Sorry, there will be a break

Hi Everybody,
Just a short note to tell you all that I am now in New Zealand and really have a good time. Unfortunately I will have to rush a lot to see all there is and that won't leave me time to update my blog while travelling (not that I've done much so the last weeks). Really sorry about this. I will make it up to you once I'm back.
See you all soon.

Cape Tribulation

I was to quick talking about Magnetic Island and probably also a bit asleep so I forgot the entry about one of the most beautiful places I have been to. After Cairns I didn't go down towards Townsville but made a 2 days tour with my diving buddy Peter to Cape Tribulation where the Great Barrier Reef meets the Rain Forest. On our bustour the first stop was a river cruise where we were supposed to see crocodiles and actually saw one particularily big one called Scarface, but after having seen already quite a few it wasn't that special anymore. After a small boardwalk we went were dropped off at our hostal, which was made up of different little cabins in the middle of the rainforest. Really charming. The afternoon was spent with a walk along the beach in wonderful white coral sand and on one hand a blue turquoise ocean and the other one a lush rainforest. Our idea was to spend the night on the beach although supposedly there were crocodiles around but we thought we would be brave enough to do so. So after a nice dinner at the beach bar and it was dark, and I can tell you it was pitch dark without a moon in the sky, we made our way to the beach with a bottle of wine to make us brave. We ventured only some metres into the beach, having still the entrance to the hostal walkway close by and sat there for a while. Then suddenly Peter jumped up and dragged me along and shouted something about a noise, we both panicked for a second and ran a view steps backwards. No it wasn't a croc, it was only me making noises running with my fingers through the sand. But this shock showed us that we weren't made for sleeping at the beach after all.

The next morning we went on a horse ride along the beach and through the rainforest. That was brilliant, especially as I was able to canter along the beach which is such a great feeling of freedom. Nearly at the end of our trip we stopped at a water whole (croc free) to go for a refreshing swim. Very nice.

Magnetic Island

I left Cairns early in the morning to catch the bus to Townsville which is aproximately 350 km south og Cairns. From there I took the ferry to Magnetic Island which is just 8km away from the coast. Magnetic Island received its name from Captain Cook as when he was sailing along the island his compass spun without aparent reason and he thought that it was due to magnetic fields on the island. He later got proven wrong, it was probably just the fault of his aluminium cup with rum that made the compass react, but the name stayed. Anyway I found the name quite suitable as this island has a magnetic attraction, arriving there is like arriving in Paradise. The island is sparely populated (4.000 islander) and the tourists stay in view places as nearly 2/3 of the island is national park. I took the bus to Horseshoe bay which lays on the other side of the island seen from the ferry, and put up my tend on the camp ground of the YHA. Really great place with crazy parrots flying around and cosy huts the backpackers can sleep in. Nevertheless I decided to camp as I have been carrying around this bl... heavy tent for so long and havn't used it since the Overlandtrack.

The rest of the day I spend chilling out at the beach, although stinger season has started, there haven't been spotted any yet though it still made me nervous swimming in the see in case of an encounter with one of those dreadful jelly fish and you can't really enjoy it as much as you should.

After an early sleep in my tent, it gets dark so early here that at 7 pm it feels as though it was already much later. The next day I started with a harty bush tacker breakfast (brunch) with grilling your own toast over the fire, nice fish, pancakes, bacon and so on. During the breakfast, we were able to stroke a baby crocodile named Barbie and a snake. Later also the sleepy Koala was brought out. I didn't take a picture with him on my arm though as he is really keen on touching women's breast :-). After filling my stomach I wanted to do as much hiking as possible, but the temptation to just hang around the beautiful beaches after the first view kilometres was just to high. So instead of hiking a lot and seing most of the 16 bays, I limited the number of bays visited but swam in nearly all of them. Of course always on the watch for our slimy friends in the water. The beaches are really beautiful and as most of them are only reachable on walking tracks not many people found their way to them. After another nice and undisturbed night sleep in my pretty yellow tent I left this beautiful spot again and headed for only 2 hours on the bus to Ayr where I was diving the SS Yongala. But more about this later.

Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef

Before I flew from Darwin to Cairns I went to the famous Deck Chair Cinema. It is a great place for an open air cinema experience sitting in a cosy deck chair and sharing the movie with bats and possums (that are actually more interested in the food the spectators brought along than the movie). The actual film was a original version danish movie called Prague and the funny thing about it was that it was filmed partly in the hotel where I stayed for a convention. As the cheapest option was flying over Brisbane I had first flew down there and then got a connecting flight to Cairns where I arrived early in the morning (saved a night's accomodation). Just after checking in at the YHA Central in Cairns I went in search for a suitable diving course, and I found one which was to start soon. To fill the 1,5 remaining days before the PADI Open Water course was about to start I did what you ought to do on holidays, relax, at least for half a day. The next morning I made my way to the Botanical Garden as I was told that there is a nice bushwalk close to the airport. So I walked the Red and Blue Arrow walk, a 7,5 km track going up the hill through bush and wildlife giving a great view over the bays and the airport. While walking I had an encounter with a snake, I can't tell who of us was more scared, the snake or me, we looked at each other holding the breath (at least I did) and then the snake was the first to move, fortunately away from me. Later I asked what kind of snake it could have been and I was told that probably jus a tree snake which is not dangerous at all and not the brown snake that can kill you within hours. After walking for 1 hour and 50 minutes (didn't take me the 4-5 hours stated on the sign with the description of the track) I had a nice fruit shake in the coffee shop of the botanical garden where I met 2 English and a German girl I knew from my Alice Springs to Darwin trip. We had dinner together that same night and also went for some beers to the famous Woolshet.

Next day my diving course started. We were a group of 12 and got divided into 2 groups. The first two days we had to listen to the theory, do some tests and pool training. I was a bit scared about breathing under water but I have to say it was the most natural thing to do, once you stick your head into the water, at leat if you don't want to suffocate. The group was really nice and well mixed nationality wise. The first evening we went to Reef Teach where we learned about the fish and the other marine animals we might encounter down in the ocean. The most valuable lesson learned was probably: if something is specially pretty or ugly, don't touch it.

Then the third day we finally went on to the Reef on our Boat the Scubapro III with 32 divers on board (certified and also us the students) The fist time I ever really dived was like a revelation. There is a whole new world down there and it is really amazing how colourful and lively it is on the Reef. It is just amazing and hard to describe, especially the feeling of floating through the water, having colourful fish swim next to you and not being afraid of you at all. After 4 dives where we had to do technical stuff, such as taking off your mask and putting it on again, breath from your buddies air etc. we were certified as Open Water Divers. Great feeling. As sometimes the dive sites are deeper thatn 18 m, I also went for the adventure divers certificate which included a deep dive to 30 meters (No, I didn't get any nitrogene narcosis, unfortunately. It's like being drunk and dissapears once you go a bit higher) a night dive and a boat dive. The night dive was really spectacular. You go out into the dark water and in the beginning I was really nervous, knowing that the bigger fish like sharks hunt at night, but once you are in the water, it is just great and due to the white coral sand on the ground not as dark as exected. We saw a lion fish and finally at the end of our dive not far away from us a Reef Shark. He didn't even care about us and went on with his business, so nothing to be scared about. Well anyway, I could go on a blab about diving on and on, but I don't want to bore you. Just one more thing, food on the boat was great and so was the group. We had a nice night out all together once we reached firm land again. It is funny, but even on land again, it felt as if the ground was moving just as the rocking of the boat. And closing my eyes I always saw ocean and fish.

Me and my 2 diving Buddies Velle and Peter

Litchfield and Kakadu National Park

Our old group got split up as the vehicles for the Kakadu Nationalpark were 4 WD with less seats. Also we had a new tour guide which was probably the closest you can get to a real Crocodile Dundee, always walked barefoot, new a lot of scary Croc stories eating German Tourists and jumping from rocks high above into small water holes.

Our first stop was seing the amazing Termite sky scrapers were millions of those tiny animas live (mostly under the ground) Those buildings are highly efficently build with air conditioning and so on.

The next stop was swimming in the Croc free Florence Waterfall in Litchfield Park. The wet season up here is about to start and it is really hot an humid, making you sweat like a pig so a bath in cool water is always welcome. After lunch we went on to Water hollows, water holes were you could jump in, lay around or even dive to the ground to get some stones up. Of course I had to try, and was successful (yippiii). Then we finally were up to see some real Crocs (freshies and the tourist eating ones salties) on the Mary River Cruise. Apart from the crocodiles we also spotted white belly eagles and a lot of other water birds I forgot the name of, as well as Wallabies.

On our way back it suddenly started to rain, but not a nice Madrid shower but real Indian monsoon style rain. It didn't really stop the whole night but got also accompanied by strong wind that made you scare that the tent might fly off. But then the next morning everything was dry again, just amazing.

Next morning we went on to the Kakadu National Park which is actually the only World Heritage Site that contains a whole river system (thought you ought to know). Our first stop was the so called art gallery where aboriginal paintings could be found all over the rocks. The paintings as such dont have a great meaning, they are normally part of a story or are painted to teach their youngers. We headed on to the lookout which was actually a burial place, but still we were allowed to walk onto it, well probably like a public cementry. The view was amazing, seeing underneath the billabongs that will be carrying much more water during the wet season.

The we went for more swimming upon the Waterfall at Maguk. It was a croc safe zone as they cannot climb up the water fall. It was great swimming in different rock formed holes and also jumping in (I guess my highest jump was from 4 meters) and diving through arcs from one hole into the other. Really great fun.

Today we really had to use the 4 WD of our truck, it got quite shaky on our way to the Twin Falls. Really beautiful water falls, altough I'm sure they are even prettier after the rain, although probably not accessible as the whole place is flooded.

After the twin falls we carried on to see the Jim Jim falls, this time no water run down the rocks but nevertheless it wass amazing to see. It is a big water hole that is surrounded by at least 100 m solid rock which makes it amazing swimming in it and looking up.

Unfortunately after this refreshing swim our tour was ended and we headed back to Darwin where we had a nice night out with a couple (or more drinks)

Alice Springs to Darwin

Hi there again. I'm really sorry that I am sooo behind writing but I guess I have the best excuse in the world for it. I'M ON HOLIDAYS.

Well anyhow having had so many adventures it will be hard to remember exactly everything but I will try to give my best:

Driving up to Darwin:

Once again I got on the bus to meet a new group. The bus was full up to the last seat and the group pretty heterogenious, from 19 year olds up to over 60 year olds. It was great to be able to talk to so many different people and listen to their stories. Anyhow our trip took us through the outback into the tropical part of Australia. Our first interesting stop were the "Devil's Marbles". Big round stones that came up through the earth million and million years ago and were called by the white men devil's marbles as the this place was used as an assembly and resting point by shepards and when they woke up the next morning, a lot of their sheep have died. Supersticiously they thought it was the devil playing with them and that this place was bewitched but later on scientists found out that after all it wasn't the devil that killed the poor sheep but a little plant with sharp hooks that when eaten by the stupid sheep opened them up from inside and they bled to death. Strange enough also the Aboriginal people called this place Kula Kula, where the devil lost his hair. Kind of spooky, isn't it.

The next stop along the way was in Tennant Creek which is the 4th largest city of the Northern Territory with, now it comes, 4.000 inhabitants. This is less than Baiersbronn and they call themselves a city, no more jokes about me being from a village then :)

Nothing interesting to say about this place, quite far away from everywhere, typical easy build up houses, a supermarket, petrol station and not much more.

Finally we arrived at the end of the day on our camp site which was located on the cattle station Banka Banka (more than 11.000 km2 and 58.000 running beef burgers). We had a really nice kind of outback evening, sitting around the fire and grilling marsh mellows on a stick over the fire. Have to admit that it was my first time ever eating grilled marsh mellows and I have to admit its really yummy, crunchy on the outside and melted inside.

After another early start the next morning we stopped for lunch at a place called Daily Waters which has the oldest running pub in Australia. This is quite a strange place as its inside was decorated by things travellers left behind, including a flip flop tree.

By the way, I nearly forgot to mention that I finally got over my fear of snakes, shock therapy...

After lunch and a short bath in the swimming pool we went on and got finally to some of the more interesting places, the hot springs in Mataranka. Nice bath tub warm water to swim in. As a real adventuress that was a bit to boring so I went on to look for a kick and found it a bit further on where the hot springs ended in a kind of river where crocodiles were living. Francis and me were brave and took a swim with the crocs. (well actually we just dared to enter about two meters into the river and the crocs are the more friendly freshies that don't eat you just nibble at your legs if they get hold of you, and I have to admit, there was non around when we got in, but still the adrenaline kick was there. Which made the whole experience even more spooky where the thousands of huge bats that were sitting in the trees and made a lot of noise. I can now imagine what Bartman felt when he was stuck in the cave with those animals, they are scary.

Over night we stayed at the camp ground of the Kathrine Gorge National Park. Early the next morning we carried on to the Gorge to do some Canoeing. My canoe partner was Bryan, the scotsmen, and althoug he promised me he was an experienced canoer we actually were the lousiest ever, the 3 km to get down the first Gorge were more like 6 km to us as we went zig zag, but still we had a lot of fun and this place was really beautiful.

Before we arrived ein Darwin we made a short stop at a pub where the iconic buffalo Charlie out of the Crocodile Dundee movie was set up (stuffed of course). I really have to watch this movie again, especially as most of it was filmed in the kakadu National Park. When arriving at Darwin I went down with some of the people from our group to the Mindil Market, which is a hippie style street market down at the beach. Beautiful setting, good food and great music.

The Red Centre

Finally my big tour with Adventure Tours started to see the probaby most iconic symbol of Australia- Uluru or as the white people called it Ayers Rock. We had another early start with Evil our tour guide (we could not guess why she was named like this by her colleagues and also don't know her real name, but this time nomen non et omen.). The fist stop was a Camel farm where I rode for the first time on one of those amazing creatures. It was very bumpy wiggling from one side to the other especially after it was forced into a slow trot. Now I fully understand why they are called ships of the desert, must get seasick on them all the same. Just imagine that the first explorers rode months on them, makes me shiver and my bumb hurt. The Camels arrived in Australia in order to be able to cross the desert of the centre that was impossible to do on horses or other transport means by then. Later one, when motorization started the Camel owner where supposed to kill their animals but instead they released them in the outback. The Camels adapted quite well and became wild. It is estimated that there are over 2 millions of them. In the afternoon we arrived in Kata Tjuta in the Pitjantjajara language this means means 'many heads'), the whites also call it "the Olgas". It is an impressive rock formation of different smoothed red rocks. The red colour is actually oxidation, that has formed over millions of year by the exposure to water and heat. We hiked through this amazing scenery and it got quite understandable for me why this is a sacred place for the Aboriginal people. Only the Trail of Winds that we took is open to the public, the rest of this mountain ranges is closed and can only be entered by the traditional owners of the land.

After this afternoon hike that left us all quite exhausted because of the dry heat, we took the bus to see the sunset over Uluru. I have to say that I was a bit dissapointed when we arrived at the sunset viewing point, not because of the rock which really is as spectacular as you could imagine it, but because I somehow thought (or better said, wished) that it was only us being able to enjoy this natural spectacle, but of course there were a lot of tour buses and other tourists wanting to see the same as us. Anyhow we found a spot a bit further up where not too many people gathered and enjoyed the changing colours of Uluru. It started out light red and got darker when the sun slowly went down and drew scar like shadows on the smooth rock. When the sun was about to vanish it grew paler until nearly all the colour seemed to be drained from it. Pretty awesome or beauuuutiful as the Australians would say. Unfortunately my pictures never capture completely the real beauty of the places, but to give you an idea I post it anyway.

After seing the sunset over the Rock we went to the campside. We could choose between sleeping in a set tent or in a Swag (kind of Australian sleeping bag) outside. I chose the latter option as the night was so clear and the stars twinkled in the sky. I have to say it was really an amazing experience sleeping with the stars above you out in the open, listening to the sounds of nature and watching the sky. Here far away from civilization and cities, the stars seem to shine much brighter and also much closer. I really slept well, although around the early morning ours it got quite fresh, nevermind, as we had to get up at 4.15 anyway to go and see the sunrise over Uluru.

That was also a pretty spectacular show, although I found that the Rock wasn't as pretty from this side as from the distance and the spot we've seen the sunset from. After the sun was all up we started with the 8km base walk around Uluru. Fortunately the climb was closed due to wind so even those tempted to climb up couldn't do it. I find it quite sad that the walk is still open, altough the rock is a holy place to the Aboriginals, and there are signs everywhere asking the tourists not to climb, but I have been told that once the walk was closed a big decrease in tourist numbers into the Park was noticed and therefore less money was made, so it got reopened. Already 35 people have died, falling off, having hear attacks and so on, as the rock is really steep and there are still those who think that they can climb it in flip flops. Anyway, we just walked around it and there are also several spots where taking pictures is forbidden as it is a sacred spot. There are different stories about the creation of Uluru, but it would take to long to write them down here, I will tell them personally to you when I come back if I remember them all. There are different levels of stories for the Aboriginal people that are about creation, their laws, lessons to the younger and so on. Most of the stories are to holy to be told to white people, so the stories we are able to read or hear are those that are told to the children.

In the afternoon we drove to the Camp side at Kings Canyon where we made a fire out of our collected firewood and cooked over it. After dinner we played cards and talked. Our group is really nice and heterogenous with different ages from 20 to over 60 (Canadien couple) and different nationalities. Once again I slept under the stars.

The next morning we started early to hike through Kings Canyon to make use of the freshness of the early morning hours, the heat will be hitting us soon. Kings Canyon (part of the Watarrka National park) is very impressive Gorge with walls that are over 300 meters high. We climbed up to the first lookout and then followed the trail through the different rock formations until we reached the "Garden of Eden". This is a very ancient garden with tropical plants that must come as close as possible to the biblical garden of eden taking into consideration that all this beauty grows within the shelter of rocks in the middle of a desert. Quite impressive.

We finished around 11 with our hike, just in time as the sun already hit very hard, and drove back to Alice Springs.

Adelaide to Alice Springs

I'm back from the Outback. Sorry it took so long, but there was no Internet around and I really was too busy to write anyway.

I am now in Darwin, relaxing at the pool, doing my laundry which is really necessary. I nearly ran out of clothes and they are all slightly reddish-brown.

Adelaide to Alice Springs

My first tour started early in the morning at 6.30 and I better got used to it as this or even earlier was the normal starting time. Thist first part of the trip to the Red centre was basically a bus drive to get from one place to the other with some stops on the way. The bus was quite ok and our tour guide a real blast. A typical Aussie guy that was really passionate about the outback and passed his enthusiasm to us. It was really amazing to see the changes of the scenery, where on the way less and less vegetation could be seen and the trees and grass gave way bit by bit to the characteristic red sand. One of our first stops was at the shore of a dried out salt lake that have been created when the ocean still reached way land inward. It was amazing to see the contrast of colours of the white of the dried out lake that streched out as fas as the blue horizon and was surrounded by red sand with view green spots of tough plants that resit the hard living conditions of the semi desert.

We spend the night in Coober Pedy, the Opal Capital of the World. After having visited the Opal mine, we passed the night in an underground hostal that was digged into the mountain. Most of the housing is done this way in this mining city as it provides natural shade during the heat of the day and warmth at night. Apart from his mining history and the strange accumulation of nationalities (47 different onces) and adventurers that bought 50 sqm land to dig for Opals there was not much to see.

The next morning we started again early and hit the road, another 800 km to do. Our route drove us by the longest man made structure which sound quite amazing, but is in fact only a Dingo fence, very long though but not as impressive as for example the Great Wall of China (sorry Aussies). We passed by interesting rock formation as for example one that is called the "two dingos" and really looks a bit like two dogs sitting cl0se together. And then there was of course the red sand, and more rocks and more sand wherever you looked. The street that we followed was so straight that it seemed endless and fused with the desert beside it. The cars we crosse could be counted in 1 hand and each of them was greated by our guide as a friend. By the way this seems to be the normal thing to do here in Australia to wave to every car you cross. I won't be trying this in Madrid or I will have a sore hand after less then 5 minutes.

We arrived in Alice Springs after having done 1580km in 2 days and only reached the middle of this enormous country.

There is not much to tell about Alice Springs. It is a city in the middle of nowhere with aprox. 20.000 inhabitants and with an Aboriginal population of 60%. It has a mall, some bars and caffees and is home to the "Royal Flying Doctors". All in all, I rather found it a bit depressing, must have been the heat that I have longed for so long and now came as wave over me. I will need some time to adapt.

Adelaide

Finally I am able to put on shorts, I have been freezing for long enough. I am now over 1500 km away from Adelaide in the red center in the Northern Territory city Alice Springs. But I am going to quickly, I will start first with my getting drunk on good wine experience.

The Barossa Valley:

As Australia is an important wine producing country I had to see of course the wineyards of those nice wines that we drink. So I joined a wine tasting tour to the Barossa Valley, close to Adelaide to get a close look, and also try a little tiny bit of wine. (Ok I admit, I mainly went for the wine tasting, and not so much for the scenery). It was a really nice trip and the group was good fun. Before we had our first sip of wine, we stopped for breakfast and getting some base at the world largest rocking horse. It seems that the Australian like big things, even in the absurdest form. It's a big country.

Our first wine tasting stop was at Jakob's Creek winery. As expected, the founder was German and taught the "English" how to produce wine. We got a brief overview over the history, a look around the visitor's center, completely build to blend in with the environment and out of recycled materials. The the anticipated part started. We tried different wines, starting with white ones, over rose and then the red ones getting explained how to smell and really tast wine to discover the different aromas.

In the next winery it was more about getting drunk, but of course with style. Here are some pictures of my wintasting adventure.

The group was really great and we had a lot of fun. Although it looks as if I was already a bit tipsy on the picture, it is NOT the case, that was only my third glass.

Great Ocean Road

G'day again. I am really sorry for the time span within my entries but it is not that easy to keep up an activity such as writing when you are sooo relaxed.

I am currently in Adelaide but how I got here and my adventures on the way you will find hereunder:

Short stay in Melbourne:

Arriving from Hobart, I went directly to the hostal booked for the next 2 nights. I realized very quickly that due to the high volume of noise coming from the bar there would't be much sleep for the next nights. Unfortunately that was the case, as the windows here are not very well isolated and the people drinking in the bar and the inner court did not really try to keep the volume down. Thats life at a backpackers.

The next morning I did some shopping at the Victoria market and then had the best breakfast ever in Carlton park: Sitting on the grass, watching the clouds pass by and eating fresh walnut bread and Tasmanian Brie with a georgious Cafe latte. What is there more to life than this. After this delightful breakfast, the clouds got thicker that is why I decided to make it a museums day. I entered the Melbourne museum at around 11:20 and did not leave until after 4.30. It is a really amazing place with so much to see and experience. The best was to start with a guided tour with volunteer tourguide Harry (about 80 years old but still does bush walking, they are quite tough over here). I learned a lot about the state of Victoria during this tour, and was also in the company of a nice local family. The Melbourne museum is a kind of interactive, modern museum, with different sections such as animals (local animals, bugs, marine life), body and soul (explaining for example how dreams work), Aboriginal life (art and culture) etc.

Then I tried to avoid another sleepless night through drinking some beer, but I reckon it wasn't enough.

The Great Ocean Road:

Early the next morning, I started my trip with Wildlife tours along the Great Ocean road that streches for 350 km from Geelong towards Adelaide. We were 11 on board including Kurt the tour guide. The trip was really amazing, starting with the astonishing coastline scenery and finishing with all the nice people in the group. Our first stop was the Bells Beach (where Patrick Swazy committed suicide in the surfer movie Point Break). A lot of surf competitions are celebrated there, when we arrived there was also something going on.

And then I finally saw my first wildlife Koala. First we spottet some high up in the tree and of course I made a lot of pictures seing in them only a dark dot in the distance, but then we were lucky and one of the Koalas was sitting on a really low branch. Only after being poked to much by some spectators he got fed up and moved up. Here is the picture of the cute, but very lazy animal.

In the afternoon we finally arrived to see the 12 Apostles, stone formation in the sea. Although the name is very poetic, there never really were 12 rocks but only 10 and of those 3 have already collabsed into the sea. Anyhow, still very amazing, especially from the sky out of the window of a helicopter. Yes, I had my first ever heliflight and it was fantastic.

Next we went to see the London Bridge, were one of the arks collabsed in 1990 while a couple was on the bridge, rumours say they were having an affair and due to this incident got caught in flagranti, but it is not confirmed.

Our last sight seeing stop was only some km away from the bridge and the 12 apostles but with less known because the tour buses normally don't stop there. It is a nice beach with rocks similar to the 12 apostles in the sea. Unfortunately I forgot the name.

For dinner we had kanguru and we also spotted them around the hostal in Halls Gap, Grampions national park. The same happened again, made a lot of pictures of Kangurus in the dark, but the next day I could see them at daylight and up close. They are not the cleverest of animals as they don't really run away, but let you get very close.

Grampions:

The next morning we drove up to the Grampions to get the beautiful view over the mountains and the park including the "jaws of death" . Some even climed up, but I would never do this :-)

We finally woke up when putting our feet into the ice cold water at the McKenzie falls. Fortunately it was still to cold to go swimming, if not, probably Kurt would have proposed to do so to get the real wildlife experience. After Lunch I had to leave the group as I went on to Adelaide and they returned to Melbourne.

Tasmania part II

Strahan:

After the excitement of my outdoor experience I took the bus to Strahan, a nice little town at the western coast of Tasmania. Fortunately the bus driver took me up to the hostal, where I had to ring out the park keeper to get me a room. By the way, all of the busdrivers I had were very nice people bringing you up to the door if you wish to, the Madrid bus driver should learn from them, they even close the door in front of your nose if you arrive a bit late. Strahan is right at the edge of the rainforest, that is why it rains about 300 of the 365 days a year. Good that I am already used to getting wet. The first day I spend with washing my stinky disgusting shoes, trousers and so on. The next day I went on a river cruise along the Gordon river, which is also part of a protected area. We landed at Sarah island, which was the first of the prisoner's settlements. Only view of the buildings were still recognizable but thanks to the detailed descriptions of our nice (just for girls: very yummy ranger guide) I could quite imagine how life was for those poor Victorian devils that were shipped for steeling some bread to Australia. On board I met a very nice family from Adelaide who invited me for dinner the same night. I really had a wonderful evening, getting more information about where to go nex, reading bed time stories to 3 year old Sarah, and especially eating a nice lamb burger. The next morning, while the weather was still nice, I went for a walk around the harbour. In the evening it was time to enjoy some culture, the play "the ship that never was" told the story about the prisoners who stole a ship in order to escape. They made it up to Chile but unfortunately later on 4 of the ten were again captured. The great thing about the play was, that although it was only starred by 2 actors (one was the nice tour guide) they included the audience. Even I had a part, I played the Scottish shipbuilder Mr. Hoyt who surrendered when the ship was taken by the prisoners.

Port Arthur:

The next day was travelling day, heading back to Hobart. Having already seen the first prisoner's settlement in Australia, I had to see of course as well the next and most important one, Tasmanias number 1 tourism site Port Arthur. I went on a day trip with a bus and mostly elderly people, well I am older now as well, so I really can't say anyting. The penitentiary site of Port Arthur is romantically set on a peninsula and has a nice natural, and as I've been told, one of the deepest, natural harbours. Now it has easy access roads but in 1833 the only way to get there was by boat. Although the tale of Port Arthur is sad and full of torture and misery nowadays it looks a bit like being in the English country side. I will not bore you with details about it, just as much as the model for Port Arthur was discipline and punishment, religous and moral instruction, classification and separation, training and education. By 1840 over 2000 convicts, soldiers and civil staff, lived at the site producing ships, furniture, clothing and so on. It closed down as a prison in 1877 as the last convict shipment arrived in 1853.

Hobart:

This evening I will be flying back to Melbourne. This morning I walked to the "Royal Botanical Garden" had a nice fish and chips lunch and will now pack up and leave. More to come soon.

Tasmania

Hi folks, I'm back from the wilderness.
I've just arrived this afternoon by bus from Strahan but I will tell you everything step by step not to forget anything.

1. Hobart:
From Melbourne I flew to Hobart, which is the capital of the territory of Tasmania. It has about 200.000 inhabitants and the airport is very small. The bus took nearly to the doorstep of my Hostal. As it was still early in the morning I left my things there and went directly for a good healthy breakfast (eggs, ham, croissant and cafe latte). Then fully recovered I wandered around a bit to make myself familiar to this new city. It didn't take me that long, as this city is quite small. After a small siesta I followed the instructions of a brochure obtained in the information center and walked around the "old" town battery point of Hobart. I finished my day with a nice fish and chips dinner.
The next day I decided to prepare a bit for the Overlandtrack and did some training climbing Mount Wellington startiting in Fern Tree. This is a village half up the mountain I reached with the bus. From there it was first walking nearly half way around and then always up in zig zag. It was a great experience although half way through it started to rain and getting higher the rain even transformed into snow. First lesson learned, don't wear jeans on a hinking tour. Unfortunately when I reached the top it was snowing so heavily that I couldn't enjoy the so praised view, that's why I can only show you pictures from half up.

2. The Overlandtrack:
After having bought all the necessary provisions I finally made my way to Lake St. Clair where the Overlandtrack starts. This is a 85 km bushwalking track that runs from Lake St. Clair to Cradle Mountain or vice versa through a protected wildlife park. Already during the journey it was raining and got colder the higher we climbed. When I got of the bus I noticed the chilly air (around 5 C). In the visitors center I was introduced to the Ranger who informed me that there was quite a lot of snow on the track and that he absolutely not recommended me to walk it with the equipment I had (no waterproof shoes, no snowtrousers, no snoeshoes etc.) if I wouldn't want to suffer from hyperthermia. In the end he convinced me as I really don't want to die yet. So I got a plan B: I stayed for 1 night in the cabins of the Lake St. Clair's resort and did a 3 hours tour at the lake shore this first day. During this shorter hike I saw my first real Tasmanian animals: 1 Tasmanian devil (only from behind, looked like a black cat) and a Pademelon (I mistook it for a small Kangaroo as it actually looks a bit like a mixture between a kangaroo and a mouse). That was really exciting.
The next morning I started with some rain and a lot of excitement and a back pack of about 13 kg into the adventure. The first took me 6 hours through the rainforest along the lakeshore. I really cannot describe how breathtaking the landscape was. I made tons of pictures which are only partly showing the beauty of this spot. The track was quite challanging, I had to hop, hangle, balance and crawl over water pods or mud as I didn't want to arrive with wet feet already the first night, in the end, after the backpack felt heavier with every step and my feet didn't want to lift that high anymore I finally stepped into a big mud pool up to my knee. Well, shit happens. I finally arrived wet, exhausted but very happy at the first shelter, the Narcissus hut. Having carried my tent all this way I decided to sleep in my tent. During the whole time walking as well as at the shelter, I was completely alone and did not meet a human soul. Just me, the nature and the wild animals. That was quite some night, cold and with some very strange and unknown noises all around me. I didn't really sleep much but the next morning was worth all the tossing and turning, as when opening the zip of the tent a bright sunshine greeted me. It was just a perfect morning that's why I decided to make another tour. After packing up, I heaped again the backpack to my shoulders and walked off towards the next stop, the Pine valley hut, which was a good 3 hours walk away. This time the track took me through bushland with a phantastic view on the snowy mountains. Later I walked through pine forest with shined in differed shapes of green. I took my lunch in the Pine valley hut and returned upon my steps to the Narcissus hut. This time I wasn't alone and shared the hut with 7 others who where starting their trip. This time I decided to sleep inside, which was better as the night was very stormy. If I say hut, you have to imagine a very basic hut and then take all the comfort away. There where only wooden boards where you could put your mat on, an oven that didn't really heat up well and a toilet some 300 meters away which was basically a hole in the ground with a small hut over it.
Anyhow the next morning it started to rain, and it didn't really finish until late in the afternoon. Fortunately just before leaving the shelter, I got company and we decided to do the track together sharing the tea and our chocalate. Thanks to Morgan's company I managed the 6 hours walk in pouring rain. I think I never was wetter in my life. The shower I took after this day, was one of the best in my life.
So what more can I say about this Overland track Experience:
It was probably one of the biggest adventures I had in my life so far, very challenging for body and also soul (being completely on your own) and I am very proud to have done it, altough I didn't do the whole thing. Well next time then.
Conclusion:
Great experience, extreme challenge, 2 hurting knees, 2 blue toenails, 5-6 blisters, animals seen on the way: a lot.

Melbourne part II

I forgot to mention that after having lived the cultural highlights of Melbourne at the museum and the town hall I went to see some kind of other show being enjoyed a lot by the Australians, the Casino. Having been to the Baden Baden casino and also the one in Madrid, where formal clothes are a condition to enter, in the Melbourne Crown Center this is not the case. They even let me enter in my casual backpacker outfit, so you can imagine that the standar was not very high. The best of it was that I got asked for my id for age proof. How I enjoyed this, hasn't happened to me since I got 18. The casino itself is huge, a lot of gambling machines and also black jack, poker and roulette tables and it was packed by gamblers, mainly Asians. I just wondered around a bit but all the noise and the flashing lights was just to much, I wasn't event tempted to play, so I left soon again.

On the following day I walked down to St. Kilda beach to have a nice breakfast with a great view.

I wandered around the area, along the beach and the promenade a bit and then returned to the city with the tram. As I will be going to Tasmania tomorrow I've bought myself a tent, which supposedly is very easy to erect, even for camp dummies like me, but I will let you know if it is really Katja proof after my first try. With the backpack full of useful camping material, I walked over the Queen Victoria market where nearly everything is sold from meat over fruit and vegetable to clothing and other useful or rather useless stuff. Back at the hostal, I've had a free BBQ that they offer here once a week for people staying at the Ritz for Backpackers.

This morning it was raining but as it cleared up soon after having finished breakfast, I rent a bike and did a bike tour of around 3 hours along the Yarra River. It is really amazing how well the city is prepared for bikes, the track was all the way very well done and also well signalized so it was even for me impossible to get lost. I had a nice (and very cheap) lunch at a former Abbey. Cheap because you could give what you thought it was worth, and being "schwaebisch" I only gave 5 $ for the lunch and a tea. (as an excuse, I didn't have more coins). After returning with the bike to the city center I went to the Aquarium and had a look around there. Nice sharks, hope to see some face to face in the ocean up north.....

Well early tomorrow morning I will be taking a flight to Hobart Tasmania to do the Overland Track, so probably there won't be any update until the end of next week. If you don't hear from me by then, get worried and call somebody, I might be lost in the bush.

Melbourne

Yesterday I've arrived in Melbourne. Thanks to my ability to sleep in moving vehicles, learned during all those business trips, I made the best out of my 9 hours trip in the bus and slept nearly throughout the whole journey. After a harty breakfast I went to the CBD (Central Business District) of Melbourne just in time to catch the homecoming parade for the Olympic heroes of Australia. I should have watched a bit more the games so I would have recognised some of them, but anyway, it was a good show. Getting once used to free entertainment, I watched a street performer at Federation square, who actually did a great job and was very entertaining. In the end he was able to gather rather a big crowd. Then I spend the rest of the day walking around and admiring the mixture between older (late 19th century) and modern buildings.

Today the sky was a bit cloudy and also the wind quite strong, therefore I took the opportunity to visit the inside of some buildings. My first stop was the Town Hall where they give free visits of more than an hour. The group was very heterogenious made up by 2 older ladies from smaller towns outside Melbourne, some military students from East Timor and Malaos and me, the clever German girl (I say clever, as I was prepared and could answer some questions that Ken the tour guide asked, as f.ex. how many people live in greater melbourne - the answer is 3,7 Million and I knew it thanks to the Lonely Planet.)

After the Town hall tour, I went to enjoy another free visit to the Ian Potter Centre NGV Australia to see Australian art, contemporary, from the last 2 centuries and Aborigenal art, being the last named the part which I've enjoyed the most as a non conoceur of art. After having satisfied the needs of the mind, I noticed that my stomach was also calling for attention and so I've filled it up in Chinatown with some noodel soup, much better than the chinese food we have in Madrid. Before I leave you again for today I have another trivia I would like to share with you. Did you know that Burger King is called "Hungry Jack's" in Australia. Sounds much nicer, doesn't it?

Whale watching and Montague Island

I've just returned from my whale watching trip, and yes, we it was successful. We could admire 4 tp five of those beautiful hunchback whales that were swimming some kilometres of the coast. It is very exceting to see their fountain from far away and then watch them emerge from the water. Unfortunately my little camara isn't made for good wildlife pictures so the best I could do is this one.On Montague Island, which is a natural reserve and only accessible with a guided tour, I've also seen seals and at least the nests of some penguins.

Before I leave you again I wanted to share some trivia with you that could be put under the category of "things that one does not need to know" but maybe it could come handy to you. Did you know that you can ride a bike on the Australian highways (or at least parts of them)?

Narooma

Hi there again. As you have noticed I wasn't able to keep up with the dayly entries I've started with due to 2 reasons:
a) It is not that easy to find internet access
b) the weather is just to nice to sit inside and write
So get used to it :-)
After leaving Canberra I went by bus (with Murray buses and driver Phil) to Narooma. This time I didn't sleep throughout the journey as the street was quite windy going over some mountains and also the scenery was just too nice.
The I arrived a Narooma. I really don't know how to describe this spot, it just feels that wonderful, marvellous or any other adjective can not express the beauty of this place. The village of Narooma (6.000 inhabitants, rising up to over 25.000 during holiday period) expands over a hill surrounded by water. The ocean devides here in various bays pushing land inward to leave sand banks and swamp like areas, perfect for birds like the big and majestic pelican and marine wildlife. The water sparkles in the sun in different shades of blue interrupted by low stonewalls and sand banks. The beaches, Bar Beach and Narooma Surf Beach are beautiful and at this time of year nearly deserted.

Just see for yourself....

Upon my arrival I was brought by Phil, the bus driver, up to the front door of the YHA hostal. This is a very nice, motel-style place owned by Chris and Wendy that are just phantastically laid back and awfully nice people. As the weather was so great I grabed a bike and went for an exploration tour around Narooma. At the end of the day, I not only made many pictures but also had a sore bud (I am so not used to riding bikes anymore). The evening ended with a beer in the local pub. Just another perfect day.
On Sunday morning the sky was a bit clouded so I decided to take it easy and didn't get out of bed until around 9.30. Did I mention that I am staying alone in a 4 bed room with my own bath room. That's backpack luxury. When I started to walk towards the village I got surprised by a rain shower. This gave me the opportunity to get a cup of coffee and read a bit in my lonely planet. It is very strange but when I had this day ahead of me without anything planned and really nothing to do, I realized how dependant I became on always planning my days. There is still a lot to learn. So I started to relax and just go with the flow, went to the local cinema, watched the sunset, and made my salad for dinner. Luckily, Nathan, ex boatowner, and also living at the hostal but rather permanently, shared his steaks with me.
Today I am coping already much better with the doing nothing pressure. I had my first real beach day. It is amazing the things you can do when you have nothing to do and you have the whole beach for yourself. It is just great sitting in the sand, listening to music, even dancing around crazily or watching the clouds dissolve with the sky.
Tomorrow I will take a boat to Montague Island and hopefully will see some whales, dolfins and penguins.

Day 5: Canberra

The morning started with making the travel arrangements for tomorrow. I will be going to Narooma to enjoy some days at the coast. I hear it must be very pretty there. I'll see and let you know ;-)
Although Canberra has only a bit more than 300.000 inhabitants the city is very extense, so I rather preferred to hop on the explorer bus to take me to the main attractions. This way Barry the driver explained with a lot of humour the history of the places we were passing. The first stop to get off the bus was the war memorial and I have to say it was most amazing. As claimed by the Australians it must be one of the best, if not the best, war memorial museums there are. It has different sections about the several wars the Australians fought in like the WW1 and WW2 as well as more recent conflicts, always well explained, illustrated and even making you experience it with built up trenches, simulations of airraids at night and so on. It really made me shiver and even drop some tears.
The the next stop was the Parlament. The guided tour was great and I learned a lot about the Australian government. Just to give you an idea, the new parlament building is build the way that it is part of a hill, where everybody can step up and walk over the parlamentarians making it a symbolic way of saying that the people have the power over what is happening in politics, pretty amazing, isnt' it. There would be much more to tell, but I don't want to babble along for too long.
Last stop after driving through the embassy area, with really pretty buildings in the typical country style of the nation they are representing, was the national museum. It is also a building where the arquitecture is symbolic of what it is hosting. This museum is basically about the history of Australia, from the eary settlements to now. Very well done, but unfortunately I had to rush through it to make it to the bus in time. Again I was astonished about the friendlyness of the Australians, even the tour guides took their time to accompany me individually and talk to me about the expositions.
About all the above mentioned places, the most amazing thing for me is that there was no entrance fee at all, everything for free and with a smile. We can learn from that.
Now I will grap a bite.

Day 4: Goodbye Sydney, hello Canberra

I started my day with the salad left from the night before, you know low budget... but I have to admit salad and garlic bread are not that bad to start into the day. After this healthy breakfast I walked towards Daling Harbour past Haymarket the Chinese Garden, the Aquarium and so on. Pretty but fairly touristy. I enjoyed a lovely coffee and an ice cream sitting in the sun and watching the boats and the school kids. Then it was already time to go back to the hostal to pick up the luggage and make my way to the bus station. The Greyhound bus from Sydney to Canberra took a bit over 3 hours and was surprisingly cheap, only 26 Dollars. The trip was so quiet, that I fell asleep inmediately and could not really apreciate the landscape we were driving through, but I reckon it was basically bushland, and I will be seing a lot more of it. I arrived around 4.30 pm at the bus stop in Canberra and walked to the YHA hostal. Unfortunately I had to learn there that they were already full, that's for not booking in advance. They advised me to try the Civic Pub, where they also had rooms. I arrived there thanks to the help of a nice Canberra citizen as once again I prooved that orientation is not among my best skills. The room to share with other 3 wasn't really the nicest, a decorator would suffer from a heart attack about the interior design, but what can you expect for 25 $. After I got settled in I went for a walk around the center of Canberra. I have to admit, my first impression was that this city wasn't really worth a stay as it didn't seem to be a very lively place. Also being a European and not used to planned cities it gave the impression to me of not really being in a city as all the houses are low, the streets spacious and a lot of trees all around. I quickly returned to the Pub and had a great steak with salad (self grilled) for just 5 $. Having already experienced the openess and friendlyness of the Australians I wasn't surprised how easy it was to get into conversation with 3 real Aussie guys Ashley, John and Simon but I didn't expect to have such a blast. After having some drinks together we played pool, and although I'm probably the worst pool player ever, they were friendly enough to not kick me out. Probably one of the reasons also was that they could make me drop my pants. Supposedly there is this tradition, when there are still 7 balls left on the table from one color, and none but the black one from the other, the loosing party has to drop their pants and run around the table. I think they just made that up, but what can you do, one has to follow the tradition.....

Here is a picture of the "Aussie dudes". I really had a fantastic time and it really made me apreciate Canberra. Thanks guys.

Day 3: Walking Sydney

I have always wondered how a country with such little population like Australia could be so good in sports and win so many medals in the Olympic games, now their secret is out. It seams that everybody is doing sports. No matter in which park you go, and especially around during lunch break you will always meet runners, groups playing football or other sports.

Talking about sports, I have planned to walk less today and take it easy, but hey, plans change. In the end I made the route the normal Sydney tourist bus does by foot. It all started out crossing through Hyde Park on the way to Mrs Macquaries Point where you have a great view over the Opera House and the Harbour bridge. Then after watching an asian couple getting their wedding pictures taken in this amazing park I walked slowly towards Kings Cross. This a the so called red light district, but I would say a very light version with a lot of cool bars, clubs and so on. By the way here in Australia you can find coffee places or bars that don't have a guest toilet, not an important information but I found this quite curious. So after refreshing at a bar without bathroom, I walked towards Paddington on Oxford street full of boutique style shops (mental note: have to come back at the end of my trip to do the shopping) and as I was walking and saw a sign saying bondi beach I just had the great idea to keep going. It wasn't as close as it seamed though, after about an 2 hours walk, still there was no beach in sight, but abother sweet district with small houses. Around 4 o clock I finally arrived at the much talked about Bondi beach and I have to admit, it was worth all the effort and even the hurting knees (I hope it is just because I am no longer used to walking and not due to age :-) ) What could be more rewarding than sitting at the sunny beach, watching the waves and the cute surfers and then having a fresh "pure blond" bear from the tap.

As walking back wasn't an option, I took the bus back to central Station. Dinner was a healthy salad and garlic bread and another yummy "little creatures" beer. I can really get used to this.

Today is leaving day: At 13:30 I will take the bus to Australias Capital City Canberra which takes about 3 1/2 hours. So there will be not much to tell.

Day 2: Trip to Manly

Hi again. Had another amazing day (I really should stop using all those words like amazing, great etc. as I will run out of them). I went by ferry to the peninsula of Manly, it is a kind of suburb of Sydney with beaches and a lot of nature (big national park. Already the trip in high speed boat was great, giving a good view on the Opera House, the Harbour bridge and all the small beaches with sailing boats and beautiful houses all around Sydney. I hiked about 4 1/2 hours around in the most beautiful scenery, having a look at the old defense/ army station of WWII and the Quarantine station where the immigrants where brought after arriving in Sydney by boat to make sure that they are free of deseases. Did I mention that once again the sun was shining and the temperature was just perfect. What more is there to wish for. After an early dinner I headed back, taking the train from Circular Quay to Central as I was to exhausted to walk any further. I prefer to blaim the jet lag than the age :-). I went to bed very early so at least I could sleep some hours before I got woken up by my room mates that came home and started to rummage and then when finally installed to snore. Well, thanks to earplugs I survived the night and am now ready for the next marvellous day in Sydney. Will keep you posted.

Day 1: Sydney

I had the most amazing first day in Sydney. It was just perfect. After an exhausting long flight I arrived by train to the Central Station and walked over for just 5 minutes to my Hostal (the wakup) it is a very nice, clean and friendly place and best of all, they gave me inmediately my room (bed) and I could take a shower. I resisted the temptation to lay down as that would mean not being able to get up again after over 40 hours on the road. This way I was on my way to discover Sidney already at 8 o'clock in the morning and the city awaited me with bright sunshine and a nice (2nd) breakfast at the harbour. After this I took a walk up to "the rocks" and the Opera House passing by Harbour Bridge and so on. Sydney is really great, it is quite modern, but you can find older buildings, mainly churches in between the skyscrapers (here everything over 80 year is already old of course). I think the best way to describe Sydney is with the words that are written on a sign at the Botanical Garden "Please walk on the grass, hug the trees, talk to the birds..." everybody is so friendly and so open. The botanical garden was full of strange animals that we normally only see in zoos like giant (scary) bats or flying foxes that were hanging in masses from the trees, which was quite spooky, and more than 20 kakadoos flying around and making quite a noise. After this all nature experience and the walk back to the hostal I was quite exhausted and could feel my legs get heavier with every step. That's why I decided to take a siesta. In the end due to the jet lag I wasn't really able to sleep but at least I could rest a bit.
In the late afternoon I met with Anita, native Australian, who took me to for a beer to a bar with views to the opera house and the bridge and then for a real Aussi Pizza with kangaroo and crocodile. In fact canguru tastes quite like beef and crocodile has the texture of chicken but tastes rather like fish, very yummy. Now I'm going to bed as there is so much more to do tomorrow.

Kangaroo, Crocodile Pizza and little Creatures Australian beer with Anita and Erik

The first step into adventure

I can't believe it. Finally leaving date has approached and I am about to take the first step towards my adventure. Well I have to admit it is a really smooth step as I will get pampered for 3 days at my parents house, but hey, all journeys have to start somehow.
Until know I have been facing already 3 challenges:
1) decide what to take on a 4 months trip with different weather zones and seasons, reduce the number of items, reduce it again and again until there is practically nothing left.
2) pack everything into the backpack without making it to heavy
and then the 3rd and hardes challenge
3) saying godbye to friends and family
Number 1 and 2 are finished sucessfully but number 3 is partly still ahead. That's the only thing I'm not looking forward to but only by saying goodbye you can say "hello again" (isn't it Mr. Howard Carpendale).
Well I have to leave now as Stuttgart is waiting for me.
More to come soon....

Moros y Cristianos - Part 1: weekend at the beach

Although it is already more than a week ago, I would like to tell you about our "girls" weekend at the beach in a village close to Valencia. Thanks to the good organization of Jutta and Brittas car and GPS we arrived safely at our hostal. The last 3 km where quite an adventure as "casa Janine" is hidden in the mountains and only accesible over a small road that with each km got bumpier and narrower. But thanks to our great orientation talent we found it at the first intent (this disproves the theory that girls have no sense of orientation and can't read maps. The real beauty of the place that we called our home for this weekend was seen in the morning. Breakfast was served on a terrace with a wonderful view over the hills full with orange trees and the mediterrean sea. By the way, "casa Janine" is really recomendable, nice staff, clean rooms, great view, terrace with swimming pool and also cheap http://www.casa-janine.com/ . (No, I don't get paid to say this). After installing in our room we drove again down to the beach to have a drink at the beach. The perfect end of the day, relaxing at a chiringuito with a copa in your hand, feeling the sand below your feet and listening to the waves of the sea.

On saturday morning we went again to the beach of course. The one we liked best was the wildest and emptiest beach in Oliva Terranova. Most of the other visitors were probably also of other nationalities than Spanish, as the Spaniards rather prefer the beach were they can enjoy most body contact with their fellow beach visitors. After spending the whole day in the sun, or in my case rather in the shadow of the white and green sunshade, we had the pleasure to be spectators of the yearly "moros and Cristianos" parade. This is a celebration in memory of the reconquest of Spain from the moors in the 15th, 16th and 17th century. Different parades with amazing costumes are with different shows like belly dancing and fire-eaters take place.

Here are some picture so that you can get an idea.

Sociology

Hi again,

I have to admit that writing this blog is quite fun. I wouldn't have thought so as generally I am a very lazy writer. It probably has to do with it being public and that in the deepest of my soul I am little exhibitionist, only referring to showing my thoughts to the world of course :-)

Today Isma and me spend the day at the "pantano de San Juan" (a water reservoir at 60 km from Madrid). Besides from wanting to mention that I am tanned, at least I've lost my death-white colour, I am telling this as a kind of sociology case. When we arrived, it was still very early, at least for Spanish standard, and not many people have arrived yet. Nevertheless already the typical Spanish families had marked their territory below the trees in the shade with a table, chairs and a cooling box filled with "tortilla and bocadillos". All of this of course as close as possible to the parked car, if necessary the car is maneuvered as close to the lake to make it possible to jump from the hood into the water. Anyhow, me being a good German, I wanted of course find the best and most hidden beach possible. Isma being Spanish, preferred to stay close to the "chirrinquito". Guess who won! With my charme and of course nagging as much as possible, the choices were limited and we went in the search of the virgin beach. It took us maybe 10 minutes, but finally we've found it. Unfortunately it wasn't that virgin anymore but already violated with beer cans and other left rubbish, but after all we were alone. At least for an hour or so, after some time of quietness, only listening to the sweat sound of nature (birds and crickets) the Ucranian invasion arrived. It seams that they are like the Germans and don't mind a bit of a walk in search of tranquility. The only problem is, a big bunch of them children included are not the quiet company we were looking for. Never mind, living in Madrid, one just gets used of being always with people. It is practically impossible to find a place were you could be alone, day or night.
Well, as sleeping now wasn't possible anymore, we did what has to be done during an excursion into the nature, we went to a restaurant and had paella and a bottle of wine. I can tell you, with the stomach full and the wine going directly up to the head, you can sleep everywhere.

Tomorrow I will tell you about our girls weekend at the beach, with (photoshopped) pictures as promised.

Hasta luego!

My very first entry

Hi there,

This is the first time that I am writing a blog, so please be kind to me. I am a so called blog virgin.
Anyway, I was never much of a diary writer, especially after my cousin once read my diary entry when I was in the middle of my first love crisis. That`s when I've decided to give up sharing my deep feelings with some old book. It might be true that paper is patient but it can be very cruel.

So why have I decided to start writing, well, first of all in the electronic age it seems like a kind of must to share your opinion over the net. So I don't want to be the last to join. But the main reason behind this is that I finally will have something to share with you. Something more than the odd "went for a coffee with X" experience. I am going to start into a big adventure and I would like to let those participate that have come along my way during the last years and have given me their friendship. Huu, that really sounds "cursi", but I think you get what I mean.

Now you have to wonder "what could it be?" that I want to share with you. Well it is something that I always wanted to do and due to different reasons didn't manage to carry out until now. Those of you who know me better have probably heard that I have two themes in life that I am trying to be true which are "if you don't dare you cannot win" and "you always regret the things that you didn't do" I have now decideded that it has to be now that ..

I AM GOING TO TRAVEL THROUGH AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND.

Maybe it is not sooo special, but for me it is a dream that I am going to fulfill. Thanks to the kindness of my bosses, I will take 4 months off from my job (kind of mini sabbatical) and will travel, as light as possible, through the Australian continent. I am already nervous, although I still have a bit more than a month to go. If anyone has suggestions or good insider tips, I know that some of you have already been to those places, I am very grateful for every little piece of advise you can offer me.

Well, now that it is out and the flight to Sydney is booked, there is no return.

That's all for now folks. I will keep you posted.

Kati