On the road again… Now with my wife!

On the 8th of November I picked up Kirstine at the train station, we spend the night at Joeys place and all of us had dinner with the Danes I went to Fraser with.

Kirstine and me

Joey and me

Next day we picked up our fabulous camper, in which we ‘re going to live in till the 3rd of Jan.

This is the beauty (called B. B. King)

Kirstine is enjoying our first lunch

The first stop after that was north of Brisbane; the Sunshine coast.
We went to Australia Zoo, and did the mandatory kangaroo petting, watched a bird show and saw all the crocodiles and snakes you find around Oz.

Kirstine has a mate (Ross) in Rainbow beach, so we spend a couple of nights there. Great to know locals; we went sea kayaking and around the beach in Ross’ 4WD.

Ross, me and Chris

On our way back south we passed by Joey & Kristo’s place, we made dinner and got pissed and had a ball.

The guys in their wife beaters


The only way to watch a good movie. Kristo knows how to treat a woman!

After that small detour, we continued down south to the Gold Coast, where the famous and very touristy Surfer’s Paradise is located. We spend a day in one of the fun parks called Dream World (rollercoasters are underrated).

The beaches on Gold coast are absolutely gorgeous, but in stead of going surfing we located a good spot for kite surfing and finally got out again. I managed to get up on my board actually riding for the first time ever! That was just awesome!
We met some other kite surfers on the beach, and after a good day in the water we had dinner at Sean’s place, watched a movie and Kirstine and I spend the night here. Holiday rocks!

Brissy

I arrived in Brisbane Sunday morning 5.30am. My lovely study mate and former colleague Anja studied in Brissy last year but fell in love with it and works there at the moment. I spend my first night at her place, we went swimming and to the Sunday markets in South Bank. Her boyfriend Jakob was there on holidays as well, so I wasn’t the only one being tourist.

The next couple of days I spend at the lovely Joey’s place (a friend of Nathan, who I met at a party in Melbourne). He’s apparently a pretty good cook so we had some nice dinners getting pissed in the weekdays (hey, who’s keeping track when they’re on holidays?). Poor Joey unfortunately had to work, but it’s not every day you have visitors from Scandinavia.

On Thursday I went on a little road/camping trip to Fraser island, which is the largest sand island in the world. For that reason Anja, Jakob and I rented a jeep, while two other couples (friends of Anja) brought their own 4WD.

Driving off road and in sand is much fun and doable if you know the technique, but since none of us tried it before, we got stuck a couple of times. After getting familiar with the cars and island we went around and saw some of the beautiful fresh water lakes with crystal clear water and the finest white sand.

You don’t wonna spend too much time swimming by the beach, because these waters are filled with one of the most aggressive type of sharks: tiger sharks. We see heaps from the lookout at Indian Head.

After a great weekend on the island I returned to Joeys place Sunday night, and the day after my lovely and missed wife arrived in Brisbane. Our wicked east coast adventure could finely begin.

10 days with 20 lovely people

Wednesday the 19th of November I was picked up by the bus, which was going to be my ride all the way to Broome. The west coast is beautiful and nothing like the rest f Australia.
We hiked around Kalbarri National Park, were Mark & I went abseiling.

We visited many gorgeous beaches including Shell Beach, Shark Bay & Coral Bay. We went snorkeling from a glass bottom boat at Coral Bay, as you can see I fed the fish:

Monkey Mia is the only place in the world where wild life dolphins swim to the coast and get fed by humans on a daily basis. Of course we went there with all the other tourists.

Like the east coast of Australia, the west coast also has a reef, the much underrated Ningaloo Reef. The waters are so shallow you easily can see everything by snorkeling. Mark, David (both from the UK) and I found a turtle we went swimming with for 20 min. Fantastic!

The pearl of the west coast: Karijini National Park. This is definitely one of my very favorite places in Oz. This remote, beautiful place is a mix of the characteristic red dust/sand and amazingly green gorges full of plants and animals.
We spend 3 nights in this little paradise, living as primitively as you can imagine. People were great team working, and everyone helped out cocking, cleaning and getting drunk. This is our little camp:

We went hiking in the gorges every day; it was great and very challenging. Absolutely amazing, don’t think you can’t find anywhere more beautiful in the world! Hidden in between the massive stone walls, created by the erosion of water, we visited several pools with clear, chilly fresh water. Much needed, everyone was soaked in sweat!

At Hancock gorge our guide took a small group of the most fit on a 15 min swim to an otherwise isolated little beach and pool. Here we went jumping of a cliff into the pool (approx 10 meters). The best adrenaline rush of the trip! Even Jesper can be proud of me now c”,)

It was also proven possible to open a beer with a magazine (and no, it wasn't a twist top).

Further North we visited the mining town Port Hedland, which isn’t a place you wanna live, but somewhere you go for a couple of years to earn good money. But they do have a playground!

We went for a walk at the pretty 80 mile beach (which is actually 90 miles, but that name was already taken!). No swimming unfortunately, because of the stinger season.

We reached Broome on the 28th of November; we all spend a great night together, eating pizza, getting pissed and dancing. It’s kinda sad to say goodbye to so many cool people after spending almost every hour of the day with them for 10 days. I’m definitely gonna miss them, even our crazy guide, Sharpy.

Next day I followed Mark to the airport and visited the famous Japanese cemetery. Years ago Broome attracted quite a few Asian people (especially Japanese), because it used to have a big pearl industry. It resulted in Broome today has a unique and interesting population of Asians, Aboriginals and white people.

Saturday afternoon I said goodbye to Broome, catching a flight back to Perth. I had 5 hours in transition, and can you spend them better than with a friend? Paul picked me up in the airport; we went to a great restaurant and got food + beers. Though I kinda lost track of weekdays it WAS Saturday night after all!
After dropping me off again around midnight, I spend the night on a flight to Brisbane to continue my adventure on the east coast.

Perth and Fremantle

Two days after my last exam (and after an enormous amount of beers) I caught a flight to the most remote metropolitan city in he world; Perth in Western Australia (WA). This gorgeous city is both beautiful and has a variety of cozy, alternative small pubs and fancy bars. I spend two nights here, and then moved on to the smaller sister town; Fremantle.

Three major advantages: Fremantle is right on the coast and thus has great beaches, the best brewery in the world, Little Creatures, is located here and Paul, the flower king himself, lives in Fremantle.

Though Fremantle is only a small town it still has great bars (Little Creatures) and if you’re into live music: Mojo’s. Besides that you find beautiful beaches, apparently one of the best places to kite surf (damn, why couldn’t I bring my gear??).
I also spend a day biking around Rottnest Island, which is located 30 min by ferry from the town. On this cute little island cars are a no go, and everyone has to bring/rent a bike. Awesome, it almost felt like home!
Paul was great, I spend the nights at his place and we explored the Fremantle night life together. I met Paul at Fremantle Prison on an interesting but long guided tour. Apparently Paul used to live in Frederiksberg, how random is that? He’s from Auckland NZ (hence kiwi) but lived in Melbourne before moving to WA because of work. Great guy, he just has to come visit me when I get back to Denmark.
My conclusion: Perth (Fremantle included) is the best city in WA.

Back and goodbye Melbourne

First of all my apologies for being that silent for such a long time. I’m back in the game, and this time in English, so my Aussie and kiwi friends can read it as well.

A quick summary; I had some great but very busy last months in Melbourne.

Went on a fantastic mid semester break to Cairns (North of Melbourne on the East coast) with Kirstine, Rasmus & Martin. Rasmus and I took scuba diving license; can you choose a better place than Great Barrier Reef? After 5 exciting days diving, the four of us rented a car and drove up North to Cape Tribulation, which is located in one of Queensland’s rainforests. We went horse riding, diving and on night walking in the forest (and no, none of our guys dared walking furthest back). On the way back to Cairns we spend a night in the small gorgeous town Port Douglas.

After a great trip we came back to the reality of uni, and Kirstine and I spend the last weeks in Melbourne studying hard for the exams. It paid of and we both past all our exams! We did spend some of our time on other things, I played the last competition with my volley team and got to say goodbye to all my lovely girls! Still trying to convince them to come to Denmark and start a team with me. Or at least just visit me (Beth!).

10 things...

Tyvstjålet fra Kirstine, som stjal det fra Martin, kommer her mine lister over 10 ting!

10 things I miss about Denmark:

1. Rugbrød med leverpostej & rødbeder
   
2. Skolekridt, labre larver & chokofanter
   
3. Sne om vinteren
   
4. mBAR med hele Molbiomed
   
5. Cykelstier fri for parkeringspladser (??)
   
6. Gearstang på højre side af mig i bilen
   
7. Mit volleycrew med fredagstræning + øl
   
8. Bagels på Nyhavn i solskin
   
9. Frederiksberg
   
10. Alle mine skønne venner og familien
    

10 things I love about Melbourne:

1. Fantastisk musik
   
2. Trams
   
3. St Kilda beach
   
4. Veggie bar (fantastisk restaurant på Brunswick street)
   
5. The Espy (vores lokale trashy musiksted)
   
6. TimTams (verdens mest vanedannende chokoladekiks)
   
7. Solbrune surfere i boardershorts
   
8. Restaurantbesøg for under 10 dollars (= 45 kr)
   
9. Kænguruer
   
10. Alle vores venner heromme

Kulturel i Melbourne: Art Deco & Drag Show!

Så blev det tid til at være lidt kulturel i vores kære by, for man skal huske at lege turist en gang imellem, selvom man også læser.
Derfor brugte Kirstine og jeg vores onsdag aften til Art After Dark, som er aftenåben udstilling på the National Gallery of Victoria. De har pt. en fantastisk Art Deco udstilling.
Til dem der ikke ved det: Art Deco er en vidtspændende, international stilart, der startede efter Første Verdens Krig. Den tog fart i midt 20’erne og tabte pusten omkring 1939, formåede at sprede sig til alt fra arkitektur, indendørsarkitektur og industrielt design. Et af de mest udprægede kendetegn ved stilarten er en ’adoption’ af utroligt mange andre kunstarter. Derfor virker det som et mix af alt fra gammelt græsk, ægyptisk, asiatisk, blandet med kubisme og funktionalisme. Rigtigt spændende at se, det var bestemt et besøg værd! (desværre ingen billeder fra denne tur)

Jeg kan ikke bryste mig af at bo i centrum af Melbourne, men jeg bor i den sydøstlige suburb St. Kilda, som ligger helt ud til vandet. Nørrebro er nok det sted jeg har boet, der minder mest om denne del af Melbourne!
Derfor var det også på tide at omfavne noget af den lokale kultur, stedet har at byde på. Kirstine, Martin, Elizabeth (alle udvekslingsstuderende fra Monash) og jeg købte derfor mad på den lokale SpudBar, og satte os ned til vandet med en flaske champagne.

Herefter gik turen gennem Carlisle Street, hvos man støder på de første 5 prostituerede på arbejde (på en god aften, bliver man endda selv stoppet af en bil, fordi chaufføren er nysgerrig efter priser).På hjørnet af Carlisle & St Kilda Rd ligger den fantastiske bøssebar Grey Hound Hotel. Vi havde tilfældigt valgt den aften stedet havde 13 års fødselsdag, så der var derfor ekstra drag shows (normalt kun 1 eller 2, denne aften viste de 4!). Sikke en fest! Det er sjældent jeg har danset så mange timer i træk (ville ønske der var lige så mange hetero-fyrer, der dansede så godt! Ja, jeg savner Rune…)

Elizabeth & Martin

Så starter showet med et brag!

Hvem sagde at store kvinder ikke kan være dejlige..? Her er i hvert fald nok til alle!

Kirstine er en haj til make-up, men har vist fundet sin overmand/kvinde her!

En fantastisk aften på the Grey Hound! Her kommer vi helt sikkert igen, når vores fødder ikke længere smerter fra en lang nat... c",)

Så kom jeg endelig på min første ‘ferie’ i Australien (og vel egentlig første ferie siden påske). 6 mennesker, en bil, 273 km vej på Victorias sydkyst+ en masse fis og ballade. Bliver det bedre?

I weekenden lejede vi bil og drønede af sted på Great Ocean Road, som blev bygget til minde om de faldne Aussies under 1. Verdenskrig. Efter sigende er den bygget med de barer næver mellem år 1919 og 1932.

Kirstine og jeg på vej i tram for at mødes med de andre i Avis og hente bil.

Første stop var Torquay, hvor vi sugede alt info og omkring 100 brochure fra det lokale turistkontor.

Her er mit crew, fra venstre: Rasmus (aka Leon), Martin, Camilla, Kirstine & Didde.

Derefter gik turen til Bells Beach, som er en af verdens kendteste og bedste surfstrande. Desværre fik vi kun kigget på, men det var en fantastisk udsigt + kæmpe bølger.

Smuk strand! Med & uden mennesker (venstre: mig, Rasmus, Camilla, Kirstine & Didde)

Et lille bevis på vi var her. Øverst: moi, nederst: trunterne teamworker.

Fra Bells Beach kørte vi til Aireys Inlet, der er kendt for sit 34 m høje fyrtårn. Fin udsigt, og det perfekte sted at spise frokost.

Næste stop var byen Lorne, hvor man kan finder et 30 m langt vandfald kaldet Erskine Falls. Smukt! Stedet var fyldt med kæmpebregner (Møn go home!).

Erskine Falls + alle de mange farer man øjensynligt kan møde her.

Apollo Bay blev byen vi overnattede i fra fredag til lørdag. Det er dejligt let at finde ledige køjesenge på hostels, når man tager af sted uden for sæson!

Aftentur på stranden, Kirstine laver hjerte til mig i kæmpe-tang!

Fra Apollo Bay kørte vi væk fra havet ind i landet. I Great Otway National Park vandrede vi en lang tur i Beech Forest.

Alle børnene.

Bregner!

Så er der dømt eventyrland!

Mig i kæmpetræstamme.

Derefter drog vi videre for at opleve det berømte Otway Fly Tree Top Walk. Her kan man gå 47 m over jorden og kigge ned i det frodige landskab. Fantastisk! Godt min kære Mutti ikke var med…

Camilla, Martin, Didde & jeg skuer ned på skoven.

Den sidste solskinstime lørdag blev brugt på at skue ud over havet ved de 12 apostle. Der er nu egentlig kun 7½ tilbage, resten af styrtet i havet. De er dannet af at havet har bidt sig ind på kysten, og der røger ca. 2 cm året af samme grund. De skal absolut ses i solnedgang!

Wow!

Vores anden nat blev brugt i den lille havneby Port Campbell, på et smadder hyggeligt hostel. Vi lavede chilli con carne, drak an masse vin + fik spillet kort. Lækkert!

Søndag måtte vi tage et smut tilbage, for at se The Triplet Falls, som vi ikke nåede lørdag. Det var også hele omvejen værd!

Vandfald og vandfald + hjerte.

Sidste by vi nåede var Warrnambool, hvor man kan se hvaler. Meeeen de kom ikke lige da vi gjorde, og man kan stå mange timer og vente på dem. I stedet tog vi på vandretur i Tower Hill Reserve, hvor jeg så mine første kænguruer! Ud over at der vrimlede med de søde, komiske pungdyr, var stedet spækket med kaniner. Tanken blev absolut henledt på Kaninbjerget!

Tower Hill Reserve ligger 15 km vest for Warrnambool og "is a vast caldera born in a vulcanic eruption 30.000 years ago". Desuden var det næsten lige så smukt at se solnedgang her som over apostlene!

Så fint var det!

Det var den road! Det kan kun varmt anbefales, hvis man engang kommer forbi Victoria.