Malaysia - Langkawi island - Relaxing pur and last organisation

Dear island lovers (again),
In my third week in Malaysia I decided to get to the next island, further North. I got on the 2pm ferry from Penang island to Langkawi island. The clouds were pretty dark and it rained as well during the three-hour-trip but luckily it wasn't too rocky and I didn't get seasick.

Malaysia - Pangkor and Penang islands - Nice beaches and amazing food

Dear island lovers,
After exploring Melaka, Kuala Lumpur and the Cameron Highlands I decided to head towards the West Coast of the Malaysian peninsular as it was supposed to be drier there. And they have beaches :-) Lots of beaches. My first stop was Pangkor island where I arrived after taking two buses, a ferry and then a motorbike ride to my guesthouse. OH YES! Three Malay-Chinese guys who spoke to me on the second bus helped me to get me and my 20 kg suitcase to my guesthouse in Teluk Nipah on two motorbikes. How nice! After checking in and refreshing I went for a first walk along the beach.

Australia - Compared to Singapore - my impression after a week

Dear Singapore lovers,
Guys, Singapore is like SO freaking different to Australia but than in some ways it isn't. I spent a week there after I finished my six months as an Au Pair. Luckily I was able to stay with my friend Eva whom I met in Adelaide in February.

Let's just get a few facts right about Australia and Singapore to give you an idea of how different they are:

Bali - Great but not as relaxing as intended... I blame Australia!

Dear Bali lovers,
I flew to Bali in Indonesia!!! Who would have thought I would do that when I arrived in Sydney exactly 10 months ago? To be totally honest, I felt a bit like I'm betraying Australia when I headed to the Perth International Airport. But than, it is a typical Aussie get-away right? I planned this to be a totally relaxing, slow-paced cultural holiday to regain some energy for my further travel. Well, that didn't quite go to plan.
After a smooth flight and a long immigration queue I got picked up by the owners of the homestay which I chose in Ubud. I arrived there at 8pm and settled into my room before I went out for dinner. I was a bit overwhelmed by the hot and humid weather and all the noises, smells and looks. Visiting any part of Asia is so different to any Western country or Australia. I know a bit from our family holidays but I haven't been to Asia in over 10 years. (Shocking, I know!)
The next morning I enjoyed a Banana pancake on the terrace of my room. That's how a holiday should be like!!!

Rottnest Island - Speedboat, wildlife and clear water

Cheerio folks,
On Friday it was forecasted to get over 30 degrees Celsius again, so I booked the ferry to get to the holiday island of Perth: Rottnest Island! At 8am in the morning I arrived at the Barrack Street Jetty to the ferry of Rottnest Express.

But because boarding wasn't opened yet and I was so happy to have this camera, I took some quick pictures of the Bell Tower and the skyline of Perth.

Rockingham - Penguin Island

Cheerio friends and strangers,

It is Sunday and that means my day off! WUHU! And this time I took the second car of my host family to drive to Rockingham. After I cleaned the back window and got the satnav running I set off to this 50 km journey along the Kwinana Freeway. I arrived at 9:45am at the ferry departure point where I got a ticket to set over to Penguin Island. It is literally a 5 minute drive across and we even saw two people walk over the sand bank. But it is considered dangerous and people even lost their lives due to the strong currents.

 

Kangaroo Island - Platypus walk and beach-hopping

Hey there everyone,

On Thursday morning we did not set any alarm but still got up at about 8:30am because you couldn’t sleep any longer on this hard mattress and with the noise outside (from birds and possums). We packed our stuff pretty quickly and headed back to the Visitor Information Center to get rid of our rubbish. Then we sat off for the Platypus Waterholes Walk. We walked around very quietly and searched around the water for signs of Platypus but we were not lucky.

Kangaroo Island - Rocks, seals and sunset

Cheers mates,

On Wednesday morning we got up at 7am and after breakfast we sat off for Hanson Bay. It was very cloudy and windy when Sébastien and Jan set off for the 9km Hanson Bay Hike.

Kangaroo Island - Seals, sand-boarding and wild animals

Howdy partners,

The next morning we got up at 8am and had to rearrange our luggage so we would not have to shift everything around to find our belongings. Anyway, we made it to the Visitor Information Center of Penneshaw at 9:30am and got lots of information about camping grounds, opening times of attractions and some useful tipps about the island. Then we drove to the first attraction of the day: Seal Bay! This is a bay on the South coast of the island where the endangered species of Australian Sea Lions rest after their three-day hunt and also breed. We decided for the self-guided boardwalk as it was a lot cheaper than the guided beach walk. This meant we could not get to go to the beach but we still saw a lot of seals.

Kangaroo Island - Roadtrip, beautiful bay and rooftent

Kangaroo Island calling!

Okay, Monday morning it was time for my first self-organised tour with someone else than Markus. Sébastien, Jan and I met at shortly past 9am at the WickedCamper depot in Adelaide to get the payment, the paperwork and the equipment ready for our five-day trip to Kangaroo Island. As there was no Toyota Corolla available we got a (fairly ugly) Nissan Cube instead. But in regards to our luggage it turned out to be good enough to fit everything in. 

Tasmania - Port Arthur and Tasman National Park

Good morning/afternoon/evening/night, wherever you are,

On Sunday morning we left the hostel at 8am (finally we could sleep a bit longer) to head first to Richmond, a historic town which is 200 years old! Again, Australia is a fairly young settlement… We saw the oldest bridge of Australia and grabbed a coffee and some lunch for later.

Tasmania - Cataract Gorge Launceston and Bay of Fires

Cheers world,

Okay, today we left a bit later than before, at 7:30am. (NOOOOOOOOOOO, still too early) We had to pick up four new passengers and then stopped at the Cataract Gorge of Launceston for an easy and short 45-minute walk around the beautiful gorge and we saw two wallabies (or even pademelons? Not sure).

Tasmania - Cradle Mountain, lake, wild animals, murals and cheese

Hey ladies and gentlemen, girls and boys,

Getting up early gets harder and harder and I was a bit late with my breakfast but nevertheless we left almost on time at 7:08am for an 1.5-hour drive to Tullah Lakeside to grab a sandwich for lunch.

Another 1.5-hour drive later we arrived at Cradle Mountain where we could choose from several short and easy to long and hard walks in the area.

Tasmania - Falls, sand dunes and secret lake

Howdy partners,

We all had breakfast at 6am and headed to the west coast of Tasmania at 7am. After some driving and picking up some lunch to take with us we stopped for an easy but muddy three-hour walk through the rainforest to the Montezuma Falls.

Tasmania - Falls, Mount Field NP and bushfire detour

Hi there everyone,

On Tuesday morning five persons got picked up at my hostel and we had to navigate through the rush hour in Hobart to pick up another five people until our coach was full with the tour guide Renate and 21 persons. Then we set off to a small village to grab some lunch to take with us and after some driving we arrived at some rainforest for an easy walk past the Horseshoe Falls and the Russels Falls.

Hobart - Arrival and short city walk

Cheers mates,

After Australia Day I flew out from Melbourne Tullamarine Airport at 8am to Hobart in Tasmania. The flight only took one hour but the airport shuttle bus which I took to my hostel (The Pickled Frog, what a name…) stopped at so many other hotels and hostels, I did not get to my hostel until 11am. It was still too early to check in, so I made use of the washing machines and dryers and the FREE Wifi to update my blog. At 3pm I got my stuff up into my room and met some really nice girls. Then I had a nap and when I got up two Dutch girls entered the room and it turned out they were going to be on the same tour as me. Nice!

Airlie Beach - Snorkeling and Whitehaven Beach for my birthday

Merry Christmas everyone!

On Christmas Eve, the 24^th of December 2013 it was my 28^th birthday! HONESTLY? I actually had to remind myself of this because this was so totally different from all my birthdays so far that I did not feel like it. It was too warm and sunny, Markus was with me (he is normally of course with his family) and most importantly, I was not with my family! It felt so strange! :-(

But Markus had a special birthday present for me: a sailing adventure tour to Whitehaven Beach! We got picked up at our hotel (Kipara Rainforest Retreat) and checked in at the harbor of Airlie Beach and boarded the purple sailing boat Camira.

Fraser Island - Bumby drive and flight

G'Day everyone,
On Friday early morning we were picked up by the Fraser Explorer Tour at our motel and driven to River Heads where the ferry departs to Fraser Island. It took about half an hour across and then we got onto our 4WD (four-wheel-drive) coach. The ferry was absolutely full, about 4 or 5 coaches and several jeeps were waiting for all the visitors.

Our guide Butch advised us to always were the seat belts and after a few kilometres we knew exactly why: it was very, very, VERY bumpy!

Coffs Harbour - Muttonbird Island Nature Reserve

Hi there,

After our exciting visit to the Koala and Wildlife Park we headed North to Coffs Harbours for a short visit to the Muttonbird Island Nature Reserve where we did not find a lot of birds but had a great view over the ocean and the harbour.