Our adventure in Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia...
06-12-2010
New Zealand South Island⦠Episode 1!
What to say about the South island except that this is just one of the best place in the world we have ever seen!!! Landscapes are amazing and you can find a mix of paradisiacal beaches, lord of the rings landscapes, mountains,
Below a set of the best:
Marlborough sounds: First contact with the south island coming with the ferry from Wellington! Typical NZ landscapes blue sea, green mountains and blue sky J
Abel Tasman National Park:This National Park is located on the North West coast of the South island. It is well known for its three days walk along paradisiacal beaches!We could even enjoy a swim in the turquoise water of the sea A bit cold but still great!
We now understand why NZ is recognized for its Great walks!
Kaikoura:A place where the mountains are meeting the ocean! A real postcard!
Kaikoura is also well known for its wildlife This is the place where you can meet whales, dusky dolphins and seals We had the chance to admire whales and even swim with the dolphins! A great experience 200 dolphins swimming and playing with you Amazing!
We could as well admire a seal colony these animals are definitely lazy laying in the same position for hours! ;-) What a life!
Centre of NZ Nelson: This city is at the entrance of the Abel Tasman National Park. Nothing special to mention except that this city is recognized as the centre of New Zealand A small walk will lead you to the top of a hill where a monument indicates you are at the central point of the country! Quite funny!
Pancake rocks: Like that it seems really good to eat . But these are just rocks that look like pannenkoeken/crêpes as they are composed of different layers of stones Better you have a look at the pictures as it is quite difficult to explain ;-)
Hamner spring: On the agenda, bush walks and hot pools a relaxing well deserved afternoon! Great hostel with warm welcome!
Greymouth: Nothing to say! A sad city but we had to stop there to catch our next bus This city is unfortunately well known for its mining activities and lately the mining accident that happened over there
PS/ A special thought for the great people we had the chance to meet on our route during this Episode 1 ;-)
Our first kiwi experience⦠the New Zealand North Island!
City of arrival Auckland! The biggest NZ city, although it is not the capital, Wellington. The first day, we enjoyed a walk around the city and booked our transport for the coming weeks Instead of renting a car, we decided to take a bus pass allowing us to hop on and hop off at different locations into the country.
In the evening we met Jonty, a UK Deloitte colleague from the J&J project he is now working for Deloitte NZ ! Jonty, it was nice to see you again and thank you for letting us enjoying the skyline of the city from the Deloitte tower ;-)
The second day in Auckland, we enjoyed a 3h-walk on a volcanic island located in the Auckland bay, the Rangitoto island. Le soleil était au rendez-vous and the views were great J
On Wed (17/11), we left Auckland for Rotorua stopping at different touristic spots on the way like the Hobbiton village (for the ones who like Lord of the rings, this is a place where they recorded part of the movie), Paeroa (the city of the famous NZ drink L&P, now owned by The Coca Cola Company) We spent the night in Rotorua, a geothermal city where you can admire a natural hot water pool! Water is bowling at about 100 degrees in the middle of the city! Really impressive This kind of place definitely reminds you that you are on a volcanic island!
On Thursday, we left Rotorua for Taupo well known for its famous lake, Lake Taupo! On the way we stopped at the famous geothermal park Wai-O-Tapu AMAZING!! We could admire the following weird phenomenons: a geyser erupting at 10:15 AM every day, boiling mud pools, a hot lake known as the Champagne pool, We spent the afternoon and evening in Taupo.
PS on the above paragraph before Marjan explains it I prefer to let you know that indeed I thought I could have a swim in the geothermal pools so I was wearing (optimistically) my swimming gear to visit the site but after looking at the board (see picture) telling us that the temperature was about 100 degrees in the pools I quickly understood, it will not be the case L
The day after we left Taupo to go to the National park in order to do the famous Tongariro Alpine Crossing, the best one-day walk in NZ! This is where things are getting wrong
When we arrived in the park, we heard that there was a high chance of rain for the next day We tried to remain positive and woke up at 6AM as foreseen but while looking through the window, we quickly understood that the walk will not happen due to the atmospheric conditions!!!! You could not see at more than 50 meters away
So we decided to quickly change our plans as the bus for our next stop (Wellington) was leaving 30 minutes later We were lucky and got two seats on the bus!
We are currently enjoying a few days in Wellington, the capital of NZ. Today, we visited the Te Papa museum explaining NZ history but also presenting different exhibitions such as earthquakes, Maori culture, the biggest squid, The city is rather small for a capital but we have to remember that New Zealand counts only 4,5 mio inhabitants.
On Tuesday, we are taking the ferry to the South island where we hope the weather will be good Still a lot of amazing things to see in the coming weeks! We will keep you posted ;-)
So after Tasmania we head back to Melbourne for 2 days before taking our flight to New Zealand!
Melbourne was for us not unknown anymore as we had the chance to discover it before our trip to Tasmania so we just chilled out into the city centre and met some friends In fact we met a couple while travelling in Malaysia last year and they kindly invited us for dinner at their place in Melbourne. A great opportunity to get to know Yasmina, their little daughter of 2 months J
We had a great evening! Claudette & Joe, thank you again! We are definitely waiting for you in Europe next year ;-)
Our Australian adventure is now finished LWhile being in the plane we realized that it was the first step of our trip that was done one month is gone already BUT 4 other months are still ahead of us!
We are really excited to discover New Zealand We heard so many stories about this far away country Time difference with Belgium will be 12h!
Tasmania A real postcard! A variety of amazing landscapes from mountains to beaches passing by countryside all of this on a small island!
Arrival at the airport of Hobart after 3 hours delay thank you Tiger airways! The ticket was indeed cheap now we know why ;-) so I could enjoy a small sleep on the ground of the airport while Marjan was reading her book! Fortunately for us, upon arrival at the airport, our rental car was still waiting for us so we could go to our accommodation in the centre of Hobart without any problem!
The day after departure for the West Coast of the island We had to change our initial plans as some accommodations where we wanted to stay were already fully booked And Tasmania is not Sydney so no other possibility to find another place to sleep for cheap!
Crossing the island from East to West means about 300 km and 5 hours drive no highway but a one way road going through the mountains Beautiful landscapes of lakes surrounded by mountains, a bit like in Canada and Scotland to give you an idea. Awesome! Arrival at the youth hostel in Strahan (along the East Coast) under the rain
Next day, we decided to go to the Cradle mountain about 3 hours drive North from Strahan. The Cradle mountain is a famous place in Tasmania for its beautiful lookouts and landscapes in an impressive National park. We have done a 2 hours walk around Dove lake see pictures below.
Third day, we are leaving the Cradle mountain for the North Coast of the island Scenic roads with impressive lookouts. The landscape is now flatter and we could enjoy a drive along some Australian vineyards before arriving at Bridport, our final destination. The hostel is beautiful and just along the sea we are the only ones with a group of senior cyclists from NZ ;-) We loved the place!
Next day, it is time to discover the East coast J And the famous Bay of fires a series of beaches well known for their red rocks on white sand in front of a turquoise sea Not bad! ;-) We finished the day at Coles bay admiring the sunset until it started raining L
Last day, we went from Coles bay back to Hobart But before leaving Coles baywhich is located next to the Freyconet National Park.. We did a 3 hours walk to the Wineglass bay only accessible by foot so no car around J Really nice! Hobart is a small city along the sea compared to the other Australian big cities
A last comment we are still looking for a Tasmanian devil we just saw dead ones along the road L
Today we are back in Melbourne Tomorrow, on the agenda, LAUDNRY LAUNDRY and LAUNDRY ;-) It is definitely a must it is too many days Im wearing my unique long trouser . I dont want you to know the exact number of days in fact ;-)
After the Red Centre experience, we moved further south to Adelaide City Initial plan was to stop there in order to visit Kangaroo island and the Fleurieu peninsula and then head to the Grampians National Park and the Great Ocean Road!!!!
But we changed our mind That is what is great when you are a backpacker! We love it!!!!
So we decided to stay a few days in Adelaide in order to rest a bit then join a group for 3 days to do the trip to the Grampians National park and the Great Ocean Road . And then go to TASMANIA! J We found some cheap flights and a good deal to visit the island.
(We are currently at Melbourne airport waiting for our flight to Tasmania that has been delayed of 1h30 Thats maybe why it was so cheap ;-) So we take this as an opportunity to update our blog!)
So lets start from the beginning again
Adelaide:
A smaller city compared to Sydney and Melbourne but we enjoyed staying there We visited the Adelaide university, the Rundle mall, the Australian Wine Centre, the Botanic Gardens, Glenelg beach and we had the chance to meet some great people (David, Doug, Kay, Jessy, Hello guys if you read this!) with whom we celebrated Halloween (it is a big party here compared to Europe ) and did some animated table tennis tournaments! ;-)
Leaving Adelaide for Melbourne The Grampians National Park and the Great Ocean Road!
Wake up at 6AM in order to catch the bus in front of our youth hostel there are about 20 other sleepy backpackers on the bus J The adventure can start!
First stop, the Grampians National Park (about 5 hours drive East from Adelaide) One of the most beautiful Australian parks with incredible views On the agenda, walk to the McKinsey falls and the Balconies, visit of the Aboriginal Centre, observation of kangaroos and koalas in the wildlife, (see pictures below).
In the evening at the hostel, we enjoyed playing a few games with our travel mates (A special hello to Hannes, Leen, Wongee and Graham!... I (Isa) am still trying to win at the Regenwormen ;-) )
Second step, the Great Ocean road! This road is about 200 km along the Australian south coast.Between some rain showers, we had the chance to admire a sunset on the famous Twelve Apostles, walk along the beach, take some impressive pictures along the coast (e.g. London bridge), and even a bath in the sea for 3 courageous backpackers of our group (Anna, Hannes and Graham Congrats for jumping in the cold sea ;-) )
Again a great evening at the hostel with the group J It was great travelling with you !!!!
Arrival in Melbourne on the 4th November in the evening . We decided to meet with our travel mates for a last diner and drink together! Sorry for the long walk in Melbourne but our Italian restaurant was worth it ;-) Then we had a last last drink on a terrace... At midnight, we didnt forget to sing and wish HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Marjan J
Melbourne:
Great city! where we planned to spend two days before heading to Tasmania in order to celebrate Marjans birthday! Start of the day with a good breakfast on a terrace followed by a walk in the city and some shopping . (We absolutely needed an extra trouser for Tasmania as it is freezing cold over there we should not complain but still ;-)).
At noon, last lunch with the two Belgian we met on our tour, Hannes and Leen. It was really nice to meet Belgian backpackers (which is not common here) For sure, we will see you again J (hopefully in NZ ;-) )
In the evening, we met at the place of a German friend, Julia, that we met on our tour in the Red Centre Two Italian friends (Ilaria and Nico) also joined us to celebrate Marjans birthday They even cooked for us REAL ITALIAN PASTA! It was AWESOME as we say here ;-) End of the evening in a pub around a few beers (and a coke for Isa)
Today, walk in the city with Julia and Keith (another UK friend from our Red centre tour) Unexpected long trip to reach one of the Melbourne famous beaches Brighton beach about 2h30 for a trip that should have taken us 30 minutes . But at least we visited the suburbs of Melbourne! Julia, thank you for this ;-) We finally reached the beach and could enjoy a great view on the Melbourne skyline.
PS/ In the meantime we have changed our watch two times (we finally got rid of this weird 30 minutes) and you have changed as well once, so we are now officially 10 hours ahead of Belgium (which will change to 12 once we arrive in NZ).
We expected blue sky and red soil We got rain and a lot of vegetation ;-)
Just to remind you a bit On Sunday, we took the plane from Darwin to Alice Springs in order to do a tour into the Australian Red Centre So at 6.00 AM on Monday, we were picked up by the tour guide at our hostel We were 21 people from all around the world ready for this 3-days adventure On the agenda, visit of Uluru (Ayers Rock), Kings Canyon and the Valley of the winds with two nights in swags (meaning sleeping under the stars ).
First day, long drive to the Kings Canyon (7 hours) it turns up that the rain did not stop the whole day so at the Kings Canyon, we did a 3-hours walk under an heavy rain where it is supposed to be above 35 degrees Kings Canyon is just amazing (even under the rain) a bit like the canyon in the USA but still different great guided tour with explanation on the geology, animals and aboriginals!
No need to tell you how wet we were after the walk! Impossible to dry anything as rain was not stopping and we had to sleep under the stars we did a camp fire, ate around the fire and by miracle, the rain stopped so we could sleep and even admire the stars during the night. A really good night for Isa who did not even feel the rain that came back for a while during the night ;-)
Second day, trip to the Valley of the Winds in Kata Tjuta for a 3-hours walk and to the famous Ayers rock (rocher des aborigènes) under the sun this time!!!! We walked to two different lookouts in the Valley of the winds Amazing landscapes see pictures!
In the evening, we admired the sunset on the Ayers rock (Uluru) Uluru is really a place with a lot of history and spirituality! A lot of respect for the aboriginals and their culture is very important We learned a lot about the ways they were living and understood a bit more the situation they are currently living in Australia.
After admiring the sunset, back to our camp for a second night under the stars the night has been short as we had to wake up at 4.30 AM to admire the sun rise on the Ayers rock Life is difficult on holidays! ;-)
The third and last day, we went for a last 10 km walk which is the Base walk making the tour of the Ayers rock in fact really nice In the afternoon, small break in a camel farm where Isa tempted a camel ride quite funny see pictures and DONT LAUGH! ;-)
Back in Alice Springs for a well deserved shower! We met the group in a bar for dinner and party late in the night ;-)
So in a few words, a great cultural, sportive and human experience!!!! We loved it!
Today, rest in Alice Springs: saying goodbye to our Spanish friends, cooking for 4 of our friends (from the tour) exchanging pictures and good memories and taking a free didgeridoo course see pictures and AGAIN DONT LAUGH ;-)
Tomorrow, taking off for Adelaide for the next adventures
The Northern territories in a few key figures: 1 car (Toyota Yaris), about 1200 km, up to 37 degrees, about 10 kangaroos, 4 different accommodations, 3 national parks, about 35 liters of water, 300km between each petrol station and supermarket, 1000s of beautiful landscapes, 1.000.000s of flies and mosquitoes, J
In order to avoid to make it too long we wanted to share with you some highlights of our trip!
Time difference:
First thing to mention the time difference!!!1h30 minutes before Sydney time!!!!! ...1h fine but the 30 minutes never seen that before!!! To be further investigated until now, no Australian were able to explain that to us ;-)
Result of this time difference: If you change from 1.00 (AM) Sydney time to 11.30 on your mobile phone, you of course need to choose 23.30 and not 11.30 .Which I (Marjan) did. Result: no alarm clock at 9AM the next day, so we only woke up at 11.30 when they started cleaning our dorm!
Kakadu National Park:
Blue sky, dry forest and red soil for kilometers (without seeing anyone and driving on the left side of the road!) but also really nice point of interests like the sunset at Ubirr, the Yellow Water cruise to admire the famous SALT WATER CROCODILES (Impressive!!!!) and our safari tent in Jabiru (If you read the Lonely planet, it seems it is a city on its own being there, you have ONE central square with a small shop and thats it!)
Katherine Gorges:
A fabulous walk to the Edith falls for a well deserved swim in a paradisiacal landscape Second day, full of sport first the legs with a walk to nice lookouts and then the arms with a few km of canoe in the gorges again a small swim at the end J
Litchfield National Park:
Walking, swimming in a natural pool walking, swimming in a natural pool this has been the program of the 1,5 days over there! We were sleeping in a tent in the middle of nowhere admiring kangaroos.
Flies and mosquitoes:
We hate them like the midges in Scotland ;-) !!!!They are here by millions and are bothering you all the time especially in your face, nose, ears, . Grrrrrrr!!!!
Insect repellant is my best friend for the moment! ;-) (dixit Isa qui se prend toutes les vilaines piqures).
Aboriginal culture:
In Katherine, we have been confronted with the current life of the aboriginals no job, alcohol, drug and hanging around in the street not nice what Europeans did to them but question is: Is there no way out of this life?
Hope you enjoyed the reading! J
See you to our next destination the Red Centre to visit Alice Springs, the Ayers Rock (Uluru),
PS1/ Another weird story the first night at Darwin, a naked man entered our dorm at 1AM until there, sounds not too bad but he was completely drunk and not sexy !!! L
PS2/ @ Biloute : Merci pour ton sms jespère que ta vilaine grippe va mieux Remets un immense merci à François pour les guides Lonely Planet ils nous ont déjà bien servis J
PS3/ @ Ruth&Mike : We begrijpen nu volledig waarom jullie vliegennetjes voor het gezicht hadden, we hebben er een paar mee zien rond lopen, geen zicht, maar wel de enige manier om de vliegen uit je mond, neus en oren te houden!!
As you might now, we planned in our trip a small stop in Sydney (19/10/2010) in order to avoid making too much plane in a row Our final destination is indeed Darwin (North Australia) in order to visit Kakadu National Park, the Katerines gorges, before going to the Central territories to see the famous Ayers rock!!!
Stopping in Sydney was also a good opportunity to meet some friends that have decided to live Down under!Initial plan was to sleep at Laurence (a university friend from Isa) but unfortunately we could not reach her while being at the airport at 9:30 PM L So we had to find an accommodation and reach the city centre of Sydney knowing that all trains were not working on that day a small challenge what we like in fact the adventure!!
After knocking at the door of a few hostels we found out one with two beds available in a dorm in an hostel located in an old train station (see picture below)! Youhou mission done! J Euh until we went to bed there, we discover that one of our roommate was an old Chinese woman that snored and made noise the whole night Grrrrr impossible to sleep! So early wake up to re-visit the places in Sydney that we loved when we passed by 2 years ago
On the agenda: Opera house, Harbour bridge, Circular Quay, and afternoon with Mathilde who is living in Manly in front of Sydney!!!« Cétait chouette de passer un peu de temps avec toi on a retrouvé notre chemin jusque Circular Quay sans trop de soucis Merci ! »
See you in the Australian Northern territories ;-)
PS1/ Laurence, if you are reading this post, I hope everything is all right with you as I did not receive any answers to my messages Just let me know that you and Chris are fine J
PS2/@ Graham : CONGRATULATIONS for your new job!!!! J
PS3/ @ Ma Biloute: Jai bien recu ton petit sms qui ma bien fait plaisir Envoie moi des nouvelles ma poulette ! Toi aussi tu me manques ;-)
PS4/ @ Cath V. : Jai mis ton super T shirt un petit clin dil rien que pour toi dans une des photos ci-dessous !
PS5/ @ Griet & Ruth : Bedankt voor de Australian dollars. Ze zijn heel goed van pas gekomen in Sydney, hebben ons er meteen een nieuwe zonnebril mee aangeschaft in de City Market!
Where to start? A lot of things to say since we saw each other
Preparation of the trip has been a race until the end between the preparation of the backpack, the emptying of our apartment/house in order to let our respective renters to enjoy their stay, the goodbye to the family and friends, the last shopping and the last documents to be finalized for Deloitte (Ludivine, sorry for the delay but better late than never ;-) )
So after a short night on Sunday it was time to go to the airport Thank you Charlie and Nico P. for taking us to the airport sooooo early J another big thank you to Lilou for coming to the airport to tell us a last goodbye! and bringing us some precious chocolates We are enjoying and consuming them with parsimony ;-) (While typing this message, Im in the plane from HK to Sydney hoping that our chocolates will pass the controls they are a bit too strict about foods and beverages when entering Australia so lets see ;-) )
About HONG KONG . Sooooo many things to say!!!But in ONE WORD, we LOVED it!!!!
HK being a big Asian metropole mixing up different cultures, atmospheres, languages, and WITHOUT the humidity of Kuala Lumpur and with more authenticity than Singapore (Sorry Ilse D.)!
First day: A bit of Buddhist culture to start our immersion in the Asian world visit of the 10.000 buddhas temple (directly 10.000 Même pas peur;-) ) under about 35 degrees pffff We are definitely not used to such temperatures anymore so obligation to stop in a shopping mall to enjoy the air-conditioning ahhhhhh).In the afternoon, small walking in the busy streets of Kowloon and admiring the view of the HK skyline (it is indeed like on the postal cards ;-) )
After 40 hours without a proper bed, TIME TO SLEEP!!!! Jetlag . + 6 hours
Day two: Time to explore the heart of HK City the island! Metro and boat experiences HongKongese are really well organized so we found our way quite easily J Test of the 800 meters escalator (longest in the world but with some defect parts so we had to use our legs L )
We had the chance to admire the skyline of HK from the Peak (see pic below) and discover Soho, HK Park, Bank of China tower (Nico P., thanks for the advice), Landmark, Central district, and HK skyline by night (see also the pic).
Day three: MACAU HERE WE COME!!!!J
Boat trip to the famous MACAU On the agenda: visit of the old Macau city BUT ALSO the CASINOs (Wynns, Sands, Grand Lisboa, MGM, a copy of Las Vegas )
In the evening, back to HK exploration of local bars with King (university friend of Isa), meeting with Mr Raymond (the barman completely drunk) and enjoying the nightlife around a good beer for Marjan and a fresh juice for Isa ;-) In bed at 2h30 ;-)
Day four: After a well deserved sleep, visit of the Big Buddha on Lantau island in the fog ! L Followed by an afternoon in an outlet shopping mall real torture as our backpacks are full Our revenge will be terrible in Bangkok during our last day of trip (Lilou, je nai pas craqué devant les magnifiques paires de chaussures mais il sen est fallu de peu heureusement que Marjan était là ;-))
In the evening, test of local Asian food in a food court where we were the only Europeans «Maintenant, nous maitrisons lart de la baguette » J
Laurence & Mathilde, be ready we are now in Sydney!!!!!
Hope you are all doing well in Belgium and not having too cold weather Send us some news through the blog or emails J Looking forward to read you!
PS 1/ Before Marjan explains it in our next message I want to confess that I forgot in Belgium my VISA and AMEX cards hum hum BRAVO ISA!!! But a risk mitigation plan has directly been put in place ;-)Sorry for waking up King and my parents soooo early in the night . But, King, a big thank you for taking them with you while coming to HK J
PS 2/ For Céline & Graham, one picture is just for you The SMILEY is with us and enjoying our trip!!!!
PS3/ Kristof, bedankt voor de extra Gb muziek is al heel goed van pas gekomen op de lange vluchten!
D-8: How do you get everything for 5 months in one backpack?
... The answer is NOT... The first try was unsuccessful... so the plan for next weekend is eliminate, retry, eliminate, retry... Besides packing, the main activities now are: cleaning (if you want to rent your house, you have to do something for it), saying goodbye to all friends (nice party yesterday in Brussels!) and handing over work (why did we choose to work till Friday when our plane leaves on Monday?)
Even klein woordje uitleg voor de Nederlandstalige vrienden die raar opkijken waarom er op de blog tot nu toe enkel Engels te vinden is... Voor zij die het niet weten, Marjan & Isa staat voor Marjan en Isabelle en Marjan komt uit de noordelijke helft van België en Isabelle uit de zuidelijke helft, dus verwacht je aan een blog met mix van Engels, Nederlands en Frans. We kunnen misschien wat tips van onze samenwerking doorgeven aan Bart & Elio... ;o)
