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► 2010 (6)

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Back in Australia, mate!

It was strange, but wonderful to be back in Australia. The first day I was just exhausted from sleeping for roughly 3 hours on the short airport couch (I hereby curse all non-silent airports!!), so I spent the day lazing by the pool and napping in a lovely air-con room I shared with a German 19-year old girl and her mother.

Apparently the girl wanted to do Australia (like around 75% of the German population it seems, Australia is seriously swarming with Germans! They're in every hostel and actually have German guides on some tours because of the average German's lack of English skills, and usually keep to themselves because they arrive in such great numbers, thereby not learning much English anyway ...), but the girl got a serious case of the homesick so her mother actually came down under to join her for a 4-month campervan trip. The mother hardly speaks any English at all, but is trying to learn, which I find quite an impressive task for a 40-something hairdresser from Southwestern Germany! They had, as any good German, brought everything they needed from Germany, including novels, sun tanning lotion, chocolate bread spread, linen and a coffee machine. Yes, a Senseo stood proudly in the room because the mother could not live without a decent coffee in the morning. The rest of their stuff was neatly spread across every surface of the room. I'm guessing the mother was the one ho had to tidy it all.

They were nice though, but I must say I was shocked by how dependent the girl was ... how will she ever learn to be on her own? Don't get me wrong, I like Germans and my fluent German sure came in handy and it was nice to understand what everybody was saying, but even the Germans themselves were a little sick of meeting only countrymen and -women in Australia ... I almost laughed out loud when I had to show another 19-year old German girl how to cook pot noodles. She didn't even understand the written instructions on the pack (I now understand why some manufacturers use pictures instead!) and ripped the lid to pieces before putting the whole thing in the microwave oven, puzzled when we told her she had to pour water in it, then proceeded to look for a kettle. I helped her find the water boiler and directed her in detail to do the rest ... She admitted herself that she had been a bit spoiled living in "hotel Mama" and I wondered how malnourished and/or broke she would be after the next 2 months.

I did manage to dig up some sensible ones though, so I spent a day with 2 German girls and a Japanese guy. They were strangers to each others, shared a room and were tons of fun! We shared some beers in the garden and went to an Irish pub nearby (yes, they are indeed everywhere, think I saw one in India as well) to listen to some live music and watch the local drunk youth mix with the tourist ones. Got my butt slapped twice and a local girl fell on hers in an attempt to make me join her in a little dance. God fun. The next day one of the German girls and I visited the Botanical gardens and the museum, both lovely (and free) attractions, then we cooked some pasta she left to me because she was leaving that day. Now the hostel (Bunyan View) was OK and very clean, but the beds quite uncomfortable and the staff extremely unfriendly. They had a strict policy not allowing guests who had checked out back in (other guests letting them in risked getting evicted), and my poor German friend had to check out at 10 am when her flight was at 2 am the next day. She could only leave her luggage until 6 pm, and when she asked what to do after that and until midnight when her airport shuttle arrived, she was told there was a bench across the street! The hostel actually had a sign outside saying "safe travel for women and children". The German girl was barely 19 and was supposed to sit outside for 5 hours in the dark?? Luckily her roommate offered to keep her luggage in the room and bring it to her lonely bench in the evening.

Thursdays and Sundays there is a night marked on the bach in Darwin. It has all sorts of food stalls and jewelry, clothes and nicknack, a great place to watch the sunset (this one was cloudy though) and sample food from all corners of the world. I was happy I went to Indonesia first, because all cheap jewelry and clothes were exactly the same here, only 7-8 times the price ... It was a nice place though, both locals and tourists loved it.

Cloudy sunset

Delicious local couisine at the night market ...

I have booked a 9-day tour to Kakadu National Park, Litchfield National Park, Katherine Gorge and Uluru, ending in Alice Springs, where I catch my next flight. I booked it with Adventure Tours, the same company I went with last time, and I believe it's a good deal as all accomodation and food is included, so the separate tours and time spent looking for cheap hostels and meals (not to mention cooking!!) would probably add up tp a lot more. I feel a bit lazy for doing such a long tour though, but it's a risky area to go by yourself because of crocodiles, the heat and other dangers, so I figured I'll make up for it later with some more independent traveling ... Dont't think I'll be able to find much Internet time on the tour though, but I'll update as soon as I'm back in civilization (most of the accomodation is actually camping) and hopefully have some amazing pictures to show!

Travel reads

When I started my trip I brought one book, An open heart by the Dalai Lama. It was very inspiring and I felt it was a lot easier to travel with an open (but critical, of course) heart and not let what you cannot change, annoy you. I get new books in exchange book stores or hostels as I go. Speaking of independent traveling, I just finished a book by a former Lonely Planet author, it was hilarious, but I did get a little stressed reading about his approaching deadline (and lack of finished material) ... I also read a biography of Muhammad, which was quite interesting and helped me understand several aspects of Islam and its cultural background.