Hottt

From the last time I posted, the weather has gotten worse and worse. By the time I left Sydney and caught the bus to Byron Bay, it was raining heaps and it's not something I'm accustomed to. In New Zealand, we mostly had good weather. The times it did rain we were sitting warm and cozy in our car. And the rare occasion that we were outside and it still rained, we got itsy bitsy drizzle rain.

For all the drought they're proclaiming to have here, Mother Nature still managed to 'waste' a shitload of water on us. Rain kept pouring down on us. So with all that bad weather, there wasn't much to do. Either just wait and sit inside or ..., SURF! We preferred the latter. The ocean was quite warm and with a wetsuit, it didn't really matter whether it was raining or not.

The first day I got there, I rented a board and a wetsuit and joined up with Erwin to begin my first ever surfing experience. Erwin already spent a few days there and befriended 4 British lads: Thin James, Big James, Simon and Rob. The first thing I learned trying to surf, is that it's really really hard. After a couple of hours surfing I managed to get one foot and one knee on the board for 0.31 seconds (give or take); that's the closest I got to standing. Erwin was doing better and I saw him actually stand and catch a wave a couple of times. The second thing I learned: don't put your board in front of you and a wave. The wave will throw the board at you and smack you up good. And that takes me to the main lesson for that day: the sea will beat you up silly, whack you around and beat you up some more just for kicks. I finished the session with a couple of bruises, which were forming odd shaped letters. They spelled out: "Get a surf lesson, you moron".
That first day taught me a lot about surfing, except how to surf. We had a good time at the beach though and we took some surfing lessons 2 days later.

During the lessons we got introduced to the basics. Basically, how to stand on your board and catch a wave. Also to NOT put your board between yourself and a wave, but I learned that the hard way already. For the lesson we drove to a small bay, with only easy small waves, which made the whole thing a lot easier. I haven't surfed again since, so I'll have to see how much the lessons helped me.

Leaving Byron the rain finally ceased and when we arrived in Surfer's Paradise (2 hours north of Byron) the sun began to shine again. It has been a while since we could use the sunscreen. In Surfer's we just chilled a bit, and met up again with James and Simon. We hit the bars later that night and had a great time dancing in the toilet. The video's bit crappy quality wise, but makes up for it in hotness. :)

Only stayed two days in Surfer's and after a quick stop in Brisbane we continued to Noosa, another town along the coast. In between we went to Steve Irwin's Zoo. Yay! In Noosa we'll finally do some surfing again, and the weather's great! And a three day kayaking tour along some river here.

Erwin has time to pick his nose while surfing

Surfer's Paradise from a distance

Going to the pub with James and Simon (that's James's normal face)

Erwin spooning a kangaroo in the Australian Zoo

CRIKEY!!

The world is eviiil, evil I tell you!

edit: Oh, got an Aussie phone nowadays, use +61415784892 is you want to contact me (my old phone was in the backpack, so don't use that number anymore)

As you may have heard, my backpack got stolen a few days ago. Put it down in a cafe and when we we're about to leave, the bag was gone. People are evil, I tell you, eeeeeevil!!! Anyhow, I'm more pissed at myself for not being more careful. Especially, since I had all my stuff in there: passport, ipod, ticket, diary, money, etc etc. The whole thing did get in the newspaper. I copied this from the Melbourne Times.

***

World is evil - innocent moose kidnapped

Melbourne - The always friendly and cuddly moose, Waldo, was abducted when resting in his natural habitat, Dennis Leman's backpack.

Till not so long ago, Waldo lived a life of soltitude in Taupo, New Zealand. He was saved from this lonely way of life, by what would become his best friends: Erwin Gillissen and Dennis Leman. They gave Waldo his new home and are naturally devestated by recent events. When asked for comments on the tragedy, Erwin commented: "The hardest part is not knowning whether he's still alive or ... (silence)

...

*sniff*

...

sorry, I need a tissue"

...

Dennis, obviously still taken by grieve and high on emotion, was ranting furiously:"Screw Waldo, I just lost my i-pod!"

Responsibility for this vicious act is yet to be claimed, but it is believed by Erwin and Dennis the Scientology is behind it all, since "Tom Cruise is a weird wanker"-as quoted by Dennis. If anyone witnessed or has any information that could lead to finding Waldo, they can contact the police.

***

Oh well, live and learn. I just wonder when the learning part kicks in. But, what's done is done, and besides, on the bright side of things...

...eh,

no bright side

...

right, anyway did get the whole thing sorted out already. Police stuff, embassy stuff, and ticket hassle. Eventually, it's not that bad and worse things can happen. I'll be on my way as planned, just have to pick up a new ticket in Sydney and get my passport in Brisbane (if everything goes as planned).

Not all bad news though, I actually had a good time down in Melbourne (pic is Melbourne at night). We spent some time exploring the city, but didn't get further than the city center. We had a quick trip to the beach the other day.

We also went on a 1-day-tour travelling the Great Ocean Road. We were lucky to have good weather and the Apostles (some rocks standing in the sea) are awesome to see. I booked a 10 minute helicopter flight, which took me alongside the coast and gave a stunning view from the air. Pictures are on Erwin's cam, since he's not here, will have to upload them some other time.

From Melbourne we took the bus to Sydney, which took us about 13 hours. I spent a few days with my family, which was fun. Erwin in the mean time, continued his way up north and is sitting and surfing in Byron Bay at the moment. Just got a message from him saying he has a vicious hangover, so it's safe to assume he had a good time. Going to get the bus tonight and meet up with him again on Friday.

St. Kilda - beach in Melbourne

Playing checkers on our self-made board.

Having a beer with Neil, our roomie

An AFL match we saw in Melbourne: Carlton vs Collingwood

Meeting up with my cousin Cecilia in Sydney

Bye, bye, sheep shaggers

Day 44 - 46 (5-4-2008 till 7-4-2008)
Last few days we spent in Christchurch. Weather hasn't been that good lately and we've mostly just took it easy at the end of our trip here. At the moment, just killing some time till we catch our plane. Below two pictures of the north and south island, where you see the route we took the past 6 weeks (The numbers indicate the the corresponding days). Talk to you folks from Aussie, yaaay!!!

North Island

South Island

Wrapping things up in NZ

edit 7-4-2008: Added some random movie (at the end)

Day 37 - 41 (29-03 till 02-04)
From Dunedin we drove in the direction of Christchurch, where we will take the plane to Melbourne on the 8th of April. Since we still have a few days to spare, we planned to explore in the neighbourhood of Christchurch.

Time's going fast the last few weeks, only a few more days to go and we're already off to Australia. Not much has happened since the last post, it seems we've already toured through the most beautiful parts of New Zealand and are left with the less impressive sceneries.

Anyhow some sad news, my camera either ran away, got stolen or I forgot it somewhere. I think it's the latter, but I'm trying to deny my own stupidity. If any has a good suggestion for a new (point-n-click) camera, let me know.

Day 42 - 43 (3-4-2008 till 4-4-2008)

From Christchurch we headed north to the Hanmer Springs, there we took a day 'chilling' in hot spa pools. After we were done relaxing, we drove a bit further north, to Kaikoura. Kaikoura's a small touristic coastal town, famous for whale, dolphin and seal watching. We checked in a very cosy hostel run by two elderly ladies. One seems constantly under influence (the good happy-loving kind of drunk) and the other is just the classic loving granny, everybody would want to have. I'd imagine her baking chocolate chip cookies and apple crumble pie in her spare time, ..., she doesn't though, unfortunately. Also, they both seem to be a bit smitten over Erwin :).

The loving granny was telling us nothing shocked her anymore. While running the hostel, she's met some strange people and seen some weird things: a guy staying at the hostel, who's drunk 24 hours a day and working as a fireman, people having sex and sleeping in the tv room and more fun stories.

Anyhow, the best part of the hostel, was the back garden with a shabby, but very comfy, hammock, giving a view of the sea and the mountains alongside the coast. We met some dutchies at the springs earlier that day, who also went to Kaikoura, so we spent the evening drinking some beers, playing pool and watching tv with them. Next day, was pretty easy going. Found out the dolphin swimming was booked full till Sunday, which we're not going to wait for. So eventually, we spent the day, mostly sleeping.

Well as I said, few more days and we're off to Aussie. We've seen most of New Zealand by now and I'm really looking forward to some warmer weather.

Treehuggers, big tree on the way to Christchurch

View during a hike in the neighbourhood of Christchurch


View from the same hike

Dutchies we met at Hanmer

L0l@???