Full (semi) Circle

After about nine months going in a big circle that covered half of Australia we're back to the place where it all started: Sydney (or 'Sidooonie' as the Japanese seem to call it). It's wintertime here, and it shows... Continuous rain and cold weather has turned Sydney into a somewhat depressing and melancholic city. A big contrast to the lively, colourful and warm city it is in summertime. We've heared that Belgium is 'suffering' from a heatwave at the moment, so we're looking forward to it already :)

Luckily we were blessed with excellent weather during our final weeks travelling on the eastcoast. It has been really great. The eascoast is known to be the most touristicly developped part of Australia. There is so much to do here. Everything can be catered for if you've got the cash. Skydiving to snorkeling, kayaking with dolphins to luxury 5 star resorts, boat cruises, big themeparks, little idyllic islands, bustling nightlife, famous surf beaches, ... you name it, they've got it. A lot of backpackers don't even make it past the eastcoast. They start their journey there, make and spend their money there, and end up partying there until their visa's expire. Luckily we've got more sense and that didn't happen to us :) We started out in the north-eastern corner and made our way down to Sydney, getting a taste of what the eastcoast is all about.

There were so many things we saw and did I could write about, but a few things stuck out. Number one has to be the scooba dive i did while sailing the whitsunday islands. The instructor took us out on a small beach on one of the islands and talked us through the basics of diving. We did a few exercices to get used to breathing under water (very strange experience that was... humans aren't ment to do that... no gills you see...) and then set of into the coral. It was amazing. A whole new world just opened up. Beautiful and eery at once. Totaly mesmerized by my surroundings i followed the instructor. I didn't realize how deep is was untill if felt my head getting squashed by the waterpressure. Remembering the "don't forget to pop your ears regularly or you might die a painfull death"-speach i got on the beach from the instructor before entering the water, i quickly resolved the problem and looked up to the watersurface 8 meters above me. A surreal experience for a first time diver. The underwaterlife was just as colourful and beautiful as you might imagine it from watching a national geographic documentary. Stunning experience and I hope to be able to do it again one day.

Experience number two was seeing humpback whales in the ocean on a small 5-metre long boat. Due to regulations the whale watching boats are not allowed to go right up to them. The boats get up to about 50 meters of where a pod of whales is swimming, follow them in a parallel line, and then it's just up to the whales if they feel like coming over and checking the boat out. We were lucky and got to see 2 small pods of 2 - 3 whales from very close. One of them passed the boat at no more than a few meters. It's a humbling sight to see these huge creatures peacefully swimming by. You see them come up for a few big breaths of air, arching their huge back and dorsal fin out of the water, throwing their tail up in the air and then disappear again. We were especially lucky to see a newborn whale close on the tail of its mother. Our guide, a marine biologist, said it was very rare to see such young a whale in the area. After seeing a couple more of these magnificent creatures it was time to head back to land and wish the whales good luck... 'cause they will need it next year... Our guide told us that the humpback whale has been protected for many years and have thrived in the region. All good was it not that when they reach a certain number whalers are allowed to hunt down and kill a couple hundred of them. It is unbelievable that a human being could pull the trigger and launch a harpoon at such a magnificent creature... Sad.

I could go on and write loads about the adrenaline rush and feeling of horror i got rafting in a small 2 person raft down the Russel river, or about swimming in the crystal clear lake Mckenzie on Fraser island, or about the beauty of Whitehaven beach, or about racing through the tropical rainforest of northern Queensland on an unsealed road in a mini-car not really built for those conditions, or about all the rest... But i prefer telling it to u guys in person and showing u the pictures when i get back home. We're leaving tomorrow at noon from Sydney and arriving in Paris the next day at 6.25 in the morning. I'm actually rather looking forward to the flight. Malaysia Airlines know how to take care of their passengers: with an entertainment system with loads of movies, games, music and television shows built into every seat the flight will be very enjoyable :)

That's it from me. Home sweet home, here I come!

On the East Coast, in Queensland

Hey hey hey.

After hopping on and off of busses over a 3 day period we finally arrived in Townsville on the Australian east coast last night. Before leaving Darwin we had a great time in Kakadu and Litchfield national parks. We spent 3 great days in a 4WD driving in Kakadu National Park where we witnessed a stunning sunset, got a feel for aboriginal culture at the famous Ubirr rock-art site, slept in swags under the stars and went for a swim in places so idylic they should only exist in dreams and movies. Litchfield was like Kakaku, only smaller.... which seeing as Kakadu National Park is the size of Wales is still very substantial :)

Of course we got to see the infamous predators of Australia, the salt water crocodile or "salties" as the aussies call them so lovingly. We saw them on 2 occasions. Our first encouter was on a wildlife cruise in a billabong near the Mary River. Very impressive. But not as impressive as seeing them the second time, which was on a 'jumping croc tour'. We went out on the Adelaide river (highest concentration of salt water crocs in the world) on a boat and actually saw the crocs getting fed in the wild. They lunged out of the water to get to juicy clumps of meat hanging from a long rod off of the boat. One of the crocs we saw was 5.5 meters long... enourmous. And the eye some of the crocs gave u when they came in for their feed was very unnerving. It was like they were contemplating if they wouldn't be able to get to us, the passengers, instead of just setteling for their treat of meat. Great experience! Of course they made sure not to overfeed the crocs, they are "wild" afterall.

So now were in Queensland on the East Coast of Australia. Today we mainly spent planning the next few weeks. We'll be running a very tight schedule cramming as much in that timeframe we can possibly get. Tommorowmorning we're leaving for Magnetic Island (So called 'cause when captain Cook passed their on one of his trips his compass went gaga), about 8 km's off of the coast. It's supposed to be a wonderfull place with many secluded beautiful beaches and great hiking trails. I've heard the beach and island have a real "Lost"-feel to it, for u guys who have seen the series. We'll be hanging around there for a few days with our tents. After that we'll return to Townsville and make our way further up north to Cairns from where we're planning to rent a car and drive up to Cape Tribulation and Port Douglas. Using Cairns as our base for a few days I'm also planning to go white water rafting on the Tully River (considered as one of the best white water rafting rivers in the world) and go out snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef. After that we'll make our way south again stopping in Earlie Beach (from where we'll be going on a 3day cruise of the Whithsundays), Hervey Bay (taking the boat to Fraser Island, largest sand island in the world, from where we'll spend a few days driving a 4WD around the island. After Frasier Island we'll be going whale watching), Brisbane, Byron Bay and finally Sydney where we'll be cathing our flight to Kuala Lumpur and back home the 20th of july at 14:20.

moving on

It's been a good 2 months. Darwin really is a nice little city. It has PERFECT weather every day and a relaxed atmosphere. The people who I work with in the Wisdom Bar have been great. Their staff is a mix of backpackers, australians and colourful immigrants -young and somewhat older- which makes for plenty of fun and conversation. We've been lucky with our housemates too, all top notch people.

Darwin is starting to suffer from world cup fever which will all culminate on mondayevening when the "socceroos" will play their first match of the world cup against Japan. It promises to be a memorable night with all the bars showing the game on huge screens and everyone shouting the socceroos on. Hopefully we can spend the night celebrating their first win. Tuesday I'm starting work at 8 in the morning though, so that might prove to be a hard day in the kitchen :)

It won't matter in the end though, 'cause wednesday will be my last workingday in Darwin! We've started to settle a bit here and could easily stay here a month or so longer, but it's time for us to continue travelling. Next weekend we'll spend 3 days exploring the famous Kakadu National Park 300 km's east of Darwin. After that we'll visit Lichtfield National Park, which is often discribed as Kakadu, but then compacter (Kakadu being bigger than Belgium) and more beautiful. On the way to Lichtfield NP we'll take the time to do a jumping croc cruise where you get to get up close and personal with these huge prehistoric animals. After returning from that (hopefully with all our limbs intact) we'll probably take a day in Darwin to relax before getting on the Greyhound coach for a long drive to Cairns on the North-east coast of Australia. From there the Great Barrier Reef and the Withsunday islands are less than a day away. After exploring that area we'll slowly make our way down south to Brisbane, Byron Bay and finally Sydney.

@ work

Hello Hello.

I've found a fulltime job in Darwin working as a kitchenhand :)

I've been working there the last 4 days and I can't complain about it. It earns ok, nice colleagues, and free food and drink. What else could I ask? :) Beats picking fruit by far. I had to quit my other job because the rosters overlap. But this job's better anyway, so no regrets :) I mainly do the washing up, keep the kitchen clean, do some basic food preparation and run around doing stuff for the chefs. Nice and easy.

Evy is having a harder time finding a good job. She's mainly ended up with different parttime jobs that are hard to combine. For the moment she's working as a waitress in The Deck Bar where she only gets about 20 - 25 hours per week. It's frustrating for her, but I'm sure something will pop up in the next few days though. Siegfried found a job pruning fruit trees on an island north of Darwin. Friday they are taking him there with a small plane. It looks like a fun job. But like almost all harvest labour it is not payed on an hourly basis, but is strictly contractwork. Meaning you could make very little if the conditions aren't right.

In the meantime Darwin has moved into the dry season. They only have two seasons here: the dry and the wet. The temperature is about 30 - 35 degrees all year round. In the wet it's very humid and generaly not a nice place to be in weatherwise, but in the dry it's just nice, sunny and hot all day long. The town intself is ok. It has some lovely green patches and a few beautiful secluded beaches. One other thing that catches one's eye here in the evenings is that there are huge pitch black bats roaming the skies at night. Never seen anything like'm. They're about triple the size of the bats we saw flying around in Sydney. Speaking of native wildlife, there's plenty of gecko's and funny lizards running around here too.

We have started counting down to our departure date, the 21st of july. After finishing work we'll only have about 5 weeks left to travel. Not a lot keeping in mind the area of Australia we still have to cover in that amount of time. After leaving Darwin we will be travelling to Kakadu National Park for a few days. After that we'll head into Queensland, home to the Whitsunday islands, lush rain forest, pictoresque beaches and loads of deadly animals to look out for :) After travelling in Queensland we'll have to check how much time we've got left. If it's possible we might take a plane over to Perth in Western Australia, rent a car there for a week or so to explore the area, and then fly back to Sydney where we'll depart for home. I'm not counting on it though. We'll see how we go. If we don't make it to Western Australia we'll just have to come back another time :)

SOS Pearl Jam tickets

After years of waiting for the legendary grunge band Pearl Jam to do a gigg in Belgium (I got close a few years ago, but they cancelled for Rock Werchter at the last moment), they finally decided to come along to the "Sportpaleis" in Antwerp the 30th august 2006. So yeah, that's great and all... but the problem is that all the tickets are already sold out. I tried to get some tickets via a friend in Belgium, but sadly when he got round to it they already sold out :(

I was hoping people reading this could maybe keep their eyes open for 1 or 2 (preferably) tickets for the concert. Maybe you know someone who knows someone, or you just happen to see an ad somewhere with someone selling their tickets... you know, that sort of stuff. I wouldn't even mind much paying more than the official price via the black market. It took Pearl Jam about 15 years to finally come to Belgium, so I am certain this will be my only chance for a very long time.

So if anyone can help, please (pretty please on my knees) do! :) Just leave a comment, or mail me at dhendrickx@gmail.com

Jobhunting in Darwin

I've been looking for a job the last week or so. It's been slow for the moment with all these cyclones, public holidays and stuff. But I've managed to get a job in a bar&grill called "Ducks Nuts" (it is more posh than it sounds). I've worked there the past weekend, and yesterday the manager said he was happy with my work so I got offered the job. Only downside is that it isn't for as many weekly hours as I'd hoped, so starting tomorrow (today being 1st of may, public holiday) I'm gonna be looking for a second job. Fingers crossed :)

Evy and I have moved in to a room in a shared accomodation style house. We moved in yesterday. It's a whole lot cheaper than staying in a hostel, and as we're looking to work in Darwin it makes more sense to move in to a more comfortable form of accomodation than a hostel.

Anyway, I'll let you know how it goes the next few days.

Tropical cyclone didn't hit Darwin

Hi everybody.

Just a quick update to let you guys know that the cyclone didn't hit Darwin. The night before it presumably would hit the predictions were very dire: Monica would move over Darwin as a category 3 or 4 cylcone. The town spent all day preparing for the worst. The supermarkets were packed with people, the supermarket personel having a hard time restocking the shelves in time with essentials like water, bread and canned food. In the streets people were doing their best to protect their property against the worst. It was a bit of a surreal atmosphere. We went to sleep expecting to run for the storm shelters by 7 or 8 o'clock in the morning.

During the night the cyclone changed direction, on a course south of Darwin. It also lost a lot of it's power overnight, shrinking to a category 1. So when we woke up at seven expecting the worst, there was just a slight drizzle and some wind. By 10 o'clock we did get some stormy weather, but nothing dangerous. We did end up getting sent to the stormshelter by hostelpersonell though, presumably following an anouncement on the local radio. That turned out to be a false alarm though. They misunderstood the anouncement. So we walked through the streets of Darwin in the pouring rain with all our gear to the shelter and back for nothing... and getting very wet. At least we did actually get to see the shelter from the inside :)

There is still a very small chance that the cyclone (which has now been downgraded to a "tropical low") re-intensifies in the next few days and swings back at Darwin, but that's really just a very remote chance. So it looks like we're safe and can continue looking for work :)

Update on Cyclone Monica *UPDATED*

Hi all. We've arrived in Darwin. It looks like a nice town. Today we've been looking for a job, 'cause we're starting to run low on cash again :) It's looking good, looks like there's plenty of work available in the area. If we can find a good job we'll stay here for 4-6 weeks, if not we'll go into Queensland and find a job there.

That cyclone I mentioned before is slowly moving in the direction of Darwin. It's still 600 km's east of us, and at the moment it's moving at 5 km's/hour in western direction, however there is a chance that it moves into our area during the next week. They tell us that these tropical cyclones are very unpredictable and thus there is no way of telling if we will get hit, and if we do it's possible that it won't be more than a storm. Cyclones gain strength over water, and loose strength when they cross land. There is still a lot of land between us and the cyclone, so chances are that when/if it get's here it will be a very "mild" cyclone.

I've got a few links for you guys so you can follow the progress of the cylcone:

Latest sat image : http://www.bom.gov.au/gms/IDE00035.latest.shtml

Sat loop of the last few images : http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDE00902.loop.shtml

Summary of the situation: http://www.bom.gov.au/weather/warnings.shtml , under Northern Territory you'll find a few links with info about the tropical cyclone (TC)

We informed ourselves today about possible shelters etc. There is one just across the road of our backpackers, very convenient :) So if it does come to the worst (UNLIKELY), we already know what to do and where to go. So no worries :)


UPDATE 24-04-2006
The latest prediction is that cyclone Monica is going to hit Darwin full on. However, it is also predicted that it's going to power down from a category 5 to a category 3 (see http://www.bom.gov.au/weather/qld/cyclone/windstr.shtml for explanation on the different cyclone categories). We've been fully briefed by the staff of our hostel and have been told to head for the nearest shelter as soon as it opens. As it stands now that will be around lunchtime tomorrow (early morning Belgian time). It is only a prediction, so the cyclone may still end up changing directions by tomorrow. It is possible that in the next few days I won't be able to keep in touch via internet/phone/sms, but as soon as I can I'll post an update. If the cylone does hit it could take anything from a few hours to a day or more to pass. We've stocked up on 2 days worth of food ourselves, so we're ready to go :) The stormshelter we will be heading for is actually the underground parking of a brand new Holiday Inn hotel. It's been built to withstand cyclones, so we'll be perfectly safe there.

Bye for now.