Ronald en Hester in Australië en Azië

Last news from Australia

By hester
June 26, 2007 on 8:42 am | In Australië | Add your comment

Oi, it’s been almost 2 weeks since the last post…

We’ve arrived in Sydney last Friday, but before that we’ve seen and done some beautiful things on our way from the Gold Coast to Sydney. If you don’t want to know about dolphins and whales at least read the last part ’cause we’ve got some news!

Gold Coast to Sydney
Our last day in Coomera we spent at Dreamworld and White Water World. That last one was great fun with all the huge waterslides. It was a bit cold though, to be outside in bikini in winter, so we ran around like little children from one to the other slide to stay warm

From Coomera we drove to Byron Bay, where the lighthouse (on the most easterly point of Australia) made a very special impression on us. We were there at dawn and the sky wast coloured magically. Plus there where dolphins playing almost right on the beach. It was the first time I saw them so close by in the water in the wild, what a wonderful creatures. On top of that we could see whales further up the ocean. Wow…

At Flat Rock in Ballina it was time for some surfing…Ronald hired a board and he did pretty well! I tried too but even with a wetsuit on I find the water too cold right now. Again there were the dolphins, swimming beneath Ronald in the water and jumping out of the water right next to him.
By this time we were still staying on campsites, at night wearing our thickest jumper and roasting marshmallows in a fire and we slept in the car (a bit warmer than a tent). Camping in winter can be fun

From Ballina we went to Bundjalung NP, where we saw the water hitting the rocks hard at Iluka Bluff. After that we went to Coffs Harbour and checked in to a nice and warm hostel! In Coffs Harbour we…….went ice skating!!!! I think I hadn’t been on ice on skates in about ten years, but I just had to do it in Australia! It was good fun.
In Coffs Harbour we went to see the Big Banana. Australia has something for ‘ big things’ and over the years they have produced a Big Avocado, a Big Pineapple, a Big Prawn and so on….it’s a bit weird but funny in the same time. All it is is just a very big banana and then ofcourse a cafe with bananacake, bananacoffee etc., a shop with everything ‘banana’, a ‘banana skywalk’…And there is also a Toboggan Ride (rodelbaan in Dutch) which we both liked very much, we went 5 times each haha!

After all that bananafun and another day of surfing for Ronald it was time for a Whale Watch Tour!!!!!!!!! The Humpback whales are migrating now to the Great Barrier Reef to breed and then they travel back south. On the boat it took a while before we spotted some whales, but when we finally got closer it was awesome. There were two whales playing all the time, blowing water out, hitting the water with their massive tailes and we even saw one jumping out of the water completely. It was absoluteley amazing…..While we were driving the boat closer to the whales, two dolphins came in front of the boat and stayed there for minutes, jumping out of the water, so cool.

From Coffs Harbour we drove to South West Rocks to see the Trial Bay Gaol, which was build around 1880 by convicts itself! Nice. We ended up in a pub somewhere where they were just starting a game of Trivia. We joined the game but we were the biggest losers haha, most of the questions were Australian facts, so we didn’t really know….but it was fun.

Through Port Macquarie and Nelson Bay we got to Newcastle. I don’t know if it has been on the news in The Netherlands, but in Newcastle a big tanker has stranded on a beach during a huge storm two weeks ago. It’s filled with oil and people are trying to tow it back into the sea, but that doesn’t go easily. It was very impressive to see. We found Newcastle to be a nice city, in the contrary to most Australian cities it has some history and old buildings.

The end
And then it was time for our last kilometers of our trip, back to Sydney to sell our car. That felt really weird. We’ve driven 26500 klm with our beloved car and after 9 months, it’s all over…It’s been so good, we’ve had a great trip and we are gonna miss it so much. The freedom, being able to do just whatever you want, go wherever you want, whenever, stay a long as you like….that was awesome.

In Sydney we got the car cleaned, mechanically checked (all good) and put it in the Car Market in Kings Cross, where we bought it in October. The Car Market is an awful place to be, it’s underground in a parking garage, it’s cold and it has no atmosphere at all. But besides that it is great fun with all the other people who are trying to sell their car. We took 3 weeks to sell the car, because it’s winter and there are less people around who wanna buy a car. But after two days we had a Brittish couple who wanted to do a testdrive and they bought our car!!!!!!!!!

That was yesterday. I was happy and sad in the same time. Happy that we don’t have to worry about not getting the car sold and sad about all of it being over. And the thought of having 3 more weeks in Australia in the cold (In Sydney it’s about 15 degrees and rainy right now), after we have finished our ’round’ through the country, didn’t really appeal to us. We have seen and done everything we wanted and it’s time to move on.

So we went to the Kilroy traveldesk in Sydney and inquired about the possibility to change our flight again, see if we could go to Bangkok any earlier than July 16. We could!!!!!! We thought about it, looked at our options and then changed the flight!!!!!!!!!!

So, our flight from Sydney now goes on Monday July 2. That’s in 5 days!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m so excited. We are probably gonna go to Singapore as well, because we have two more weeks in Asia now.

Check out the new pictures…we’ve divided the albums into Australia and Asia.

With love………Ronald & Hester

Done working, 5 more weeks to go before the new adventure starts

By hester
June 9, 2007 on 5:47 am | In Australië | Add your comment

We’re almost done working here at the Gold Coast Tomorrow is the last day we have to work and then it’s time for the last bit of travelling here in the land of Oz.

Two weeks ago Ronald and both worked very hard at the Boatshow. This was an exhibition in Sanctuary Cove of the biggest en most luxurious boats you can imagine, for 4 days. The restaurant where we work was flat out all the time with visitors of the Boatshow, we worked 12-13 hours a day with only one hour break late in the afternoon. It was exhausting but also fun, especially with the other staff. Every time we ran into the kitchen to drop some plaids off, there was at least one person crying; ‘Why can’t all these people just f*ck off now, I’ve had enough’. Good teamspirit, as you can see
Ronald did a very good job working at the Boatshow, so this week he is also working at Calabash for about 20 hours. I’ve learned him how to kick butt on the expresso machine!

Besides working we’ve done some fun things as well (ofcourse), we went to Australia Zoo (Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter’s Zoo) to once again cuddle some kangaroos, we partied with people from Calabash in Surfers Paradise, we went outletshopping in Harbour Town, we went to Brisbane for a day to explore the city. So we have certainly enjoyed ourselves here for the last couple of weeks.

We’ve got 5 more weeks to go until we leave this beautiful country. But we both feel a bit homesick at the moment…Last week it was really cold, about 16 degrees. Being very sensitive to the weather, as we both are, we feel a bit sad and we sort of wish we could go to Asia now, instead of in 5 weeks. So the weather is letting us down a bit, but hey, what did we expect, it’s winter!!!

On Monday we’ll leave Luke’s place to travel south to Sydney, where we are hoping to be within 10 days or so. We’ll have to sell the car there, prepare the last stuff for the Asia trip and we’re off!

In the meantime, we’ll keep you posted! Have a look in the ‘Gold Coast’ album, I’ve added more pictures.

Hugs, Ronald & Hester