New Zealand here I come

A little bit confused I made my way to the airport...Again another country was lying ahead of me and eventhough I knew I would meet those two Irish girls it felt strange. My flight was 1,5 hours delayed and seriously-there is nothing much to do at Melbourne Airport. After take-off I tried Qantas inflight entertainment and was even more confused. You can chose of hundreds of movies, CDs, comedies, and other things on demand. I spent the three hours just zapping around cuz I did not know what I wanted to do. But I thought "hey, you've got an 11 hour flight to L.A....enough time to watch several movies, comedies, and listen to several CDs. I was quite exhausted when I arrived at my hostel, the ACB, one of those party hostels. It was already after 21h and so I went down to their bar with my 2-4-1 beer voucher. I just sat down at a table with my two huge glasses filled with delicious tap beer when that girl appeared from the dancefloor. She asked me if I mind to dance and because she seemed to be nice I followed her back to the dancefloor and as it is difficult to dance with two beers in your hand, I gave one to her. We ended up spending all night together doing barhopping. The next morning we met for breakfast. I wore this nice shirt Nina gave me for my birthday present. Emerald, that is her name, and I sat down at Auckland's Marina and enjoyed our coffee and a nice choclate croissant. Not for long though...In front of us were tons of sea-gulls and sparrows waiting for us to feed them. Except for one little sparrow-bas....This small little bird suddenly jumped up, opened his humangous beak, stole my choclate croissant out of my hand, and after that, for a faire punishment, got attacked by the other sparrows and sea-gulls. I frightened so much, that I spilled coffee all over my shirt-Sorry Nina!!!

I had to wait two more days for Eithner and Andrea till we could pick up our campervan. I found out that Auckland is not the most beautiful city but yet learned some stuff about the Kiwi culture when I did the free STRAY-bus city tour. This experience made clear to me, why the STRAY Bus or the Kiwi Experience Bus is called the "vagina liner". Anyway, ouir first journey in our orange spaceship lead us up north to the Bay of Islands. When we arrived we could not quite understand what we were doing there. It was nice but very touristy and also raining. The only thing we really did was finding a place to spend the night so that we could go down south the next morning. And so we did, all the way passed Auckland down to the Waitomo cave where we had our first adventure: Blackwaterrafting. Pretty much what it is, is putting a tube under your butt, hock into the person in front and behind of you and have somebody pull the whole group through dark caves in really cold water. A highland was to jump of a small waterfall. Because it is so dark you can see thousands of glowworms. Amazing and the hot shower and tomato soup afterwards made up for the cold water! After we were done we took-off to Rotorua, a small city where we faced our second challenge: Wildwaterrafting including the highest commercially raftable waterfall-7 meters. The guys leading the group were those smoking weat chilled sort of guys which really did not seem to be trust worthy. But hey, we were in New Zealand-the country with thousands of adventures. We took a raft, brought it to the starting point, went for a pee, learned what to do at what time so we wouldn't fall out of the raft and finally started. The first burden was to jump about 2 meters into that freakin' cold water and swim to the raft. The first rapids were easy. Eventually we came to that high waterfall and after we managed the drop we went down along the river till we arrived after 45 minutes. All save, some wetter than others. At the end we did wave-surfing during which a small English girl had to sit in the front and was covered by that wave for minutes. We had fun, if she did I don't know :) If you do not understand what I mean look at the picture!

After we had dried we continued to Taupo. We were on a tight schedule because neither the Irish nor I had enough time left for New Zealand and we knew that there was a lot to do on the south island. On the way to Taupo we stopped the famous mud pools and hot springs in which we chilled with a couple of beers and those small brown fatal miningitis worms that get into your body via nose and mouth. I told this story to everybody who entered the pool. The idea to share a pool with those annoying little creatures was kind of scary but if you kept your head above the water you were fine and the skin enjoyed a free Spa sulfur treat. The mud pools were nice to watch because the boiling mud shot out of the earth. The smell was not very entertaining-neither was the piece of boiling mud that hit me on my arm...The next stop was Taupo were the girls skydived. I would have loved to do another one after Rainbow Beach in Australia but I was out of money and decided it was fun enough to flirt with that overly beautiful looking girl at the reception of the skydive place. Before their jump we had breakfast at Lake Taupo, a huge lake, and while eating my Fruit Loops I discovered the joy of feeding them to the ducks. Unfortunately they could not chew them but still, I had fun. After the girls had safely arrived back down we drove all the way to the Tangorio Crossing. It is a one day hike along vulcanoes, apparently the best in New Zealand. We spent the night listening to the rain and when we woke up the next morning it was still raining and very cloudy. No way we could do this hike! Very disappointed we took of to Wellington where we crossed over the next morning to Picton on the South Island. The evening before we went to the Te Papa Museum (Kiwi culture and all about New Zealand), the best I've ever been to. Besides its interactivity I could to a virtual bungyjump which was to prepare me for Queenstown where I did the real thing....

Whitsundays and Diving - Paradise

After a two day ride up to Airlie Beach we were looking forward to do a sailing turn to the Whitsunday Islands. By that time we recovered from all those annoying march flies from Fraser Island and could not wait for the pictures landscape - white sands and turquoise water. We also met two Irish girls, Eithner and Andrea, who were in our 4WD Fraser group. Coincidentally they were booked on the same sailing ship as we were; an old three mast boat that has been operated by an Italian cook. The boat left Airlie beach in the afternoon and because we had not enough wind we started of using the engine. We spent the afternoon sailing towards Whitehaven Beach, yet anchoring the boat about two hours away to spend the night. We had delicious dinner, talked, had a couple of drinks and were all fascinated by Flipper (a dolphine :) that was circling, jumping, and dancing around us for about half an hour. The first night not many of us slept on deck but I took my matress and squeezed it in the front on deck. I made myself comfortable, listened to music, thought about Melbourne a lot and how much I missed it, and enjoyed the stars in the sky. It was totally dark around us and the Milkyway is just incredible. At 7a.m. was served and soon after we went to our first snorkeling destination. Before we jumped into the water though, we had to put on our funny looking stinger suits because of the jellyfish which are quite nasty in that area. I saw a couple but all that stinger suit wearing is more an insurance issues. I was driving everybody crazy about snorkeling and how cool it is but all three snorkeling sites were rather disappointing after having been to paradise at the Perhentian Islands in Malaysia. But Whitehaven Beach made up for it and we spent all afternoon there, observing thousands of little crabs that were digging themselves into the sands once you got to close to them. Swimming was not really possible because also here you needed the stinger suits. After enjoying the incredible scenery we went back to the boat, had dinner, jumped of the mast - really shaky and scary up there - had a social night and went to bed again, this time almost everybody was on deck. The next morning we snorkelled again and went back to Airlie Beach were we stayed another night partying, going bathing into the lagoon and later to bed. From there it took us up to Cairns where we again met up with Andrea and Eithner.

We were really lucky getting to Cairns without any problems because everybody we met further south told us about the huge amount of rain they had and that they were stuck in Cairn because the roads were closed. One thing was sure, it would be very humid up there. The first night we slept in our campervan but the next Nina left for New Zealand to see her hostfamily and I booked myself into a hostel. Dinner was included and served at P.J.'s (Irish Pub). Waiting for my food I went up to the bar to order a drink and could not believe what I saw. Behind the bar was that good-looking blondgirl working that was working only three weeks earlier at P J's in Melbourne - it is just funny where and when you meet people again when you travel. After dinner my two Irish girls and I went to the Wool Shed, the 'IN' bar there with a wide variety of girls waiting to get picked up...I had to get up early the next morning to catch my boat to my 2-day-1-night diving trip I was so excited for. On the boat I met this Irish girl Sinead and I knew my destiny - I would never get rid of those Irish (remember, I worked also with Irish girls in Melbourne; where are your boys? :-). Sinead and I got along quite well and so we decided to body up for the six dives we had, three the first day and three the second. We dove on two different reefs, Hastings and Normans Reef. Diving to me is just something so incredible and I enjoyed the underwater world at the Great Barrier Reef a lot. The most comfortable thing was that the water is really warm and there is pretty much no fish that can do you harm. We saw so many different kinds; Maorie Wresses (see picture below), sharks, clownfish (my favorites), other colored fish, rays of any kind, and on our night dive even a big sea turtle. If ever you get a chance to dive, to it!!!! After the sixth dive we had lunch and had to get ready for the ride home. They offered boomnetting on the way home. If ever you get a chance to do it, DON'T!!! I swallowed as much salt water as during the six dives or more. They spread out a net behind the boat and you pretty much hold on to it and enjoy the salty taste in your mouth.

The next day I flew back to Melbourne, excited to see all my friends again. The two German girls I met in Byron Bay txted me two days before that they would also be there - wow, I was just a lucky dude :) Because everybody had to work I mainly spent my time with Hannah and Loosie. Luckily Tess, my Melbourne-special, found some time for me and together with the Irish girls (Mary and Bob) we went for breaky once.Before I took of to Auckland I organized a job for my German ones at World. They wanted to stay till the beginning of March and as I found out lately, yesterday, in the middle of April, was their last shift. It felt good to know, that I was not the only who got stuck at World - it is a good place, it makes addictive, and does incredible things to you!!!

...And The Other Two Weeks

After not being caught we left Noosa the next day, after we spent the morning and the afternoon at the beach. We booked our trip to Fraser and the Whitsunday Islands there and just had to pay for the latter trip. Why? I don't know, but why would I care ;) We arrived in Rainbow beach at night and parked our car at a Pipi's, a backpacker. For a small charge we could use their facilities, which meant finally a real toilet and shower again. We cooked dinner and after that I played cards all night long with that Swedish/English couple. The girl lent me her Nokia recharger which Calum didn't give back to me after I borrowed it to him in Byron Bay-Thanx Calum!!! I expected the next morning with great excitement as I wanted to skydive from 14.000ft (4200m). However, the weather represented a little problem at first. But an hour later I got a call and the guy said we can jump now. They picked me up from the hostel, made me sign those forms saying that if I die I have no rights (of course not, I am f.... dead!!!), took me down to the beach to measure the wind, and then to Rainbow Beach International Airfield. It was just a piece of grass and the runway was marked with plastic buckets. The small plane took of and after 20 minutes of a scenic flight over the bay and Fraser Island my tandem dude buckelt me up to him and opened the door. It got suddenly really windy and chilly in the plane but I just enjoyed the view and the Pacific Ocean and rainbow beach. We sat on the edge of the plane, my legs hanging out the plane (a great feeling) when he stood up and jumped with me. We tumbled twice (which I loved) and then enjoyed 65 seconds of free fall and 6 minutes gliding. We landed on the beach both wearing just a shirt and shorts, no shoes. It was one incredible experience!

In the afternoon we had to attend a meeting preparing us for the three-day 4WD trip to Fraser Island, the biggest sand island in the world. We really didn't learn much which was beyond common sense and so we left the next morning after we loaded our cars with tents, food, and of course some alcohol to enjoy the nights. Marvin, promising us good times at least once in a phrase, took us to the ferry and from then two Irish, two English, three Danish, a Swiss, and two Germans were for themselves. We deboarded the ferry and to a really bumpy road to the beach. Yep, the beach was the road and you relied on the tides wether or not you could drive. We made our way up to Lake Mckinsey which was inland. The deep sandy road seemed not to end but after an hour and a half we finally arrived at this amazing blue with a white beach looking lake. It was time for a refreshment and so we jumped in to cool down. After a group picture we were the lasts to leave. On the way back Kenneth made our car jump, not on purpose - a great but yet very scary feeling - and after we checked if everybody was ok we continued our sandy drive to our campground. We put up our tents and lucky as we were we had a chef in the group, a 21-year old English guy, who prepared our dinner both nights. The next morning we were woken up by the heat and those freakin' March Flies annoying the sh... out of us. They were just some stinging bastards. Without breaky we left for Lake Wobby by food. It was a good 45 minutes walk and two thirds of the walk were like walking in the dessert. Around us were only sanddunes with no vegetation. An incredible scenery. When we were back, all looking forward to enjoy our break our chef got stuck with the car and it took us about two hours in the midday heat to free our 4WD, all with empty stomachs. We called the company and they sent a mechanic to us, diagnosing a dead 4WD and so we had to wait another two hours for a new 4WD which wasn't to bad as we could use a pool while we were waiting. In the afternoon, all confident with the new car, we left our camp and drove up to a shipwreck and the Ela Creek which I walked up and floated down with the stream in exorbitant cold water. For dinner we drove back to our camp. Whilst the preparations I really had to pee and had to look for a good spot (there were no toilets). I thought I found one where I could spent the next 30 seconds without being caught but not so...behind me drove a 4WD by full of boys and girls watching me doin' my business. A little bit embarassing but Kenneth and I still thought it would be a good idea to play some games with them at night. We went to their camp with a couple of beers and at the end of the night Kenneth hooked up with that German girl from Hamburg...a fun night but a bad morning the next day. We broke up our camp, drove all the way up to the Northern part of the Island with a great look out and the champagne pools were we went into and drove all the way back South to catche the ferry to Rainbow Beach...Now I've written enough for today. I'll write more about our sailing turn to the Whitsunday Islands and my diving trip to the Great Barrier Reef where I saw this in 12m depth...

A Month Full of Excitement-The First Two Weeks

Sydney not only hooked me up with the new love of my life but said good-bye to me with big fireworks at Darling Harbour. It happened that I spent Australia Day (the day Captain Cook first stepped onto Australian soil) in Sydney as well, my last day there. At The Rocks with the Opera House next door, many stages with a lot of life rock music made my day with a couple of cool beers. I met some nice poeple and even though I went to Sydney by myself I was not by myself once. After the concerts I made my way to Darling Harbour where the big fireworks were to go of at night. I met two girls from Canberra and with them and thousands of other people I watched the fireworks. The night ended in the YHA bar with some Koerean dude and to many jugs of beer, but oh well, it tastes good.

The next morning I took the bus to Byron Bay, a cute little town between Sydney and Brisbane, with beautiful beaches and a lighthouse on top of a hill. On the way to the lighthouse you meet some funny looking turkeys, lizards, and if you swam many fish (including dolphins and rays). Just a little before the lighthouse you pass the most Eastern Australian Mainland Point. It is on a cliff and the day I was there, some dude decided to fall down the cliff (1st version I heard) or some dude went fishing and hurt himself (2nd, much more embarassing version for the dude) and I could follow a rescue mission with helicopter and people climbing down the cliff to reach the dude with first aid equipment. I met really cool people in Byron Bay, rode the waves with a bodyboard and learned how to properly bodysurf. It is a lot of fun if there wasn't all the blue bottles, some harmless stingers (jellyfish). After three nights I went straight up to Brisbane to catch up with Nina and to pick up our campervan which should bring up all the way to Cairns. Nina and I spent the night at the Bunk hostel and at night went down to the bar for some food and a couple of drinks. As we were eating I pointed out a guy to Nina and told her that he really looks like one of Andy's mates (a good Scottish friend of mine I used to work with in Melbourne) but that it could not possibly be him because he is still in Melbourne. WRONG!!! It was him...the world is small. Together with him, Nina, and the campervan we left for Byron Bay for two reasons. I convince all three of them that Byron Bay is worth visiting and I wanted to catch up again with two German girls I met when I was there the first time. They both are from a place near Freiburg, Andrea and Hannah. Andrea got the nickname Losie from me because it didn't matter what but she always lost it. Calum (Andy's mate) was so happy in Byron Bay that we left him behind. From there, Nina and I drove via the Hinterland all the way up to Noosa, which is north of Brisbane. The way took us along backroads, the Naturalbridge, the Springbrook Nationalpark, up to Noosa. The Naturalbridge is a small cave in some kind of rainforest. It has an opening through which a waterfall drops and at night the ceiling of the cave was illuminated by hundreds and thousands of glowworms (and millions of flashlights from Asians visiting the cave at night. At least 10 busses unloaded on the parking lot which is equal to about 400 Asians...unbelievable!!!. We spent the night on the parking lot with three girls we met. We were not allowed to because it was a national park but we asked the rangers if they would fine us...They said "no" and that they left at 10:30pm so we just stayed. The next morning after breaky we left for Noosa, stopped in a little village to buy fresh pineapple, and visited a big waterfall and a lookout at the Springbrook National Park. The area around the waterfall was really hot and humid (a good environment for those poisoness snakes) but as soon as we got to the lookout which we reached after a 45 minutes trip along windy mounting roads we were freezing and had to put on a jumper. At night we arrived at Noosa where we cooked our dinner at the beach, took a shower at the beach and parked our car in some backroads to spend the night (we had to because camping is not allowed at those nice spots and they'll fine you if you do so)...

The Love of My Life

I finally found her, the love of my life. I knew already as a child that I would find her some day but I was yet to young to realize how far I had to travel. I was overwhelmed by her beauty. Suddenly she was there, right in front of me, in all her beauty she could possibly deliver. Her shape is incredible unique, her curves perfect in relation to the rest of her body. A few months ago I thought I found her already, but I was mistaken, sorry to break your heart. You are not far off but the one now is better, I would almost reckon unbeatable. When I saw her the first time I missing all the words, just did not know what to say. I felt more comfortable the second time and things worked out better. Tonight I saw her again, from the back, the sides, and the front, and oh my God, once again I was overwhelmed by her beauty, her perfectness, her uniqueness, her shape...I was an incredible moment: once again, I knew already I would find her some day, just did not know it would happen here and today.

Dear Patronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, I was impressed by your size and the way you are climbing to the sky. I called you the best in the world but in my young stupidness I was not quite sure about my emotions. I have to say good-bye to you, because my heart is fully dedicated to the Opera House Sydney, she is perfect, well curved, and beautiful, does not matter if during the or at night. I love her!