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| With Caroline in Pokhara and Fishtail in the background |
What lovely send offs I got!
The first one in Pokhara from Caroline, Kenta and John :)
They came with me to the bus stop and waving me off. Then back in Kathmandu a lovely afternoon in Bouddha with Sharyn.
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| With Sharyn in Boddha/Kathmandu |
In the evening I met the
South African couple in OR2K and we had some delicious dinner incl. chocolate
cake and we exchanged our trekking stories since EBC!
On my last day I posted a parcel to
Germany, met Dinesh and Jeanette with her sister & Mum in Chikusa café!
What a nice send off! I took a taxi to the airport and arrived 2.5hours before
the flight was leaving. But you should have seen the queues!!! Unreal, we
already had to queue to even get into the departure terminal! That’s Nepal ;)
The check-in was really quick, but then you
should have seen the Security check-in queue! Oh mine good god! It reminded me
about London airport. Oh well, at some stage I was able to go through – after I
realized they had a special queue for just man and just woman. I had a last
chat on the phone with Caroline and said goodbye before boarding the plane.
There were so many young Nepali men
boarding the plane. I was wondering if they all go over to KL to work there. On
the plane Nepali surrounded me and luckily enough one was able to speak
English. So we chatted along and he told me that they were 40 men on the plane
to fly into KL to work in a biscuit company. They had no idea where it was, in
which city they would live etc. They all signed a 3y contract and they will
earn a monthly salary of 35.000Rp (400US$). They also had to pay between
120.000 – 150.000Rp (130US$-160US$) to be able to get the contract. The only things,
which are covered, are the plane ticket and the accommodation, but they don’t
know where they live and with how many they have to share. This is an awful lot
of money for Nepali therms!
Most of the Nepali people had never been
outside of Nepal or even on a plane beforehand. They were excited like little
kids, which is understandable.
After the take off from Kathmandu we had a
stunning view onto the Himalayan range and there
was Everest again! I told the Nepali, that this was Mt. Everest! They had
no idea! Most of them have never seen it with their own eyes.
We arrived on time in KL, I got my luggage
and walked over to the Domestic Terminal to get the shuttle bus to the Tune
hotel. There were so many people waiting and we would have never fitted in that
Minivan. Then I realized that I was actually able to see the hotel, so I
decided to walk!
It was really only a 5-10min walk! So cool :)
The hotel room was small, but very luxury!
I haven’t seen a hairdryer since over 9 months! The shower had glass doors and
the shower head was huge and working! Wow! I’m back in a different world
indeed!!!
Before I went to sleep I had a look into
the 7Eleven. I was so excited to see all these products on the shelf! All the
different brands I hadn’t seen for a long time.
On
my way to Australia!
All went well at KL LCCT and I had checked
in went through security in less then 30min! Amazing, it went so smooth :)
Really delighted I have to say. Looked a little bit here and there in the shops,
but I was too overwhelmed of all the things, which were available really! Good
so, as I saved some money ;) The 2nd flight with Air Asia was good
as well. There were so many empty seats, that I was even able to swap to a
window seat in the end. I was delighted! I got my screen I had ordered for some
in-flight entertainment and my food as well. Good service for sure. We arrived
on time at the Gold Coast, but there was quiet a long queue for the passport
control and later on we even had to go through another checkpoint, where they
scanned my luggage for any items which were forbidden to bring inside the
country, like special food items, wood, seeds and more ;)
But all went well and I met Ica & Ken
at the airport, who picked me up! Ica had prepared a wonderful dinner for us
and I ate some tasty Schnitzel!
Thank you so much Ica!
My
first week in Australia
I was very fortunate to spend my first week
at the Gold Coast in Varsity Lake, in Ica's house. The weather was beautiful,
some light rain showers at the weekend but other than that it was really humid
and hot.
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| View onto the Gold Coast |
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| Gorgeous beach |
I went to the beach every day, sometimes for a run or for a swim or
just for a leisurely walk. It was beautiful down there. The water was turquoise
and the beach had very smooth white sand, very similar to Danang ;)
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| Big lizard right next to the beach! |
The
coastline reminded me about Ireland so with the black big rocks, the strong
winds – almost everything except of the temperature. It was indeed at least
10-15 degrees warmer ;)
So far from what I have seen Australia
reminds me about Ireland, US and Germany and sometimes even Singapore and today
when we came down to Glen Innes even of Sweden.
There are many shops and companies, which
we have in Ireland as well, so it feels a little bit like home. When I walked
into my first shopping center it could have been in Dundrum!
I even found an ALDI and bought some
Gingerbread! Ohhh, was that tasty stuff!!!
My favourite Gingerbread hearts filled with
apricot jam! MMMMHHHH :)
I visited Point Danger, Burleigh Head,
cycled a little bit through the neighbourhood, checked out different stores and
shopping centres and got an Australian SIM Card.
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| Point danger |
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| Burleigh Head |
Day Trip to Brisbane
It’s a
very modern city, with a fancy CBD (Central Business District).
I loved the
area around the South Bank.
I have never seen such a fancy library!
Stunning
and so lovely to see such a nice building. Very modern, but still cosy and a
warm atmosphere. Right next to an Art Gallery with a lovely garden and fountain.
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| Art |
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| Fountain in the Art Gallery |
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| Garden at the Art Gallery |
I had a long walk alongside the river until the Story Bridge and then walked my way back to CBD on the other side. Beautiful walk in the sunshine!
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| City Hall |
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| Memories - How cool is that - Nepalese Pagoda! |
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| Beautiful church |
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| View onto CBD |
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| Maritime museum |
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| Another beautiful lizard |
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| Lovely view onto the CBD |
Meeting
Susan - Exploring Byron Bay - Lake Ainsworth – Lennox Head – Glen Innes
On Friday morning Susan’s Dad picked me up
and we drove together down to Byron Bay. He was German but lived in Australia
since he was 13. He has such a lovely Hamburg accent when he talks and reminded
me about Nina’s Dad ;)
We met Susan & her brother’s family
around lunchtime and we went straight to a Creative Arts Camp at Lake
Ainsworth, where Monty was performing. Monty is Susan’s nephew. It was such a
lovely place, so many colourful drawings & T-shirts – I loved it!
The
program was very nice and cute. All students really gave their best! Have a look at the video!
In
the late afternoon we drove to Byron Bay, which was just a short drive away.
It was beautiful and we visited the most easterly point of Australian mainland.
Oh mine goodness was that windy!
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| Byron Bay Lighthouse |
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| Beautiful coastline |
We actually stayed that night in Lennox Head in a hostel and we all went out for dinner.
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| My first stay in a hostel in Australia! |
It was very tasty, but nevertheless very
expensive. But I loved the pizza and we had a good evening. Susan’s family is
lovely & so welcoming :)
We all had breakfast together the next
morning and I had a stroll along the beach beforehand. Beautiful beach :)
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| beach stroll in the morning |
Then
we drove to Glen Innes, the town Susan and her brother live in. We stopped at a viewing point called
“Raspberry Lookout”. Beautiful view over the valleys!
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It’s part of the Gibraltar Range National Park and there
was an historic tree stand. It’s a reminder of the hardworking men and women
that settled in this area. It was cut down by axe and its stump shows the
anchor holes that once held the springboards that supported the axe men.
Glen Innes is a small town with Celtic history and
you can walk almost everywhere.
It was such a relaxing time there and the house
we were staying in is very spacious and cosy! Reminded me a bit about Swedish
houses.
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| Susan's house in Glen Innes |
I unpacked the AM/PM coffee from Pokhara,
Nepal where Susan and myself had our first coffee coming back from our 20
day Annapurna trek! Our favourite coffee place :) Now we are having one
together in Australia! How cool is that ?!
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| Susan & me in Glen Innes - Drinking AM/PM Cafe from Pokahar/Nepal! |
I spend my days running with Susan in the
morning, going swimming in the local pool, did some food shopping and we cooked
together in the evenings.
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| Susan & her Dad |
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| Doesn't that look delicious? Kangaroo sausages :) |
I baked finally after a very long time - a
marble cake for all of us! Oh, it was so tasty and felt like a piece from home!
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| Marble Cake |
One evening we stayed in Susan’s brothers
house. He and his family live in a community of around 100 people in the middle
of the forest! There are no houses anywhere near, which means not even
neighbours anywhere close by.
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| Dinner in Susan's brothers house |
Guess what I saw live there! Kangaroos! OMG, are
they cute! My first Kangaroos live :)
I not only saw Kangaroos! When we arrived
at Susan’s brothers house they had Alpaca’s! They were cool :) I was even
allowed to feed them!
I looked at the leaflet I got at the nearby coffee place and found the Irish Stone!!! Here it is :)
I learned many new words and specifics
about Australia from Susan and here Dad! Thanks so much!!
Platypus is an unspecified animal – a mixture between a duck, otter and
beaver and on the back of the 20c coin!
Frangapani is a beautiful flower that looks like an orchard.
Jacaranda trees have beautiful purple buds.
Macadamia nuts are white inside and very tasty.
Wallaby is a small kangaroo.
So where next?
Sydney
Susan & her Dad dropped me off at Byron
Bay airport and I had a stunning view onto Byron Bay from the plane. It was
also very impressive to fly into Sydney, so many small Islands everywhere,
beaches and rocks!
I took a shuttle bus to my Backpackers HQ
hostel in Kings Cross and checked into a dorm room with 7 other girls including
one bathroom.
My hostel was gorgeous. It was spacious,
had high sealing’s and everything you needed. The kitchen was very well
equipped and the dining area full of light. There was even a terrace where you
could eat. I really enjoyed my stay there.
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| Backpackers HQ - Kings Cross |
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| The terrace |
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| Common Indoor Area |
I had my Kangaroo Sandwich for dinner in
the common area and decided to go for a late walk to see the Opera House and
Sydney Harbour Bridge.
OMG, it was stunning, awesome, beautiful,
gorgeous Harbour Bridge & opera house! It is out of this world really! I
loved it :)
I couldn’t believe I was there – so far
Sydney reminds me about London, New York, Dublin and Hong Kong. - a great
mixture of everything really. I’m excited to see it tomorrow by daylight. So
glad I went out and went down to the harbour!
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| St. Mary's Cathedral |
On my first day I bought a weekly commute
ticket for the public transport, so it was easier to get around. I went for a
job interview at St. Leonard and had a lovely chat. After that I explored the
Botanic Garden & surroundings.
The next day I did a 3-hour Walking Tour
through CBD, which was great and helped me to get a better understanding of the
city. Gorgeous places and areas really!
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| Captain Cook |
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| Queen Victoria Building - Now an exclusive shopping centre |
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| Beautiful clock tower |
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| Written everywhere in Sydney in the 50s! |
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| Playing chess in the park! |
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| Il Porcellino in front of Sydney hospital |
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| Customs House |
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| Famous fountain - The movie Matrix was filmed here! |
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| The Harbour Bridge |
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| Famous Pub! |
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| The Docks |
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| View from the ferry onto the skyline! |
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| On the ferry to Mosman |
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| Mosman |
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| Mosman |
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| Mosman |
Then I checked out Paddy’s market in Chinatown, but decided not to buy anything yet.
For sunset I took the train to the other side
of the harbour and walked back over the Sydney Harbour Bridge (1.3km)! It was
just stunning :) I could have stayed up there almost the whole night! The view
is just spectacular!
After that I decided to go back to “The
Rocks” area, where a lovely local market was on. I strolled a bit, chatted to a
lovely woman who sold gorgeous porcelain cups and plates with colourful paintings
of Sydney. I also bought a tasty dark chocolate rock with marshmallows in it!
MMMHHHH ;) People in Sydney seem to know what’s tasty ;)
On my 3rd day I decided to take
the ferry out to Manly to the beach early in the morning. We had stunning
sunshine and the ferry was almost empty. Perfect to take gorgeous pictures and
enjoying the peacefulness! Met a nice French man on the ferry who was here on a
business trip. He was on his way to Manly to surf for a bit before flying back
to France.
I reached Manly and first of all saw the
gorgeous beach.
Then I passed an ALDI, next I step out of the Manly Wharf and
saw the Bavarian Bier Café!
Not sure, but that might be a sign! This place
might be perfect for me to live in. I went on and walked a bit through town.
Lovely shops, palm trees and it felt like you were on vacation in Italy and it
even reminded me a bit of Malahide in Dublin! I reached the other side of the
beach and it was just stunning! I felt like I could live here! That would be
the place to be – nice restaurants, coffee places and there was a small little
market on as well. On top of all that I found a Brezel Bar, which sold German bread!
Nevertheless I decided to take a bus further
out to Dee Why to check it out as well. It took maybe 20 min by bus, however it
felt more like a family place and didn’t really catch me at all. So back on the
bus to Manly, where I strolled around for a little bit longer ;)
Later on I took the ferry back to CBD,
where I met Lorenzo and Ana (Ex colleagues from IBM Ireland) at Darlinghurst
Harbour. It was lovely to see them again and we had some coffee & ice
cream! The weather was just gorgeous!
In the evening I made my way to the Sydney
Entertainment Centre to watch the performance of the school band “Marimba Band”
where Susan’s nephew was playing in.
Around 40 kids from different schools played the Xylophone and I really enjoyed it.
On Sunday I decided to go back to Paddy’s
Market to buy some souvenirs and around lunchtime I made my way out to Ana
& Lorenzo for a BBQ. Lorenzo picked me up from the train station and he
showed me the IBM location. It’s in the middle of the forest – wow, so
different to Ballycoolin ;) But as well, very far out! I ate some tasty meat
BBQ meat and it was nice to see both of them again.
On my last evening I decided to go back
down to the harbour to enjoy the view onto the Opera House & the harbour
bridge one more time! I bought a cappuccino for take away, set down at the harbour
and just glazed with amazement out onto the water!
It was hard to leave that beautiful place!
On my way back to the hostel I decided to spoil myself with some ice cream!
My five nights flew by really as there is so much to do and see in Sydney. It is unreal, but I loved it!
I had 2 very special moments – one when I went down to the Harbour on my evening when I arrived. I couldn’t believe, that I had arrived in Sydney, standing at the harbour and glazing with amazement onto the Bridge and the Opera House! A moment, which will be very memorable :) The second one was when I took the ferry from Circular Quay to Manly! Stunning really! I was sitting on that ferry asking myself what I had done in that life to deserve to be here ;) But it seems like I had deserved to be here and I decided to enjoy it to the fullest!
Manly felt like being at home – such a cosy, vibrant, stunning beach location with lots of shops and markets. Even a German Pretzel Shop and a Bavarian Coffee & Restaurant were there! This place is perfect for me :) But unfortunately a bit far from IBM. Oh well, let’s see. I would love to live here.
So that’s my overall impression of Sydney
so far:
Lots of Asian people, which makes me feel
at home, Irish flags, Guinness signs, pie stores with tasty muffins, public
transport looks like in London, beautiful beaches, stunning Harbour Bridge, gorgeous
Opera House, The Rocks which look like the Docklands, lots of coffee shops, Woolworths
supermarket which looks like Dunnes Stores, lots of greenery everywhere and
water! Irish sounding street names, lots of sporty people and people say “You
know what I mean?!”
CBD (Central Business District) reminds me
about Manhattan, suburbs look very greenish, Shopping Centres remind me about
Ireland and you can even find Bupa here and Toni & Guy. There are so called
Bottle shops which are the same as Off Licenses. I found German Bakeries with
real Pumpkinseed Bread rolls and Pretzels ;) Aussie’s seem to love to eat
sausages – me too!
The public busses look like in Dublin, even
the colour of the seat covers is the same ;) Funny, lots of small little things
– but they make a difference!
I’m so looking forward to come back to
Sydney! But for now I’m off to New Zealand :)
As I don't think I'll write another blog entry before Christmas, I would like to wish you all a
Merry Christmas and all the best in 2013!
May these be your gifts this Christmas Season!
The Blessing of Peace
The Beauty of Hope
The Spirit of Love
The Comfort of Faith
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| David Jones Department Store X-mas window decoration in Sydney! |
