Adelaide and Hahndorf

Adelaide - Where is the big city?

The wonderful facade of a sweets shop in Adelaide

Right after we arrived, Adelaide was a big surprise for us: No skyscrapers, no "business-buildings". Everything just looked like Suburbia - even though we were staying directly in the center. Adelaide was the first big city, that was really different, less European, more like you would imagine an Australien Town. Still, our first impression was - in the burning heat without a single breeze - pretty bad. But - As soon as the sun was down and the people of the city found there way into the streets, we fell back in our tourist way, which lets us ride a wave, living in a bubble, totally relaxed and chilled and every house was worth a picture again.

Sweets, everywhere sweets!

Sweets, sweets, lots of sweets

The most impressiv one on our first evening was the sweets shop, we passed by by chance. After seeing the amazing shop windows - it was clear to us, that we have to come back the next day. And they have everything a sweet junkie could wish for: chocolate, lollipops, sweets, ice cream and fudge.

Relaxation at Victoria Square

Victoria Square Well by Night

Right on top of our to-do-list was Victoria Square, the most famous place in Adelaide. Kids were playing in the water fountains, that came rushing up from the ground and the evening atmosphere just gave it this amazing feel of coziness. So cozy, that a pedestrian just took of all his clothes and went for a spring in the well - completely naked.

Looking for breakfast

The very hungry pigs at Rundle Mall

Even back in Melbourne we learned that Australian people are not really breakfast people. Dann before ten everything was closed. Thanks to Tripadviser, we found "Luigi's" - a coffee house with daily changing breakfast menu. Definitively advisable! On our way, we came by Rundle Mall and the there living very hungry, wild pigs (look at the picture for details).
Because both of us aren't city-people, we fled to the parks. Unfortunately in March Festival season is starting, so all parks were closed to make them ready for the music-, streetfood,- and art festivals that will be here right after we will be gone again. We picked the wrong dates.. But... This way there were less people and everything was calm and laid back.
In the end we found our way to the Botanic Gardens, in every city, you have nice shady places in the Botanic Gardens.

Ducks in the Park - Following us because they wanted our
breakfast

Old buildings, churches and the library

Flowers in this heat - who would've
thought

On our way back to the hotel - pretty exhausted already because of the heat - we strolled by the art-mile! From the old university buildings, the Art Gallery of Adelaide to the State Library of South Australia - all buildings were old and in pretty good condition, surrounded by trees, statues and flowers: A dream!

It's the library of Hogwarts!

Despite our tiredness, I just had to see the library - and again, my breath was taken away! I found the library of Hogwarts - or at least the part, that you have to find your way through in the Harry Potter 1 Computer Game, where you have to jump on the book shelves and find your way... Oooops, I get away from the topic... One of the most beautiful libraries of the world (that's what the flyer says). The great thing about the libraries here is, that the books are not unapproachable, there are just there - for you to touch or smell or pet or feel...

Let's go to Germany - it's just a 45 minutes bus ride!

After two days of sight seeing in Adelaide, we had seen everything already, so we decided to take the bus to Hahndorf, one of the oldest villages around in Australia, founded by Germans who fled Germany because of religious persecution. And the area was not just famous for it cuckoo clocks, leather pants and "German stuff" - but also for wine? As an Austrian, I doubt that! The wine beer border runs through Austria. Everything south of it, like France, Italy, Spain, Greece or Portugal are having great wine - everything north of it, like Czechia, Ireland, Denmark, Poland - and also Germany are famous for there beer, not the wine!

Oh beautiful vineyards of South Australia .. 

Book art is the best art :)

Because Hahndorf was mostly full of tourist shops, art shops, cloth shops, German shops and any other kind of shop you can imagine, we hiked out a bit, to see the vineyard scenery. That was really lovely!
Another amazing thing was a tiny tiny exhibition with book art!  I am really unsure what the exhibition was about, but the books with those marvelous paintings in them, were worth a visit. So if you are in the area, go to Hahndorf - it is touristy, it is small, but you have nice exhibition, nice landscape around and also: nice food! Where else can you have pancakes with fresh fruit for lunch? :)

Please, forgive me for all my spelling, grammar and vocabulary mistakes!! My mother tongue is German.

Melbourne

Standing on top of the world and being astonished by books

The Hellenic Museum

Arriving in Melbourne, we had lots and lots of plans, what we wanted to see - the classic tourist program. But on our first little walk around the city, we saw the advertisement for the "gods, myths and mortals" exhibition in the Hellenic Museum. So we changed our plans - plans are made to be changed.
We were the only guests in the museum and slowly we realised, why. The old vases and clothes and jewelry were very interesting and beautiful but after 30 minutes, we were done, had seen everything and read most of the information.

Using the tram - for free!

A Free Tram Ride :)

To get to know the city a bit better, we decided to use the free tram! Yey, everywhere else, tourists pay more than locals for public transportation. Not here - the tourist tram is free. But - here again - we soon got to know, why. The noise, the tram made, was hurtful in the ears and it did not really go a good route. The speakers were poorly placed, so we didn't hear anything from the tourist information. In the end, we decided, that it was a great idea to have a free tourist tram, but the way, they did it, was unnecessary.

Fleeing from the city

A autumn-looking tree

Since both of us are not really city-people, our first stops in a city are always the parks and gardens. So we went through the Alexandra Gardens, the Victoria Gardens, through King's Domain to the Botanical Gardens - a place, that never disappoints in a city. And again: we were amazed by the plants, the shade (yey, fleeing not just from the city but also from the sun) and not so much by the lakes. Because of the heat they were completely taken over by algae.
The next day, we went for the Fitzroy Gardens to see Cooks Cottage. This was originally the home of James Cook's parents - built in 1755 in Yorkshire. After bringing it to Melbourne piece by piece and reconstructing it, it was opened for tourists in 1934.

Cooks Cottage

On our way to this cottage, we passed by the "conservatory" - a green house full of flowers. Also there was a tree which looked like it was autumn. But when we came closer, it turned out to be little red blossoms. Nature just is marvelous.

Standing on the edge and enjoying the view

For the evening we had something special planned. We got tickets for the Eureka Tower 88. It is the highest building lookout point on the southern hemisphere and "the edge experience" is the only one in the world. With 9 m/s we went up to the skydeck. From there we had an amazing view of the sunset! Then we went into the glass cube, that was pushed out of the building 3 m wide. For a second, our hearts stopped, when the filter of the glasses liftet and we saw, we were standing on nothing but glass - around 300 m above the ground.

The stunning view from the Eureka Tower Skydeck 88

Books and books and books

Those fantastic old books...

Another quick stop was at the State Library of Victoria. Libraries are always a good stop in a city. Normally I just enjoy the piece and quite there, the feeling of a thousand books watching me, while I watch them but this time... I was so astonished, so amazed, so awestruck! There was this big globe gallery - five stories high, where you could look down in the middle to see all those books. And in this gallery was an exhibition "mirror of the world - books and ideas" full of old books, lovely done, inspirational quotes from famous authors, publishers and printers. I had to sit down for a moment, because I was so overwhelmed from this feeling, all those fantastic books, those lovely quotes, those stunning views gave me.

Oh you wonderful globe gallery in the State Library of Victoria

Back to the river

The lovely evening view of Melbourne

The last evening we spent in South Bank, strolling alongside the river, watching street artists play music, draw their pictures, making caricatures, juggling with flaming torches or swallowing swords. This side of the river opens up to a gorgeous view of the city. It was the perfect way to say goodbye to Melbourne.

Please, forgive me for all my spelling, grammar and vocabulary mistakes!! My mother tongue is German.

Newcastle

Coal and coal and the ocean is watching

Newcastle is the next bigger city in our closer environment, so it was just a matter of time, when we would drive there to see it. What I read about it, was not really appealing to me. According to the travel guide book Newcastle was just one big coal industry - from the mines, to the railway bringing the coal in, to the big cargo ships in the industrial harbour to take the coals away.
When we passed by some of the coal production, we knew, there was supposed to be a wind turbine as well. It was gone. We don't know why, but I think it is save to assume, that they needed the space for coal delivery.

Artisan Market

Arts and crafts market in Newcastle

After driving in through all the industrial areas, I didn't expect much of the city. Our first stop was the artisan market and it actually made up for the bad parts of this trip! Artists in all kind of fields! Leather bound books, paintings, wonderful ideas for living, jewelry - everything was done in such a loving and caring way, you could feel the passion of the artists.

Alongside the harbour

The promenade alongside the harbour

After we strolled a while through the nice stalls, we decided to go to the harbour. Against expectations, it was not a filthy industrial harbour - I mean, it was an industrial harbour but you didn't see much of it - except for big ships coming in and going out and outside of the harbour, waiting in line to be allowed to come in. The water looked really clean and blue and the promenade was actually nice! We also walked a little through the oldest parts of Newcastle. Here some nice decorated old houses made the city really interesting. It seemed like - even though the city is not that beautiful - all the people make a big effort to make it more attractive. And it works! Small shells decorating doors, plants with knitted art craft around them, balconies with mosaic stones. I bow to you, citizens  of Newcastle for your great effort.

Nice views open up, when you least expect it

Please, forgive me for all my spelling, grammar and vocabulary mistakes. My mother tongue is German. 

Mount Tomaree and Nelson Bay

Hiking up and smiling down upon the world!

Amazing few from Mount Tomaree Lookout

After a few days just chilling, relaxing, doing short trips to different beaches and enjoying the calm after all the sight seeing, we decided it was time für a day trip. Our choice was: taking the ferry alongside the Myall River, through the Bay to Nelson Bay. From there we wanted to hike up Mount Tomaree.

Not every fin belongs to a shark

A dolphin fin

As soon as the ferry left shore, we got really excited, because we were promised, that you can see dolphins underneath the Singing Bridge. I have never seen dolphins before but it is a childhood dream of mine. Aaaaaand... WE DID SEE DOLPHINS :) Unfortunately, they weren't in a playful mood - so no jumping out of the water, but we did see some fins.

Over beaches and up the hill

Enjoying the calm on top of the hill

Arriving in Nelson Bay, it took us almost two hours to walk over the sand beaches to the start of Mount Tomaree National Park. Even while hiking up to the lookout, we got some amazing views down on the ocean, the beaches, the other hills and against our expectations everything was so green! Because where we are staying, there hasn't been a proper rain for weeks, everything is brown and burned. Here it was amazing! Finally up the hill (161 m high), we enjoyed the best lookout and the wind, blowing our sweat away. It was so worth it!

Please, forgive me for my spelling, grammar and vocabulary mistakes!! My mother tongue is German. 

Roadtrip - Eastcoast

The smell of the ocean

To get from Brisbane to our 2-months-home in the Tea Gardens-Hawk's Nest area, we did a 3-day-road trip alongside the east coast.

Byron Bay - From a hippie town to a tourist magnet

The view down from the light house

After four days in Brisbane, we went on south. Our first little stop was Mount Tamborine, a vineyard region full of shopping possibilities: The charm of this place came from all the little shops - from sweets over cheese to wine and beer and alternative clothes, you could find anything here.

The light house of Byron Bay

In the early afternoon we reached Byron Bay, the alternative surfer town, that made it to the top five places, I've ever been to. In the town center one tourist shop with quality, alternative or even second-hand-products stood after another. And at the end of those streets lies the most stunning beach I've ever seen. White sand, blue ocean and since it is the most easterly point of mainland Australia - you know, at the end of all the water will be South America.
The really exactly most easterly point is marked by a light house, to which you can hike up to. I wanted to get up in the morning to see the sunrise - unfortunately my alarm didn't ring! I woke up 20 minutes too late but still decided to go - and it was amazing! I am so happy I did it. Although the sun was high up by the time I reached the top, the light was amazing, the ocean was glittering and sparkling magically.

Coffs Harbour - A hidden beauty

The beautiful harbour at sunset

Stop at the Thursday Plantation

After breakfast we continued our journey. A single stop on our way to Coffs Harbour was the Thursday Plantation, where they produce and sell alternative cosmetics, medicine and oil, everything made from the tea tree.
We arrived in Coffs Harbour late afternoon - with the sun still up. I enjoyed the cooler evening on the beach with the most beautiful harbour lights, reflected by the water. The wind was blowing all my thoughts away and I got inspired by the amazing smell of the ocean. I wonder, why Coffs Harbour is not as famous for its beauty as Byron Bay. Maybe because it's so much bigger? I don't know ...

Arriving home

The last day we missed the exit to one of the sights, we wanted to see, so we drove without stop to our home for the next two months, our basis of operation for the sight seeing tours we planned.
After over two weeks of sight seeing, being amazed and stunned, after all the walking and taking pictures, writing about it, sorting the videos and photos, I am happy to be able to relax for a while.
Our next trip will go to Melbourne and Adelaide. I will update you as soon as possible.

Please forgive me for all my spelling, grammar and vocabulary mistakes!!
My mother tongue is German.

Brisbane

Brisbane - City between palms

It's pretty hard to take a picture of BRISBANE without kids climbing all over the letters

After Bali, Brisbane was a a relief. Finally we got sidewalks again! And almost no rubbish - but traveling there was a challenge!
On the Denpasar airport we learned what waiting in line really meant. First 30 minutes to the first security check, then an hour and a half to get rid of our check in luggage, then 30 minutes security check again AND yes, before boarding, there was another line to wait in just to get our carry on checked again. Arriving in Brisbane Airport, we thought it would be over - instead there was an hour and a half long line to get our passport checked and then again almost an hour until we were through customs.

Walking besides the Brisbane River

Brisbane by night

The most pleasant thing about our stay in Brisbane was that we lived in the heart of the city. In not even 2 minutes, we were at the beautiful South Bank. Walking alongside the river, sitting there and watching people, writing about the nice breeze and enjoying the sun became the thing I loved most about the city.
At South Bank, there is also a free artificial beach, a swimming pool, a rain forest and of course the big letters, spelling Brisbane. Kids, families and Asian people loved climbing up there and I loved to watch them.

Botanical Gardens

One of the amazing trees in the inner city Botanical Garden

There are two Botanic Gardens in Brisbane, one in the City Center (a smaller one) and then, when there was no space left, they continued just below Mount Coot-Tha. Both places did astonish me. The one in the inner city even had some mangroves on the river bank and a lovely view over to the cliffs of kangaroo point. And the other one was just so wide, you could spend a whole day there exploring the different plants.

Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

A little outside of Brisbane lies the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. Over a 100 koalas are living there with many other animals native to Australia. I was a little disappointed at first sight. I expected a nature reserve where you could see animals in their natural surrounding, instead it was a zoo.

Me, cuddling with a koala

In the end I still loved it - for 20A$ I got to cuddle a Koala! And no, it does not stress the animals - they will be put in the hands of tourists for only 30 minutes a day and every fourth day is free. If a koala gets stressed out still, it will get a day off!
There also was a kangaroo feeding area but because of the heat the kangaroos were more interested in sleeping than in being fed. Because of that, we could just sneak up (even without kangaroo food) and pet them.
While on the ferry to Lone Pine we got some information about Brisbane, the celebrities who lived there, the Mayne Inheritance, the University and the buildings alongside the river.

Mount Coot-tha

According to the travel guide book, the most amazing view over the city should be from the top of Mount Coot-tha. As an Austrian, I have to say that 287 m doesn't deserve the name "mountain" but - shame over me - we went up by car.
The view really was stunning. You could see the small inner city of Brisbane with a few not even so high skyscrapers and than the seemingly never ending suburbs.

The view from Mount Coot-Tha

Art in public space

West End

One day for lunch we went into West End, a more alternative district of Brisbane. Because we've been there for just a few hours, I didn't see much from the promised bohemian lifestyle. No one was dancing on the streets or reciting a poem, there wasn't even a street musician but as I wrote: I only was there for a few hours around lunch time, maybe I should've come back at night. At least the shops looked different than the ones in the rest of Brisbane and there was a little bit of art in public space.

Museums

Art from Papua Neuguinea

On my last day, I went to the Museum and Science Center, the State Library, the Art Gallery and the Gallery of Modern Art. Not everything on purpose though. First things first - I love libraries, so I wanted to check out the State Library of Queensland. I was not disappointed! They did a lovely job making the library a place of relaxation full of inspiration for young writers - they even have a program for aspiring authors!
After that I wanted to see the "Wild State" exhibition about endangered animals of Queensland. I thought it would be a modern photo exhibition, so I went to the Art Gallery - there they told me, it must be in the Gallery of Modern Art - the way leads through their own exhibition about traditional art from Papua Neuguinea. I stayed longer than I had to, because I adored the masks and totem poles (I hope that is the correct translation), they had there.

Chilling area in the library

Finally I arrived at the Gallery of Modern Art. As soon as I went in, I knew I couldn't be right here. I enjoyed non of the exhibited things. At the counter, they told me to get back to the Museum and Science Center. I did! On my way I stumbled over informational photos about the Great Barrier Riff. Oh, I loved it, I thought the whole "Wild State Exhibition" would be like that. Instead it was made for kids and contained only taxidermied animals (Again, I hope I picked the right word for real animals being stuffed and prepared).

Matilda

In the evening I enjoyed the great musical of "Matilda". I didn't know the story before, so I was quite curious and I loved it! The musical was performed in the Center of Performing Arts. Mainly I was impressed by the kid actors and actresses. They were NOT switched after scenes. Those little kids performed the whole thing!

Saying Good-Bye to Brisbane

Good-Bye lovely Brisbane

Brisbane, Brisbane - I had such a lovely time with you! There were not that many traditional sights as in Singapore but the pure atmosphere made me fall in love with you. I had time, I enjoyed, I loved just sitting on the edge of your river, writing in my tiny booklet and watching all those people, who love living here. Brisbane, stay as you are for when I come back, I want to feel exactly the same: young and free and full of options.

Please forgive me for all my spelling, grammar and vocabulary mistakes!!
My mother tongue is German.

Bali

Bali - Land of a Thousand Temples

My travelteddy at the beach

Everywhere you hear about Bali, the cultural, the beautiful, the amazing Bali. Well, I have been here for four days and I have to say: It's not a paradise! Bali is full of contrasts.

Chilling in Canggu

Sika Homestay

Our first day in Bali, we spent chilling because we were really tired after our sight seeing days in Singapore. We went to the beach and got shocked! Ever single meter that doesn't belong to anyone was full of waste, plastic bottles, glas bottles, just plastic in general. Unfortunately it was the same at the beach. The waves were breaking loudly and we were watching surfers falling into the ocean. If you don't look around the beach and just focus on the sea it was amazing. So we sat down and enjoyed ourselves. Unlucky for us, we look like rich, white tourists and after a few minutes a sales woman approached us to sell necklaces and bracelets. We said "no" for a thousand times. Then she moved on. When the next one came, we decided to buy one. Then another came and because we were talking so nicely, I bought one again. Then a third. Then a fourth balinese woman came and tried to sell us her jewelry. We said, we had already and then the first woman came back. She started to swear at us, because we didn't buy from her but from the other women. We had to flee!

The odyssey of Vinz and Viola

A hidden temple we found when we didn't find our way

After this little escapade we tried to find a different way home by walking alongside the waves. After a while we got lost. The sun burned our skin, the hot asphalt on my bare feet started to hurt. Thanks to Google Maps, we found our way back - but burned red already and tired. Since every Balinese has its own temple, we found a few nice picture motives on our way - although it's hard to hold the camera in the right angle, so you don't see the plastic waste everywhere.
In Bali it is still customary to put offerings for the gods outside everyday. This is a nice tradition and in earlier days the offering was some home cooked small meal in baskets made out of leaves. Today the offerings also contain sweets, packed in plastic, that will lie on the streets forever.

You can go everywhere in Bali, just not where you want to go

Tanah Lot with all the tourists..

The next day we wanted to see a bit more from the island. Unfortunately it started to rain. Who would've thought, that it rains in the tropics? Well, our tour was cancelled. We were stranded in Canggu, so we decided to walk a little to see the village. The armies of traffic and the waste on the streets made us want to go home soon. We did see a few more nice temples though.
In the afternoon the rain (at the place, where we wanted to go) did stop and our guest mother Sika brought us to the Tanah Lot Temple (or as I call it - the Tanah Lots of Tourists Temple). We knew that it was one of the most photographed sights in Bali - this should've been a lesson. So many people tried to get a good picture! We had to wait in line...

The smell of rain and pizza

La Baracca

In the evening it finally rained in Canggu as well. The heat stopped to be so depressing for a while, when the wind made our hair fly. For the first time in Bali, I was completely relaxed, sitting under a safe hut, watching the rain wetting the rice field.
When it stopped for a while we went for dinner. The italian place next door, called "La Baracca", had delicious food and the atmosphere was amazing. Finally I made my peace with all the contrasts in Bali and started to enjoy the calm, stressfree way of life here.

Who stole the bananas?

My new best friend sitting on my shoulder :)

On our last day with Sika, she took us for a longer trip. First we went to the famous monkey forest. Our hands full of banana, we tried to see lots of monkeys - that was really not a challenge. The challenge was not to give all the banana away at once. A park ranger told us, how to hold it, so the monkeys would sit on our shoulders. After a few tries we finally made it without fear.
Afterwards we drove through ricefields to the Tegenungang waterfall. Because the stream was full of plastic waste as well, we didn't want to go for a swim. Feeling the waterdrops on our faces was nice enough though. The price to enter was high - not in money but in steps. A hundred steps down and back up again. My legs will hurt the next day.
In the end our lovely guest mother Sika brought us to our hotel in Denpasar. We felt, we left our new home, that we found with her.

Last day - Chill day!

Some masks in the Art Museum

On our last day we decided to rest again, since there was not much to do in the area. We went for a little walk - but the street was so full of traffic, we returned after a few minutes. Directly integrated in the hotel was the Art Museum. While I thought this would be local art like paintings and textiles, instead there were old masks, tools, statues - very interesting but again too little information for me (for example if there was a statue, the sign just said where it came from and what it was called, not why the might have made it or who it should represent).
Like in Canggu, Denpasar is a city full of waste. Bali did disappoint me a lot in this way. So here are some not so nice pictures about all the plastic lying around.

Off to Brisbane with the best parting gift

In the evening just before we had to leave for the airport, Bali gave us an amazing parting gift. The last half hour we spent sitting on our balcony just looking and enjoying the most beautiful rainbow during an amazing sunset!

Is there anything more amazing than an rainbow during sunset over the jungle?

Time was flying by again on the island of 1.000 temples and although I didn't find the promised paradise here on Bali, I think it was a good experience, realizing how tourism can destroy or define a culture - and just look at all the pictures - there are some really nice sights here! Also: all the nice and beautiful people make it an amazing experience, being here!

Please forgive me for all my spelling, grammar and vocabulary mistakes!!
My mother tongue is German..