Bad news...
All roads heading north are flooded, we tried several detours, now chance. we are now heading back to the Sunshinecoast and wait for better weather.
Mittwoch, 29. Dezember 2010
Montag, 27. Dezember 2010
I ♥ Brisbane
We are now in Brisbane sience two days. The weather is still the same. Rain all day, sometimes thunderstorm. Hardly any time without water pouring from the sky.
I can t change the weather, so I have to get along with it. Somehow. After spending one night on a campsite just out of Brisbane, one of the worst nights ever till now on my trip, we decided to stay in a hostel the next two nights in Brisbane.
After some phonecalls we ended up in "Minto House", a very nice small hostel 5 minutes from the southbank in Brisbane. And it s not very expensiv, very few people stay here at the moment, the weather is just not right for this beautiful city. We spent some time walking thru the CBD. I decided to do the sight seeing tour with thongs (flipflops), umbrella, shorts and a tshirt. ood idea. I ended up walking barefoot thru town as it was too slippery. Toni has chosen to wear a poncho and noral shoes ... He ended up buying flipflops and an umbrella ... Much more convinient.
I would love to live in Brisbane, this town is awsome. ALthough I haven t xperienced it in its warm and dry weather, I am sure it is a nice city.
In the evening we have been to the movies, Tron legacy 3D. You have to like the first one otherwise u don t really understand this one.
Today we have been to the Lone Pines Koala Sanctuary. or those people who can't get enough of those little creautures, that s the right spot. You can hug them, take pictures with them and other animals like Wallabies, Kangaroos. Nice park, worth the 24$ entrance fee.
Tonite we ll go down to Southbank again, have a look and I ll taste some choclate from Max Brenner. Somebody recommended to do so. Why not :-D ?
Tomorrow we will try to head north, also some streets are flooded the way up. As long its not too bad I somehow get thru there with Patrick. Will add some extra thrill to the trip.
I can t change the weather, so I have to get along with it. Somehow. After spending one night on a campsite just out of Brisbane, one of the worst nights ever till now on my trip, we decided to stay in a hostel the next two nights in Brisbane.
After some phonecalls we ended up in "Minto House", a very nice small hostel 5 minutes from the southbank in Brisbane. And it s not very expensiv, very few people stay here at the moment, the weather is just not right for this beautiful city. We spent some time walking thru the CBD. I decided to do the sight seeing tour with thongs (flipflops), umbrella, shorts and a tshirt. ood idea. I ended up walking barefoot thru town as it was too slippery. Toni has chosen to wear a poncho and noral shoes ... He ended up buying flipflops and an umbrella ... Much more convinient.
5 mins from the hostel and we are in Southbank, just opposite of the CBD on the other side of the Brisbane river! That's the coolest campus I have ever seen
I would love to live in Brisbane, this town is awsome. ALthough I haven t xperienced it in its warm and dry weather, I am sure it is a nice city.
In the evening we have been to the movies, Tron legacy 3D. You have to like the first one otherwise u don t really understand this one.
Today we have been to the Lone Pines Koala Sanctuary. or those people who can't get enough of those little creautures, that s the right spot. You can hug them, take pictures with them and other animals like Wallabies, Kangaroos. Nice park, worth the 24$ entrance fee.
You ll find those everywhere ... Like a plague
One of the other animlas they got at Lone Pines ... 2m wide if wings spread !!! It was so muddy in the park I decided to wear my Hiking boots ... Thongs would have failed here too
WOMBAT!!!! Finally I saw one ... Like a huge guinea pig
Tonite we ll go down to Southbank again, have a look and I ll taste some choclate from Max Brenner. Somebody recommended to do so. Why not :-D ?
Tomorrow we will try to head north, also some streets are flooded the way up. As long its not too bad I somehow get thru there with Patrick. Will add some extra thrill to the trip.
C ya guys and girls!
Samstag, 25. Dezember 2010
Merry Christmas!
Hey everybody,
first of all, I wish you all the best for Christmas. Enjoy thoses special days with your loved ones. I am not really in christmas mood , it is too warm. I don t miss it here.
We rached Byron bay today. Cape Byron is the most eastern point of Mainland Australia.Maybe we ll continue our journey to brisbane, we are not to sure about that.
But what has happened since my last entry?
We drove past Sydney, as we will visit it on our way back. It's too busy there and too expensive at the moment. We have been doplhin watching and had driving in the dunes with Patrick. Driving in sand nearly feels like driving in snow. drove up the dunes and down again, not a big problem in my car. Just the higher dunes were quite a problem, but thats because I have no experience driving in sand, so we always got stuck halfway up. Reversing out brought us back down. Too bad we didn t make the big ones, but it was an awsome experience anyway. And the best: It was nearly free. Al the other tourists pay a lot of money to get into the dunes.
In Port Maquarie I visited the Kooala Hospital. The first time I saw an kooala ... I hope I ll see more of those funny creautures on my way up north. Most of the Koalas were the victim of an car accident or a dog attack. Most of the treated animals survive and are release back into the wildness again.
Wolfgang
first of all, I wish you all the best for Christmas. Enjoy thoses special days with your loved ones. I am not really in christmas mood , it is too warm. I don t miss it here.
We rached Byron bay today. Cape Byron is the most eastern point of Mainland Australia.Maybe we ll continue our journey to brisbane, we are not to sure about that.
But what has happened since my last entry?
We drove past Sydney, as we will visit it on our way back. It's too busy there and too expensive at the moment. We have been doplhin watching and had driving in the dunes with Patrick. Driving in sand nearly feels like driving in snow. drove up the dunes and down again, not a big problem in my car. Just the higher dunes were quite a problem, but thats because I have no experience driving in sand, so we always got stuck halfway up. Reversing out brought us back down. Too bad we didn t make the big ones, but it was an awsome experience anyway. And the best: It was nearly free. Al the other tourists pay a lot of money to get into the dunes.
In Port Maquarie I visited the Kooala Hospital. The first time I saw an kooala ... I hope I ll see more of those funny creautures on my way up north. Most of the Koalas were the victim of an car accident or a dog attack. Most of the treated animals survive and are release back into the wildness again.
Wolfgang
Dienstag, 21. Dezember 2010
en route
Hi everyone,
I am spending my third night in a caravan park just out of Sydney.
We had our first stop in Canberra. I visited the Australian Parliament house, Telstra Tower, the war memorila and the botanical gardens.
An old tank in front of the museum ... No fees for havig a look inside,too. Great audio and visual stuff inside. Worth a visit guys!
On top tof the australian parliament house. They got a good lawn up there ... And the admission was free again!
We stood the night on a campground in Canberra. In the second night we camped up in the mountains, it was very cold and rainy. No other person was there, we had the whole rest area just off an highway for ourself.
We had a tough second night up in the Great dividing Range ... Wet, cold, and very windy .... But Whiskey and a warm meal somehow let us survived the night ...
On the way to the next destination we came passed the "Abercrombie National Park" ... too bad the "& Fitch" was missing :-( But it was a nice ride thru the montains there, very steep and very lonly.... Just few cars coming the other direction for some time ... Parick had some Problems with the steep grades after we reached the Abercrombie river in the valley. The breaks were nearly not resonding after we reached the bottom of the valley although I used a loe gear for the decend and after the ascend out of the valley, the clutch had a high temerature alert on m dashboard.... Those "incedents" forced us for some stops on this part of the trip!
That's the bridge over the Abercrombie river down in the valley. We had a break here to cool down the breaks and the transmission of my car as both were very hot after the 900m descend .... The road we drove down (and up on the other side) was the worst and steppest one I have ever travelled on with a car... And yes, MALTA wasn't that bad brothers!!!!
Too bad it wasn't "Abercrombie and Fitch" National Park ... And too bad I couldn t find my AF shirt for that picture :-)
On the next day we had a look at the Jeolan Caves and continued our journey into the Blue Mountains. We had a look at all the usual tourist stuff and decided to make an hiking trip down into the blue valley. It was definatley worth doing so, it was an astonishing landspace and we had some very nice views from the path winding down the cliffs into the valley.
That's me on top off the ridge and in the second photoI am all the way down into the valley. I can tell you .... That path we took was one of the hardest I have ever seen in my life ... Switzerland and Asutria ? Easy going ... those are a stroll in the park compared to the one I had there!
Today we arrived in Vineyard, a town near Windsor, west of Sydney. It is a very nice caravan park, we got a pool and even free internet. I hope you guys in Germany enjoy the cold weather. :-p
So long,
Wolfgang
ps: I ll upload some pictures tomorrow morning, my camera battery is flat at the moment ^_^
I am spending my third night in a caravan park just out of Sydney.
We had our first stop in Canberra. I visited the Australian Parliament house, Telstra Tower, the war memorila and the botanical gardens.
We stood the night on a campground in Canberra. In the second night we camped up in the mountains, it was very cold and rainy. No other person was there, we had the whole rest area just off an highway for ourself.
We had a tough second night up in the Great dividing Range ... Wet, cold, and very windy .... But Whiskey and a warm meal somehow let us survived the night ...
On the way to the next destination we came passed the "Abercrombie National Park" ... too bad the "& Fitch" was missing :-( But it was a nice ride thru the montains there, very steep and very lonly.... Just few cars coming the other direction for some time ... Parick had some Problems with the steep grades after we reached the Abercrombie river in the valley. The breaks were nearly not resonding after we reached the bottom of the valley although I used a loe gear for the decend and after the ascend out of the valley, the clutch had a high temerature alert on m dashboard.... Those "incedents" forced us for some stops on this part of the trip!
That's the bridge over the Abercrombie river down in the valley. We had a break here to cool down the breaks and the transmission of my car as both were very hot after the 900m descend .... The road we drove down (and up on the other side) was the worst and steppest one I have ever travelled on with a car... And yes, MALTA wasn't that bad brothers!!!!
On the next day we had a look at the Jeolan Caves and continued our journey into the Blue Mountains. We had a look at all the usual tourist stuff and decided to make an hiking trip down into the blue valley. It was definatley worth doing so, it was an astonishing landspace and we had some very nice views from the path winding down the cliffs into the valley.
That's me on top off the ridge and in the second photoI am all the way down into the valley. I can tell you .... That path we took was one of the hardest I have ever seen in my life ... Switzerland and Asutria ? Easy going ... those are a stroll in the park compared to the one I had there!
Today we arrived in Vineyard, a town near Windsor, west of Sydney. It is a very nice caravan park, we got a pool and even free internet. I hope you guys in Germany enjoy the cold weather. :-p
So long,
Wolfgang
ps: I ll upload some pictures tomorrow morning, my camera battery is flat at the moment ^_^
Samstag, 18. Dezember 2010
First night
we arrived at the campsite, set up our camp and are looking forward to survive the night. it s cold, but should be okay. cheers
And off we go
Okay,
we ll leave within the next 15 mins now. Just putting the last small bits and pieces in the car. The first stop will be Canberra. Car is fully loaded. Never thought it will be so much stuff inside ...
we ll leave within the next 15 mins now. Just putting the last small bits and pieces in the car. The first stop will be Canberra. Car is fully loaded. Never thought it will be so much stuff inside ...
Donnerstag, 16. Dezember 2010
Last day in Albury-Wodonga
Just one more day at work tomorrow and I am heading off to my big trip up the coast. Toni will arrive tonight in Albury after he has spent some time down in Melbourne. My car is ready, everything is packed.
We will stay on campsites, caravan parks, youth hostels, truck stops or just the car park of some Evil Mega Markt. We haven t really planned a route yet, as we don t know how long we want to stay at all the different places. But that s not important as we are independent and can sleep in the car anywhere we want.
Our first night will be on a truck stop between all the big trucks with their double trailers. That s all we planned till now :-D .
Stay tuned!
More stuff tomorrow!
We will stay on campsites, caravan parks, youth hostels, truck stops or just the car park of some Evil Mega Markt. We haven t really planned a route yet, as we don t know how long we want to stay at all the different places. But that s not important as we are independent and can sleep in the car anywhere we want.
Our first night will be on a truck stop between all the big trucks with their double trailers. That s all we planned till now :-D .
Stay tuned!
More stuff tomorrow!
Montag, 13. Dezember 2010
Last week before the big trip
Hello everybody,
it has been ten days since my last blog entry, sorry for that. I was quite busy with work again and had some troubles with the internet here. Anyway ... Sience my last entry it has been very wet again around the Border Region, there were several flood warning in the media present. After some heavy rainfalls during the nights and in the last week , the Hume Dam, which is already at 100% capacity, needs to drain water out of the reservoir to prevent damage to the Dam. Because Albury and Wodonga are downstream, our feet got wet here.
On Sunday I have been up to the Dam and had a look myself. Very impressive! Besides the regular car pa for the Dam, I found a small offroad track down to the dam foot and went to had a closer look.
You can clearly see ... Its FULL!
The administration even opened a second gate to handle all the water masses to drain the reservoir.
The small hidden and wet path to the best lookoutpoint just beneath the dam.
Me down at the river just under the dam. Looks flooded behind me ...
In town it's quite okay, damages are only in the parks as they act as natural overflow for the river. But during the heavy rain, many streets flooded because the gutters couldn't take more water. The soil is completely saturated with water, so every additional drip is surface water running to the lowest point.
But I am glad, that the rain is over now. At least that's what the weather guys tell us. I ll start my trip on Friday, Toni will be here on Thursday. Looking forward getting out of this village and have a look around.
Last Friday I have been to a BBQ/Party of one of my colleagues. It was a nice typical Australian BBQ with Bristish style sausages ... Not that nice, but the salads and the other stuff was superb. I don't know how it happened, I had to play Santa Claus for approx. 13 kids aged 7 and under later the evening. A Santa with German accent ? LOL, whatever, they were all very happy and the kids were quite convinced as all their dads were there too. Only that German Dude was missing during Santas visit ...
Afterwards I was in the urgent need for beer. It got very late that friday evening ....
it has been ten days since my last blog entry, sorry for that. I was quite busy with work again and had some troubles with the internet here. Anyway ... Sience my last entry it has been very wet again around the Border Region, there were several flood warning in the media present. After some heavy rainfalls during the nights and in the last week , the Hume Dam, which is already at 100% capacity, needs to drain water out of the reservoir to prevent damage to the Dam. Because Albury and Wodonga are downstream, our feet got wet here.
On Sunday I have been up to the Dam and had a look myself. Very impressive! Besides the regular car pa for the Dam, I found a small offroad track down to the dam foot and went to had a closer look.
You can clearly see ... Its FULL!
The administration even opened a second gate to handle all the water masses to drain the reservoir.
The small hidden and wet path to the best lookoutpoint just beneath the dam.
Me down at the river just under the dam. Looks flooded behind me ...
In town it's quite okay, damages are only in the parks as they act as natural overflow for the river. But during the heavy rain, many streets flooded because the gutters couldn't take more water. The soil is completely saturated with water, so every additional drip is surface water running to the lowest point.
But I am glad, that the rain is over now. At least that's what the weather guys tell us. I ll start my trip on Friday, Toni will be here on Thursday. Looking forward getting out of this village and have a look around.
Last Friday I have been to a BBQ/Party of one of my colleagues. It was a nice typical Australian BBQ with Bristish style sausages ... Not that nice, but the salads and the other stuff was superb. I don't know how it happened, I had to play Santa Claus for approx. 13 kids aged 7 and under later the evening. A Santa with German accent ? LOL, whatever, they were all very happy and the kids were quite convinced as all their dads were there too. Only that German Dude was missing during Santas visit ...
Afterwards I was in the urgent need for beer. It got very late that friday evening ....
Freitag, 3. Dezember 2010
Xmas Feeling - more or less
The Christmas tree is set up. Problem is, I am not really in Christmas feeling here, too warm. I wonder how long it will take until the cats climb the tree and let it fall over :-D
Abonnieren
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