Today I feel like an olive

Natasha and I feel a little bit sad that our holiday is coming to an end. Rafael simply says he feels like an olive.

More observations...

Burger King is called Hungry Jacks down under
The music played in restaurants and on the radio is not great - live music often painful. We hardly hear any great Australian music like INXS, AC\DC, Midnight Oil, or Kylie.
To keep drivers awake on the highway in Queensland, road signs ask trivia questions like 'the longest river in Queensland?'. A few kilometers later the answer follows. Then the next question.

Noosa Heads

Great beach-time. We become architects of many sand castles, all of which fall victim to the tide a few hours after completion. Rafael makes friends with a local boy who shows him how to bodysurf - an activity popular with Australia's (very) young ones. One morning we are lucky and spot a dolphin right in front of the beach.
The parents' highlight was the walk along the shore to 'hells gates', a much lovelier spot than its name suggests. From the cliffs we spot a turtle far below in the water.

I use it as a jogging track the next morning. At 7am, I'm not the only one.

Once we discover a great eatery, we stick to it. Should you ever end up in Noosa Heads, try the Boardwalk Bistro. We went there four times in as many days.

Lady Elliot Island

Part of the Great Barrier Reef. A Island entirely made up of a pile of corral, with its own living corral lagoon. We go there by airplane - a small propeller machine that fits ten people and that includes the two pilots. A scenic flight so enjoyable that Gaudi suspends his fear of flying and takes in the views of Frasier Island and the ocean. From the airplane, we can already spot some fish in the water: something that looks like dolphins or sharks (?), and more clearly recognizable Manta Rays.

The airplane runway runs across the entire island- a grass piste of course. The island belongs entirely to the hotel-resort. The lagoons around the island are perfect for snorkeling. Rafael has a bodyboard with a window which works perfectly for him. We spot sea turtles (Green Turtle and Hawksbill Seaturtle), Octopuses, colorful fish of any size and shape, Picasso Triggerfish, flute fish, Murays peeking out of the corral, stonefish (we are warned not to step on it, as its sting 'hurts a lot'), reef sharks (white tip, black tip), and various species of rays: Eagle Rays, Cowtail Rays and the magnificent Manta Ray. These fish have a 'wingspan' of three to five meters and are very impressive, when they glide by. They are not shy and swim right up to the snorklers.

At at low tide, we can take a walk through the lagoon between the corrals and spot starfish and other animals.
This is one great last highlight of our Australia trip before we start our journey towards home.

Sydney highlights

The Taronga Zoo - we count in the evening that we saw at least 45 different species. Among them the Taipan, the most venomous snake in the world. A single bite is enough to kill 200'000 mice.
Our neighborhood, Darling Harbor, full of restaurants, a Chinese garden, a great playground and a Ferris wheel.
The sight of Harbor Bridge and the Opera House from the ferry.
The Aquarium (right next to our hotel, we can see it from our room) with the two Dugongs called Pig and Wuru.

Plants that need to burn

In most of the world park rangers try to prevent forest fires and fight them. In Australia, park rangers set the forest on fire. That's called a planned burn. Some plants have adapted so much to the frequent fires, that they need the fire to thrive. We see many gum trees burned black at the base and full of live at the top. Plus, the planned burns help prevent larger, unplanned fires.
We witness a planned burn as we drive through the Croajingolong National Park near Mallacoota. Small fires burn to the left and right to the road in the forest, and we can smell the smoke.

Glass House Mountains

A relaxing day in our own glasshouse in the Glasshouse Mountain region. While I read on the veranda and enjoy the vista, a visitor calls. A kookaburra.

Observations from down-under

The swans are black
The cows are mostly black, too
People are friendly
It is impossible to get bad coffee
There is an official biking lane on the highway
A few crazy bicyclists even use it - that's just nuts

Camper highlights

We spend ten days on the road in our camper, driving from Melbourne to Sydney. We drive some of the most scenic roads along the coast and visit beautiful spots with fantastic nature and animals.

Some of the highlights were:
...being woken up every morning by the parrots and cockatoos in the trees next to our van.
...spotting wombats right on the campground at night.
...having a pack of kangaroos graze around our camper.
...walking in the rainforest of the Wilson's Promotory Nature Reserve.
...playing on the beautiful beach of the Wilson Nature Reserve.
...jogging in the early morning along a mangroves creek.
...spotting stingrays and octopuses in the shallow water of Narooma.
...watching the seals play on the rocks right below us in Narooma.
...a walk through the forest on Phillips' Island spotting many koalas.
...driving through countless rural towns with charming little buildings and shops.
...beautiful walk through forest, headlands and along the beach in Malacoota.
...emerging safe and sound from the forest path in Malacotta in absolute darkness.
...spotting a kangaroo in the dark after our emergence from the forest path.
...the jumping pillows at various campsites (Rafael's favorite).
...the camper itself (Rafael sometimes refused to leave the camper - which frustrated his parents eager to experience the outdoors).

And some of the downside:
...rattling in the camper kitchen while driving over rough surface, which was almost always.
...getting the timing wrong on a late afternoon walk and ending up on a narrow forest trail in complete darkness after sunset - aided only by the light of an iPhone shining on the dark path. We opted for the shortcut through the dense wood instead of a roundabout way along a dimly lit road. A decision we shortly after classified as a mistake, specifically when we realized we could not even retrace our steps in the dark forest as the path frequently branched off. Statistics about Australia having the most deadly animals - especially nocturnal snakes and spiders - came to mind every time we stumbled over some root in the dark. And for the first time I used so-called inappropriate language (four letter words) in Rafaels presence. But in the situation, those words seemed actually quite appropriate.

The famous black swan

There are no white swans at all.

Our first Koala

We read in our guidebook that a small place just off the Great Ocean Road is home to a Koala colony. We drive to that spot, really just a dirt road with a cafe next to it. Unsure where to park our oversized vehicle, we put it on the side of the dirt road under a tree. Even before we get off, a few people gather next to our campervan and point their cameras up in the tree. There it sits: our first Koala.
We admire it. Koalas sleep during the day. They sit on the branches high up in a Eucalyptus tree and hardly move.

Within minutes a tour bus arrives and a bunch of screeching people get out to take pictures. We walk a bit up the road and spot four more animals, a bit further from the crowd. As we come back, a dozen Kakadus and parrots have joined the tourists, sit on their heads and arms. One tourist bus after the other arrives, and the number of birds increases with tourists. We overhear one tour guide mentioning that the park rangers forbade the feeding of the birds. Most tour-guides however do not seem to have gotten the memo and happily feed the aggressive animals.

So much for serene spotting of wild animals. It's all become a show. Natasha suspects even the Koala has been placed there on purpose by the tour operators.

Animals we spotted

Approx. 2743 cows on the pastures of Gippsland,
600 sheep,
Tons of cockatoos and rainbow parrots
One swamp wallaby
Two stingrays
A seal colony
Many pelicans
Two emus
Several koalas
A dozen kangaroos
Three wombats at night, one of which disappreared in our neighbors' tent.

The campsites turn out to be full of animals: in the morning we are woken up by the racket the parrots make in the trees, the kangaroos graze undisturbed between caravans, and at night the wombats come out of the bush.

Melbourne

After a 7hr flight we arrive in Melbourne. Flying over Australia with clear skies reminded us of one thing quite impressively: most of this continent is desert.
Melbourne is a lively and interesting city. Our hotel is in a great location: next to the river promenade, and close to a park. We see the Melbourne Museum, ride the free (!) city trams, visited an art exhibition with works of Andy Warhol and Ai Weiwei, took a class in piratery, and went on the Melbourne Star (a gigantic ferris wheel similar to the London Eye - only you don't have to queue to get on). We spent a day in the lush botanic gardens, and took a ride on a steam train - puffing Billy. In the evenings we relaxed in the pool. Since the pool in our hotel is closed for refurbishment, we got to use the pool of the neighboring luxury hotel - with a view over the skyline.
There would have been many more experiences to be had, but the next adventure already awaits us in the form of a camper....

It looks like a kid's birthday party but in fact - believe it or not - this is art. Weiwei's take on Chinese Internet censure.

Recreating Andy Warhol's art using mass consumer products.

Pirates like their boat to be clean

Puffing Billy.

Siloso Beach, Sentosa Island,

We enjoy a few days relaxing in the garden and on the beach. This should help us cope with the jet-lag. We were most worried how the time change and the long flight might affect Rafael. Ironically, he's the one least affected by jet-lag. While Natasha and I lay awake at night, he peacefully snores.

The upgraded view.

Afternoon snack at the beach

The place is ideal. Lots of kids in the hotel. A kids pool with several water slides, and a sandy beach right in front of the hotel. Little further out in the sea are lots of cargo ships, tankers, and other vessels: they're waiting to enter the nearby harbors of which we can see the cranes, and in the evening we see the flares of the refineries in the oil port.

The only two monkeys I have seen are the two that bought that upgrade.

Early check-in, sure whatever

At 5.30 am after 11 and half hours in an economy seat with virtually no sleep, we land safely in Singapore. Immigration and luggage belt are swift, and after a short drive we stand in front of the check-in desk of the hotel before 7am. We're all sleep-deprived and Rafael urgently needs a change of clothes (he got car-sick). The nice lady tells us that check in time is 2pm (in five hours) but she will see what she can do for us. She keeps us waiting while she is very busily and intensely typing away on her computer. Neither Natasha or I are in any state to ask questions or register much of what she is saying. It certainly does not help that her voice is so soft that she is basically whispering at us. Rafael is just sitting on the floor next to us. Then finally she gets to the room. Yes she can offer us an upgrade, a much nicer room, much better view, larger and guess what it is available now. So shall I go ahead and book it for you, she asks? We manage to ask whether the room we booked would be available now but no certainly not, we can wait and they will call us when it is ready . . .
We cant think straight but have a feeling it is a rather costly upgrade ... Sure whatever we just sign away what may as well have been our life savings . . . wow they really know how or rather when to sell you a "deal".

Ready to go

Our last item on the to do list was to download an app for blogging....done. Now we are ready to go