Sept. 25 - Oct 02

Monday, October 2, 2006

Today we walked through the Royal Botanic Garden, which is very beautiful. There are a lot of birds including flying foxes, lorikeets and ibises. We have been there for one hour or so and had our lunch overthere. The next thing we did was visiting the Sydney Aquarium, something we had planned a long time ago. It was very very interesting. We saw almost all the water-animals of whole Australia! Including seals, sharks, penguins, crocodiles and lots of tropical fish. We walked through underwater-tunnels of glass and saw big sharks, turtles and rays swim above us. We really enjoyed it and we can' t wait to go diving and see al those animals ourselves!






Sunday, October 1, 2006

We decided to buy the car! So we went to the barn and had another negotiation. We finally bought it for AUS $4000. It's a Ford Falcon station-wagon GL, so we can sleep in it and save a lot of money. We are very happy with it and we can' t wait to pick it up. First the car gets another mechanical check so we have to wait till thursday. We already made some pictures, go check it out!



We arranged a lot of things these days and we made some very important decisions, so we decided that it was time to relax a bit. We took the bus to Coogee Beach and spent the rest of the day lying in the sun and swimming in the ocean. It is a very nice place to be. It's actually found in the middle of Sydney, but it's still very clean and beautiful. A helicopter is flying over the sea to detect any sharks. Furthermore there are lifeguards on the beach who can save people in need.

Saturday, September 30, 2006

The hostel in which we we're staying is far to expensive (AUS $25 pp/nightt) so we checked out this morning and walked around to find a cheaper one. We are now staying in the 'Travellers Mate'-hostel (AUS $15 pp/night), which is also a very nice hostel. It offers us a lot more, but on the other hand we have to share a room with 6 other people.

After that it was time to buy a camera and if possible a car. This was the third day we wandered through the city to get lucky. First we went back to the 'Travellers Auto Barn'. We definitely want a trustworthy car, so the best chance to get one is to buy it there and pay a bit more for it. We found a good car, but it was too expensive. After we talked a bit we could change the price from AUS $5000 to AUS $4200. This was much better, but still more then we wanted to spend. We decided to reserve the car for one day, so we had some time to think about it.

There was just one hour left to walk to the centre to buy a camera. The next two days most of the shops are closed, so we needed to succeed today. And we did! We bought a Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ7.

Friday, September 29, 2006

Today we did a surfing trip, with a lot of guys from our "old" group. We went to the northern beaches, approximately a one-hour drive from Sydney. Our first stop was in Manly. In this little city surfing was founded, so we learned something about the history of surfing and about ocean awareness.

After that we drove to Palm Beach, where we had our first surfing lesson. And we were very good at it, especially Yvonne. We had to run into the waves with our boards, jump on it and peddle till we found ourselves beyond the undertow. There we had to catch a big wave and on the moment our board was lifted we had to try to stand on it. Sounds easy doesn't it? So Yvonne ran into the sea on the wrong moment and found herself directly thrown back onto the beach by an huge wave. Jasper wasn't doing much better, nor the rest of the group. It was very difficult and very tough. Because of the strong flow you had to peddle for 15 minutes to get beyond the undertow, while getting back to the beach only took a minute. We had a lot of fun, and we definitely want to do it again someday. I think we need a lot of practicing to learn this, because after today we still couldn't stand on our boards for just one second.

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Our time with Aussie Backpackers is over. They did a lot for us and we really enjoyed our first week, but we are also happy we are on our own now. We didn't have any spare time until now, so we used this day to arrange a lot of things. First of all we had to decide how to travel to Cairns, because that is where we want to go next. We want to travel as fast as possible to the north (2634 km) and then the same way back, very slowly down again. This may sound weird to you, but in November the rain-season starts and the surroundings of Cairns will not be reachable anymore without a 4WD. The Great Barrier Reef is most beautiful in the north so we definitely want to go there.

We went back to the 'Travellers Auto Barn' and the car market to gain some information about having a car in Australia (registration and stuff is very different here and every state has its own rules). We discovered that if you want to buy a car, the best place to do it is in Sydney. The problem is we haven' t got any knowledge about cars. We saw some nice cars, but we didn't dare to buy them.

There was another problem: now we're on our own again we can' t keep copying pictures from people of our group trip. Therefor we went looking for a new camera, but we couldn't find a nice one. We spent a lot of time, but went home with nothing, except for a little wildlife guide. We learned a lot about cars, but we didn't feel very satisfied.

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Today was officially our last day with Australian Backpackers. To "celebrate" this, a farewell party was started at Coogee Beach, with a contest to dress up like a pirate. Some people spent AUS $50 for an outfit, while you could only win a t-shirt or something. We decided to spare our money ;-) Also some other prizes were given away, like a surftrip, an outback tour and a car. Unfortunately we didn't win any of it.



After the party was over, Yvonne took her first swim in one of the oceans of Australia, the Tasman Sea. This is what I was looking forward to: beautiful clear water, not to cold and a lot of waves. The sun had already gone down, so Jasper decided to take his first swim a few days later. We would go surfing on friday anyway. For dinner we had to take care of ourselves this time.

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Today was a bit of a boring day, but we got a lot of things accomplished. First we went to the embassy to get our visa. We got it very quickly and without any problems, so we could proceed to our next task: getting a (free) Medicare insurance. This took a bit longer but luckily enough it was in the middle of a shopping-mall so people who had to wait could take a look there in the meantime. The next thing on our schedule was to take a look in the "Travellers Contact Point"-office. At a TCP we can receive mail. If we travel to Cairns, the mail will be forwarded to a TCP in Cairns. Letters are forwarded free of charge, but to forward packets, it will cost us money. In the TCP you can also visit the internet and find advertisements from other backpackers or from people offering jobs. After we paid the TCP a visit, we set up our own bank account at a bank called Westpac.

In the afternoon we paid the "Travellers Auto Barn" a visit. These guys sell trustworthy cars, but you can see that in the price. They do offer a lot of guarantees which makes it worth the effort to take a look. We also went to a car market, where other backpackers sell their cars. The prices are much lower, but you take a risk if you buy one. When you buy a car from another backpacker, you also get the history of the car. So if someone drove too fast in the last two months, you have to pay the fine.



At 6.30 PM it was time to get some food. We met the other backpackers in front of our hostel to go for a barbecue in suburb "The Rocks". There were huge pieces of meat where we could choose from, and some fish for the vegetarian people. The food was incredibly good. We all received two free drinks as well, pretty nice!

Monday, September 25, 2006

After a short night of sleep it was time to go to the Blue Mountains. We had to get up around 6.30 AM for breakfast and a quick shower. We left at 8.00 AM by bus. Our first stop was at the beginning of the Blue Mountains where a lot of grey kangaroos live. They were very used to people, so you could come very close.

After the lunch we went somewhere deeper into the forests were we did two short walks through the cold rain-forest. It was nice, but far too short for this beautiful environment. We saw the "three sisters" and the blue damp of the eucalyptus trees where this national park is named after.



In the evening we went to a place called "The Gaff", a place where a lot of backpackers go. We got a free meal which was delicious! They gave away the meals because most of the backpackers would stay and drink anyway.