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!
Monday, January 28, 2008
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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