Surfer's Paradise part two

Hey again,

today I didn't accomplish too much,I was walking around here for about 12 Kilometers in the full sun,which was somehow a bit too much for my head,anyway,here are some pics of the area here and the huge shoppingcenter I went to.
It was a mall with an ouside-yard as well,very interessting...

And I went for a dip in the water,really nice!

Tomorrow my bus to Byron Bay is leaving in the afternoon,I'll keep you posted.

Surfer"s Paradise

Howdy,

I'm in YHA Surfer's Paradise right now and it's a nice spot,somehow like little Singapore with all these skyscrapers...

Today,I went to a themepark called Sea World,which was somehow a waste of money (60 $),well,to be fair, the dolphinshow,the underwater shark-bay and the 4D-cinema was cool,but the rest was somehow far too familystyle and not really for backpackers :)

To those who know the Europapark in Germany: It was about 20% of the size maybe,only one rollercoaster and the rest is not worth to be mentioned,except the animals :)

Anyway,the beaches are far and long here as well and the water is the same as everywhere-clean and great :)

Don't have more time right now,

greetz,
Chris

Stradbroke Island - wow!

Hey again,

wohaaaa,what a day!
My plan for the day was to take a break after days of traveling now and it worked :)
Actually I wanted to go to Moreton Island which is located right at the coast of Brisbane but since you need a 4WD to get around there I chose the second island here: Stradbroke Island.

I think the pictures already tell enough,it was great.
I could take a dip in the ocean because there were nets put up to stop the sharks coming too near.
The waves were great and it's amazing what a current they create.I'm a good swimmer but against those waves you have no chance,they swallow you and spit you out wherever they want :)
The only way to survive is diving right into them :)

It was one of the best places I've been to so far,cause there were no tourists,hardly locals (the beaches are soo long...) so it was just great :D!!!

Tomorrow I'll travel on to Surfer's Paradise-sounds like waves again...
I've booked the YHA there as well because I'm YHA member now and get good discounts.

So far,cyas.

Australia Zoo

G'day,

now I'm back-I've seen the Australia Zoo :)

In the beginning I had some problems catching the right train because these Aussies have their own system of showing which train leaves and arrives where,weird,I tell you.
After I missed my actual train,I took the second one and went to the ,,Home of the Crocodile Hunter" (who died at an attack of a stingray last year).
It is a nice Zoo,no doubt about that,and there are definately more Alligators and Crocodiles than anywhere else-but apart from that it's just a normal Zoo,I was a bit disappointed,but despite that it was fun there.
Entry fee is 49 AUS$,the food was expensive and horrible-the burger was neither American nor tasty (as the advertisements were telling),but anyway ... :)

So tomorrow I'll probably go to an island here at the coast of Brisbane and will try if I get this toploading washing machine to work in my hostel :-)

cya next time :o)

Brisbane part 2

Hi everyone,

today, Michael (was in my Fraser Island group) and I did a Brisbane Sightseeing/tour :)

Today was ANZAC (Australia New Zealand Army Corps)- day to honour the war veterans of WW I+II,Vietnam,Gulfwar etc.
The whole city went to the parade (we as well,of course :) ) and it was really interessting to watch it.
After that,we went on to see the city itself and kept on going from one point of interest to another.

Unfortunately I managed it to damage one of my flipflops,so look at the pic to see what I did :) When I came back,I repaired it,now it's good again :)

Brisbane is pretty nice,well structured and has a river flowing right through the main part.
There's some kind of lagoon (as in Cairns and Airlie Beach as well) which you can enter for free and go for a dip in the water.

Michael went on by Greyhound to Surfer's Paradise,which is my next destination,too,but on saturday.
I'm gonna go tomorrow to the Australia Zoo,as I said, and hope I can take some nice pics there.

Oh,and yesterday was a good day:
I wanted to put some money on my prepaid card for the internet (I can use it for cheap phonecalls as well) so I told that guy to put some 20 bucks on it.
Somehow he made a mistake and now I have 46 on it :)

Ok,so I'll upload the pics now,
cya next time!

Brisbane

I arrived now in Brisbane,staying at the YHA here,which is really nice.
It was a four hour trainride to get here and somehow I felt sick for the last 30 minutes in the train,now it's ok again,fortunately :)

Brisbane is quite big, 1.5 million inhabitants...
But so far I did not really see much,I'll have dinner now and tomorrow I'm gonna do some sightseeing downtown.
On thursday I want to go to the Australia Zoo (Steve Irwin's Zoo,Crocodile Hunter...) and on Friday maybe go to one of the surrounding islands here at the coast.

But some details about Fraser Island:

It is the biggest sandisland in the world,you don't find any stone there,it's all sand,rainforest and lakes :)
There are six of the most venomenous snakes of the world living there and walking through the bushes there in flipflops I sometimes felt a bit-let's say- unsafe...
But the only dangerous animals we saw were dingoes,which did NOT attack but only stalk us sometimes...

The lakes are freshwaterlakes created by rainwater,absolutely crystalclear,it was so great to go swimming there,so clean....You can't imagine!

In our lodges we had to look each night if there were no spiders sitting around and also no snakes,but as I said,we didn't see any.
And you also could not go swimming in the sea because there were sharks everywhere-the jellyfish are actually only found in the northeastern-part of Australia,so from Brisbane on southwards it's gonna be more and more safe,except the sharks...

We also went Sandboarding on one of the lakes as you can see on one picture and as I said I went with that small airplane to have an overview of the whole island,which was also great,taking off and landing at the beach :)

So far,pictures next time (as soon as I have some of Brisbane)!

Fraser Island

Hi everybody!!

don't have time at the moment,I'm sorry,but I just returned from Fraser Island,probably the best place of Australia,which lots of backpackers confirmed to me :).

It was sooo great!

40 rainwater lakes at that Island,each of them is so beautiful!
We went there with the bus (really fast,driven by ,,Rollercoaster Rob",a Ranger there who guided us 16 backpackers).
I also went over the Island on a 20-miute airplane flight,it was so nice-and rollercoaster again :)

We were relaxing pretty much and had lots of swimming in these lakes,I tell you,it was so clean and sunny and nice!

So everbody coming to Australia MUST come here!

It was absolutely worth the money,such a lot of things to see (fortunately NO snakes and big spiders,but dingoes and sharks,as you can see on one pic).

Grr,so much left to say,but no time,next time I'll try to go into details!

Sorry if I don't reply to mails,don't have time atm...

so thanks again!

Chris

Hervey Beach

Hi,

I am right now in Hervey Bay,directly next to the beach.
Since I don't have time at the moment,I'll just post some pics (the one with the green lawn in front was at Airlie Beach).

Chris

I am sailing

Wow! Everything went fine!
The train was really comfortable (see pic) :) Unfortunately it was pretty slow (40-60 KPH,took me 13 hours to get here).
I am now here at Airlie Beach,well,I'll leave tonight for Hervey Bay and on Saturday I will have a 3-day-tour on Fraser Island,that's gonna be great,as far as I heard from different travellers.

Yesterday I went sailing here at the Whitsundays and snorkling over the Great Barrier Reef-so great,I tell you. Hundreds of different,colorful fish swimming right next to you,that was awesome!

I'm staying at Bush Village Backpackers in a room with 5 other travellers,it's fun here,people are really nice!

It's still very hot here and on that sailing boat I really got some teint :)

So far everything works fine concerning my journey.I don't know yet,when I'm gonna have access to the internet again,but I will let you know as soon as possible,could be monday or tuesday,I guess...

Hope you all are doing well!!

Chris :o)

Cairns-almost finished

Hi everyone,

it's my last day in Cairns right now and I think I found a computer now to upload some of my pics.

WATERRAFTING

I was picked up at 2pm and then we drove to Barron River-unfortunately I could take pictures while we were rafting-it was VERY wet.
But I bought a picture of our boat.It was FUN! 2 hours of rafting down that river,one time the whole boat capsized :)
One Irish girl was injured two times (!) fortunately I was sitting at the front and everything was under control there (8 guys per boat).
I also could talk to an American who told me about a river in Charlotte,NC, maybe I can go there with my darling when I come to North Carolina...

SEA KAYAKING

On Sunday I had to be by 8am at the port here and a ferry took us to Fitzroy Island.
There we were instructed how to use the kayaks and we started paddling around the island,had lunch (BURGERS :) ),went diving and visited another island there-really junbgle feeling.
Somehow it's a strange feeling diving when Reef Sharks and these Jellyfishes (we got Stingersuits to protect ourselves) are around and to know that on the Island you are walking through the bushes is home for poison-snakes and pythons...
But in the end it was great and another good experience.

TODAY

Today I want to visit the Northern Beaches here-I've heard that they are nice,so gotta see how I come there.
All in all,Cairns is a nice place,but I'm also happy now to travel on,because after some days at the same place you always see the same faces walking around :-)

So let's see,next stop is Airlie Beach,I'll be sitting almost the whole tuesday in the train and on Wednesday I'll go Sailing to the Whitsundays and diving over the Great Barrier Reef...

So far,
best regards to everyone out there!
Chris

again no pictures :(

Hey everybody,

I'm sorry,but for some reason I did not find a PC with USB-Port yet,on monday I'm gonna have time to find one,don't worry.

I'm waiting for my pickup to White Water Rafting right now.Tomorrow I'm gonna go Sea Kayaking then,the whole day,hope that I can take some pictures then.

Cairns is a nice town,a lot of rain sometimes,but Australia is the first country now which is going to be expensive:
Rooms are 15Euros+ a night (at least for the next seven days) and sometimes not even breakfast is included.Fortunately here it's no problem to find Woolworths and Co to buy the stuff you need pretty cheap.

So far I did not see such a dreambeach-but yesterday I went to the Botanic Gardens at it was great to walk through real rainforest there!!

On Tuesday I'll be sitting the whole day in the train then,reaching Airlie Beach in the evening.

Ok,so far,maybe on monday I'll have some pics here!

Best regards

Australia: first days in Cairns

Hi everybody,

just wanted to let you know that I arrived in Cairns yesterday...
My Hostel is quite nice,I have a big Bed and even a fridge in my room (Can buy things at the supermarkt and put them in there,saves money :))

Tomorrow I'm gonna do some riverrafting and the day after tomorrow is sea kayaking and snorkling at the Great Barrier Reef...
Unfortunately I don't have a good PC here so you'll have to wait for the pics for some days probably,maybe I can do it in the afternoon today,gotta see.

Cairns is nice,actually quite small and the weather is better for me as a European because it's not that humid anymore and especially here is wind(!!!!!,I'm leaving 20 meters away from the sea :) )

So,time in the internet is already over,hope I'll have more time in the afternoon or on monday...

CYAs,

Chris

PS: Thanks again for all your comments :)

Asia-Mission accomplished

Heyho,

it is Wednesday,April 11!
I am sitting in an Internet Cafe near Malay Village,Singapore!

My last hours in Asia- it was a great time!
THANKS EVERYBODY!

I feel good,no diseases,flus or anything else so far and I'm happy to be in Australia soon.

The next 4 days I will stay in Cairns and then head southward along the Eastcoast for Sydney, 4 weeks.

You'll hear from me :o)

Chris

Malaysiapics

ok,here are SOME pictures of Malaysia...
Impressions of the Twintowers,shoppingmal, the food and the last guy on earth producing these tiny shoes which used to be normal for Chinese women some hundret years ago....

Wallet away,it is great,anyway!

Hey everybody,

since I met such a lot of nice people in Malaysia who are willing to follow up my blog but can NOT speak German I decided to write it in English in future,so it is a practise for me as well as for my German folks back home,isn't it :)?

First of all I have to mention that Malaysia was simply great,I have no words,soooooo great :) Thanks everybody there.

I'm in Singapore right now,living in the 13th storey of a huge building :)
Everything is huge an even I myself feel (despite of my height) veeeeery small here.
Anyway,yesterday two Singapore Ranger commanders (thanks again to Wailee and Lionel!!) took me around the city centre,these skyscrapers are almost everywhere.

I like the food here in Asia very much and for everybody who is about to visit Southeast Asia I can only recommend (and that's especially for you in Germany :) ) to try the Durian fruit also named "the King of fruits",an AMAZING fruit.

Yesterday was despite my sightseeing tour a sad day because we went with the bus and my wallet (100 Euros,debit card) dropped while I was talking so that guy next to me took the opportunity and went away with my money;I realized it a minute too late,otherwise I'd have caught him.
It's stupid somehow of course,but what shall I do? The most annoying thing is now,that I must use my creditcard to get cash money from an ATM which is pretty expensive.

But my passport,creditcards and flightickets were safe at home so I still have the most important things....

Probably I will write my next post here by Thursday,gotta see...

I'm fine so far,don't worry about me,I'm enjoying my time here.
Cya next time!

Malaysia - feels so good :)

Moin,

ich warte hier gerade auf meinen Transport nach Crab Island und nutz die Zeit kurz zum bloggen.

Malaysia ist echt toll!
Jeder Tag hier ist voll mit Programm,aber nicht zu viel,so dass es echt jeden Tag besser wird.
Nach dem ich jetzt die Gegend Rund um Klang (dem Staatteil,wo ich wohne) erkunden durfte geht es heute etwas aus Selangor (dem Staat) raus nach Crab Island,bin schon gespannt.

Malaysia hat 13 Staaten und ist wesentlich weiter entwickelt,als zum Beispiel Thailand,nur Singapur ist wohl noch besser entwickelt.
Aber die Strassen,die meisten Gebaeude und Parkanlagen:alles tiptop!

Und vor allem die Leute sind freundlich,es ist echt umwerfend! Und es macht so viel Spass.gestern hatten wir zum Beispiel ein Fussballmatch mit den Rangers aus der Gemeinde, Juniorleiter gegen Seniors,es war die absolute Schlammschlacht (wie im Schwimmbad das Wasser) und zum Glueck hab ich mir in Thailand bereits Flipflops gekauft,hoffe mit schuhe werden jemals wieder trocken,aber mit der Sonne hier sollte das kein Problem sein :-).

Ansonsten darf ich sehr viel Malayisches,Indisches und Chinesisches essen,das sind die drei Hauptpopulationsteile hier und das Essen ist echt klasse,mir wird viel erklaert und ich kann auch zwei drei Sachen auf Malay.

Doch jetzt gehts weiter,
bis zum naechsten mal!

Fujoooooooo (wird gesprochen wie mans liesst und bedeutet so viel wie woooooow!! Ausdruck der Freude :) )