bus, and I was bandaged up well enough to keep me going until we got back to surfcamp. When we got back to surfcamp noone really seemed to think that it was neccessary to take me to see a doctor, or perhaps they just couldn't be bothered since we were out in the middle of nowhere, but the camp manager was a nurse so she patched me up. That afternoon the tour going in the opposite direction to us had arrived, and it was a much bigger group (21 people) than ours, so after dinner we played some drinking/get to know each other games. I did meet some people of the other group, especially with people asking me what happened to my finger, but there was quite a clear separation between the two groups.
On our second day at surfcamp (third day in total, so as not to confuse you) we went to Lighthouse Beach, for which we needed a fourwheeldrive, and we had another new teacher, Nas. Driving to the beach reminded me of Fraser Island, a narrow sandy track with bushes on either side, bumping around a lot, and we even got stuck and the boys had to get out and push. Even though I was missing a thumbnail I decided to get out there anyway, since noone had explicitly told me not to. That morning seemed particularly long and difficult, due to all the circumstances: my missing thumbnail, of course, the constant rain (again) and especially strong currents. By the end of the morning I couldn't even stand in kneehigh water without being pulled over sideways. Nevertheless, my determination or foolhardyness led me to catch several good waves, standing up and riding them in to the beach! Quite an achievement if you ask me (me being extremely unbiased of course)! That afternoon I decided to give it a miss. If the waves had been good, the currents less forcefull and the sun shining then I would have just taken another painkiller and gone back out there, but as it was I decided to sit out with Henrik. Henrik had cut his hand open on the fin of a board earlier on the same day that I lost my thumbnail, and had to go to hospital to get three stitches. So the two of us hid from the rain and the wind in the 4WD, and we were soon joined, one by one, by the rest of the group who had had enough as well.
That evening was everyone's last night at surfcamp. Our trip would end in Sydney the next day, and the other groups would be starting their tour up towards Byron Bay. Well, the staff at surfcamp definitely encourage drinking. I managed to keep it to a minimal level (I did not want to hurt myself any more than I already had) but it was still a lot of fun. We played a game called flipcup, which is basically a relay race with two teams where you drink your drink, set your cup on the edge of the table and try to flip it until it lands upside down. Then at least one person from each team had to join in musical chairs - the unconventional version - where they had to perform opdrachten and get back to the chairs (one less than the number of people) as fast as possible. The opdrachten included getting a piece of underwear of the opposite sex and putting it on, and the final was who can do the most stupid, most embarassing dance. Our team won of course, thanks to Emma! Apparently, after I went to bed because my thumb was really starting to bother me, just about everyone ended up in the pool, and at least one mobile phone was broken. Since I had both my mobile phone and my camera on me, and my bandage wasn't allowed to get wet it was probably a good thing that I didn't stay until the end.
On the last day we only surfed in the morning, although it was a long morning and a late lunch, because after the morning lesson there was a little competition. I decided not to surf this last morning, because I didn't want to make my thumb, which was by now wrinkly and swollen, any worse. Henrik, the Swedish guy with stitches, gave it a go, but stopped quickly since he could feel that it wasn't good for his hand. So Henrik and I were team photogrophers on the last day, and luckily the weather had cleared up so we could get some nice bright sunny surfing pictures. Jonas, the other Sweed, won the competition, and Georgie, the English girl with whom I am now spending time in Sydney won the most improved prize (although neither of them actually got anything). After lunch we returned briefly to surfcamp to go to the loo and collect our bags, and then hit the road for the three hours drive back to Sydney.
I'm sorry if the surfing sounds a bit boring, but you really have to do it to experience it. Technically you wake up, put on your bikini/boardshorts, have breakfast and take a ride to a beach where you spend about 5-10 minutes dragging on a wet and sandy wetsuit. You then pick up a board that is between 1,5 and 2 times as tall as you (depending on your height), and so wide you can barely get your arm around it to carry it. You therefore end up carrying it on your head, which is also not very comfortable. You then trudge out into the ocean to about waist level, where you fight the currents while waiting for a good wave. When one comes you slide onte your board, into the "sweetspot", paddle your arms off and then have to use them to push yourself into a standing postition. Most likely you will fall of almost immediately, and you repeat this until you finally get a good ride. Doesn't sound too exciting, but when you finally do get that ride all the way to the beach it is AMAZING and totally worth it.
So at the moment I am in Sydney, having lots of fun, even though it is raining, and only a week away from my university starting, and the beginning of my actual exchange. I will update you on my more civilized adventures here in the city soon enough, but for now, surfs up dude!
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Byron Bay
Well, a helluvalot has happened in the past 9 (that long?!) days since my last post. I'll just start where I left off and see how far I get. Nora (a German girl I met in Brisbane) and I went to Byron Bay to spend a few days at the beach relaxing. The evening we arrived we had a look around the cute little town that is Byron Bay and made our plan for the next couple of days. On Wednesday, our first full day in Byron we got up early and took advantage of the hostel's free sports facilities. No it was not a gym (boring), we started the day by renting bikes and biking up to the lighthouse. We set off at about 9am, and even at that time it was swelteringly hot. The way to the lighthouse didn't look that far on the map, but it was all uphill and the bikes were small and had no gears. As a dutch person the bikes were shitty (Nora ownes a dutch bike so she wasn't too happy with them either), and in Australia it is illegal to not wear a helmet - you can be fined AU$ 50 (30 euro). So by the time we reached the lighthouse we were absolutely boiling. After having a look at the lighthouse we continued to the Australian mainland's most easterly point. The views of the rocks and the surfers (reminding me of my upcoming trip) were fantastic, and just as Nora was saying how jealous she was that I had seen dolphins in Noosa and that she wanted to see some, I spotted some. She of course thought I was joking, but then she saw them as well. They were really close to the rocky shoreline as well, it was amazingly beautiful. We then rode back downhill all the way back to our hostel - a lot easier than the way going, where we exchanged the bikes for boogie boards or body boards, whatever you like to call them. We went to the beach to try boogieboarding, to get me psyched up for surfing, and just for the two of us to have some fun. I absolutely loved it, the bigger the wave the better if you asked me! Unfortunately the big (and slightly rough) waves thrashed my bikini around a bit, and what with the sand rubbed all my suncream off leaving me with a bit of sunburn. Nothing too bad though, since we weren't out for long.
The next day Nora and I took a tour to Nimbin. Nimbin is a little hippie village close to Byron Bay, that seemed to be quite popular so we decided to check it out. We took a tour, and the busdriver/tourguide was a real hippie at heart. When we got to Nimbin, though, we were a bit disappointed. There really was not much more to do there than buy some weed and smoke up... I can do that back in Holland legally, cheaper and probably get better quality if I really want to, so I wasn't fussed and neither was Nora. Even enerally neither of us are fussed about weed. So we went into the museum and a few small shops, talked to some of the extremely weird and wacky locals, and had a parakeet sit on our sholder and nibble our hair. After a few hours in Nimbin we continued to some hippie's house, who lived in his own private mini botanical gardens. There we ate watermelon (the best thing you can eat on a hot day) learned a bit more about the hippie lifestyle from him and our tourguide and got a tour through his garden. We then continued to a waterfall with a great view, and then returned to Byron Bay.
The next day was Friday, and Nora's last day in Byron. We decided to take the boogie boards out for one last spin --- in the early morning with copious amounts of suntancream to avoid more sunburn, and then went to do a bit of shopping to pass the time until Nora's bus to Brisbane left. Luckily I had already found a new bikini (it took me 2 weeks of going into every bikini/surf/swimwear/promising looking in any way shop), so I could just browse. I did find a rash top --- against sunburn, some of you may have seen surfers wearing them. My bus for surfcamp would leave at 8am the next day, so after Nora left I just made myself some dinner, read some of the book Kevin donated to me: Down Under by Bill Bryson (Kevin got it from Laurens), and went to bed early.
Gosh this is already a really long entry, and I haven't even started on my surftrip that ended today yet. So I will just leave it at this, and write about my surf adventures another day (soon, like tomorrow or the day after) and just give you the teaser info that I absolutely loved it, didn't get pulled out to sea and drowned by a rip (dangerous current), eaten by sharks or stung by jellyfish, but I was one of 4 people in our group who were injured --- there were 7 of us in total! For now I think I will stay in Sydney until my uni starts, and just take some day trips to Bondi Beach, the Blue Mountains and whatever else comes up. Take it easy and keep me posted on your lives too!
The next day Nora and I took a tour to Nimbin. Nimbin is a little hippie village close to Byron Bay, that seemed to be quite popular so we decided to check it out. We took a tour, and the busdriver/tourguide was a real hippie at heart. When we got to Nimbin, though, we were a bit disappointed. There really was not much more to do there than buy some weed and smoke up... I can do that back in Holland legally, cheaper and probably get better quality if I really want to, so I wasn't fussed and neither was Nora. Even enerally neither of us are fussed about weed. So we went into the museum and a few small shops, talked to some of the extremely weird and wacky locals, and had a parakeet sit on our sholder and nibble our hair. After a few hours in Nimbin we continued to some hippie's house, who lived in his own private mini botanical gardens. There we ate watermelon (the best thing you can eat on a hot day) learned a bit more about the hippie lifestyle from him and our tourguide and got a tour through his garden. We then continued to a waterfall with a great view, and then returned to Byron Bay.
The next day was Friday, and Nora's last day in Byron. We decided to take the boogie boards out for one last spin --- in the early morning with copious amounts of suntancream to avoid more sunburn, and then went to do a bit of shopping to pass the time until Nora's bus to Brisbane left. Luckily I had already found a new bikini (it took me 2 weeks of going into every bikini/surf/swimwear/promising looking in any way shop), so I could just browse. I did find a rash top --- against sunburn, some of you may have seen surfers wearing them. My bus for surfcamp would leave at 8am the next day, so after Nora left I just made myself some dinner, read some of the book Kevin donated to me: Down Under by Bill Bryson (Kevin got it from Laurens), and went to bed early.
Gosh this is already a really long entry, and I haven't even started on my surftrip that ended today yet. So I will just leave it at this, and write about my surf adventures another day (soon, like tomorrow or the day after) and just give you the teaser info that I absolutely loved it, didn't get pulled out to sea and drowned by a rip (dangerous current), eaten by sharks or stung by jellyfish, but I was one of 4 people in our group who were injured --- there were 7 of us in total! For now I think I will stay in Sydney until my uni starts, and just take some day trips to Bondi Beach, the Blue Mountains and whatever else comes up. Take it easy and keep me posted on your lives too!
Monday, January 28, 2008
Change of plan
So I thought I had it all figured out. Vanessa, Tina and I would drive to Tamworth (in the middle of nowhere) and then take part in this Jillaroo course. Well, it didn't quite work out that way. We received an e-mail telling us that the course was full for the next two weeks. That really sucked, because we had checked on their website (just as they advised) and their calendar showed that there were still places left. So unfortunately the Jillaroo course is out of the picture for me... for now at least. I am now hoping that I will meet someone at uni who will want to do the course with me in the month after uni, so maybe you will here more about it later on.
So then I suddenly had about two and a half weeks to kill, with no plans whatsoever. But I have now figured out what I am going to do. First I am going to Byron Bay, a beautiful beach town with really nice surroundings. I will stay there until Saturday, when my Australian dream will begin: I am going on a surf camp! It will be 5 days and 4 nights, starting at 8am on saturday in Byron Bay and ending on wednesday evening in Sydney. During that time we will travel along some beautiful beaches with a group of max 20 people, learning how to surf and having fun along the way. I think it will be really great because in such a small group for such a long time (well according to backpacker standards) you can really get to know people (well once again according to backpacker standards).
These past few days in Brisbane have been really nice as well. I met the girl with whom I am going to Byron Bay - Nora. She is German, just like all the rest of the backpackers seem to be, and a lot of fun. We celebrated Australia Day on Jan 26th. I had expected it to be something like Koninginnedag, but I guess it was more aussie style. The afternoon was very relaxed, we chilled by the man-made lagoon in a park in the city, looked around a little market, got a fake australian flag tattoo and ate "Wicked Bananas". What are Wicked Bananas? Oh, only the best snack EVER. Some guy built his own machine which takes out the middle of a banana, and fills it with chocolate. There are different flavours: milk, dark, mint, orange, white and hazelnut chocolate. They are seriously amazing. We also went with the group we have been hanging out with for the past week or so and bought these really cute leather bracelets as a memory. In the evening we went to a free concert of the Zebras (locals from Brisbane), who were pretty good, and some Austalian named Josh Pyke or something, who was ok. We then went to a house party, and then to the bar/club of hotel Chalk.
Today is my last day in Brisbane (ok i still have tomorrow morning but I doubt if I will be able to see a lot of the city then) so I am going to go and enjoy it! By my next message hopefully I will be tanned and able to surf! Enjoy all of your adventures on exchange or at home and keep me posted as well, otherwise it's such a one way communication!
So then I suddenly had about two and a half weeks to kill, with no plans whatsoever. But I have now figured out what I am going to do. First I am going to Byron Bay, a beautiful beach town with really nice surroundings. I will stay there until Saturday, when my Australian dream will begin: I am going on a surf camp! It will be 5 days and 4 nights, starting at 8am on saturday in Byron Bay and ending on wednesday evening in Sydney. During that time we will travel along some beautiful beaches with a group of max 20 people, learning how to surf and having fun along the way. I think it will be really great because in such a small group for such a long time (well according to backpacker standards) you can really get to know people (well once again according to backpacker standards).
These past few days in Brisbane have been really nice as well. I met the girl with whom I am going to Byron Bay - Nora. She is German, just like all the rest of the backpackers seem to be, and a lot of fun. We celebrated Australia Day on Jan 26th. I had expected it to be something like Koninginnedag, but I guess it was more aussie style. The afternoon was very relaxed, we chilled by the man-made lagoon in a park in the city, looked around a little market, got a fake australian flag tattoo and ate "Wicked Bananas". What are Wicked Bananas? Oh, only the best snack EVER. Some guy built his own machine which takes out the middle of a banana, and fills it with chocolate. There are different flavours: milk, dark, mint, orange, white and hazelnut chocolate. They are seriously amazing. We also went with the group we have been hanging out with for the past week or so and bought these really cute leather bracelets as a memory. In the evening we went to a free concert of the Zebras (locals from Brisbane), who were pretty good, and some Austalian named Josh Pyke or something, who was ok. We then went to a house party, and then to the bar/club of hotel Chalk.
Today is my last day in Brisbane (ok i still have tomorrow morning but I doubt if I will be able to see a lot of the city then) so I am going to go and enjoy it! By my next message hopefully I will be tanned and able to surf! Enjoy all of your adventures on exchange or at home and keep me posted as well, otherwise it's such a one way communication!
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Fraser Island
So at the end of my last post Kevin and I had just managed to book a trip to Fraser Island. For those of you who do not know what Fraser Island is (which included me until a few days ago) it is a World Heritage listed site because it is the largest sand island in the world. Why would anyone want to go to a boring old sand island I hear you thinking, well because there is more than just sand on Fraser Island.
We were picked up at our backpacker hostel in Rainbow Beach by a four wheel drive bus tour. There were 16 of us and the tour guide, and we went to the barge that would take us to Fraser Island. One beach runs along the whole of the east coast of the island, and is also the main highway and the take off and landing strip for small planes. We drove to our accommodation and once we were all settled in we went to "Indian Head". This is a big rock on the north end of the island, which you can climb up to see some amazing views. From up there at the edge we even saw a shark in the water down below. We were so high up that it looked really small, but so did the people on the beach. The tour guide reckoned that it was about 1,5 m long.
After Indian Head we went to a shipwreck, and next to Eli creek. When we first arrived at Eli creek we weren't very impressed, but it turned out to be a lot of fun. You could walk up a boardwalk beside the creek, and then float down it. Unfortunately the water was rather shallow, so it was a bit slow, but there were some deeper parts which made it a lot of fun. After we were all back at the end of the creek, the tourguide wanted to take some pictures of the whole group for the new brochure and internet site of the tour company. We jumped off the sandbank into the creek in front of the bus, built a piramid in front of the bus, posed sitting down in front of the bus and ran splashing through the water. That tourguide sure made us work for our dinner!
We spent the evening playing some card games and just hanging around. The second day the weather wasn't as nice as the first. First of all we went for a walk in the rainforest. Yes, a real rainforest growing on sand, I was amazed as well. We walked along another creek, and it was really beautiful. The tourguide played a little trick by telling us to look for the "woowooh owl" before he went to drive the bus to the end of the trail to pick us up. Yep, you guessed it, when we found the owl he jumped out at us with his camera, to take a picture of the looks on our faces. He "punk'd" us! We then went to "The Blue Lake". It is the deepest lake on Fraser Island. Normally water runs through sand, so it would be impossible to form a lake, but at the bottom of the lake there is a sort of rock that is formed by dead leaves and sand compacted together. Because fo this basin of rock the water doesn't run away. We played volleyball in the water for a while, but it got rather cold and we decided to get out.
After the blue lake we drove to "The Red Lake". How can a lake of fresh water be red? Well, the water in this lake was basically cold, weak tea. There is a certain type of tree growing on Fraser Island that colours the water red and gives it a taste like tea. Unfortunately it started raining very hard while we were there, so those of us without a raincoat ran back to the bus. Luckily I had a spare T-shirt with me on the bus, so I didn't get sick (thank you mum for hammering these sensible habits into me). That evening we had fun playing more card games, and we really got to know each other. There was a group of psychology students from Amsterdam, although two of them were German. There were also two really nice German girls (Tina and Vanessa) with whom Kevin and I are staying in a hostel in Noosa at the moment, and a British couple.
On the last day we went to "The Green Lake". It is green because the sand is more yellow than at the other lakes, and because there are algae in it. The main attraction at the green lake was sandboarding. On the way to the green lake, through some sandblows (sanddunes) I went down a small hill standing (I have a picture which I will put up once I have my own computer), and once we got to the lake we all went down a much bigger hill. We used a bodyboard and went down on our stomachs, skimming onto the lake at the bottom of the hill. It was great fun. After we had had our fill of the sandboarding we swam a bit and relaxed at the side of the lake (it was nice weather again), before heading back up the beach/highway to the barge to take us to the mainland.
The Fraser Island trip was amazing, and it really made me realize that I enjoy company where you can really get to know each other, as opposed to staying at different hostels every couple of nights where you hang out with the people for a few hours each evening but everyone does their own thing during the day. My next week or so I will be spending with Tina and Vanessa, the German girls. First we are going to Brisbane for Australia Day (sort of like Koninginnedag I think), where Kevin will still be with us. Then we will head into the outback/farm country and go on a Jilleroo (cowgirl) course. Vanessa will do an 11 day course, and Tina and I chose a 5 day course. I am really looking forward to it, we will learn cattle hearding, lassoing, shoeing and lots more outback farmy stuff.
So next time I post I will have lots of fun, exhausting and messy stories to tell you I hope. Reading your comments, emails and facebook posts, and being around people long enough to actually get to know them has definitely improved my general mood. I am absolutely loving Australia, although I have yet to meet more than one or two aussies at a time! But there should be a bunch on this ranch. Love!
We were picked up at our backpacker hostel in Rainbow Beach by a four wheel drive bus tour. There were 16 of us and the tour guide, and we went to the barge that would take us to Fraser Island. One beach runs along the whole of the east coast of the island, and is also the main highway and the take off and landing strip for small planes. We drove to our accommodation and once we were all settled in we went to "Indian Head". This is a big rock on the north end of the island, which you can climb up to see some amazing views. From up there at the edge we even saw a shark in the water down below. We were so high up that it looked really small, but so did the people on the beach. The tour guide reckoned that it was about 1,5 m long.
After Indian Head we went to a shipwreck, and next to Eli creek. When we first arrived at Eli creek we weren't very impressed, but it turned out to be a lot of fun. You could walk up a boardwalk beside the creek, and then float down it. Unfortunately the water was rather shallow, so it was a bit slow, but there were some deeper parts which made it a lot of fun. After we were all back at the end of the creek, the tourguide wanted to take some pictures of the whole group for the new brochure and internet site of the tour company. We jumped off the sandbank into the creek in front of the bus, built a piramid in front of the bus, posed sitting down in front of the bus and ran splashing through the water. That tourguide sure made us work for our dinner!
We spent the evening playing some card games and just hanging around. The second day the weather wasn't as nice as the first. First of all we went for a walk in the rainforest. Yes, a real rainforest growing on sand, I was amazed as well. We walked along another creek, and it was really beautiful. The tourguide played a little trick by telling us to look for the "woowooh owl" before he went to drive the bus to the end of the trail to pick us up. Yep, you guessed it, when we found the owl he jumped out at us with his camera, to take a picture of the looks on our faces. He "punk'd" us! We then went to "The Blue Lake". It is the deepest lake on Fraser Island. Normally water runs through sand, so it would be impossible to form a lake, but at the bottom of the lake there is a sort of rock that is formed by dead leaves and sand compacted together. Because fo this basin of rock the water doesn't run away. We played volleyball in the water for a while, but it got rather cold and we decided to get out.
After the blue lake we drove to "The Red Lake". How can a lake of fresh water be red? Well, the water in this lake was basically cold, weak tea. There is a certain type of tree growing on Fraser Island that colours the water red and gives it a taste like tea. Unfortunately it started raining very hard while we were there, so those of us without a raincoat ran back to the bus. Luckily I had a spare T-shirt with me on the bus, so I didn't get sick (thank you mum for hammering these sensible habits into me). That evening we had fun playing more card games, and we really got to know each other. There was a group of psychology students from Amsterdam, although two of them were German. There were also two really nice German girls (Tina and Vanessa) with whom Kevin and I are staying in a hostel in Noosa at the moment, and a British couple.
On the last day we went to "The Green Lake". It is green because the sand is more yellow than at the other lakes, and because there are algae in it. The main attraction at the green lake was sandboarding. On the way to the green lake, through some sandblows (sanddunes) I went down a small hill standing (I have a picture which I will put up once I have my own computer), and once we got to the lake we all went down a much bigger hill. We used a bodyboard and went down on our stomachs, skimming onto the lake at the bottom of the hill. It was great fun. After we had had our fill of the sandboarding we swam a bit and relaxed at the side of the lake (it was nice weather again), before heading back up the beach/highway to the barge to take us to the mainland.
The Fraser Island trip was amazing, and it really made me realize that I enjoy company where you can really get to know each other, as opposed to staying at different hostels every couple of nights where you hang out with the people for a few hours each evening but everyone does their own thing during the day. My next week or so I will be spending with Tina and Vanessa, the German girls. First we are going to Brisbane for Australia Day (sort of like Koninginnedag I think), where Kevin will still be with us. Then we will head into the outback/farm country and go on a Jilleroo (cowgirl) course. Vanessa will do an 11 day course, and Tina and I chose a 5 day course. I am really looking forward to it, we will learn cattle hearding, lassoing, shoeing and lots more outback farmy stuff.
So next time I post I will have lots of fun, exhausting and messy stories to tell you I hope. Reading your comments, emails and facebook posts, and being around people long enough to actually get to know them has definitely improved my general mood. I am absolutely loving Australia, although I have yet to meet more than one or two aussies at a time! But there should be a bunch on this ranch. Love!
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Next stop: Brisbane
So by now I have been in Brisbane and am already in a really small place called Rainbow Beach. Why am I in a small boring beach town you ask? Kevin and I took a bus up here so that we can go to Fraser Island tomorrow. But I'll tell you all about that in the next post, right now my most recent news is my stay in Brisbane.
On my last day in Sydney it wasn't very nice weather, so I packed my stuff and headed into town. When it started raining I decided to go into one of the (many) malls in the centre to have a look around. Well I can tell you, it was like nothing I have ever seen before. Three or four malls connected together, and I got completely lost at least four times trying to find my way out.
That evening I took a bus to Brisbane, stopping in Byron Bay. I would have liked to stop overnight, but all of the hostels were full, except one that charged about 60 euros per night. So in stead I just spent two hours in Byron Bay. I decided to go to the beach just for a walk and a look around, but it started raining. Great. By about 1 pm I arrived in Brisbane, but the strange thing is that Brisbane is actually an hour behind Sydney. This is only because they are in different states, since Brisbane is actually slightly further east than Sydney.
After some misunderstandings I managed to get into the same hostel as Kevin, and because I had had to call them I found out that they offer a free pick-up service from the bus station. That afternoon Kevin and I headed up mount Coot-Tha, from where we had an amazing view of the city. We then wanted to walk to the botanic gardens further down the hill, but by the time we got there the last bus back to the city centre was leaving in 10 minutes, so we didn't end up seeing the botanic gardens. Kevin then showed me around the centre, the river and the south bank. We had a pretty quiet night that first night, ready for the next day.
That morning we went to the Koala Sanctury. We saw lots of animals native to Australia - loads of different birds, dingoes, turtles, bats, emus, crocodiles, wallabies, possums, kangaroos and of course koalas. We saw a bird of prey show, which was really impressive. The birds flew really close to us, and we found out that they were far lighter than you would expect. An owl they showed us was only about 400 grams! We also saw a sheepdog show, fed kangaroos and had our picture taken holding a koala! They are all such cute animals!
After the koala sanctuary Kevin and I went to set up our trip to Fraser Island, and with a lot of luck we managed to plan everything. We will leave tomorrow morning, and arrive in Noosa (another seaside town) on wednesday evening. I have lots of pictures, and I will put them online as soon as I get to my own computer, so prepare to be bombarded in a few weeks time! Love you all!!
On my last day in Sydney it wasn't very nice weather, so I packed my stuff and headed into town. When it started raining I decided to go into one of the (many) malls in the centre to have a look around. Well I can tell you, it was like nothing I have ever seen before. Three or four malls connected together, and I got completely lost at least four times trying to find my way out.
That evening I took a bus to Brisbane, stopping in Byron Bay. I would have liked to stop overnight, but all of the hostels were full, except one that charged about 60 euros per night. So in stead I just spent two hours in Byron Bay. I decided to go to the beach just for a walk and a look around, but it started raining. Great. By about 1 pm I arrived in Brisbane, but the strange thing is that Brisbane is actually an hour behind Sydney. This is only because they are in different states, since Brisbane is actually slightly further east than Sydney.
After some misunderstandings I managed to get into the same hostel as Kevin, and because I had had to call them I found out that they offer a free pick-up service from the bus station. That afternoon Kevin and I headed up mount Coot-Tha, from where we had an amazing view of the city. We then wanted to walk to the botanic gardens further down the hill, but by the time we got there the last bus back to the city centre was leaving in 10 minutes, so we didn't end up seeing the botanic gardens. Kevin then showed me around the centre, the river and the south bank. We had a pretty quiet night that first night, ready for the next day.
That morning we went to the Koala Sanctury. We saw lots of animals native to Australia - loads of different birds, dingoes, turtles, bats, emus, crocodiles, wallabies, possums, kangaroos and of course koalas. We saw a bird of prey show, which was really impressive. The birds flew really close to us, and we found out that they were far lighter than you would expect. An owl they showed us was only about 400 grams! We also saw a sheepdog show, fed kangaroos and had our picture taken holding a koala! They are all such cute animals!
After the koala sanctuary Kevin and I went to set up our trip to Fraser Island, and with a lot of luck we managed to plan everything. We will leave tomorrow morning, and arrive in Noosa (another seaside town) on wednesday evening. I have lots of pictures, and I will put them online as soon as I get to my own computer, so prepare to be bombarded in a few weeks time! Love you all!!
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Where did the time go?
So my trip has progressed quite a bit since my last post. I have by now arrived in Sydney and gotten the basic essentials arranges - sim card, bank account, etc. But I'm not Hiro from Heroes, and so I didn't bend time and space to suddenly be in Sydney. So to continue where I left off:
The evening after the history of Singapore we hung out with a bunch of Fred's friends in Holland village. Pretty cool name, except it has NOTHING at all to do with Holland. Only slightly disappointing since it was nice anyway. On Friday I had the morning to mysef and stared off on Orchard street. Once I had had enough I decided to go to the botanical gardens. Guess what? Another tropical rainstorm. Great. Ok, they don't usually last too long, so I'll wait it out. OK, storm over, now where's the busstop? Good question. Once I was finally on the bus, Fred called and we went to see a movie with one of his friends and his brother in stead. This worked out quite well in the end since it started raining again and I would have gotten soaked.
That evening I dropped my bags off at Tim's house, where I would stay that night and headed over to Little India. I was a bit apprehensive about leaving my stuff on Tim's doorstep, but the guards looked after it. When I got to Little India I met Sanne and Sharon, two more UC'ers for dinner. Sanne is spending the next semester in Singapore and Sharon is travelling around. I then spent the evening hanging out with Tim and a bunch of his friends.
Saturday, my last day in Singapore was my most touristy day. I had the whole day to myself, and I visited Chinatown, where there were already some Chinese New Year decorations, Clarke Quay, City Hall and the Harbour front. I then went back to Tim's house to collect my stuff and headed off to the airport for my flight to Sydney.
That flight was so much worse than the one to Singapore. I was sitting to some fat German woman, whose leg and arm pressed against mine uncomfortably because she was so fat. The flight also stopped in Adelaide, cutting right into my sleeping time. Then once I got to the airport, it took me a while to find Viola, Sonya and Justine, who were there to pick me up. I won't bore you with the details of my day getting over jetlag, and the next day getting my sim card and bank account set up.
I got to my hostel The Palms last night and went to bed quite early after making my own dinner. Today wasn't supposed to be very nice weather, so I messed around a bit getting ready this morning, until I noticed that there were some breaks in the clouds. I changed out of my long trousers and warmer t-shirt and headed into the city. I walked all through the Royal Botanic Gardens to the Sydney Opera House (I'll get some pictures online for you Jen ;)) and on to Circular Quay and The Rocks. I saw some Aboriginals playing music and went into The Rocks Museum, about the history of the Setllement of Sydney. Once I had had enough of that I took a train to Hyde Park, and I didn't notice that my book on Sydney had slipped out of my pocket until after the doors had closed, and I had to watch it ride away into the distance... :( After relaxing in Hyde Park for a bit I went on to The Chinese Garden of Friendship, Darling Harbour, and finally to Chinatown for dinner before heading home.
Well, it's been a super busy day, so I'm going to hit the sack. Hopefully my next stop will be Brisbane to meet up with Kevin, if I can figure everything out. I really love hearing from you all, so please keep commenting to make me feel a little less homesick!
The evening after the history of Singapore we hung out with a bunch of Fred's friends in Holland village. Pretty cool name, except it has NOTHING at all to do with Holland. Only slightly disappointing since it was nice anyway. On Friday I had the morning to mysef and stared off on Orchard street. Once I had had enough I decided to go to the botanical gardens. Guess what? Another tropical rainstorm. Great. Ok, they don't usually last too long, so I'll wait it out. OK, storm over, now where's the busstop? Good question. Once I was finally on the bus, Fred called and we went to see a movie with one of his friends and his brother in stead. This worked out quite well in the end since it started raining again and I would have gotten soaked.
That evening I dropped my bags off at Tim's house, where I would stay that night and headed over to Little India. I was a bit apprehensive about leaving my stuff on Tim's doorstep, but the guards looked after it. When I got to Little India I met Sanne and Sharon, two more UC'ers for dinner. Sanne is spending the next semester in Singapore and Sharon is travelling around. I then spent the evening hanging out with Tim and a bunch of his friends.
Saturday, my last day in Singapore was my most touristy day. I had the whole day to myself, and I visited Chinatown, where there were already some Chinese New Year decorations, Clarke Quay, City Hall and the Harbour front. I then went back to Tim's house to collect my stuff and headed off to the airport for my flight to Sydney.
That flight was so much worse than the one to Singapore. I was sitting to some fat German woman, whose leg and arm pressed against mine uncomfortably because she was so fat. The flight also stopped in Adelaide, cutting right into my sleeping time. Then once I got to the airport, it took me a while to find Viola, Sonya and Justine, who were there to pick me up. I won't bore you with the details of my day getting over jetlag, and the next day getting my sim card and bank account set up.
I got to my hostel The Palms last night and went to bed quite early after making my own dinner. Today wasn't supposed to be very nice weather, so I messed around a bit getting ready this morning, until I noticed that there were some breaks in the clouds. I changed out of my long trousers and warmer t-shirt and headed into the city. I walked all through the Royal Botanic Gardens to the Sydney Opera House (I'll get some pictures online for you Jen ;)) and on to Circular Quay and The Rocks. I saw some Aboriginals playing music and went into The Rocks Museum, about the history of the Setllement of Sydney. Once I had had enough of that I took a train to Hyde Park, and I didn't notice that my book on Sydney had slipped out of my pocket until after the doors had closed, and I had to watch it ride away into the distance... :( After relaxing in Hyde Park for a bit I went on to The Chinese Garden of Friendship, Darling Harbour, and finally to Chinatown for dinner before heading home.
Well, it's been a super busy day, so I'm going to hit the sack. Hopefully my next stop will be Brisbane to meet up with Kevin, if I can figure everything out. I really love hearing from you all, so please keep commenting to make me feel a little less homesick!
Thursday, January 10, 2008
The Beginning
After days of gathering, packing and discarding stuff, the day to leave had finally arrived. On 8 January at 5 pm I was saying goodbye to my parents at schiphol passport control, and from there on out I was on my own. First I flew to London Heathrow, and after a short wait there I boarded the plane that was to take me to Singapore. Walking through first class I wished that I was a millionaire, but even in economy class we all had our own tv screens, and a wide selections of films and tv shows to choose from. The amount of legroom wasn't great, but having asked for an aisle seat it wasn't too bad. I managed to sleep through most of the flight, so I wasn't feeling too terrible when I arrived in Singapore at 6 pm the next day.
I told the cab driver the name of the road Fred, with whom I am staying, gave me, and when he repeated it in a Singaporean accent it sounded completely different, so all I could do was hope that we had the same street in mind and that I wouldn't end up on the wrong side of town. But luckily I made it to Fred's house easily, and I got settled in before dinner. It's not exceptionally hot here, but the humidity makes it feel a lot warmer, especially having just come from Holland where it's just plain cold. After dinner Fred invited over some of his friends from senior school for a small shisha party. Quite a lot of people came and they seem like a really nice bunch. Later on we hit the town --- no chance for jetlag, just keep on going --- and went to an amazing club called Ministry Of Sound, or MOS. The place was massive, with lots of separate rooms and VIP rooms with their own interior design and music. Where in Holland after going out most people go for fries or kebab, here in Singapore you go for chicken rice or something similar. By the time we got back I would have been ready for bed even my biological clock was still on Dutch time.
Today I slept in, and then headed into town with Fred to meet up with Tim, whom I met last year when he was on exchange at UCU, for some lunch. By the time we finished lunch the skies had opened up and it was positively pouring, so Fred and I decided to go and see the history gallery on Singapore. It was very interesting, and nice to see the old photographs and paintings of Singapore in the old days. It has definitely modernized A LOT over the past couple of decades.
I'm not sure what I will be doing the next couple of days, but if it's anything like yesterday and today I'm sure that I will have a lot of fun. On saturday I am leaving for Sydney, another long flight, another new country and lots more fun to be had.
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