Aussie life

2011-12-31T15:28:00.004+11:00

Every year on Boxing Day (the day after Christmas) a fleet of sailing yachts sets out from Sydney to sail down to Hobart, Tasmania.
It is quite a sight to see all these sailboats from the fastest 100 footers to the smallest yacht tack upwind from the harbour and turn south onto the ocean.

Accompanied by hundreds of boats and news helicopters, the sailors are approaching South Head here for 2 days and 6 hours for the fastest, but over 5 days for the slower ships to get to Tassie.
Hope they all make it before the new year!
Between number 1 and 2 were only 3 minutes with Investec Loyal beating 5-times winner Wild Oates.

PDC at Milkwood

2011-11-30T14:05:00.000+11:00

A week before the course at Milkwood starts I meet Paul at a Greenups meeting. He's going to the course as well and still without transport. I end up driving to Mudgee with a full car, Claire and Alexia also share the 4.5-hour ride. After the last 20km over a dirt road we arrive at the farm and we each get a camp site assigned along the Campbells Creek. That'll be our base for the next 2 weeks. Slowly more people arrive; tomorrow morning the course will start.
Milkwood is a small organic permaculture demonstration farm. It's great to be able to see different permaculture solutions in growing and working actuality around while learning the theory and principles behind it. The best part is that the solutions often look like total fun, for example the straw bale chook run, the food forest and of course the rocket powered shower. All the classes, entertainment and fantastic meals by cook Rose are in the multi-functional woolshed. Sometimes a bit cold and windy, but the warm drinks and good company keep us comfortable enough. It's immediately obvious that Nick, Kirsten and their team really practice the permaculture ethics; land care, people care and fair share.

The theory classes are interlaced with a lot of group design exercises and showcase walks around the farm. The different teachers are very knowledgeable and passionate storytellers. There's always room for Q&A and discussions on the topics. We learn a lot, also in a fun way. And not only from the teachers but from the diverse group of fellow students and Milkwood interns as well. Made a lot of wonderful friends, too ;-)
I'm very happy I invested in this course!

"Though the problems of the world are increasingly complex, the solutions remain embarrassingly simple"
Bill Mollison (co-originator of the Permaculture concept)

Sustainable Streetworks

2011-10-21T15:42:00.000+11:00

In the Custom House we saw the Street Works exhibition with ideas to liven up public spaces with interactive installations. A few of the entries in the competition organised by AILA (Australian Institute of Landscape Architects) were selected to be realised at different places around the city.
It was fun to fill my empty coffee cup with dirt and seed and placing it in the GIG racks to grow native plants or rest in the Beer Line, an urban barley field that will be harvested and made into beer.

Wwoofing at Waru

2011-07-30T17:33:00.000+10:00

To get some hands-on practice before I join the Permaculture design course at Milkwood I decide to go wwoofing - 'willing workers on organic farms'. A whole different experience for this city girl. After contacting a couple of addresses I end up at Waru organic farm just outside Orange, NSW. A beautiful place on a slope with views over a dam and forested surroundings.
On the Central tablelands it's really winter with frost in the night and morning. There are only some winter hardy veggies and herbs growing to be picked and harvested, like thyme, kale, rocket, beetroot. Most of the work consists of preparing the 18 meter beds for the new season; weeding and re-modelling them into terraces, and after that compost and mulch on top. The heavy duty weeding is a bit too much for my poor back, but hoeing and raking is going well. And I join the girls with the more gentle weeding of the herb beds.
We work from 8 am with a short lunch break till 2pm. The afternoons we can spend as we like; going for a walk (with Betty the friendly farm dog), behind a laptop watching movies or surfing the Internet (if you have a mobile broadband device), or reading through the extensive library of Anna. Sometimes we get a ride with Anna into town.

To my own surprise I'm thoroughly enjoying working outside in the fields, listening to the exotic bird calls. It's almost meditative. The city is literary far away with no reception on my mobile phone (I have to walk 20 minutes up the hill to get a bit of reception ;-) nor Internet access.
I'm learning a lot as Anna enjoys sharing her immense knowledge. She explains about crop rotation, seed harvesting, composting, companion planting, micro climates and a lot more. Really looking forward to get my own garden going someday. And definitely will have some chooks roaming around, what fun creatures!

Eikoh Hosoe: theatre of memory

2011-06-14T14:17:00.003+10:00

Went to the Art Gallery of NSW to see the Archibald Prize 2011 exhibit, but was more inspired by the beautiful photography of Eikoh Hosoe who portrayed Butoh theatre from the beginning.

From harbour to coast

2011-06-10T13:34:00.001+10:00

The end of June we're moving to Bondi Beach! Bye bye Woolloomooloo...'home sweet home'.

52 suburbs

2011-06-10T12:16:00.001+10:00

In one of the rooms of the Museum of Sydney is the exhibition of 52 suburbs. Originally started as a photo blog by Louise Hawson it shows a different Sydney in all its colorful diversity. Hawson has a very good eye for 'the beauty in the burb'. Especially the combinations of pairs in which the images are shown, often make you smile. With over 600 suburbs she still has a long way to go...

Modern dance for my B-day

2011-05-14T14:26:00.006+10:00

I had the day off work so we were able to go out. First we had a beer and a meal in the Lord Nelson Brewery. From there it was a short walk to the Sydney Theatre at the Wharf. Here we see Melbourne based Chunky Move dance 'Connected' with a wave like sculpture of Reuben Margolin. A great way to celebrate a birthday!

End of summer

2011-04-17T18:44:00.004+10:00

As summer draws to a close in Australia we can look back on a very nice first half year down under. Highlights were camping over Christmas, taking a surfing road-trip, the motorbike trail riding weekend and lots of great meals shared with friends!
Now, the surf is getting bigger and the water is still warm. With the first 6 month job done and a new exciting role starting in May there will hopefully be more time to catch some waves. But first it is off to Melbourne over Easter for a well deserved break; we didn't come all this way just to be working after all :-)

Pet spider

2011-04-06T15:35:00.004+10:00

When I tidied away an umbrella that was lying around this fellow jumped out! He seemed to like our cosy kitchen, moving around during the night and sitting very still at a chosen place during the day time.
He stayed with us more than a week and than slowly shrivelled up. Only just holding on to the wall, his long spidery legs collapsing. It was sad to see this happening to a being we got used to meeting every morning.
Maybe he would have had a better change if we had put him in our little patio although the mean little skinks could have attacked him there.

Degustation at the Village Hotel

2011-03-10T14:37:00.009+11:00

During my day shift chef Adam suggests that I should have dinner that evening in the restaurant to experience the food from that point of view. I immediately call Harry to come and join me later at the Village Hotel. It's a quiet evening and we share the room with just a couple other patrons. At first it feels a bit funny to sit in the restaurant room in stead of busying in the kitchen next door. But as soon as the delicious food starts coming to our table we are both enjoying every single bit of it.
In stead of letting us order from the menu Adam spoils us with a 7 course degustation with matching wines. After a welcoming Prosecco we start with an amuse bouche of ocean trout cured in treacle with apple/wasabi jelly presented on cos leaves, paired with a beautiful crisp Riesling. Followed by a brightly coloured beetroot ravioli filled with a flavourful munster cheese.
The pan seared scallop and crisp chicken wing sit on creamed corn and candied fennel and are combined with Sauvignon Blanc.
The playful in between dish of heavenly melting roasted bone marrow is much appreciated.
We continue with in vanilla seared Kingfish sided by cockles and caper relish. It's an experiment to maybe include in the new menu which I totally second.
Rabbit ballotine and kidney with broad beans in a tarragon dressing is paired with a New Zealand Pinot Noir. And it is still not finished!
Before the dessert of Peanut butter parfait with warm banana and popcorn candy we enjoy a cheese board of the Munster combined with late harvested Riesling.
A bit tipsy and much contented we thank the chef profusely for this wonderful culinary experience. What a treat!

Swimming in the harbour

2011-03-10T12:49:00.005+11:00

On my days off I get my swim wear, sun protection, book and pareo and head down to Woolloomooloo Bay where the Andrew (Boy) Charlton pool shimmers invitingly in the Domain.
Selecting the lanes for recreation - don't want to get mixed up with the serious speed swimmers - I do my tranquil laps in the 50 meter pool inhaling the fresh air from the Botanical gardens next door and admiring the harbour views.
Some people come just to sun bath on the side lounge chairs, showing off their muscular bodies. Especially this week, just after Madri Gras, it was show time!

After my swim and nice read in the sun, I'm totally relaxed and walk home smiling.
In the open airy room up stairs of the pool are yoga classes I sometimes join and I still have to check on the kayak workout that OZpaddle offers here early Tuesday and Thursday morning.

City Outdoors

2011-02-19T13:34:00.002+11:00

With our sparse shared free time it's great to have a 'Nature feel' almost at our door step. And with the excellent "Sydney's Best Bush, Park & City Walks" guide by Veechi Stuart these hidden places are an easy find. Just across the Harbour Bridge we park our car in Northbridge and follow a track past a tiny city vineyard heading down some sandstone steps and follow the coast line of Salt Pan Creek and Long Bay with a silent ship wreck and busy fishing boat landing. Passing under the towering Cammeray Bridge we cross the cricket fields to the Flat Rock Creek. You totally forget being in a big city in this little patch of temperate rainforest. Having lunch with our feet in the little waterfall I can't even imagine having to go to work a couple of hours later....

Kitchen hand

2010-12-09T11:38:00.004+11:00

Time flies, I'm almost working one month now at the Village Hotel. Funny that I got offered a job right here, just 5 minutes walking from our place after trialling all over the city in very different places. Doing these trials was a very interesting experience. To get a look in the differently operating kitchens with their own style and atmosphere.
At a fancy Italian restaurant the hierarchy between the chefs and the lower staff was very intense, the food at a Hotel in the suburb Bankstown (one hour by train) was just nasty crap, a very macho atmosphere in a upscale lunch café in Pyrmont didn't seem very attractive but I could see myself in the family style café in Balmain. Rudely enough they don't even contact you after working for them for up to 6 hours for free if they're not interested in you. I was very happy to get a position offered by the chef at the Village Hotel right after my trial. It was by far the favourite place out of all the trials I did.
At the hotel we provide the pub downstairs with gastro pubfood, the restaurant at the first floor with fine dining and the lounge and roof terrace with canapés for functions. It's wonderful to work with a passionate team and both chefs are willing to teach me everything. It's hard work and long days working in hospitality, but I'm enjoying this opportunity very much.

Springtime

2010-11-24T11:05:00.001+11:00

A couple of weeks ago the city was dressed up in this gorgeous lilac haze of the many Jacaranda blossoming trees; just magical. Everywhere in the city the lilac glow stood out against the coloured houses and historic buildings in natural stone.
Now we walk on a thick carpet of the fallen flowers to our favourite neighbourhood pub, the Fitzroy just around the corner. The Fitzroy has almost a European feel to it, with a mix of locals, travellers from Kings Cross and theatre visitors.
A Malaysian family presides over the kitchen and turns out huge bowls of delicious Laksa. We've been taking our visitors here and they enjoyed the place as much as we do.
Downstairs there is a little theatre with great shows. I saw a beautiful intense solo play here, 'seven kilometres north-east' by Kym Vercoe.

Sitting at the terrace listening to the live music enjoying a cold beer we're ready for the summer to start!

Exploring the Sydney Markets

2010-11-01T18:27:00.009+11:00

We arrived just in time to enjoy the Sydney Crave Food Festival. There are many events you can sign up for and take part in like 'brekkie on the Harbour Bridge', Hands on workshops with master chefs, an evening with René Redzepi (of Noma, Copenhagen) at the Opera House, the Night Noodle market and lots more.

I sign up for the guided tour at the Sydney Markets with 'Bird Cow Fish' chef Alex Herbert. It is a huge fresh produce market – over 42 hectares - on the outskirts of Sydney. I arrived a little early to be able to grab a cup of coffee before we meet the chef at 6.30am at one of the gates. And of we go, first to the shed where the producers sell their produce.

There are some beautiful characters amongst them. It's amazing how these producers do it all; most of them have been at the market from mid night on to set up and sell to the big clients. Only after 6am the market opens to the restaurant chefs and general public. After nine they hurry back to and take care of their farms. I have no idea when they sleep.

Alex introduces us to her favorite producers and it is very interesting to hear all sorts of information from them. Like the chill winds that we felt in the city have a big impact on the cherries. There are hardly any that made it to the market and the ones that made it are crazy expensive.

We get to taste, smell and try all different fruit, veggies and herbs, some of which I have never seen before. Alex gives us tips how to prep and serve them. We carefully cross the lane between the sheds that serves as a high way of speeding fork lifters. Here are the agents with mostly fruit. It's obvisiously mango time, we see walls of different varieties. We taste a wide variety of heirloom tomatoes, it's amazing how different they are in feel, bite and taste, just delicious.

Inspired and with a green bag full of healthy goodies I take the train back to the city. Definitely a place to go back to and explore some more. We didn't even make it to the huge shed filled with only bananas!

Get out of town

2010-10-31T19:30:00.009+11:00

Since on monday, the 1st of november I'm starting my new job here I figured it would be good to get out of the city for a few days.
Looking at the map there are lots of green areas pretty close to Sydney so we decided to go to Yengo national park which is north and on the way to the Hunter Valley, a major wine area of NSW.
The backroad to go there is by Berowra Valley where the road has some nice hairpin turns so will have to come back here one day on the motorbike to fully enjoy them!
At Wisemans Ferry you catch the ferry across the Hawkesbury river. There is a lot of early Australian settlers history here as convicts were forced to build the first roads north through the bushlands and up the hills around 1820. We walk a short part of the 'Great North road' before getting back in the car and talking the 'modern' gravel road to St Alban which is in the south end of the Yengo park.
It being friday afternoon and 5 o'clock, half the population of St Alban (so around 50 people) come to the one bar and we stop as well for a drink.
That turns into a couple more and nice talks with the locals and as it turns out we'll have to stay the night as the next stop is 2 hours further on the gravel road, it gets dark at 7.30 and there will we plenty of wildlife trying to use the roads as well. We don't want to kill any wombats or wallabies so we stay in St Albans and are treated to live Irish music to boost.

The ride through the park is beautiful and mostly gravel and sand but our car (an old '93 Toyota), although rattling, stays in one piece and gets us through without a hitch. We see lots of birds, a goanna running up a tree, wallabies hopping away and at the end of the road there is always a bar with nice cold beer, welcome to Australia!
We don't actually make it for the wine tasting but that'll be another trip soon.

New start

2010-10-17T11:33:00.007+11:00

With the last hectic weeks in Amsterdam it was - even after a 22 hours flight - hard to really land in Sydney. In my head I was the first couple of days still in Amsterdam.

Now we've moved into our own place in Woolloomooloo, it starts to feel like something real. Our little stone cottage is just a charm, the sunny patio in the back a city oasis. The kitchen with stone walls from the 1800's is a dream to be cooking in. The new sour-dough starter seems to enjoy it here as well, so I'll be baking my own bread from tomorrow on.

Up to the next challenge, finding a job! There're plenty of restaurants here, but also tough competition. I got some promising response to my applications and even had a trial shift at a fancy Italian place nearby. I'm not sure if that is going to work out, but it was a good initial experience.

In the meantime I'm looking into all the green initiatives around here and especially the community gardens and permaculture. We even went to get some information on starting our own worm farm to chew up our kitchen waste! Back at the farmers market we enjoy a healthy chinese lunch from Kylie Kwong.

Settling in

2010-10-16T08:23:00.008+11:00

We are doing pretty good in the just two weeks we've been here. We have found a nice place to live, a stone cottage in Woolloomooloo with 2 bedrooms, a really nice kitchen and a sunny patio.
It's good to have two bedrooms so friends can stay with us when they come and visit. A surprising number of visitors has already announced their imminent arrival and we are looking forward to having you here and sharing the good life in Syndey with you for a bit!

Meanwhile we've sent out our resumes to various places and gotten some good responses on them. Lena has done a try-out at an Italian restaurant and I've done a job interview that looks promising so might be starting work here as soon as next week.
Our location in the city is nice and central, almost everything is in walking distance. Good since cycling is more of an adventure here than in Amsterdam, though they are busy creating cycle paths; there is a big movement in Australia to become greener and more sustainable, lots of good initiatives.
Today we'll be off to the farmers market to get some great fresh produce. Food is a very important part of aussie life and we're happily joining the locals!

In Sydney!

2010-10-05T23:09:00.002+11:00

After a last week of organising a lot of last minute things, like selling the boat, finding the cat a new home, selling stuff on marktplaats (e-bay) and lots of paperwork, we finally set of for Sydney on Wednesday morning.
Ieske was sweet enough to pick us up and drive us to the airport where Mieke and Bert also came to wave us goodbye.
Onboard we could finally sit back and relax for 22 hours.
Arriving in Sydney we went to our first place to stay (we got it through http://airbnb.com), in Marrickville, a suburb in the inner-West part of Sydney.
On Friday we got busy looking for an apartment, which isn't all that easy in Sydney as nice apartments in good neighborhoods are very much in demand. We made a couple of appointments for viewings on Saturday and then crashed because of the jetlag...
The viewings gave us an interesting cross-section of housing styles in Sydney, from bedsit (pied-a-terre) to full blown city cottage and things inbetween.
Then is was off to the pub to meet our friends Mike (O'Connor of RecipeWeb days in Amsterdam) and Dan who live in Brisbane but were over in Sydney for the weekend, good stuff!
Monday was labourday in Sydney so a public holiday and no chance to look for apartments but Tuesday we are back in business, getting our Tax File Number and opening a bankaccount, looking at another apartment and enjoying a sunny day in the city. It's all nice but seeing how quickly you spend your dollars we realise that we need to get jobs here soon :-)

Back home

2007-04-05T19:28:00.000+10:00

One last week at the beach in Varkala to soak up the tropical warmth and sunshine.
A final shopping binge at the beautiful textile shops (6 floors of silks!) in Ernakulam.
A fare well drive in an autorickshaw to the Cochin airport.
As a nice souvenir, crazily bitten by the ferocious mosquitoes during the overlay in Mumbai airport.
A warm welcome at Schiphol by Harry and Ieske and a gentile spring sunshine over Amsterdam.

After five months of great adventures in Australia and India it's good to be back home ;-)

Kerala

2007-04-05T18:11:00.000+10:00

My last month in India I spent in the cultural center 'Vijnana Kala Vedi' in Aranmula, a little village in the backwaters of Kerala. Here I learned about the basic principles of Ayurveda, how to cook Keralan cuisine and to make kolam patterns with rice powder (see picture).
It's a great way to get some deeper insight in this incredibly rich culture as the teachers shared not only their knowledge of and passion for the different art forms, but also their personal experience. A nice surprise was receiving the sandalwood powder and herbal oil treatments as part of the Ayurveda course, in the Ayurveda village hospital.
As Kerala is very traditional, we enjoyed several festivals in and around the temples with many elephants, loud fireworks, dancing, drumming and all night Kathakali performances.

Conclusion

2007-03-05T03:13:00.000+11:00

All of a sudden the end is nearing fast, too fast. I'm flying home on Monday so it's time to write up some conclusions.
First of all the going away party was very cool: 15 elephants in procession at the temple and a lot of drummers for over 2 hours!
What I'll definitely miss from India will be the food. It is so easy to get tasty food ready made just about everywhere. Of course the good thing about going back to Holland is the better coffee without the sugar, something we could get in Australia but hardly in India; all the best coffee is for export and the culture is more about tea anyway.
The pace of things is nice and slow, all the buses and trains hardly ever make a top speed of over 60 km/hr and on average maybe 35.
India continues to surprise: I'd never thought changing a tire on a bus because the thread is completely gone would be done in the middle of its route but that's India! Luckily it takes just 10 minutes as the the wheel with the new tire is already there.

Anyway, Goa was great, as was Mudumalai, Mysore, Hampi and Kerala too.

That leaves the north of India for a next trip in the hopefully not too distant future...

Tea and spices

2007-03-03T18:22:00.000+11:00

After we spent an afternoon being canoed around the backwaters of Alleppey we head for the Cardamom Hills. Here is the spice garden of India. In our guest house we get directions to hike to a biological spice farm halfway up on the hill behind the village. It is set in the forest, all the different spice plants grow in between the trees. Harry, the German farmer, doesn't believe in mono-culture, where they clear the land and plant only one kind of crop. He's a very warm host, fixing us a cup of tea with a mixture of his home grown spices. Today he has time to talk with us, as his workers didn't show up this morning. It often happens on mondays, he says. We get a tour around all the different plants and Harry explains how the spices grow, are harvested and prepared for usage. He had to find out about biological spice farming all by himself. In India all the farms use crazy amounts of pesticides and fertilizer. And even after many years working for him, his workers still don't understand why he just doesn't spray. We enjoy listening to this passionate man and walk on to the top of the hill and down passed the tribal village with a bag full of beautiful biological spices. (www.naturalshakti.com)

Textile Candy Store

2007-03-03T18:21:00.000+11:00

We are in Trivandrum (Thiruvananthapuram), the capitol of the southern state Kerala. The city has nothing of the allure of a capitol city, just your normal Indian chaos. We follow MG Road, as most main roads are called in every city or town in tribute to Mahatma Gandhi. Some luxurious western looking shops and offices are interspersed between little dark workshops and local produce stalls. Then we pass a big building spitting out saree clad ladies laden with big orange plastic bags; 'Vishnuram Textiles' I read. I gotta go in there! Inside there are four floors stacked to the ceiling with all different textiles; lunghis, dothis, sarees in silk, cotton or mixed, house hold textiles, too much to name. First we go downstairs where we select some beautiful checked lunghis, after we go to the first floor where they sell the silk sarees. I'm like a little kid in a candy store, overwhelmed by all these colours and gold embroideries. Harry is joking that he'll order a sea container for me, but I keep my cool and only select one spice coloured saree. We still have some more travelling to do and have to carry everything we buy on our backs.

Doing India Goan style

2007-03-03T18:19:00.000+11:00

Arriving in Goa we learn fast that tourism is real business here. Everything is not just a little bit more expensive, but at least two or three times more. Even a little ice cream selling guy is shamelessly asking 50 rupees for a 5 rupee pop. Well you can always try, but it doesn't feel good. Most of the time we're still too soft, but we do learn to haggle. We make a stop in the capitol Panjim and the happening beach spot, Anjuna, before heading to Morjim where I will follow a course in Ayur Yogic massage. I'm happy to see that Morjim is still not overdeveloped tourist wise. That is because at one end of the beach some sea turtles come and nest and they are protected. Hopefully they will keep coming, but their numbers are dwindling fast. This year only 5 came to nest so far.
We find a cozy little cottage some hundred meters behind the beach and at walking distance to the massage school. Every morning after a breakfast with sea view, I walk to my course while Harry starts working on our porch. The course is great. We get taught in a wonderful airy space, my fellow students are a nice divers group of people and the course is from the start good hands-on; massaging and being massaged for 12 days in a row. Real Goan style, we rent a scooter to zip between the villages in the afternoons and evenings. Spending time at the beaches, markets and great restaurants. In our favourite restaurant a whole group of guys from Sikkim, one of the northern states, is working. They really know how to cook and we ask them to prepare lobster for us one evening; delicious.
The last day of the course we have to bring a model and of course Harry is my lucky one and gets the whole treatment I learned. The day after, I treat myself to an Indian rope massage done by a cool British chick in Anjuna. It's a great experience to feel her slide her feet all over me, while she's balancing on a rope above me. That's another technique I would like to learn some other time/ trip.

Across the river

2007-02-27T00:25:00.000+11:00

When we arrive late in the afternoon in Hampi, the hotel has given away our reserved room. On top of that they simply tell us, there are no rooms available for tonight in all of Hampi. There should be still vacancies across the river. So we make a run for the last boat across. Luckily we find a good basic room at the third guest house we ask. The attached restaurant is overlooking bright green rice paddies. Not our room, but our bathroom has a spectacular view on the river. It's nice and green on this side of the river. Not very quiet, though. At the dirt road you have to be careful not to be run over by Israeli's on Enfield motorbikes or Honda hero's.
Most of the sights are in and around Hampi, so we cross the river many times in the fun little ferry. The little guy who collects the money even remembers us after a couple of times. The landscape with the river flowing through boulder strewn hills and green patches of rice fields and banana plantations never seizes to inspire. We walk a lot around the many ruins of temples and palaces between the boulders. Sometimes the strangely balancing boulders look like they have been left there by playful giants. We see several climbers trying to concur these giants toys.

Sublime Hoysala style

2007-02-27T00:24:00.000+11:00

In Belur we visit the magnificent Chennakeshava temple. The thousands of carvings on this 32 cornered star shaped structure are amazingly detailed. Each sculpture intricately carved out of one stone, it's hard to imagine how the artists have accomplished this with very simple tools. Many of the carvings are missing, being stolen and sold in obscure art trade. But there is still so much to see, getting some explanation by a knowledgeable guide is definitely worthwhile. The front part is decorated with secular carvings, fluid dancers and musicians seem to be alive. The back part is populated by different gods and their many appearances. All the different Hindu gods are already very confusing, but on top of that they all appear also in different forms. It helps to be able to recognise some of the many stories of the Hindu religion.
At the temple complex we meet a very interesting Swiss traveller. He's worked over 30 years in several African countries for the Red Cross and the UN. Over a very bad tasting Indian wine we discuss global issues during a shared dinner.

In the wild

2007-02-23T18:39:00.002+11:00

It's so good to spend some time in nature again. When we get off the bus in Mudumalai National Park, there's nothing there. Just a crossing, the park office and some basic guesthouses. At the other side of the river are some houses, but no shops, chai stalls, hotels. There is no noise in our guest house room, except that of the monkeys chasing each other on our roof. Just outside our place the elephants are being groomed and dressed for the elephant rides in the park. But we didn't come to ride a tame elephant, but see them in the wild. We get up early next morning to be picked up by Vishnu and our guide. After a chai at sunrise in the next village we are dropped in the bush. Walking around the bush is mesmerizing in the changing morning light. The guide is just beautiful to watch, walking silently on his little flip-flops, going slower sometimes, bending to listen, and signaling us to stop, it all adds to the excitement. We stumble behind him in our big boots, making a lot of noise crackling twigs and dried leaves. Every time the guide spots an animal he makes a happily wide gesture to us, as if offering it to us. In a way he's doing just that. Without him we wouldn't see half as many animals. That morning we don't see the elephants, but we give it another try at the end of the day in some other, more foresty part. Again the walk alone is wonderful in the late afternoon light. And we're very lucky as we not only get to see a lone male elephant but a little later a female group as well. You feel very humble walking so close to these magnificent animals.

Indian sweets

2007-02-23T18:39:00.001+11:00

In Mysore we finally give up the idea of losing some weight in India. The food is just too delicious in India. In the morning we start with idly's (steamed rice cakes) or masala dosa (filled pancakes) and fruit lassi (yoghurt drink) or fresh fruit juice. During the day lots of (sweetened) chai and coffee. For lunch and dinner there's too much to choose from of all the tasty veg and non-veg Indian dishes. Fruit and vegetables have so much more flavour here, too. And Mysore is famous for its sweets. It's very difficult to pass by the beautiful sweets-shops without getting at least something. Rich creamy, brightly coloured bites with nuts, dried fruit or exotic spice mixes. And it even tastes better putting the food in your mouth with your fingers (of your right hand only!) as is custom here.

Hare hare, Rama rama

2007-02-23T18:34:00.000+11:00

The part of Bangalore we stay in is very westernised. Even autorikshaws are not allowed in the street of our hotel. In between fashion stores with familiar brand names are many coffee places, good book stores and bars with pleasant terraces. The people here are evidently used to westerners, and we don't get so many uncomfortable stares. But of course we do look for a more Indian feel and decide to visit the modern Hare Krishna temple a bit outside the centre. The bus we take here is not really passing by the temple, but a friendly family walks with us in the right direction. We arrive at the moment the gate opens for the evening celebration. After a hefty security check and storing of shoes and day packs we are allowed to enter the long line to visit the temple. Before you enter the holy parts there are 54 lifted tiles you have to step up and sing/say out loud on each one of them 'Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare'. The repetitive chanting works very calming, but as soon as you get inside you are pushed and whistled to get on. Even at the stalls where they share a little free meal you are not allowed to linger. Within no time we are standing outside the gates again with a very mixed feeling. So much for spirituality...

Goa

2007-02-18T01:44:00.002+11:00

Goa is the most popular destination in India and not so Indian in many ways. It is very busy with tourists and everything is highly overpriced unless your haggle for half an hour first. Lots of people haven't seen any other part of India and that will give you some twisted idea of this intriguing country.
We'll spend at least two weeks here so we make an effort to find a good place to stay and of course that works out fine: a very nice cottage, 2 minutes from the beach with an ocean-view veranda to work on. We find a favourite restaurant with lots of fresh fish where the guys running it have also escaped winter, in their case from Sikkim in the far north-east Himalayan area of India.
As Lena is learning the Ayur Yogic massage every morning for 12 days in a row, I have my project for the bank to attend to and make good progress in this wonderful, undisturbed setting. On the weekend I take the bus, again through the wonderful Ghats, to Belgaum and see Sheetal, who is my colleague in Holland and meet his family and see his newly built Indian home. It's cool to see each other half a world away and he treats me to the best Bhel Puri you can eat in India!
After a while Goa really grows on us, we rent the obligatory scooter and zoom around exploring the place. All of a sudden our two weeks here are over and it is time to move on but it is easy to see why so many people are constantly postponing their departure and end up staying in this place for years, or at least till the rains come.

Hampi

2007-02-18T01:44:00.001+11:00

In all these places we visit we see very few other tourist. Not so in Hampi, the place is crawling with tourists and travellers and the atmosphere is very different from what we've experienced so far. There is a lot of choice in food, Italian, Israeli, real coffee, muesli and bakeries with assorted breads, cakes and croissants.
Very hard to find your morning idly's with sanbar around here...
Hampi is very nice with boulder strewn hills all around with hundreds of (remains of) temples. To cross the river dividing Hampi in two there is only a single ferry or otherwise just coracles. When we can't walk along the river any further a girl of only about eleven paddles us across in such a plastic covered basket. This isn't so much child labour as it is the girl helping her family with all the tasks facing them in their daily existence. But it does feel a bit funny and the fine line between the two isn't always so easy to distinguish in India.
The days pass with lots of hiking and a swim in the lake (no bathing allowed on account of the crocodiles, it reads on the sign).
In Hospet we have to get to the station at 6 in the morning but the train to take us to Goa is a little late and eventually pulls in at 11.00. You can feel a bit how the Indians build their acceptance of situations and events, they don't get mad or start making demands as people would at home when the train in a little behind schedule.
Luckily we pass the great mountains of the Western Ghats still in daylight and we see the waterfalls of Dudhsagar as the train is slowly pulled and pushed by two extra locomotives up and over the top. We've arrived in Goa.

Belur

2007-02-18T01:41:00.000+11:00

After spending a week in Mysore it is time to move on, even though it is a very nice town and hosts our favourite Indian breakfast place. We take a bus to Belur and visit a beautiful temple. It is from the Hoysala period, 12th and 13th century and special for its 32 corner star shape and all the fine details in the sculptures. The nicest temple I've seen and made more vivid by a guide explaining the meaning of scenes and the background of its construction.
There is another one of these temples close by in Halebid but we don't see it as Lena is ill for a day. Instead we go to Jog Falls which is a long and tiring journey by bus but we're glad we went there.
The waterfalls at Jog are the highest in India at 260 meters. We hike down to the pool at the bottom of the falls and feel a fine spray on our faces. We are so lucky that there are absolutely no other tourists around, a very rare event in crowded India, and enjoy the peace and quiet for an hour. Hiking up the cliff is a lot more strenuous than walking down but half way up the refreshments are waiting by a bench cut in the rocks with a great view of the falls.
The local photographer at Jog gives us a picture of the falls during monsoon: a huge wall of water coming down and making the hike down to the pool impossible.

Amongst pelgrims

2007-02-15T00:04:00.000+11:00

The tempel on top of Tirumala hill is an important pelgrimage place. The pelgrims walk the path up the hill, 3000 steps in total. And if they're very devout, they bent down on every step to make a little print of sandlewood paste and red powder. Some even lit a little candle on every step. We have to admit, we took the bus to he top. There we looked at the gigantic line waiting to go into the temple and hesitated. We heard that there was a way to cut the waiting short by buying a special ticket, but after asking at several places and being send from one end of the hill to the other side we gave up on paying a visit to the Gods.
To experience some of the pelgrimage we took the steps down. That was beautiful. Because of the powder the steps were intensely colored. On the way there were many small temples to many different gods, each with their statues and rich carvings. Many pelgrims stopped to have a little conversation with us, which gave them a bit of a rest on their heavy way up. They all wanted to know how the God was doing. The first time we admitted honestly that we didn't see him at all. They were so devastated by that answer, that the next time people asked us this question, we told them he was looking great. And we got a happy smile from them and they continued their steps with new encouragement.

To the market

2007-02-15T00:01:00.000+11:00

In Hyderabad we visit the famous bazar. Here many people come shop for their marital preparations. Hyderabad is very well known for their pearl jewelry and gorgeous fabrics, most of them with a lot of golden embroidery. You can imagine how shiny an Indian bride and groom will look, like a fairy tale.
We realise we came to the right place. I brought my multi-usage pareo, but Harry needs a cloth to use as a blanket when we take the night train. So we pick one of the many stores, take off our slippers en sit on the white cushioned floor. Within no time there is a spread of many colored and decorated sarees in front of us and the shop keepers are still taking out more varieties out of all the piles along the walls. It's too much to choose from. But a beautifully madras woven dark blue and yellow saree becomes our favorite. And because it is a little shorter than the usual 6 meters we get it for a very good price. They still try to show and sell us some elaborately embroidered silk sarees, but they are not much to our taste.
I guess there is no Indian flavoured marriage coming up...

Moving around

2007-01-21T21:30:00.000+11:00

India is a vast place and we're only seeing some parts of south India. In Oz we always had a car or camper to get around. Here we go the large stretches sitting or sleeping on a train for sometimes 12 hours. Shorter distances are okay by bus as well though not nearly as comfortable. To see the Ellora caves we went for 30 km in an autorickshaw that even managed to get up over the mountain.People flock to the cities in search of a better life but they're an unhealthy place to live, crowded, dirty and noisy. Mysore is at least a reasonably relaxed city and all the roof gardens here to have a Kingfisher are a nice perk.
We escape out of the city to Mudumalai national park. It's a serene place where we go hiking in the early morning with a guide to enjoy the great nature and spot some animals. The spotted deer are very common as are the buffalo but we also see a wild dog and, in a flash running by, a black bear with her two cubs. In the late afternoon we go out to a different place near the river to catch the elephants. Big as they are they walk quietly and you won't hear them coming so we're lucky the guide spots the big lone male before he smells us and we make an evasive circle to get out of his way. The lone male is quite dangerous and we're told one has killed 2 people and tore up a car door with its tusks. As the sun is setting and the sky turns to nice streaks of orange and blue we walk along the grassy plain with a mountain backdrop. Lots more deer come out and a big wild boar.It is our lucky day we find as a group of 4 elephants come into view, one still quite small. They cross the plain majestically and it feels very special and exciting indeed to be just walking here among these creatures.

A different world

2007-01-21T21:28:00.000+11:00

So, was everyone right after all when stating: 'you should do India first and then hang back and relax in Oz'?It would seem that way when arriving at Mumbai; the hustle and bustle at the airport and taking a taxi into the city. So many people all of a sudden with many living on the streets in improvised tents of plastic sheets, the poverty really in your face.It will take us the best part of two weeks before starting to feel comfortable traveling around in India.
The food is a lot easier. I've always loved the Indian cuisine and here you just get really tasty and fresh made thalis at the most basic looking 'hotels' as they call eating places here (with no beds). The variety is so rich in vegetarian spiced dishes, just order any 2 or 3 interesting sounding ones of a little menu (if there is one) with rice or chapati and never be disappointed. The prices are just unreal it seems impossible that one can get the ingredients, cook the food and serve you for the little sum you pay.
Also quite distinct is the sense of history you get in India after coming from such a young culture as the Anglo-Australian is.Here we walk in beautiful cave temples carved out of rock in the sixth and seventh century and painted with ancient religious stories. Our photos are noticeably more colourful than the ones from Oz.

Standing in front of a dream

2007-01-21T21:25:00.000+11:00

From Mumbay we travel by train to Aurangabad. I love traveling by train, seeing the country pass by and meeting nice people. The landscape outside is just as the pictures in magazines you see of India, tinted in a golden brown. I always thought, that those were taken with a special filter. Even the leaves on the trees are not green, but with this dusty glow.

In Aurangabad we take a tour to the caves of Ajanta. The bus ride of only 100km is just scary. Many times you see a truck or bus coming your way on your side of the road, honking their horn and flashing their lights. Motorcycles are being pushed to or in the curb to make way. But every time it seems to fit.

When we enter the horse shoe shaped cliff where the caves are hewn into, I can't believe I'm standing there. This is a picture I saw a long time ago in National Geographic and I thought, 'I want to go there some day'. I didn't even know it was this place! It's magnificent and incredible what the monks have created there. All with simple tools. The caves are elaborately sculpted and painted. You just stand there in great awe.

Watergirl

2007-01-21T21:23:00.000+11:00

Just before we left Australia, Harry read a brilliant tip in our Rough Guide to India; purify your own water! So we went to one of the great OZ outdoor stores and got a beautiful ceramic water filter and a tip to buy some chlorine in India. So every time we need some drinking water, we take a liter of water from the tap, leave it for a half an hour with a drop of chlorine to kill all what's alive in it. After that we hook up the filter to the drinking container and start pumping away. Beautiful fresh water with no funny taste. Better for the environment - that is already wasted with too much plastic. And healthier for us, as the Rough Guide mentioned that in a test some of the Indian brands of mineral water contained plenty of pesticides.
So the Dutch milkmaid is transformed to an Indian water girl (can't carry the container on my head yet, though).

New Year in India

2007-01-21T21:19:00.000+11:00

We arrive on schedule around 8 in the evening at Mumbay airport. As the guide book suggests we get a pre-paid taxi to the city. They are funny looking yellow and black ambassadors. Our driver doesn't know the place, but after a couple of stops and enquiries we find our booked hotel in a back alley. In the street the new years party is already starting up. Lots of young wealthy Indians are grouped around the ice-cream parlour. We crash on our beds for a quick pick-me-up sleep, but when the clock strikes twelve and the fire works crack up the night sky, we're still exhausted and overwhelmed by the chaotic crowds outside. The next morning we regret our laziness.
The first of January we do as the locals do and join the dressed up families strolling around the Gateway of India. We are as much a sight as the impressive arc. We keep walking past the gigantic Taj Mahal Palace hotel right into a colourful shanty town. Ashamed of the realisation that poverty can look so beautiful. All the extremes are here right next to each other and very confronting.
Halfway January the Harvest Festival is celebrated, a little bit New Year for Hindu's of Southern India. We don't get to see the pink coloured streets, but there are plenty of bright yellow cows with golden horns lingering in the streets. In front of the doors there are beautiful intricate chalk designs made as a sign of welcome.

The edge of the outback

2007-01-15T02:48:00.000+11:00

Back in Cairns, we still have the camper van for some more days. To make the most of it, we head west to sniff a bit at the outback. First we cross the green wet tropics of the Atherton Tablelands. After we leave Mareeba, the earth turns red and flat. And to make the experience more real, the road is alternately bitumen and red dust. Just before we arrive at Chillagoe, we see a sign with a warning that after this place, the next gasoline station is at 560 mile! We don't have to worry though, Chillagoe is as far as we go. It's quite a pretty place after the couple of desolate villages we crossed. We stay at a nice Eco camp, just out side the village.
The following morning we join a cave tour with a ranger. He's so passionate of working in nature and loves to tell us all about the special features of the cave, the trees and plants surrounding it and the animals that conquer the harsh environment. After the tour we walk around a bit more between the caves, a huge balancing rock and some aboriginal rock paintings. But the heat just takes all your energy, so we cool down in a village bar with a cold beer.
When turning back towards the coast, we get stopped in the middle of nowhere by a cop for a breath test. Luckily the beer had worn of already, so we passed it and continued on a real dirt road crossing some hills. On the map it looked like only 15 km bad road, but we ended spending most of the afternoon on 48 km over tree roots and rocky surface (we didn't tell the rental company).
With the heat and the dust we got a pretty good impression of the outback. Flying over the desert when we left Australia via Sydney and Darwin, it only sunk in how grand this outback really is.

The wet world downunder

2007-01-15T02:17:00.000+11:00

After Harry's been doing two days diving practice in the pool in Cairns, we're ready to head out to the Great Barrier Reef. We board the fast catamaran Seaquest, that bounces on the big waves to the magic place. Plenty of people getting sick on the way there (I'm one of them) , but as soon as you get down in the clear blue/green water, you just forget everything. First all the divers get ready at the back platform. After they disappear in the deep, the snorkelers jump in. It's another world; so tranquil and colorful. The reef is just under the surface, so for a snorkeler it's almost as impressive. Seeing the coral in the beams of the sun and all its amazing inhabitants. Following a crazy patterned parrot fish biting bits of coral. Drifting over steep depths to other patches of surfacing reef. Finding yourself surrounded in a school of small glittering fish going one way and turning all together the other way.

After a second time in the water, the catamaran lies alongside the overnight ship. Here we spent Christmas eve. The certified divers go for a night dive. The lights at the back of the ship attract small fish. These attract the big ones and we get a spectacular show with first some travellis and later some pretty big sharks. I'm happy I'm not one of the night divers swimming between these animals.

The next morning Harry has his first dive at 6.30. I go in the water after breakfast and get to see a white tip shark, pretty close! Pity I didn't see the turtles when snorkeling. I did see Harry though, with his diving buddy Felix, moving around way under me. That was fun!

On the way north

2007-01-08T18:59:00.000+11:00

We are driving now through mango orchards and banana farms. The caravan parks we share with many traveling fruit pickers. Some detours more inland take us through National Parks with impressive waterfalls and refreshing rock pools. Here we see the funny platypus and the shimmering Ulysses butterflies.
At the Wallaman waterfall, the highest in Australia, we do a speed hike down the canyon to the bottom of the fall and up again. The German couple we meet first on the way down and later halfway up just shake their amazed heads.
The last stop we make before reaching our goal, Cairns, is at Paronella Park. A dream made real by a Spanish immigrant in the 1920's. He build a whole castle next to a waterfall, surrounded by beautiful gardens, a tunnel of love, filled with tiny micro-bats and a lane with good luck bringing Kauri trees. We get a tour by an aboriginal girl, who explains how they used all the different trees and plants. After the tour we get a little show of traditional dance and music. It's all part of a special project sponsored by Paronella Park. Here the aboriginal kids can learn and practice the skills of their ancestors. It's inspiring to see how passionate they search for this knowledge and share it with the audience.

A small disaster, with a happy ending

2007-01-08T18:37:00.001+11:00

On route we make a little detour to Agnes Water and 1770 (the name of a village). Here Cook set his first footsteps on Australian soil. I expected something interesting, but besides a beautiful bay in 1770 was there nothing specially note worthy. We did have a great lunch with bay view and very relaxed music. After asking the chef what we were listening to, he wrote a whole list of recommendations. The latest CD of Jon Butler Trio we bought later in a music store and enjoyed much.

A bit more north we cross the Tropic of Capricorn, not that you notice directly.

When we stop at Roslyn Bay to see the beautifully formed rocks in sun setting light we notice an impressive catamaran. A closer look takes us on a pier, where I mindlessly drop the car keys...and they slip through the big gaps between the planks and disappear in the murky harbour water. My panicky yell alarms the couple of the catamaran to the deck. Halfway our story the woman jumps in her bathing suit and snorkel gear and slides in the water. It only takes her two dives and she emerges with our keys! Amazing!

A long wait for the girls

2007-01-08T17:53:00.000+11:00

After a short drive through never ending fields of sugarcane we arrive at Mon Repos, a 1.5 km strip of beach where the female loggerhead sea turtles return to every 3 to 4 years, to bury their eggs in the sand. The ranger station just behind the dunes provide a nightly tour so you can see these moving rocks come out of the water, slowly and awkwardly move to the dunes, start digging their egg chamber and start pooping out around 120 eggs each lay. They get very disturbed from noises and especially light, until they have laid around twenty eggs. Then they are calm and the rangers and volunteers can do their research tasks and invite the visitors to stand around the turtle in a big circle.
We sign up for the tour and visit first the interesting exhibit in the station. Then the long wait begins, entertained by movies about the turtles and the research projects on them. As the ranger tells us, these girls live in the wild and come up on their own time; with no guaranties. We sit and wait and almost give up on getting lucky this evening as we notice some excitement in the exhibit hall. Yes, a turtle is coming on shore and so many have gone already so now the whole group can go to the beach. The rumour goes, it's a very special kind, a flat back. But before we get to the beach we hear that she has been disturbed and returned to the ocean.
Another wait sitting quietly high up in the dunes now, we are lucky. Another turtle moves our way, a loggerhead this time. We wait some more till she's busy with her eggs. While we are standing around our turtle two more are coming up on either side of us. So we have to be really quiet now. How exciting!
And the long wait get an extra reward. Our turtle has been a bit lazy and laid her eggs under the high water line. Here the eggs can't survive. Normally the rangers wouldn't intervene, but now the loggerhead is on the edge of extinction, they do as much as they can to keep the turtles survival. So a volunteer is carving out another chamber higher up in the dunes and we get to carry all 138 eggs to this new save place. Maybe one of these eggs will be the one that makes out of 1000 to mature. I would love to come back to see the hatch ling crawl out of the sand and make a run for their little lives to the ocean. Must quite a sight. But this experience was magical also, helped by the full moon coming up spectacularly during our wait in the dunes.

Fraser Island

2006-12-30T23:51:00.002+11:00

In Hervey Bay we change our camper van for a small red 4WD Suzuki for a couple of days. That’s the only way you can move around Fraser Island, a large sand island just in front of the coast. Harry wears a big smile tearing through the rough roads in the forest and when the low tides allow, hitting the beach that serves as the main highway. Late in the afternoon we set up our tent in the dunes for the starry night. Except some fishermen, we’re the only people on the beach as far as we can see. We throw a Frisbee between the dried up stingers on the sand. We see a dingo looking for food.The next morning we freshen up in Eli Creek, walking a bit upstream and floating in the sparkling clear water between tropical green banks back to the beach. Some more swimming in the white ringed deep blue coloured lakes, before we head back over the loose sandy roads to the ferry.

Noosa Heads culinair

2006-12-30T23:51:00.001+11:00

We make a stop in Noosa Heads, the last beach to get a good surf. So Harry rents a board for the afternoon and hits the rolling waves, while I carefully work on some nice tan.
For dinner we head to the river, where my sister Hanneke recommended us to go visit the restaurant of a couple she met at the Terra Madre festival in Italy. When we ask about the owners, the waitress tells us they went bankrupt, but the restaurant manager has taken over the restaurant and keeps it up in their style. Inside the place it looks promising and smells very tempting, so we decide to eat here anyways. Seated outside overlooking the sunset over the river we enjoy a beautiful dinner.

Sint & Piet in Brisbane

2006-12-30T23:48:00.000+11:00

The original idea to go to Australia was about visiting Mike, who moved to Brisbane two years ago. As I was sharing an apartment in Amsterdam with him for a couple of years, I miss him much.
And what better time to share together, than the traditional Dutch Sinterklaas’ celebrated birthday at the 5th of December. With a present of some delicious marsepein (almond paste delicatessen) we smuggled into the country and a traditional Sint & Piet poem we put together on the drive from Byron Bay to Brisbane.
Mike welcomed us with an Aussie tradition; a great barbie (vegan style at Mike’s). And for this very special night, an almost full moon sheds its clear light over the balcony.
It’s so good to see Mike and his boyfriend Dan again. And to see his new home at the funky valley in Brisbane.
Again we spend too short time together before Harry and I hit the road again.

Kayaking with the dolphins

2006-12-30T16:46:00.001+11:00

Before we left for Australia, we kinda had planned to stay a while in or around Byron Bay. Now we changed our plans to drive up all the way to Cairns, we spent only one day in this mellow beach town. And how is the day better spent here than on the water. Not surfing this time, but on a sea kayak.
Before we head out, we get some instructions how to beat the surf and how you get back in the boat when you roll over. We start peddling around the surfers near the rocks to the bay where we can see the light house. Here we stop peddling and just bob with the waves, nice.
We don’t have to wait long, before a couple of dolphins are heading our way to check us out. They gently move their smooth bodies in the waves. Just beautiful. And so cool to be so close to them. A bit later we’re surrounded by a group of ten dolphins. Not very playful, just mellow. Maybe they get the vibe from the town.When we peddle back, a sea turtle sticks his funny head out of the water and looks surprised around. We must look like strange fish….

Penny Tweedie

2006-12-22T19:13:00.000+11:00

Strolling through an Aboriginal art gallery in Cairns, I saw this photography book, Spirit of Arnhem Land, by Penny Tweedie. She lived and worked for several years closely with Aboriginal artists families and communities in Arnhem Land, resulting in intimate portrayals of aboriginal culture and customs. See more of her excellent work at www.pennytweedie.com

4005,6 km in the camper van

2006-12-21T21:49:00.000+11:00

Seems the distance from Sydney to Cairns is exactly 4005,6 kilometers... well following our detours anyway.
Others say it's closer to 2900 km but this was just more fun.

From Melbourne our first trip on the Great Ocean Road and into the Grampians was a good 1236 km, then from Mel to Sydney was another 2100 or so.

And still we've only scratched the east coast of this massive continent!

What a life!

2006-12-20T16:18:00.000+11:00

As we're working our way up the east coast of Oz, it's time to sit down and write another piece in the blog. Not as productive as Lena but am enjoying it immensely.
Driving in different conditions, with the camper van on the unsealed gravel roads and with the 4WD little Suzuki in the sands of Fraser Island. What a great playground that place is!
Then on into the night to watch the turtles come up on the beach to bury their eggs in the sand. Since they are not all that smart we actually had to give them a hand in moving the eggs up, above the high-tide mark. Don't want those little ones to drown before they're even born.
These were definite high lights, as was meeting up with friends in Brisbane, camping out in all these beautiful places and taking in the enormous size of the place.
As we're approaching north Queensland's Cairns, I'm really excited to be going diving, on the Great Barrier Reef and over Christmas! I'm dreaming of a wet Christmas...
Also to prove that I actually do get some work done here, here's a picture of my mobile office, with ever-changing ocean and mountain views!

Treehugger

2006-12-20T15:25:00.000+11:00

If we would stay here just a little longer, I would definitely become a treehugger ( nothing to be ashamed of these days, it's become very fashionable indeed: http://treehugger.com/).
I'm in love with all these beautiful giants. Already more than 600 variaties of gums, reaching straight up to the sky in their gorgeous camouflage trunks and smelling sooo good. Next to those the figs with their huge buttresses in amazingly sculptured shapes and the brilliantly colored hard wood trees.
I hope the many photos I've been taking of all these beauties (I'm almost talking to them and givin' them pet names ;-) have not bored you guys to death. By the way all the pictures of the lizards, crazy looking insects and other small animals is Harry's thing.

New ways of transportation

2006-12-13T16:25:00.000+11:00

In Sydney we rent a campervan and are planning to drive all the way up to Cairns. We leave the city after Harry's last surf lesson. It's so good to wake up in the bush again. First we follow the coast which has great dunes around here. Then we had back inland and stay a night at the bottom of the Ellenborough Falls in Eland. We meet plenty of locals at the gas station annex store annex cafe annex the local hang out. Wanda who runs the place as a local mum, gives us the address of her son, who is a whitewater rafting instructor up in Mission Beach. Hopefully we'll get to meet him. We got the van from the rental company with almost an empty water tank and Wanda fills it up with tasty rain water. They have had enough rain lately, so she's happy to be able to give it away.
Camping with our little tent was a lot of fun, but this is much more comfortable; now we have a bed, a little table, a fridge, two pits to cook on, plenty of water, and a lot more space. And when we hook it on the electricity at caravan parks, Harry is pretty good set up in "his mobile office" to work on his developing stuff.

Sportive in Sydney

2006-12-13T15:56:00.000+11:00

We see the city skyline from the balcony at the end of the street of our hotel in Potts Point. If you look a little closer, you can even see the Opera House. The first day we blend in easy with the bussy cosmopolitan crowd; we've plenty to do ourselves. First of all we're of to the Indian embassy to get our visa. Being in the center, it's a close walk to circulair quay. Looking out over the water, watching all the ferries leave, and of course taking a real close look at the Opera House. It's less white than we'd expected, but still pretty amazing on the water edge. It's funny, I've just read a novel about a Feng Shui detective who visited Sydney on a case and he didn't dare to go near the Opera House, because it had very bad feng shui (these broken rice bowls on their sides).
Harry signs up for a surf course in Bondi beach and I walk along the Woolloomooloo harbour to my Yoga class in a building over the water. We do the northern part of the harbour walk, crossing past upscale houses and through surprisingly pretty green bush areas. Near the Harbour Bridge we take the ferry back to the city.
Pitty we missed the great fire works over the Opera House for the Australian Idols finale. We are chilling in our hotel room when we hear a big noise like thunder storm. A bit later on TV we see the fire works. That evening we go to see some real live music. The "Dappled Cities" - a local band - in the Gaelic Room.

Blue Mountains detour

2006-12-08T13:35:00.002+11:00

At the recommended surf beaches the swell is not so good at the time we arrive, so we decide to head back inland to make a stop at the Blue Mountains. The lady at the information desk tells us we can’t stay at the bush campground we wanted to go because of big bush fires in the area. So we end up in a nice historic hotel in Blackheath. But first we went to see the ‘must do’ sights in Katoomba: the Echo and the Three Sisters. Very impressive!
From a lookout point near Blackheath an interesting hike through the Grand Canyon starts, that was still possible to do according to the lady. So we went to the lookout the next morning and saw the fires at the other side of the valley. Many helicopters were flying back and forth with tons of water. There was a warning at the beginning of the track, but it only said that you weren’t allowed to cross the valley because of the fire danger. So we went down in the canyon and it was just another world; so green and like a fairy tale. The sight of a lyrebird even added to that special feeling. When we got back up on the ridge some hours later, a ranger stopped us. He told us to leave the area as soon as possible, because the wind had turned the fires in our direction. Heading back towards Sydney, we drive past a playground, where the firemen seem to have their head quarters. Lots of fire trucks and men dressed in their big protective outfit. One of these big guys is relaxing on a little swing.

Fresh oysters for lunch

2006-12-08T13:35:00.001+11:00

It’s good to be back at the coast (and under the sun). The parks along the coast are stunning. We get to see lots of kangaroos, a pair of black cockatoos and even a breaching whale! The colours of the ocean are very intense, the beaches are gorgeous with mysterious lagoons and there is bush up to the breaking waves.
Some neighbours at the bush camp caught a big salmon from the ocean (over seven kilos) and are grilling parts of it. This inspires Harry to buy a fish grill (he even thought about getting himself some fish gear too). Now we can grill fresh fish we get at the harbour on the bush camp fire pit. At the harbour fish store they also have a little terrace where we eat a dozen super fresh rock oysters. They are different from the ones we get in Holland, much more bite and a little sweet. Again the good life!

Snow in summer

2006-12-08T13:34:00.000+11:00

Back to the beautiful National Parks and wonderful bush camps. Avoiding the freeways and taking mostly country roads, sealed or unsealed. Making stops at little lunch places where they serve their food with much passion and taste (in Jamieson I had the best muffin ever!).
During the day it’s mostly sunny, unless we are at a lookout and it gets totally overcastted, so there’s not much to look out to. At night it is still cold and I’m wearing all my clothes in my sleeping bag. We thought we were skipping winter this year, spending these months in Australian summer. So we weren’t prepared for the big shock of waking up one morning and finding snow on our tent! I guess the Snowy Mountains wanted to show us what they were worth. A hike at Mount Kosciusko was not possible in this snowstorm. Taking the short cut on an unsealed road wasn’t much fun either in this weather.But back at the coast, at Ben Boyd NP, the sun is shining again.

Being social in Melbourne

2006-12-08T13:31:00.000+11:00

It’s becoming a travel tradition to meet up with my brother Stan. You would think I plan my itinerary especially around the routes of the cruise ships of the Holland America Line, on which Stan works as hotel manager. I went to visit him on board in Los Angeles and San Diego, Recife (Brazil) and now we meet again in Melbourne. Stan gives us the grand tour of the Statendam and we have an Asian style lunch in one of the restaurants (not at the pool deck, it’s too cold!).
We don’t have time to see the ship set sail, as we’re meeting up with Lynn for drinks and dinner. Lynn used to live in Amsterdam for a while and seeing her again feels very comfortable, like we’re still living in the same city and not on opposite sides of the world. We go for drinks near our hotel, on the south side of the river Yarra; the more yuppie side. It’s the week of Melbourne Cup (horse races) and all the women wear flimsy summer dresses and feathery hats. For dinner Lynn takes us near her place in Fitzroy, the more funky area. Later that week we return to Brunswick Street to check out the fun young designer shops and mellow cafes.
Another great reunion was visiting my friend Delia at her sweet home in Kensington and meeting John and their sons Eli and Jasper. Delia used to live in Los Angeles when I was living there too. We hadn’t seen each other for twelve years and had a lot of caching up to do. She is working as a freelance architect and showed us a beautiful project with which she just won an award (http://www.timber.net.au/awards/media.htm). It’s a pity we don’t have more time to stay in Melbourne and enjoy all the good company. We still have a lot to see in this big country and even with two full months we have to make tough choices. So we arrange another rental car and head north.

No refreshing springs

2006-12-08T13:30:00.000+11:00

Exiting the Grampians, we have to stop for a big emu on the road. Funny looking birds…Zigzagging through some scenic old goldmine cities we make a culinary stop at the Taltarni Vineyards. They have some excellent wines, especially the pink sparkling brut tache we enjoy much. We finish our wine tasting with a nice glass of white, with some tapas at their terrace overlooking a lovely rose garden; what about the good life!?! But the very same evening we go back to basics in this very alternative vegan guesthouse in Hepburn Springs. We hoped to enjoy the public mineral springs there, but the centre is under construction. The only alternatives are very luxurious spas around, which are not really what we were after. Instead we spent the whole morning in a great second hand bookstore at the lakeshore, the Book Barn. Also very relaxing.

The Grampians

2006-12-08T13:29:00.000+11:00

From the Great Ocean Road we turn inland on small roads. Stop in a roadside café in the middle of nowhere, where local youths are shooting pool. Eventually we hit the south side of the national park The Grampians. After stopping at Halls Gap to get the park /camp permits and some groceries we follow some unsealed roads to the bush camp near Mount Difficult, which we’re planning to scale the next morning. Luckily, the hike is not as hard as the name of the mountain suggests. After we get to the top and enjoy marvellous 360° views, we follow the rim to the Roses Gap. It’s a real treat to soak our feet in the Beehive Falls after the steep descent. On the way back to the bush camp we see wallabies skip away from the curb. We hear them also flop-flop around the campsite during the night. In the morning a wallaby is trying to steal some brekkie from our neighbours. Compared to them we look very bleak with our tiny tent and one pit fuel stove. Aussies are very professional campers. They jam pack their 4x4 with all these supplies and special camp tools, half their kitchen in containers and cool boxes, fishing gear, satellite dish and tellie. It’s truly a sight!

On the road

2006-12-08T12:45:00.000+11:00

Al weer een dikke maand in Australie. De tijd gaat snel maar we hebben al een hoop mooie plekken gezien. De steden Melbourne, Sydney en nu Brisbane. Daar tussenin grandiose en uitgestrekte natuur. Van te voren had ik niet dit beeld van Australie maar het is erg afwisselend. Vooral het bergachtige is lekker om doorheen te rijden. Daarna weer afbuigen naar de kust, bij het strand zitten een een bord verse oesters eten...
Het leven is behoorlijk goed hier als je op vakantie bent.
Een van de leukste dingen zijn de vele national parks waar je zo je tentje op kunt zetten in een bushcamp, hout sprokkelen en daarna een visje grillen op de kooltjes. Vaak zijn er maar een paar andere kampeerders en soms sta je er helemaal alleen.
Wel een groot voordeel dat er in zo'n enorm land maar 20 miljoen mensen wonen, dan moeten we het in nederland met heel wat minder ruimte stellen en nauwelijks nog stille natuur.
Het weer is natuurlijk lekker in het voorjaar en met de zomer voor de deur maar met wat freak uitschieters: in de Snowy Mountains (what's in a name) bij Kosziuskow, de hoogste berg van australie hadden we mooi wel sneeuw op de tent 's morgens.
Sydney is een toffe stad waar ik het wel een jaar uit zou kunnen houden. Op Bondi Beach 3 dagen surfles gedaan van 2 uurtjes per dag, erg leuk om te doen en vooral nog veel oefenen.
In Sydney hebben we ook besloten om na Brisbane nog even door te rijden naar Cairns (dik 2000 km) en voor dit stuk rijden we nu in een pop-top campervan, een goeie manier om te reizen in australie en je ziet ze dan ook overal.

Binnenkort meer dus blijf de blog volgen en check af en toe even voor de nieuwe foto's.

see ya later!

Great Ocean Road

2006-11-27T14:48:00.000+11:00

When we arrived in Melbourne it rained... Luckily the hotel was close to the train station as was a sports pub where we had an aussie beer and enjoyed a local cover band impersonating Cher with wigs and sailor hats.
The next day we got a rental car and hit the road, hoping it would take us to a sunny coast.
The first beach we left our foot prints was Torquay. Some kite surfers were doing their stunts. Following the coastline on to our first night camping at Otway National Park. We camped at Bimbipark under the kolala's that were lazying around in the gum trees. It's amazing the sound that comes from these too sweet looking animals!
The gum trees we saw the next day in all their glory doing the tree top walk in the park. How tall and straight up to the sky they are! And what glorious odours, like walking in a sauna.
That evening we hit the Twelve Apostles just before sunset. Very impressive! We waited a long time after the sun had set for the mini pinguins parade (as was mentioned in the guide book), but the only one we got to see was a dead one on the beach.