2009!

Stand on the Strand
After I came back from Magnetic Island I parked my car in Townsville and walked around a little; there would be a music festival going on for the next couple of days. And I thought I recognized a sound... when I went over it was the same band playing that I saw at the jazzfestival in Rockhampton; Scat (http://www.scatjazz.com/ (they got some videos there as well).
So since they would play over the next couple of days I decided to stay and watch...
Listen actually.

Christmas
When I was playing guitar away from the festival a guy walked up to me, he plays the guitar as well, we started talking... and an hour later he asked me what I would be doing with christmas... and invited me over to his place!
Pretty special.
You have to be really friendly or pretty crazy to invite a stranger for christmas.
Wait... I`ll rephrase:
You`ll have to be totally crazy to invite me for christmas... ;-)

I had a really good time over the next couple of days; like I said Caleb plays the guitar, his father the drums; his nephew guitar as well... it was almost like home with a whole band.

New Years Eve
After christmas I left Townsville; Traveled up to Mission Beach in 3 days while seeing some nice rainforest and waterfalls (my camera is still being repaired...) When I arrived in Mission Beach on the 30th, I thought or spend new years eve here, or drive 120km north and be in Cairns.... huhm. So alltough I visisted with some random guys from a hostel in Cairns, was still pretty good. Fireworks were amazing. Proffessional firework (big, huge) fired off from barges for 30 minutes, amazing.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I just spend some days on Magnetic Island.
Some terrific snorkeling there... huge schools of fishies, some stingrays (roggen) a few small sharks, lots of colorful fish I don't know the name of.
Also saw a lot of wallaby`s, small kangaroos which can climb insanely good.
In the meantime my car and camera are being repaired... to give them a fresh start in 2009.
I wish you all the same.

Have fun with Christmas and new year,

Whitesunday Islands

Just back from 4 days sailing on the whitesunday Islands.
Did some snorkeling, and with my camera luck when I wanted to take some underwater pictures of all the fishies, some water probably came into the camera which I`m going to have to repair now...
Aye, Townsville is next, maybe some more talking later ;-)

Airlie Beach

I arrived in Airlie Beach two days ago and have been hanging around since then.
The weather here is what I expected it to be when I was in the Netherlands: Hot... lots of sun, no rain, at night still near to 30 celsius.

I`m going to do some snorkeling while here; probably on Hook Island... I`ll make some nice pictures for you with teh underwahte camera.

Airlie Beach

Aye!
I`m done with Mackay,
Packed up my stuff today and now going to Airlie Beach.
The plan is to go on a ferry there to one of the Isles, Hook Island.
Spend a few days snorkelling there.
And after that... we`ll see.

Mackay

Half way

So... It`s a month since I`ve entered Mackay.
And 6 months since I entered Australia...
Half year gone, and a half year to go.

The Coffee Club
Asking only workmans wages I came looking for a job, and I found one.
The Coffee Club: they just made their worst mistake ever, employing me to work in their kitchen. I even showed them some photo`s of my place in Almere, where instead of doing dishes 70 times a day it was more like once in a week... if the week is odd....

But to no avail, they still wanted to give me a trial and so I became a dishee / kitchenhand at the Coffee Club. You would think flora on Fraser Island was special... You should have seen the kitchen after me working for 1 week. Due to my 'unique' way of working I created a whole mini-eco-environment. I most likely created some new fungus as well, maybe some worms...

After a few days it became clear where everything goes and the job became pretty easy. No insults from customers about dirty dishes; the only insult I got was from a qualified chef: "can you read english"?... I mean:

WTF - and I dont mean Water Treatment Facility...

So that`s why I got Tolstoy, Fitzgerald and who knows what in my car... It didn`t enter my mind then to ask if she`d read my resume; wit allways comes too late.

I got my personal little revenge later though, when I said the gram scales were calibrated wrong.

She: "calculate".

swwwwwwweet.

But working there is fun, it`s good to finally meet some normal Australian people...
Bwahaahahahaaaaa.

After saying my name more then 30 times (per person) it was decided (by them) that I was to be called V. Pretty lazy eh? But then again, way better then the countless variations I`ve heard over the last 6 months: Walter, Wouder, Waldor, Valter... Valdor, not to forget Wooter...... which isnt bad also because it rhymes with scooter... and worse sounds of which I`m unable to get them down in letters... so V is pretty swell.











Living on a tide boat


















It was also great to see I can get out of bed and get at work on time... I started at 18:00 most days ;-). Also I had the best excuse ever not to be able to come to work:

Me sitting outside on the deck, playing a little guitar...
Phone rings...

Me: "Yhello"?
Boss: "Hey V, Kieran can`t work today, are you able to fill in"?
Me: "Well..." and looks around "not really, unless you want to come pick me
up by boat"?
Boss: "Aaahh, high tide again eh"?
Me: "Uh huh..."
Boss: "Bye".
Me: "BYE".

That excuse also worked against me a few times. The walk to my boat is mostly over a normal paved path. But the last 500 metres is through dune / swamp land... very slippery, and when you arrive at your boat you are suddenly 5 cm taller because of the mud under your feet. But that`s no problem when the tide is low... But I`ve had a few nighs where I strayed through the water, with rucksack and guitar, holding my balance and moving inch by inch through knee-deep water to reach my boat and climb aboard.

And then... ahem,

Of course I wanted to shower after 6 hours of doing dishes, and since my boat didn`t have a shower I filled a few bottles with water and went outside again on the deck... at night... to take a shower...
2 full moons, one shining brighter then the other.

Wouldn`t do for a permanent living, but for a few weeks as 'vacation' .... fun!

Coffee club again
I took the job because I wanted to work in the hospitality sector for once, and to work with other Australians. I think it`s good to do something you initially have a little contempt for, feel a bit too good for. Back in the Netherlands I would have thought thrice to take a job as dishwasher, hehehe. But after the first hour it is not that bad.

So working, except for a few busy nights, is pretty easy. I`m only busy at the start and the end of my shift. In between it`s ... it`s actually the same as my old job; making sure my nose is really really empty and juggling a little. Also playing guitar in my breaks for sometimes a very small audience.

I quitted because of course I dont want to spend the one year I have in Australia doing dishes, but the same reason which I left my other job for would be just as good: it`s boring; especially on the quiet nights you start moving slower and slower... and wait for the last hour when suddenly things get busy again with cleaning up.

Men from Russia
Spending a few days per week doing dishes also made me spent more time in the laundrette. The only good thing about that is that the room is rather empty and silent (when all the washers are off...) making it fun to play guitar then.
And since I`ve still not received a single single from my band I decided to start my own solo carreer.
So here is my first song:

Click!

hehehe, It is that I said I would upload some video earlier...

Eungella
Between working days I went to the national park Eungella, which is pretty good; alltough I need to do my best not to compare it to other parks.

Getting settled

But don`t worry, nothing too permanent...

I got at least one job, and maybe another coming up.
One as kitchen hand in the Coffee Club; the other as waiter, but I don`t know if I`ll get that one yet.

Also, i got a house... a house boat!
I rent it for $65 a week, which is about 38 euro.
For that I got a house which I don`t have to share with anyone, no traffic or other noises near and water for a few hours every day.

I`ll definitely upload some pictures soon.

Russian Roulette

Michel said...

De afdeling Rusland laat weten zich zeer gegeriefd te voelen, en twijfelt nog of ze Bram Moskowicz of een achter-achterneef uit Kazachstan langs zullen sturen.
Dat met dat parkeerbord is dan wel weer heel grappig. We missen je!

Ok Michel,

After your "complaint" I felt bad and really wanted to give the restaurant a fair go.
After spending the whole evening there... (I only remember entering there... the rest is blurry...) I found myself awake in my car the next morning, unable to remember how I got there.

When I took a walk across the beach I suddenly felt something come up... This is what happened....






















I think it may have something to do with the amount of Vodka...
Weird eh??

Side stories

Russian Restaurant
The first Russian Restaurant I`ve ever seen!
So no wonder I wanted to try it...
After entering I saw a lot of people lying on the ground... drunk, dead...
When the waiter showed me the menu, there were only 2 items!
- Okroshka
- VVodka

And it even was stated on the menu... the only reason for the soup is to have a bad taste in your mouth... to drink more wodka.

I don`t know if you can zoom in enough on the photograph, but if you could guess 1 female russian name that would be hosting a russian restaurant, what would it be?

Right...
Olga...

And everything you can guess more about that name is right, when you look ot Olga, you look only at Olga, everything else is blocked by her.

Parking fines: the remedy

I got tired of fines and moving my car all the time... so after some pondering I found the perfect solution.

DO YOU WANT TO BE CARE FREE WHILE PARKING YOUR CAR?

Follow these step by step procedures to have a calm mind, while shopping, or taking a dive in the ocean:

Step 1:

Follor a parking sign to your liking; take one that matches the color of your car, not too big and with not too many people standing around it.

Step 2:
Make the parking sign "movable". I don`t think it`s legal to put on the details on this site... but use your imagination!! (hint: beef country)

Step 3:

Plant this baby anywhere were your car is; Invalid parking spots, police station, in the middle of the park...

Mother do you think...

I`ts 3:30 am and I`m still wide awake...
I found this really totally awesome can in the store: (read the warning...)

Don`t you f*ck&ng dare ME! I`LL SHOW YOU!!! - and i bought 15 of them...


Plumbing Workshop

Me having a free day (again) and thought it would be fun to learn something new.
After seeing this sign I couldnt resist but to take a look inside...

I saw this big guy standing on a stage with a lot of pipes, toilets and plumbing accessoires holding a speech to a dozen man;

"Sorry guys I need 15 more minutes to prepare todays workshop". He unbuckles his belt

... and I start to run.

This month`s photo contest:

Sunset: easy shots

Up yours!

Doggy style.

Jazzhampton

Whoa, that was a good jazz weekend.
Finally some good music again.
The 3 names that really stood out:
- Aristokatz
- Pugsley Buzzard -->With a throat singing style akin to Louis Armstrong, Tom Waits and Captain Beefheart --> click on the link to hear him...
- SCAT - Impressive performance. With a "nonpopular" genre they jump around stage, have fun with the listeners, lots of jokes and... good musical performance. If that Aussie band is ever coming to the Netherlands... That is... If they ever come to the Netherlands when I`m back again ;-)

I`m charging my camera atm, when it`s full I can check the quality of the clips and will try to upload them.

Job searching

No luck with a job so far.

I`ve been looking around in and around Rockhampton, a big city.
Trying at job centers and walking in restaurants bars and pubs.
I haven't heard many no`s, but I haven't heard 1 yes neither, only that i will be called back from a few places... soon...

Good news also; I went to a (free) performance of a string quartet in a community center. When it was over (Yes, i stayed till the end, it wasn't that bad... they played Jimi Hendrix) A lady asked me if I wanted to come to the concert that evening of the whole orchestra! Okay.

This is the info about the concert:

The Queensland Orchestra: BEETHOVEN & TCHAIKOVSKY

<--- Conductor Marco Zuccarini
Violin Feng Ning

Weber Der Freischütz: Overture
Beethoven Violin Concerto
Tchaikovsky Symphony No.5

The Queensland Orchestra is set to raise the roof at the Pilbeam Theatre on Wednesday, 3 September in their performance of “Beethoven & Tchaikovsky”. Italian conductor Marco Zuccarini, praised for the warmth and finesse of his music making will lead the orchestra in three great masterworks; Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No.5 and Weber’s Der Freischutz: Overture. This is a must see event!

For more information visit The Queensland Orchestra's website.

Pilbeam Theatre
7.30pm Wednesday September 3 at 7.30pm
Adult$49 , Pensioner / Unemployed $40, Student 30 & Under$25, Child $25, Groups 8+ $40
Student Rush Tix (1 hour prior to perf) $15

I really enjoyed it more then I expected. I didn't like all the music that was played, some too bombastic. But it was great; a night out of the gutter and see a $49 concert for free... or $40 if they call me unemployed after 1 week of searching...

This weekend is "jazz weekend" during these 3 days all sorts of bands are performing all over the city. After that is over I give myself one more week to find a job else I`m moving on to Mackay.

Rockhampton

That`s where I am!
Not much more to add at the moment.
I`m looking for a job...

Fraser Island

I`m back

Summarized...
I`m pleased the way I traveled on Fraser. I maybe have seen less places then people with a 4 wheel drive, but the things I have seen I experienced more then standing there with 10 other people. To my surprise there were tour buses on the Island, so... imagine you in a peacefull beautiful lake, good vista, nice weather... and 40 tourists you don't know around you, no thanks
.
On the other hand... I was expecting to meet some people on the way I walked... but i met NOONE, noone crossing me, noone passing me, noone passed by me. Also on walker camps I stayed, I was the only one... Seems walking is out, and 4 wheel drives are in. That maybe also explains why my add got 0 responses...

I really enjoyed walking the 8 days, exploring the Island with my backpack and getting lots of good pictures which I`ll upload soon. So... after pasta for 8 days, no shower, no music, no book, little entertainment, its good to be back again!

The weight...
That were some different 8 days then driving with a car.
As I said before; I needed to carry everything I need for 8 days to be self sufficient; sleeping, cooker, tent, food... On the first day I started with a FULL backback AND a bag with 2 breads and 8 pieces of fruit in it. So I was very very happy every time I ate something or, cough, took a shit... less weight to carry ;-)

Day 1
Of course; like with a lot of things I plan, it takes longer then expected. I wanted to leave on the 9th, but the 2 hours I planned for arranging everything like calling home, reserving my sleeping places, parking my car, packing my backpack, buying food and other equipment... it took me a full day...

So there I went on the tenth... Woke up at 4:11 (ouch) parked my car in the centre under a lantern hoping for the best, and started walking the 12,5k To Inskip Point where the Ferry is... I made a sign saying "INSKIP POINT" to hitchhike a little. But at the worst situation I`d have to walk the 12,5K. And the worst situation it was... didn`t realised before I walked that I would start out in the dark, so the little cars that passed me passed me without stopping. After getting to the barge at 8:30 and arriving on Fraser at 9:00 I started walking the 35K to Dilli Village where the Great Walk starts... Luckily I got a lift like walking 5K...


From Dilli Village I went to lake Beraroon; a perched lake with beautifull crystal clear brownish water. After getting there I walked around a little, saw a nice burned tree and for some reason I stripped some bark off... which revealed a snake of 2 meters which made me jump back fast... not good when you`re standing on a steep slope...

I won`t do that again...

Also I`ll try to record my guitar playing...
To give those guitarrists back home a good laugh...


Day 2
On second thought, I`m not going to write every day`s adventures... Too much for me, too much for you. But I still invite you to take a look at all the pictures. More fun. Edit: Looks like not all photo`s are uploaded correctly, I`ll look into it... later...

But now
I`ve had 1 day to recover... feels good to take a warm shower after 8 days... But tomorrow going to plan further. I`m still going north but at the moment no destiations near that I want to visit. So I`ll start by posting some adds if people want to join me going up. And then... maybe some work for a few weeks, snorkeling in the great barrier reef... we`ll see.

Rainbow Beach

With my car I went from Noosa Via Gympie to Rainbow Beach.
I`ve spend the last couple of days here exploring the area, testing my backpack and planning my trip to Fraser.

On Rainbow Beach I`ve been to Carlos Sanddune; a HUGE sanddune of which I made some nice pictures. (to be uploaded soon...) And I`ve walked a lot on the beach, passing colored sand cliffe.

Before I arrived I thought about joining a 4x4 group for 2 or 3 days, but after seeing how many people go in there, I decided to walk the Island instead.

It will take me a few days more, but will also let me enjoy it more and come (camp) to places where cars cant come. The "bad" thing is that there are no resources on Fraser; no shops, no stores, no telephones... like allmost nothing. So what I need to go is carry everything I need for 8 days. Inlcuding tent, sleeping bag, mat, food... Quite a heavy backpack sadly.

This are 4 links:
Fraser Island
Fraser Island Great Walk
Fraser Island Map
Fraser Island Photo`s (I havent looked at the photo`s yet...)

And this is the planning I got.

• 10 Rainbow Beach to Lake Boomanjin.
• 11 Lake Benaroon
• 12 Central Station
• 13 Lake McKenzie
• 14 Lake Wabby
• 15 Valley of the giants
• 16 Lake Garawongera
• 17 Happy Valley
• 18 Rainbow Beach

So, with allmost everything packed I`m ready to go again, this time only for 8 days ;-).

Till then.

Noosa

Yesterday I arrived in Noosa, after dropping Daniel off (met him at the Vipassana centre) walked around a little to look whats around. And today... finally a whole free day again, books, guitar... lovely :). Woke up at 5:00 and spent the first 3 hours on the beach playing (ehr, practising) guitar.

Also, i found a internet cafe which has totally free internet... hehehe.

I uploaded a load of pictures:

Sydney to Byron Bay (May 2008)
Murwillumbah to Pomona (June / July 2008) (Slideshow version)

This was todays sunrise:





And... to everyone; Thanks for sending me a comment / email; really fun to hear a little about you from time to time :).


Zih zneed za znew zhaircut...

Vipassana

First Hare Krishna, and now... Vipassana. (Dutch link)which is located near Pomona.
Siegfried told me little about it, but got me interested so I applied and got into it.

When i got out, i wrote like 8 pages in my own hand written log, but not going to write that here.
Just this; alltough 2 of the 10 days were hard, im really glad I finished all the 10 days.
And for me 4 important points why I liked it:

- Its not sectarian, it has no rituals, statues, you dont need to bow to anyone, you dont have to go to any special place... It`s clean
- They want you to not rely on your teacher, texts, or any other person... If you dont experience it yourself, dont believe it.
- Everything is done by volunteers. The people who make / serve the food, the people who organise the whole course and even the teachers.
- The 10 day course, the food, the accomodation, showers... everything is free! Everything is based on donations. That`s why I helped the last 3 days and thinking on serving on another course (kitchen).

There is 1 centre in the Netherlands.

The last 3 days I helped around the Vipassana center and climbed the mountain.
Today im traveling to Noosa with Daniel, from there... we`ll see.

The drive to Pomona.

I passed a natural formed bridge, luckily I was there pretty early... after I was done, made all my pictures and was back at the car. Loads and loads of busses, cars etc arrived. The waterfall looks really nice. Sadly I had only 1 day in Brisbane, walked some in the centre which loooks really nice. Also took a look at some of the galleries / art centre, but nothing special. Actually a lot of the galleries here arent that impressive. (Lots and lots of crap) I couldnt stay any longer since the next day I`d be expected in Pomona....

new post inc...

After having no internet for 3 weeks it takes some time to get everything down...

Be patient ;-).

Hare Krishna

Getting there

I wanted to do some wwoofing (= Willing Workers On Organic Farm) in Australia for 2 reasons: working at a branche not IT related and a possible apply for a 2nd year visum. After looking on a internet wwoofing forum i found an appealing note from the Krishna farm. The contact details not listed in there because the wwoofing organisation wants to make money from bringing workers and employees together, I phoned the closest Hare Krishna organisation i could find and asked for contact information about the add and saved myself $50. Wheee!

After calling they told me that I`d be helping mostly in the garden, 6 days per week and about 4 hours per day. food 4 times a day and accomodation provided. Sounded good so i headed of from Byron Bay to the Hare Krishna`s...

Surrounding

The site is better then I expected. The Hare Krishna`s are here. This is their website.

The area here is the result of this volcano; Mount Warning - it has created all the terrain as it is in a radius of 80 km. That and the reason that it lies on the edge of the desert / subtropical climate makes it a unique environment... and world heritage. Hare Krishna bought the area for $70.000 in the 1970`s and its worth a few millions now. A large part is still pure forrest and the major part that is used is park, argriculture and houses.

Ian
When I arrived and walked through the garden I thought that a lot of people of the Hare Krishna`s would work there and I would be helping them. But only 1 person build the whole garden up; Ian. (70 years old...) He showed me around the garden, the temple and the guest house. The guest house is pretty simple; 3 beds (but i had them all to myself the whole time...) a table, toast roaster and a water cooker... thats it.
The days i worked in the garden i worked together with Ian;
- planting pots
- adding compost
- moving branches... fun fun fun
- pruming trees
and in between all that a lot of conversation. It happens a lot around here that conversations continue even after 2 hours...

Hare Krishna

Specially for you I`ll put her shortly what i heard and remember about Hare Krishna:
The soul owns the body, not the other way around.
What we are living now, on this earth, is real but temporary. We are suffering here from birth, disease, old age and death. To stop this suffering we must enter the spiritual world. You can reach this by service for god. (no capital G there) The bad news is that for most it is unlikely to enter the spiritual world after this life. The good news though is reincarnation; so this life will effect your next life like your previous life makes you live your current life. Action Reaction. And for every habit you have, this might influence what you become your next life.
Lazy? be a tree.
Eating meat? Predator.
Dirty? Piiiiiiiiiiig.

People are living on this farm to make it easier for them to take distance from the material world in the level they want. Some devotees are living in sheds (even a cart) with no electricity or water near the hous, while others live in red-brick house and have bigassplasma screens...

What they`re trying to accomplish is self sustainage in everything. Growing food on their land to making pots, benches and houses. At the moment a lot is needed from outside the farm but they hope to improve this...

Doing service can be done by allmost every activity you do, cooking, gardening, making pots, music. One activity every devotee must do is chanting. They got a bead bag, in there a bead nechlace. The necklace has 108 beads starting at a big bead representing Krishna. You take 1 bead between your middle finger and thumb (not the index finger) and chant:

Hare Krishna

Hare Krishna

Krishna Krishna

Hare Hare

Hare Rama

Hare Rama

Rama Rama

Hare Hare

Then you move till the next bead... and the next one... next one... untill you got all 108. Then you did 1 round. Most devotees do 16 rounds per day...

Some random lines about the religion;
- Hare Krishna`s are vegetarian; no meat, eggs, fish. Milk products are ok though.
- Cow is a holy animal.
- Their bible is called the vedas.
- Christ is another name for Krishna.
- Every time you say the name of Krishna you it has a positive effect on your next life.

Enough for now...

Guitar Lessons

Since i bought a guitar three weeks ago in Byron Bay and started ramming it since, Ian introduced me to PJ. Resident of New Gophinda and... guitar teacher; lucky me.

We often played after dinner for 2 hours. Started from hand positioning and which fingers for which chord to harmonics and some blues schemes... hand exercises to alternate tunings.... power chords to slides... really lucky to meet him so early after buying a guitar.

Ekendra played awesome guitar as well, playing every day till his 27th. a good acoustic guitar version of Wish You Where Here from Pink Floyd to Effervescent Elephant from Syd Barrett. Hard to imagine that he hardly plays anymore...

The Fridge

On the first week Alan took me to The Fridge; a waterhole 6km from the farm. I wish i could post some pictures of it to go with the text, but appearantly me and cameras dont mix... the memory card of my newly bought camera got corrupted and so... all the photos till the 8th of june were deleted. FFF**********CCCKKK. Anyways... it was a really nice spot, beautifull water slide and rocks and trees around it.

Work...
I mostly worked in the garden with Ian. Besides that i helped in the kitchen every sunday and with every festival. Chopping veggies mostly. Every sunday they have a festival; about 150 people joining most of the times.

Working this amount of time is easy to sustain, working 4 houts (most days less, some days way less, some days none...) and the rest of the days free.

Food
The food is really really good. I expected the food to be boring and little variety - i brought with me some macaroni and sauce.... but never had to use it. Most times the food includes rice, a dough product and veggies. But in the 3 weeks i`ve been here, the only thing i got bored of is the pumpkin... and eating no meat at all was really no trouble at all. Thinking of eating less or no meat from now on.

Siegfried

After two weeks at the Krishna`s a friend of Ian arrived; Siegfried. He is a non-typical traveler, having spent most of his 52 year life racing over the world... and still going, but on a more comforting pace and an even more non-typical student. No surprisingly german from origin he got his Australian nationality in the 80`s and since then spending most time in Germany and Australia. Instead of a house he got a delivery van as home...

Not really a van though...

Bought it new for ~$55.000 totally empty; he made every component thats in it himself; cabinets, beds x 2, kitchen, closet, electricity, built a solar panel in. Bike at the back, kayak and solar panel on top.

He made life a bit (even more) easier at the Krishna`s, removing some of my workload in the kitchen and in Ians garden. Between all the working we climbed mount Warning (1200m), went a few times to Murwillumbah, played some excellent chess games and he showed me;

Crams Farm

20 km from the the Krishna`s you have Uki. 10 km above there is a dam, providing water to Byron Bay and surrounding: Clarry Hall Dam.

So... at the other side of the dam formed some big lakes; Crams farm is the recreation area next to these lakes.


The first day spent the whole morning kayaking from Crams Farm to the dam; made some really nice pictures of the still water, green fields, far away mountains, dead trees in the water and colourfull birds.

The second day spent most time playing guitar and in the evening playing piano... The caretaker of the farm; Terry, took us to Uki where there was a jam organised with the locals, lots of guitar players, a big bass, some rhytm instruments and... a piano. Hade a great time playing some blues and even.... Old McDonalds had a farm in hillbilly style... (please dont kick me out of the band...)

SAE
Siegfried is also a film student at the SAE in Byron Bay - thats why im there for the last 4 days. He showed me around all the studios.
Saw a recording with 2 guitars, guitar soling, a band jamming (drums + bass + guitar in the studio, singer in the control room) and the world most expensive keyboard: a protools interface.

Sunday or monday im going north again though, having seen SAE and most of Byron Bay now.

Quiet time

Some people asked what Nimbin (CLICK) is. I forgot to explain that...
Nimbin is the leftover of a great party...
Its one street full of hippy´s and everything that comes with it.

Not much news for now.
I`ve been haggling with the insurance to get some money back.
Explored Byron Bay a lot.
- Been on the camping for 2 days.
- Been in 2 different hostels for ~6 days.
- Visited the lighthouse and Australias most eastern point.\

+ Done a few days of surfing incluiding the bruises, loads of salt water and too high waves.
Bought a new camera! - so more photo`s coming soon...
Tomorrow i`ll start to do a little working )WWOOFing= at a Krishna ... garden_
Dont know what im going to do there and how long i am staying there... but they probaply dont have internet access...
So + see you untill I§m in town...

... Keyboard layout of this comp is not good... i ll update it later.

Byron Bay

Dutchies...
One day after i got robbed in Sydney i met up with two dutch guys. To let them remain anonymous I`ll call them Bans and Fras. (don`t scroll down too much...) Unlike some other people who contacted me about the lift I offered to Byron Bay they had the same ideas of traveling; moving slowly from Sydney to Byron Bay and make a lots of stops, seeing lots of things on the way. Bans and me took turns driving which went waaay better then expected.

NIMMMBBEEEEEEEEENNNNN!!!!!

Driving...
The roads so far are excellent and we only travelled 200 km max per day. It is more fun to drive in Australia then it is in the Netherlands. Lots of steep hills, small mountains and curvy roads and the environment you ride in helps as well.

Gosford...
Our first stop was Gosford. a not so big town with for us as only attraction its chinese restaurant which gave us a really good meal. We got the tip to go to a camping at The Entrance; we arrived here quite late; around 9 o`clock in the evening when all was dark, so setting up the tent in the dark. The first time we set up the tent, luckily everything was in there and the tent is very easy to get up.

So, there you are, as only people with a tent which we could plant anywhere we wanted on a place where its get dark at 17:00 and everything looks deserted... After playing some card games and drinking a small load of beer going to bed.

NIIIIIMMMMMMMMMMMMBBBBBBBEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!

In the morning it looked quite good; we had a view on the Tuggerah lake which is connected to the sea, very shallow for the first 100 meters and mountains against the background. Not perfect for swimming or other water activities (except for fishing, but i wouldnt call that an activity...), but at least it looked good.

Newcastle...
After breaking down the tent and loading everything in, we drove to Newcastle. Gosford and Newcastle are quite big for Australian city`s, but instead of Sydney where there are a lot of high buidlings, making a city skyline, every other place we`ve been so far only has low buildings and no skyscrapers. Big as the city`s may be in the space they take, you still get the feeling you walk in a village because everything is 3 stores high at maximum.

NIIIMMMMMMMMMMMMMBBBBBBBBBBBEEEENNNNNN!!!

I like it that the city is really surrounded by water. We walked to the most North East point of Newcastle, had a look around in the city for some food and then continued...

Port Stephens...
We stayed at a camping, cant remember the name... on the other side of the road of 1 mile beach.
That night we went to the new Indiana Jones (and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) movie: which is really really horrible; dont watch it!! DONT. It really should have had more

NIIIMMMMMMMBBBEEEEEEEEEENNNN!!!!!!!!!

in it for example. But also a bad (no) storyline, events happening for no reason and a no-making-sense ending. Dont Watch It.

On the next day we went to the 1 mile beach, probaply walking about 2 miles there and after that went to the most North East end of Shaol Bay where there is a viewing point. (after of course climbing about 500 metres upwards on bare feet... fun)

NIMMMMMBEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Forster...
After reading some positive reviews about the national parks here we decided to travel to these lakes. It was a damn fun ride to get there; allmost rally driving in the mountains. We saw a camping sign and decided to check it out. After driving for 5 km on a grind road (with a speed of 15km per hour...) we came to the "camping". Total darkness and the total of 1 other van, nothing else. The first thing we discovered was the barbeque... They say everyone in Australia bbg`s a Lot, I expected like neigbourhood bbq`s, but what we encountered most so far are public barbequeues. You just press a button for 5 seconds and your BBQ is on. Perfect!
NNNNNNNNNIIIIIMMMMMMMMBBBBBBBBBEEEEEEENNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So after driving that road again, buying meat, driving that road again... we started up the barbequeue with a candle as only light. Lot of fun to make food this way. For breakfast, most of us had 2 sausages. Fras had only one... against his will he shared it with a big bird who got it off the bbq when it was "well done".

Port Mcguire...
Not much to say about it.

Hat Head...
Meh,

Woody Head / Iluka...
...

Ballina...
The only reason we went through it is to get a meat pie

Nimbin...
We arrived at Nimbin at 18:00 and... Everything, Every shop whatsoever was closed. So much for our expectations. So after buying a hot chocolate and walking to the the YHA hostel we went to bed... The YHA hostel though, it looked like it had only locals in it, lots of old people with worn faces smoking and drinking everything.

The next day we went through the street again, Nimben is just one street, we saw lots of souvenir shop with cannabis as only marketing strategy. Every 10 meter you get the question: "want to buy some weeeeeeeed"? After seeing a small music "studio" asked if i could play there. The keyboard had 4 broken keys and baaaaad sounds, but still fun to play after 2 weeks of non-playing.

Since none of us smoked we bought space cookies. (seriously) 3 cookies for 10 dollars. But for some reason i thing they pranked us... I took 1 cookie: felt nothing. I took 2 cookies... nothing.

NIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMMMMMMMMBEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNN!!!!!!!

kinda sucks...

Byron Bay...
The day we arrived the weather wasnt too good, the waves werent too big and the camping was 41 dollars with a cold water shower... Since I wanted to stay here for some time not a good start. The next day Bans and Fras started looking for a tour to get them further north. So after being together one last night they left me all alone in Byron Bay. Luckily i bought two new friends: a board and a guitar. Trying to practise both the last days; but the weather isnt good for surfing and the fingers of my left hand are a little soar of holding those snares...

Also i got my first fine... for not parking at a 135 angle with the back of the car to the pavement. I parked a 135 angle allready, but with the front of the car... and that costed me 79 bucks. Zzzzzzzzzing! Thank you!

Hope to find some job soon to earn some money back.

More later.

Good and bad news

Good news
I allways was interested in traveling with less.
Less clothes, less tech gear, less papers and overall less weight.
Well; this week that finally happened!
Thats the good news...

Bad news
The bad news is that instead of me planning it someone else planned it for me.
My stuff got stolen.
I was couchsurfing for 4 days; that is a community on the internet where backpackers and houseowners meet; you can stay for some time at local people for no costs. What i like about this is that you avoid all the tourist places and really get to know the people who live where you are on holiday. On the last day i met the people i am traveling with now; Frank and Bas, and we decided to start traveling in 2 days. The night before we started traveling some gear was stolen from my car; photocamera with all my photos, GPS system, wallet with everything, a small book where i wrote everything in what i`d done so far and some more small things... I dont even mind losing all the "expensive" stuff. The annoying thing is that it takes a lot of time to get it all back and that you lost your personal things.

Where we are now...
We left Sydney on wednesday, the first day we arrived at Gosford. Here we stayed for 1 night and had a very good meal, but not much to do... plus the weather is getting a little bit bad lately.
Thursday we went to Port Stephen (Nelson Bay - zoom out to see the amount of water...) where we setted up our tent and took a look around. Today we went to a viewing point near Nelson Bay and strollend around the beach and after this internet session we are on our way north again.

My new home,

Location: Sydney, eva`s backpackers (The house in the middle, with dark blue parasols)

The last day`s i`ve been pondering to go with the bus or travel by car. Both definately have their advantages. With bus you meet lots of people, dont have to worry if you`re driving in the right direction and in the end might be a little cheaper. But the downside is you sit in a stinking bus, need to carry all your stuff around, need to plan your hostels in advance and cant go where you want to go. With a car it might take a little longer and more effort to get to your destination, but you can take all your shit with you, travel with who you want, go where and when you want and dont have to rely on hostels... I`m going for the car...

Just as in the Netherlands there are multiple ways to get one, licensed dealers, resellers, auto-barns and private adds. After looking around at different places; i saw an add for a `94 Ford Falcon station wagon for $1500 including some camping gear. I called the guy, Nils, and said i would like to make a testdrive. We would meet the next day at Kissing Poin, a ferry stop.

The next day... I needed to find out how to get to Kissing Point, so I ended up waiting an hour on a bench at wharf 5. Just when I took my lonely planet out someone sat next to me and said: "aaah, the bible for Australia, looks live you just arrived since mine is all worn out". Looking aside i see an old hag, waaaaaay over 60... why doesnt a younger version, a 40 year younger version sit next to me instead? I muffled something about just being here for 2 weeks, but she continued to herass me with here questions. OKAY... I`ll be nice and have a talk. We talked about where i was going and that she went back to England this thursday. Just when she wanted to unpack her bag to show me the presents she bought for her grand children (dear god no...) her boat arrived... SAVED!!

So i picked up my lonely planet again and not before a minute has passed i hear some shuffling besides me and a cracked voice: "I like waiting in the sun, why would i wait in the shadow when i can wait in the sun?". Looking aside but fearing the worst...

Zoh My God,

Go wait in your grave you fossile.

Thinking he would leave me alone if i stared interestingly enough into my book, but ofcourse no... old people Do know how to terrorise the young ones. Talking is like their revenge for walking past them 3 times as fast, or laughing when they fall the stairs with their rollator... I guess we call it even then. So again I play along.

So he talked about living in Perth (WA) and going to Sydney with friends on holiday. He moved to Perth 50 years ago. (50 years ago??? In which era were you born then?) I didnt ask that, but instead: "Where are you going to now"?

He: "The Netherlands". I dont think he actually heard what i asked, but the conversation just went 10 times as interesting.
"WHAT"?

"I lived in The Netherlads".\

"Ik kom ook uit Nederland, spreek je nog Nederlands"?

He: "Ja, dat vergeet je niet meer" in very correct and articulate Dutch.

So after that he told how he emigrated to Australia. He was sent away to Indonesia for 5 years, when he came back he was asked what he wanted to do. He wanted to be a photographer. But since the army didnt need any of those; he was offered an office job. After 6 months he quitted and went traveling, arriving in Perth he thought it was a nice city and got of the ship (de tegelberg)

At the australian he got asked the same questing as in the Netherlands: what do you want to do? Again he answered photographer. But since Australia didnt needed those as well he had to work 3 years in the industry before he got his Australian nationality, after that he started as photographer and did that for the next 47 years...

Moral of the story: dont laugh at old people when they fall with their rollator...

Anyway, i bought the car for $1400. That is cheap but I`ll need to have some repairs on it soon and extend the registration at the start of july.

At the moment i cant keep up with the writing...

- Nils

- Mining business.

- Traveling with.
- First Sydney drive...

Ill fill those in later

Trekken

Het surfen was Goed!
Door al het windsurfen had ik verwacht goldsurfen zo op te pakken, maar het was toch moeilijker dan verwacht. Wel hartstikke gaaf.
Binnenkort een board en een wetsuit kopen en dan een tijdje surfen. En rondkijken wat voor werk daarmee valt te combineren.

2 dagen geleden van hostel veranderd. Ik zit nog steeds in Sydney, maar nu in Bondi beach, vlak aan de kust. Gelijk een paar tips voor mezelf:
- Neem niet 4 boeken van 500blz+ mee...
- Eet eten en drinken op voordat je weggaat...
- Spullen goed inpakken scheelt een hoop...

In de zon heuvels op en af lopen was zwaar. Maar, de kust ziet er goed uit, mooi water, ruige golven en veel zon. Morgen terug naar de stad om wat info te krijgen hoe verder te reizen. Over 2 of 3 dagen wil ik Sydney uit en op weg naar het noorden.

De eerste week...

... zit erop. Het bevalt me hier prima. De eerste week (tot en met maandag) was alles "gepland"; vanaf nu heb ik een vrije agenda. Het is heel raar om in Sydney in het park rond te lopen met de gedachte: "vandaag hoef ik niks te doen... morgen ook niet... huhm... een heel jaar niet...". Morgen ga ik een dagje surfen. Eerst een dagje les en daarna een board kopen en zelf verder ploeteren. Zin in!

Arrival: Sydney

De reis
De herfst in Sydney is als de lente in Nederland. Mooie heldere blauwe lucht, paar wolkjes, af en toe en lentebuitje en heerlijk zacht weer. De heenreis was heftiger dan verwacht. Je weet dat je 2 dagen in het vliegtuig gaat zitten met airco, veel wachten en niks te doen. Maar wanneer dat echt gebeurt tikt het toch wel aan. Maar goed: we zijn er en de reis was het waard.\

Taipei
Ik had 1 overstop verwacht; het waren er 2. Een in Bangkok waar we alleen een uurtje moesten wachten (hoewel we wel opnieuw langs de douane moesten en inchecken bij de gate terwijl we met hetzelfde vliegtuig vertrokken als we aankwamen...) De tweede stop was in Taipei. Met een luxe bus werden we naar een hotel gebracht; vergeleken met wat we op de heenweg gezien hebben best wel luxe. Natuurlijk even de stad in nu je er toch bent en dan weet je gelijk wat ze bedoelen met smog... Overal adem je een stinkende lucht in waar je als je in Nederland zou zijn je neus voor dicht zou knijpen. Je ziet veel mensen met een mondkapje voor en in plaats van elke fiets die je in Amsterdam zou zien een scooter. Ik heb maar een paar blokken gezien van Taipei maar het ziet er veel armer uit dan verwacht. Veel vuilnis, ratten, ouwe huizen (bouwvallen) waar wel mensen in wonen en veel kleine kraampjes met fruit en groente. Bij een marktje werden ook "live" achter de aangeboden etenswaren kippen onthoofd: vermakelijk ;-). Na nog een uurtje rusten met de bus weer terug naar het vliegveld; inchecken en wegwezen.

Australie.
De aankomst is goed geregeld; zie gelijk al een bord met australian backpackers. Het busje in en naar het hostel. Het hostel ziet er goed uit! Schoon en veeeeeel groter dan verwacht. 4 verdiepingen en per verdieping zo`n 20 kamers. Als eerste wat door Sydney gewandeld, het ziet er echt geweldig uit. Groot, voor zo`n stad heel schoon en gezellig. Het is nog allemaal heel "groepsreis" achtig geregeld, met z`n allen ontbijten de stad in en uitgaan. Niet helemaal mijn stijl maar voor de aankomst en de eerste dagen heel gemakkelijk en toch wel leuk.
Verschillende dingen als groep gedaan, Boot-trip naar Watsons Bay waar je een schitterend uitzicht hebt over de kustlijn (pacific ocean). We zijn naar de Blue Mountains geweest; Het zijn bergen, maar eigenlijk is het een canyon, een berg uitgesleten door rivier. Mooie foto`s gemaakt en een heleboel treden naar beneden en boven gelopen...

Anzac Day
De 25ste is het in Australie dodenherdenking van Eerste Wereldoorlog. Alle winkels zijn dicht en veel optochten en muziek in de stad. Alleen op deze dag mag Two-up legaal worden gespeeld. Een muntspel waarbij je 50% kans hebt om te winnen. Later een videootje...

Het plan
Van andere backpackers (en die zijn er genoeg...) hoor je wat er allemaal te doen is. Ik blijf in Sydney totdat ik een dag surfen heb gedaan en misschien bij Bjorn`s zus ben langsgeweest. Als het surfen bevalt ga ik een board kopen. Afhankelijk van wie ik tegenkom wil ik of met de bus of met de auto langs de oostkust naar het noorden. Uiteindelijk wil ik een auto kopen; maar hier wil ik nog even mee wachten totdat ik iemand vindt met wie ik samen een auto kan kopen of eerst een tijdje mee kan reizen. Met nog weinig rijervaring en nog minder verstand van auto`s wacht ik nog even af.

Ten slot
Zelfs al na 5 dagen reizen al een zoot foto`s gemaakt. Maarrrrrrrr, de meeste computers hier hebben geen card reader. Dusssssssss moet ik of een computer vinden die dat wel heeft, of een kabel kopen van de camera naar de computer, of een kastje kopen dat kaartjes kan lezen.

Shortenglish...
Zih arrived safely and its going good.
The airplane trip to here was a bitch, but its worth it.
Looks beautiful here, in Sydney.
I started out with a group tour, not my style, but fun for the first few days.
From this day on i dont have anything (i have nothing...) on my agenda, so free to do what i want.
I got a shit load of pictures but need to figure out something to upload them. I`m thinking about making a separate weblog in English, but will depend on how many people i meet and who wants to keep updated...