25 October 2012
Great gear for traveling #2 - Pretty enamel mug
I just spent 90 AU$ (maybe 70 €) in an army store and got a cooker, gas, a pot, a knife, and this pretty mug. Not only is it usable in multiple ways (for soup, pudding, coffee, tea, water, lemonade, long-drinks, cocktails, milkshakes, smoothies), no, it can also be put directly on the gas stove. And isn't it pretty?!?
Great gear for traveling #1 - The Swiss Army Knife
Anything with multiple uses is great for traveling. Like the little black dress that also works as a nightie. Or the spork (spoon/fork tool). Therefore, the Swiss Army Knife is the ultimate multi-use tool. The feature I have used most is the large knife for chopping veggies, since sharp knives are rare in hostels. The scissors are very useful for cutting nails mainly. I didn't have to carry extra nail scissors or clippers. And finally, the can opener which I have used at least on two occasions during the past months.
I am not sure how many Swiss Army Knives I have lost in my life, but I assume it's more than 3. The last one was a Christmas present by my parents and only lasted 299 days in my ownership. I lost it in the shop at Cathedral Beach on Fraser Island.
I am not sure how many Swiss Army Knives I have lost in my life, but I assume it's more than 3. The last one was a Christmas present by my parents and only lasted 299 days in my ownership. I lost it in the shop at Cathedral Beach on Fraser Island.
24 October 2012
I'm walking... in Australia!
You know that song "I'm walking", right? When I did my first father's day tour in the 90s, with my best friends Ulla and Lea, we had a little cassette player and maybe two or three mix tapes. One of them ran up and down, and it had that song on it which makes me think of that day whenever I hear it...
Anyway, it's been a few weeks since my last real blog post (yes, shame on me), so here come a little update.
I'm still in Australia. In fact, I haven't even left the state Queensland (top right corner of Australia) and only made it up north to the tropics this week (Townsville and Magnetic Island - I went because of the cool name, but it's actually really nice).
Today's post is about walking. There are many popular multi-day walks in Australia, but two of them stand out for being really, really awesome and famous. These are the Thorsborne Trail on Hinchinbrook Island, Queensland, and the Overland Track, Tasmania.
I'm going to walk both, that's how cool I am.
It's taken me 6 weeks in Australia where my feet have been itching to walk, before I got used to the idea of having to carry a tent (and a mat, a cooker, cookware, water). Because this is what walking in Australia means: basic (no showers) to very basic (no toilets) wilderness camping, and no huts.
(Although there are huts on the Overland Track since the Tasmanian climate is close to the British, but a tent has to be carried anyway, since the beds in the huts can't be booked, so you'd have to be there early if the track is busy in order to get a bed. And I'm not a fast walker.)
I never really questioned my assumption that walking plus camping is too hard before now. I thought that a tent weighs either 3.5 kg and costs 20 € or 1 kg and 300 €. Seeing that my backpack already weighs 10 kg (after sending 5 kg of extra stuff such as warm clothes, make-up, and dancing shoes to Melbourne) I didn't want to carry 50% more. But then I talked to a lady I had met in a Buddhist retreat (that's another story) who convinced me that I could actually get a cheap lightweight tent in Australia. And I did. It's a simple 2 person dome tent for 25$ and weighs 2 kg.
Being now a proud tent-owner I tried to get one of the rare Thorsborne Trail permits of which there are only 40 per day. That settled, I booked the ferry to the starting point of the trail, a shuttle to the ferry, and a bus to the shuttle. Also, another ferry from the end point. The permit was 20$ in total for 4 nights including camping. All transportation to and from the trail: 240$. I also cost me lots of nerves to organize all that.
Thanks, Kat and Daniel, for organizing my past walking trips! I never appreciated it enough!
Tomorrow, I'm going to go shopping for a mat, cooking stuff, etc., and the day after I'm doing it, yeah!
Anyway, it's been a few weeks since my last real blog post (yes, shame on me), so here come a little update.
I'm still in Australia. In fact, I haven't even left the state Queensland (top right corner of Australia) and only made it up north to the tropics this week (Townsville and Magnetic Island - I went because of the cool name, but it's actually really nice).
Today's post is about walking. There are many popular multi-day walks in Australia, but two of them stand out for being really, really awesome and famous. These are the Thorsborne Trail on Hinchinbrook Island, Queensland, and the Overland Track, Tasmania.
I'm going to walk both, that's how cool I am.
It's taken me 6 weeks in Australia where my feet have been itching to walk, before I got used to the idea of having to carry a tent (and a mat, a cooker, cookware, water). Because this is what walking in Australia means: basic (no showers) to very basic (no toilets) wilderness camping, and no huts.
(Although there are huts on the Overland Track since the Tasmanian climate is close to the British, but a tent has to be carried anyway, since the beds in the huts can't be booked, so you'd have to be there early if the track is busy in order to get a bed. And I'm not a fast walker.)
I never really questioned my assumption that walking plus camping is too hard before now. I thought that a tent weighs either 3.5 kg and costs 20 € or 1 kg and 300 €. Seeing that my backpack already weighs 10 kg (after sending 5 kg of extra stuff such as warm clothes, make-up, and dancing shoes to Melbourne) I didn't want to carry 50% more. But then I talked to a lady I had met in a Buddhist retreat (that's another story) who convinced me that I could actually get a cheap lightweight tent in Australia. And I did. It's a simple 2 person dome tent for 25$ and weighs 2 kg.
Being now a proud tent-owner I tried to get one of the rare Thorsborne Trail permits of which there are only 40 per day. That settled, I booked the ferry to the starting point of the trail, a shuttle to the ferry, and a bus to the shuttle. Also, another ferry from the end point. The permit was 20$ in total for 4 nights including camping. All transportation to and from the trail: 240$. I also cost me lots of nerves to organize all that.
Thanks, Kat and Daniel, for organizing my past walking trips! I never appreciated it enough!
Tomorrow, I'm going to go shopping for a mat, cooking stuff, etc., and the day after I'm doing it, yeah!
Australia's funny wildlife #5 - The koala bear
The koala bear was the main reason why I went to Australia: to cuddle baby koalas. This guy is a real wild koala, but not cute enough to be a baby. Guess, I'll have to stay a bit longer here.
11 October 2012
Robinson Crusoe meets Dirty Dancing
On Monday, I took a tiny plane to a tiny remote island to spend a few days snorkeling the reef and relaxing. From all the hard work, haha. Seriously though, I wanted to get away from all these 20 year old backpackers.
That island was as wide as a landing strip for a small (12 seats) plane is long. Look up Lady Elliott Island on google maps. It was surrounded by coral reef, so you could walk off the beach into the water and start snorkeling and see all these colorful fishies, sea turtles, and sharks. I didn't see any manta rays while I was in the water, only on my flight back did I see one, as well as humpback whales with babies later.
On the island was a small resort with different kinds of accommodation from "eco cabins", which were better tents, to more luxurious ensuite rooms. Dinner and breakfast as well as one boat tour, island exploration tours, and snorkel equipment were included.
Snorkeling was great, but after a day of doing nothing but snorkeling and reading chick lit my brain craved intelligent conversation. So I visited the power generation plant of the island and ran into the island engineer who gave me a private tour, and I asked him many questions. Apparently, all the batteries used for power storage from the photovoltaic panels were made in Germany :) Do you know what a gel battery is? Well, I didn't, and it sounded fancy enough to be new technology, but all it is is the good old lead acid battery, only that the acid is gelated. Probably for safety reasons.
Anyway, that guy was very nice, and I kept running into him later (tiny island...) and we chatted for a bit. I was wondering if the resort staff was allowed to hang out with guests, and if they would take me to their staff accommodations so that we could drink beers and have parties and bonfires at the beach. Dirty Dancing, isn't it?
That of course never happened, I went to bed at 9 pm, being shattered after all the relaxing. Only on my last day a woman my age, and also on her own, arrived on the island, which was a nice change since there were only families or couples among the (maybe 30?) guests. But I hadn't expected anything else, and I got to eat and sleep well, and read a lot.
After all this excitement I'm now on my way to a Buddhist retreat. I took a shuttle from the hostel, I'm now sitting in the bus to the train, and will take the fast tilt train, then a slow train, and finish with a 6 km walk to my final destination. And train travel in Australia is another topic that deserves its own ranty post.
That island was as wide as a landing strip for a small (12 seats) plane is long. Look up Lady Elliott Island on google maps. It was surrounded by coral reef, so you could walk off the beach into the water and start snorkeling and see all these colorful fishies, sea turtles, and sharks. I didn't see any manta rays while I was in the water, only on my flight back did I see one, as well as humpback whales with babies later.
On the island was a small resort with different kinds of accommodation from "eco cabins", which were better tents, to more luxurious ensuite rooms. Dinner and breakfast as well as one boat tour, island exploration tours, and snorkel equipment were included.
Snorkeling was great, but after a day of doing nothing but snorkeling and reading chick lit my brain craved intelligent conversation. So I visited the power generation plant of the island and ran into the island engineer who gave me a private tour, and I asked him many questions. Apparently, all the batteries used for power storage from the photovoltaic panels were made in Germany :) Do you know what a gel battery is? Well, I didn't, and it sounded fancy enough to be new technology, but all it is is the good old lead acid battery, only that the acid is gelated. Probably for safety reasons.
Anyway, that guy was very nice, and I kept running into him later (tiny island...) and we chatted for a bit. I was wondering if the resort staff was allowed to hang out with guests, and if they would take me to their staff accommodations so that we could drink beers and have parties and bonfires at the beach. Dirty Dancing, isn't it?
That of course never happened, I went to bed at 9 pm, being shattered after all the relaxing. Only on my last day a woman my age, and also on her own, arrived on the island, which was a nice change since there were only families or couples among the (maybe 30?) guests. But I hadn't expected anything else, and I got to eat and sleep well, and read a lot.
After all this excitement I'm now on my way to a Buddhist retreat. I took a shuttle from the hostel, I'm now sitting in the bus to the train, and will take the fast tilt train, then a slow train, and finish with a 6 km walk to my final destination. And train travel in Australia is another topic that deserves its own ranty post.
5 October 2012
Australia's expensive nowadays...
.. but I got half a sandwich for free today! Munching it while watching the sun set in Noosa.
2 October 2012
Australia's funny wildlife #4
This species is called "flower". In Australia, flowers are not actually considered animals since they are too pretty. They are also not actually funny.
Australia's funny wildlife #3
As all nasty insects this spider, too, is male. The huntsman likes to be very big and scary. His habitat is anywhere near where humans have their beds.
Australia's funny wildlife #2
Dragons come in a variety of sizes and surface morphologies. Contrary to common belief most species neither fly nor spit fire.
Australia's funny wildlife #1
Right after birth, bush turkeys get their heads painted by eco volunteers to increase their visibility and make them safe for traffic. Australians drive on the left.
Dancing in Australia
Balboa is Rocky's last name but it's also a kind of a swing dance that is danced to really fast music and focuses on the feet and legs as opposed to the upper body.
This past July, I took one week of balboa lessons in Herräng, Sweden, and thought I had it all figured out. In August, I went to a balboa dance in Edinburgh, Scotland, and was having some trouble. My third attempt to get it in my head - or rather my feet - happened in Brisbane, the weekend after my week of wwoofing, when I attended Balboa On The River, a three day balboa workshop with famous balboa instructors Sylvia Sykes, Mickey&Kelly, and others.
Turned out I'm still really, really bad. But also, that it's fun anyway, sometimes even for both parts of the couple. Especially the dancers from Melbourne were extremely nice which makes me want to go to the Melbourne Lindy Exchange in late November.
Anyway, after that I had enough of the city and spent a week relaxing at the beautiful beaches of Noosa.
This past July, I took one week of balboa lessons in Herräng, Sweden, and thought I had it all figured out. In August, I went to a balboa dance in Edinburgh, Scotland, and was having some trouble. My third attempt to get it in my head - or rather my feet - happened in Brisbane, the weekend after my week of wwoofing, when I attended Balboa On The River, a three day balboa workshop with famous balboa instructors Sylvia Sykes, Mickey&Kelly, and others.
Turned out I'm still really, really bad. But also, that it's fun anyway, sometimes even for both parts of the couple. Especially the dancers from Melbourne were extremely nice which makes me want to go to the Melbourne Lindy Exchange in late November.
Anyway, after that I had enough of the city and spent a week relaxing at the beautiful beaches of Noosa.
Australia and WWOOF
Having already spent two weeks in Australia it's about time I give an update.
I didn't really think it through when I applied for the free eVisitor visa which is valid only for three months. Because Australia is BIG. But hey, it was free...
Three months is a short time if you want to see a lot but also do a bit of wwoofing to get to know people and culture. WWOOF originally stands for world wide organization of organic farmers and is exactly that. You can become a member and help out on registered organic farms worldwide for food and accommodation.
People I talked to who knew people who had done it said it had been great. Seeing that accommodation is probably the biggest chunk financially when traveling, wwoofing certainly is a cheap - if slow - way to travel, you just move from farm to farm, far off the beaten tourist tracks, and all you have to pay for is some transportation.
So, after two nights in Brisbane and getting used to the time zone I met my host Randall, together with two other wwoofers, Damien and Jackie, at the Brisbane museum, because Damien wanted to see the Egyptian exhibition.
Jackie was leaving and was dropped off at a friend's place, and Randall, Damien and I went to see the museum, did some grocery shopping after that, and drove back to the farm, 40 min north of the city.
It wasn't really a farm though. It was a fairly large property owned by different parties of Randall's family. There was also a big orchard, a creek with waterholes for swimming, a big veggie garden and 8 chickens. The house was amazing. Randall had started building it when he was 14 and wanted to move out of his parents' place. It looked like a mix of tree house in the middle of the jungle and a pyramid with different levels and most common rooms without walls. Which is why we had frequent visits of lizards, snakes and spiders. Once I find a computer with internet access I'll post pictures of house, people and creatures.
My job was building a new chicken den to keep the 7 chickens and the one rooster happy. Snakes like chickens, therefore I found myself weaving chicken wire for 4 days to make the den snake proof. There was also the watering of the numerous plants which took maybe an hour every day. Apart from that it was me who did the dishes all the time which was fine until Randall got a new blender and went crazy with it. We had smoothies, lemonade, soup and ice cream several times a day, all made with the blender. Lots of dishes to wash. But we also had a bonfire, stone oven baked pizza, and a film screening of one of the documentaries Randall had written and directed, in the garden, which was really cool. Oh, and home-brewed beer.
I met different people there, other wwoofers, Randall's mum, who one day brought us fresh scones and biscuits, and other folks. I was offered to stay for three more weeks while Randall was gone, but I declined.
My official excuse was that I only had three months and didn't want to spend one of them just at one place. But to be honest, I also didn't like the idea of being responsible for keeping a huge garden, 7 chickens and a rooster alive, while also having to deal with other wwoofers. I like meeting people, but sometimes, all I want is some alone time to accommodate my introvert side. Doing small talk with people you don't choose to talk to can become tiring after a while. While I enjoyed talking to Randall, I was a bit at a loss with the other wwoofers who were about 10 years my junior.
So I did have a good time wwoofing, but I was also happy having my independence, anonymity, regular shower and spider-free bathroom back. Will I do it again? Maybe, but not very soon.
I didn't really think it through when I applied for the free eVisitor visa which is valid only for three months. Because Australia is BIG. But hey, it was free...
Three months is a short time if you want to see a lot but also do a bit of wwoofing to get to know people and culture. WWOOF originally stands for world wide organization of organic farmers and is exactly that. You can become a member and help out on registered organic farms worldwide for food and accommodation.
People I talked to who knew people who had done it said it had been great. Seeing that accommodation is probably the biggest chunk financially when traveling, wwoofing certainly is a cheap - if slow - way to travel, you just move from farm to farm, far off the beaten tourist tracks, and all you have to pay for is some transportation.
So, after two nights in Brisbane and getting used to the time zone I met my host Randall, together with two other wwoofers, Damien and Jackie, at the Brisbane museum, because Damien wanted to see the Egyptian exhibition.
Jackie was leaving and was dropped off at a friend's place, and Randall, Damien and I went to see the museum, did some grocery shopping after that, and drove back to the farm, 40 min north of the city.
It wasn't really a farm though. It was a fairly large property owned by different parties of Randall's family. There was also a big orchard, a creek with waterholes for swimming, a big veggie garden and 8 chickens. The house was amazing. Randall had started building it when he was 14 and wanted to move out of his parents' place. It looked like a mix of tree house in the middle of the jungle and a pyramid with different levels and most common rooms without walls. Which is why we had frequent visits of lizards, snakes and spiders. Once I find a computer with internet access I'll post pictures of house, people and creatures.
My job was building a new chicken den to keep the 7 chickens and the one rooster happy. Snakes like chickens, therefore I found myself weaving chicken wire for 4 days to make the den snake proof. There was also the watering of the numerous plants which took maybe an hour every day. Apart from that it was me who did the dishes all the time which was fine until Randall got a new blender and went crazy with it. We had smoothies, lemonade, soup and ice cream several times a day, all made with the blender. Lots of dishes to wash. But we also had a bonfire, stone oven baked pizza, and a film screening of one of the documentaries Randall had written and directed, in the garden, which was really cool. Oh, and home-brewed beer.
I met different people there, other wwoofers, Randall's mum, who one day brought us fresh scones and biscuits, and other folks. I was offered to stay for three more weeks while Randall was gone, but I declined.
My official excuse was that I only had three months and didn't want to spend one of them just at one place. But to be honest, I also didn't like the idea of being responsible for keeping a huge garden, 7 chickens and a rooster alive, while also having to deal with other wwoofers. I like meeting people, but sometimes, all I want is some alone time to accommodate my introvert side. Doing small talk with people you don't choose to talk to can become tiring after a while. While I enjoyed talking to Randall, I was a bit at a loss with the other wwoofers who were about 10 years my junior.
So I did have a good time wwoofing, but I was also happy having my independence, anonymity, regular shower and spider-free bathroom back. Will I do it again? Maybe, but not very soon.
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