Hong Kong, 23.10.2007

Hi,

Yesterday evening I arrived in Hong Kong. I took the taxi to my hotel which is on the edge of Kowloon, the main center of Hong Kong. Although my hotel is ok, the area is still 'developing'.:) The hotel is huge (more than 20 levels) and my room is on the 11th level. When entering the room, I was too afraid to look out the window. After a few minutes, I decided to go closer to the window: my feet and hands were on the ground...:))) God, it is SOOOO high! I decided to leave the curtains closed and took a look where the emergency exits are... I am not a fan of heights, but perhaps this is the only way to do it 'in the Hong Kong way': every building is here VERY BIG!

This morning, I suffered from the jetleg. I went to bed at 1am last night and was awake at 6am and could not sleep in anymore. It felt like the first days when I arrived in Sydney. So quite early, I had a continental breakfast in my hotel. Was really happy to see those sandwiches and coffee next to all those Asian food I really don't know! But the culture shock would not be inavoidable... All the people that I met from Hong Kong were like 'Hong Kong is very Western'. Well yes, the buildings are, but the mentality, the people are totally Asian! I saw police men armed with huge weapons on the streets. In the underground were SOOO many people so you had to push yourself in the metro! When I arrived in Tsim Sha Tsui, what is the main center, heaps of shops. Well, after Ebay there is Hong Kong: you find it all here as well! I got already 50 people started talking to me in order to sell. At the beginning I always reply with a laugh: 'No, thanks', than it is 'no' and than the third time: 'NO!!!". Lunch time was choosing between Asian food and the Scotish take-away 'McDonalds'. No fancy European thing here. I decided to take the Asian thing. First of all: food is here so cheap that I do not trust that it is very hygienically prepared... Anyway, I ordered some noodles with a Coke. I asked what meat was in it. It seems to be very long ago that this was a British colony cause the people here speak very badly English. The waiter did not understand so she got some help. I said:'Porc of Beef are fine, but no dog or cat please!'. I got an exceptional meal without cat or dog... I received a tea in advance. Apparently, that is how tradition in Hong Kong. I tried it, but then thought better not to drink it: you can not drink water from the tab neither, so it is better to be avoid problems!:)

After lunch I took the boat to Hong Kong Island: again huge buildings (but a little more modern) and more Western people are here in the streets, clearly working in finance. There were not so Western people in Tsim Sha Tsui, and if there were, they were American tourists. Prices in Hong Kong Island are also more 'modern'.:) Pedestrians walk here on the second levels of huge apartment buildings connected by tunnels... Very impressive to see all those people move and to see the constant traffic on the Ground. You can really smell the money here...

As you can understand: I find this very impressive and totally different from what I have seen before... But not everything is so nice: there is a lot of pollution in the air here. Some people are wearing masks. It is amazing how much I have to scratch my skin and also my eyes gets irritated when I do not wear sun glasses...

Time to go back to my eleventh level room, have a rest and then I can come back in the evening to explore Hong Kong by night... Tomorrow I want to go to Lantau Island to see a big Buddha and there should also be some typically traditional village...

Greetings from strange Hong Kong!

Ruben

Sydney, 16.10.2007

Hello!

On Friday morning I took the plane back to Sydney. It felt quite strange to be back in the town where I was living for about 7 months. I hanged around in the town and in the evening I went to the 'tradition' of the company I worked for:"the Friday drinks". I was very nice to catch up with my friends, to hear about what happened in the department I worked for and how everybody was doing. We planned to have a big leaving party next Friday. We will go to Palms: the eighties bar, which I think is the 'THING TO DO IN SYDNEY'.:) Even the boss will come with us.:)

On Saturday, a friend and I left for a 3-day trip to the Blue Mountains. We went to Jenolan Caves, the biggest caves in the world. Quite impressive... We were back around 4 p.m. on Monday. Because it is very warm in Sydney (about 30 degrees), feels good in comparason to Tasmania and New Zealand (!), I decided spontaneously to go to Bronte Beach. I quitely bought a '10-dollar swimming short' in China-town and took the bus. Lying on the beach, I started to think how good my trip through Australia and New Zealand was and how lucky I can be to be able to do this. Knowing that this is my last week in the South Pacific, it is time to prepare myself for my European come-back. It will be nice to see everybody again, to enjoy the culture and the good food we have in Europe (something that I really missed here), but I am definitely sure that I am going to miss Australia.

I am going to take the bus to Australia's capital Canberra now. According to my Aussie friends, Canberra is 'VERY boring'. It seems like every Aussie hates his capital because it reminds them of obligatory school trips to this 'Boring Town'. I must admit that it is quite strange for a country with such a 'Beach Culture' to chose a town as capital which is even not on the Coast. And all this, just as an answer to the rivalty between Melbourne and Sydney. Although knowing this, I will try to put myself in the bus totally objective and check it all out myself. Will be back in Sydney on Thursday. On Monday, I will take the plane to Hong Kong. Before taking the plane to London and Brussels, I will get out of the plane for 2 full days Hong Kong. I met heaps of people of Hong Kong on my travels to tell me what to do, where to go and where NOT to go! So being well prepared, I am quite excited about what I can expect from this part of China...

Take care, Ruben

Hobart, 11.10.2007

Hi there,



After my stay in New Zealand, I needed to get used again to the fact that people here say ‘mate’ instead of ‘bro’.:) After having arrived on Friday, I went to the supermarket and all of a sudden, in the supermarket:”Hey Ruben”… I thought:”Who do I know in Hobart???”. Well, it was a woman who I met in Darwin. We were on the same trip to Kakadu. That was funny! We talked about an hour and she said about 3 times:”If I can do something for you, just tell me!”. So I replied:”Actually, yes, there is something… Can I do my washing at your place?”. That was great: she invited me for doing the washing and a cup of tea in the Saturday afternoon! I went there with my whole backpack and her garden was FULL of my clothes!!!:)



On Saturday morning I went to the world-famous ‘Salamanca market’ in Hobart. On Sunday, I wanted to climb up Mount Wellington. Hobart is situated on the foot of that Mount. I helped out a French couple in the bus (they had some communication problems with the bus driver) and that was how I got to know 2 nice French from Lyon. They moved to New Caledonia (Nouvelle Caledonie) 3 years ago. They wanted to climb the same mountain. In the bus was another girl from the Netherlands. The only one who was prepared very well cause she had a map with her.:) So we decided to climb that Mount together. It was a tough walk with a lot of beautiful view over Hobart. And just 5 minutes before arriving on the top, it started to snow!!! Those French were very excited about that cause they hadn’t seen snow in 3 years. I found it ‘freezing’… On the top were plenty of people totally relaxed, because they had driven in the car up the mountain… We were climbing for 2 hours and arrived there totally red and sweating!!! But we were the tough ones!!! We had picknick on the top and in the evening, we decided to have dinner together! Really great day.



On Monday, I went to Wineglass Bay on Tassie’s Eastcoast. On Tuesday, I did another day trip to Mount Field national park… To see more snow and some typical Tasmanian animals like the Tasmanian devils and Wombats. In the evening, I wanted to burn a CD and who did I meet in the internet pub? Richard, a Welsh guy who was working in the same department in Sydney as me! He and his wife asked me to go for a beer… In the pub, there was another guy, Shaun, from the England who I met on my trip and stayed in the same dorm as me.He joined us. 1 beer became 10 beers for Richard and Shaun and 6 for me. Result: Richard and Shaun were totally fine and I was half drunk. Bloody UK people!:) But it was a great night.:)



Yesterday, I visited Port Arthur, one of world most famous prisons in the world… Really impressive. Port Arthur is situated on a peninsula and for instance the corridor with the mainland was controlled by a ‘dog line’: about 25 dogs were put in a line so not a single prisoner could pass by. No wonder that in about 50 years, only 10 prisoners managed to escape from that hell! Moreover the bus driver was a very funny man, who happened to know a lot about… Belgium. He knew more than the bloody clichés like Belgian chocolates and beers. He knew for instance the name of our King, that ‘French fries’ were invented in Belgium, and that Plastic Bertrand (who had a number 1 song in Australia) was Belgian, not French. I found that quite impressive. But Shaun, who was on this trip a few days before, told me in the evening that he must see the list of participants the evening before and has a ‘list of interesting things’ per country. That is how he prepares his journeys. Can be true… Whatever, it was a funny broke!:)



I am enjoying my last day in Tasmania…



Take care, Ruben

Queenstown, 04.10.2007

Hello,
I have spent my last day in New Zealand today. I went to the 'Paris of New Zealand': Akaroa... A French village in New Zealand... I left in the bus as of Christchurch... It was meant to be a total French day for me: the bus company was called the 'French connection', the interior of the bus was: red seats and the rest was in blue and white... After 80km we could see the first part of Akaroa, called 'Duchauville'... I wonder how those New Zealand people pronounce that...
What happened? In 1838, there was a French captain, Monsieur Langlois, who found the Akaroa Bay very good for settlement. He went to Paris and came back with a ship full of French in order to settle in NZ and claim the land for France... However, when they arrived in 1840, they find out that the British had already gained control over whole New Zealand. They negociated with the British and they had 2 options: stay under British rule or go to Tahiti, a French colony. They decided to stay... I can understand why, because the bay is VERY beautiful!
Today, 167 years later, the inhabitants are still VERY proud of their French origine and you can see the French flag everywhere. Most streetnames are still in French and you can hear a lot of French in the streets as well... But that is just because this is a 'must-do' for all French tourists here!:)
Tomorrow, I will take the plane to Tasmania...:)
Take care, Ruben

Ruben in Newzealand - Akaroa

Queenstown, 01.10.2007 English

Hi,

I am still in Queenstown, and made a trip to Milford Sound in Fiordland today. I am totally excited about what I have seen over there: it is a combination of the mountains of Switzerland, the beautiful fiords of Norway, the greeness of Ireland, the lakes of Scotland, the forests of Finland,... I love this place!!!

I want to live there... There is just 1 problem: there do not live people!!:)

Take care, Ruben

Ruben in New Zealand - Milford Sound

Pictures, 28.09.2007

Ruben in New Zealand

Greymouth, 28.09.2007 English

Hi there,
First of all, thanks heaps for the birthday wishes. It was quite strange to celebrate my birthday on the other half of this planet, so I will never forget it. It was special...
I left Kiwi capital Wellington and headed towards Picton on the South Island. I really liked the Marlborough Sounds: beautiful islands and peninsula's on the South Island coast. And I met - for the first time on my trip - some Belgians... From Gent!!! We went for a beer and discussed the actual crisis in Belgium. They were very much in favour of keeping Belgium. Then I moved on to Kaikoura where I almost got attacked by a seal!!! Luckily there was a Dutch tourist who warned me that there was a seal in the bush. I hadn't seen the seal at all. I would have continued walking just 20 cm from him...:) After 2 days Kaikoura, I took the train further to Christchurch. I was sitting on a table in the train with 3 tourists from the USA. They made the perfect journey in New Zealand... They visited 2 days Auckland, 3 days Wellington and 2 days Christchurch. I said:"Isn't it strange to visit just towns in New Zealand...? I would just visit the landscapes in the countryside.". They said:"Yes, you are fully right. We didn't know that this was such a beautiful country...".:)))) Well prepared Americans, but they were funny and offered me to 'help them drink their bottles of wine'.:) I even got a free invitation to Philadelphia, where one of them is running a bed and breakfast! Arrived in the evening in Christchurch, I stayed in a hostel in the neighbourhood of the railway station, because I had the train again the day afterwards in the morning. I wanted to grap some take away food. I had to choose between 10 Chinese restaurants and... 1 Afghan restaurant... I thought that that last one would definitely be 'the challenge', so I wanted to try that Afghan food. I entered the restaurant and the guy behind the bar welcomed me with 'hey brother'... He wanted to know where I was from. I said:'Belgium'. 'Belgium,..., wasn't that a part of Russia, I mean the Sovjet Union'... After explaining to him that that was not the case, he offered me something extra... Typical Afghan, he said. I don't know what I have been eating, but it was good...:) The day afterwards, I left Christchurch for the Tranzalpine Train. That is definitely the most beautiful train journey in the world. There was a compartment in the train with no windows... A viewing cabin to make pictures. It was freezing up in the mountains in that part of the train! And mind the tunnels if you are hanging out of the train as I did sometimes...:) Arriving in Greymounth, I met a German again that I had already met before and we decided to travel together for a few days. He was also heading to Franz Joseph. In Franz Joseph, I decided to take part in the Franz Joseph Glacier walk. A full day climbing the ice of that mountain... I met there for the second time Belgians! From Antwerp this time, on their honeymoon... And the same question: What do know/think about the crisis in Belgium? Now a totally other story: they were definitely in favour of the end of Belgium and they said: 'if the Walloons want Brussels, they can get it. And Antwerp becomes then the capital of Flandres!' Whatever, I loved the accent of that Belgian, whoops Flemish, couple. They had that typical Antwerp accent, that stayed with me the whole day and gave me some kind a nostalgic time when I was living in Antwerp...:) The funny thing about NZ is that I am meeting all the time the same people on the bus. Sometimes they are a bit ahead of me, but then I am catching them up later or the other way around. We start to become a very nice group of friends... Very international: there is Alice, a nice French girl who wants to go to Australia afterwards and certainly visit Alice Springs (just because of the name!!!), Carlos from Portugal who is going to stay in Christchurch later on because he has job as football trainer, Heike from Germany who is collecting sand and is sending monsters home from every beach (this is no joke!!!), Machteld from Holland with whom I am always discussing 'the correct Dutch', Jane from London who is always laughing with my coffee adittion (and my coffee machine in my backpack) and finally there is Filippo from Bresil, who is real name is 'Macho'.:) I have been celebrating my birthday with them. Was really cool!:) Definitely time to leave you now...
Take care! Hug from New Zealand! Ruben

Wellington, 20.09.2007 English

Hi there!:)

I am in downtown Kiwi capital Wellington today!

After leaving Auckland and on the way to Rotorua, we stopped in Waitomo. We could do some 'Black water rafting'. I thought, that is fun: just sitting in a boat and some heavy water... Well, I can now tell you all that that is NOT the case. We had to wear a wet suit, a helmet and boots... We took all a tube with us and we entered into a cave. In the cave was a river and you jumped in the river and follow the flood actually. The water was ice cold, but because you are wearing that wet suit you do not freeze to death!:) It was totally fun. You do not feel your feet and fingers anymore after a while, but it was top adventure! And the funny thing was that I was the first so I basically had to do it first and the other ones you imitated me. Before jumping in the ice cold water, the instructor said:'You just let you fall in the water'... I felt how cold it was... It was ice water! I said:'Are you crazy? Well, tell to 3 and I jump...'. It was 100% fun!In Rotorua, I visited the thermals. That was so beautiful: boiling water is just coming out of the soil because of vulcano activity. I met a French girl and she recommended me to do a walk around the lake and up to the 'redwoods'. So I prepared a picknick and went the whole day 'hiking'. I was in the hostel again at 5pm and jumped straight into the hottub. OK, not a natural one, but the warm water was so relaxing... So I started to think...:"New Zealand is the country of 'I wanna have'... Since that I am here: I wanna have that beautiful New Zealand rugby T-shirt 'All backs', I wanna have a hottub in my garden, I wanna have a sheep (instead of a cat or dog now!)!? But one thing, we foreigners, can not buy in New Zealand. And that is the friendliness of the New Zealand population... Those people are so friendly. In the supermarket, in the bus, in the forest, EVERYWHERE, people just start talking to you "Hey bro, where you coming from? Do you like it here? etc."After Rotorua, I headed towards Taupo. We visited the wai-o-tapu national park with a lot of thermals! We arrived in Taupo at 3pm. I went immediately for a walk with Jane, a girl from London, I met on the bus. We walked for about 2 hours and then we started to look for a bus back into town... We saw that there was no bus anymore after 4pm... We had 2 options: walking back (again 2 hours) or hitch-hiking. We hitch-hiked and already the 3rd car took us into town. At night, we decided to go for '1 beer' with 2 Germans and 2 Canadians... I was in bed at 3am...:)This morning, we headed towards Kiwi-capital. We arrived here at lunch time. I wanted to stay here tomorrow as well, but there is no place left on the ferries for the 22nd. So I am leaving Wellington tomorrow in the afternoon. That is a pity, because I like this town and that means that I will have to spend the evening in a place called Picton on the South island. I heard that that place is not so 'waaaauwh', but I did already some sightseeing in Wellington today...

Saying goodbye now...BWR, Black Water Rubes!:)

PS: Belgium was in the news here. Apparently someone tried to sell Belgium via Ebay as a protest... Apparently we do not have a government yet 100 days after the elections... Am I going to see Belgium again in my life or am I going to return to the 'independant state of Flanders'???

Bay of Islands, 16.09.2007 English

Hi,

My first days in New Zealand are great! I am traveling around with the Magic bus in this magic country...

I spent my last 2 days in the Bay of Islands: islands, half-islands, hole in the rock,... a very beautiful scenary. In the bus I met a girl from the UK and a guy from Canada. An English, a Canadian and a Belgian... We had the best time together! At the beginning, the Canadian guy asked my name...I said:'Ruben'.- 'And your surename?'I answered:'Van de Poel'.- 'Van de Poel!? That sounds like a name of a rich diamand trader!'I don't know what is wrong with my surename, but apparently they just love it overseas...! I was never so into that 'surename thing', but dad, thanks for given me that surename. I just love it now! Aussies and Kiwi's find it exotic, fancy, lovely,...:) We had dinner together, had some drinks at the beach, and then we went to a pub to watch the rugby championships... New Zealand against Portugal. I still remember that New Zealand won and that was the beginning of a big celebration...:) Luckily the boat for the Bay of Islands took off at a respectful hour.:)

Tomorrow heading towards Rotorua... C U bro's!:) Ruben

Auckland, 14.09.2007 English

Hello Kiwi's, half-Kiwi's (Nathalie!?) and non-Kiwi's!

I kiwi-ed yesterday my way to Kiwiland by plane.:) When I had to pass by the security control, there was a lady (It could have been my grandma), just in front of me and she had her beauty case in her hand luggage!? The poor grandma did not know that she was not allowed to take any liquids on board, so she lost half of her beauty case. It took 10 minutes before she got it all out. When she was passing by the metal detector afterwards, that thing was about to explore!? She was still wearing 15 rings, a belt with metal, etc. The security guy was totally annoyed and told us:"I am really sorry for this". The man behind me answered:"No worries mate, we are enjoying it!". I have to admit that it was funny. It was really not the lady you expect to have any terrorist connections. When it was finally my turn, the security guy asked me to take off my head. That lady found that it was 'pay back time', so she said to me:"There you go, you are not yet out of Australia!". But I got no tune in the detector, so it was easy for me to reply:"I don't think so, darling, New Zealand here I am!".:) But she was right: after arrival in Auckland, there were about 95% Aussies and Kiwi's in my plane who could pass like that. The remaining 5% was totally controlled. Had to open my backpack, get out my shoes for further inspection. Then there was a so called 'avocado' in my backpack. I had to look it up but did not know about an avocado. It turned out to be a piece of soap... That is how I got in contact with a Canadian girl. After we cried both 'YES' when we made it through the control, we started to laugh! I asked her how she was going to town. We decided to share a taxi (the only option) and that was good, because it was night fare. Saved 30 Kiwi-dollars!:) Today, I kiwi-ed around in Auckland. Visited e.g. the war memorial. I will leave tomorrow to the Bay of Islands. I wanted to stay 2 days in Auckland, but the town is not that big, so that makes me leaving tomorrow morning. Because a lot of you asked me what I am going to visit in Kiwi-land, I made following schedule (but it will be changed as I travel further)... 14/9: Auckland15-16/9: Bay of Islands17/9: To Rotorua18/9: Rotorua19/9: Taupo20/9: To Wellington21/9: Wellington22/9: To Picton by ferry and eventually further by train to Kaikoura (if possible)23/9: Kaikoura24/9: Kaikour to Christchurch25/9: Christchurch to Greymouth with the Transalpine (very famous train)26/9: Greymouth to Franz Jozef27/9: Glacier28/9: Franz Jozef to Queenstown29/9 - 1/10: 3 days Queenstown. Perhaps make a trip to Fiordland and will certainly do some extreme sports in Queenstown (thinking of sky diving... WAAAAUHHH!)2/10: Queenstown to Dunedin3/10: Dunedin to Tekapo4/10: Tekap to Christchurch5/10: THE END: LEAVING NEW ZEALAND!:( Now, I have to tell you, Aussies and Kiwi's, Germans and Belgians, French and Dutch, Italians and Luxembourgish, English and Israeli's, Latvians and Lithuanians (I hope I have all the nationalities this email is addressed to included in my mail now:) ) 1 thing: I am willing to answer all questions, except 1! That one will be:"Do you like New Zealand more than Australia, or do you like Australia more than New Zealand?". THAT QUESTION WILL NOT BE ANSWERED!:) Does someone know if New Zealand and Australia have the same company that produces their money??? Those notes and coins are so simular. I am always mixing them up! Nice greetings from Auckland! Ruben PS: I have no connection with my mobile. Vodafone Oz does not allow me to get Vodafone NZ. Bloody Vodafone!:)

Brisbane, 12.09.2007 English

I arrived in Brisbane today. Brissie is not too bad. A lot of backpackers warned me that Brisbane was boring and ugly... So my expectations were not too high. I must admit that I think that Brissie is a nice, trendy town... OK, it is not as good as Sydney or Darwin, but certainly better than Alice Springs and Adelaide! The days before, I was in Hervey Bay and visited Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world. The highlight of Fraser Island for me was Lake McKenzie: a beautiful lake with pure white sand... Lovely.:))) The water was cold, but that was no barreer for me to swim in it.:) Tomorrow, I will leave Australia for 3 weeks and go to New Zealand. I have my flight to Auckland in the evening... Can't wait to go to Kiwiland!:) But hope that it will not be too cold. I am used to have at least 25 degrees all day!:) Now I have to go, cause my American girl friend, the one that I met in Cairns is waiting for me. We are going for a beer. C U, Ruben

Rockhampton, 09.09.2007 English

Hi everybody!

I am in Rockhampton for the moment. Few days ago, I left Cairns. I stayed there 1 day longer than planned, because I wanted to see the Great Barrier Reef. This is the best to do by snorkeling and diving, so I thought: NO FEAR, I AM GOING TO DIVE!!! I did a 1 day trip by boat. Around 10 am, they explained us how to dive and let us sign a contract that 'it was all at our risk'. 1 hour later, it was so far... We went till 15 meter under water and it was worth. I thought:'Don't worry, Rubes, everything is going to be fine... Just enjoy!' That is what I did, but was quite happy to be out of the water after the half an hour!!!:) Afterwards, I just did the snorkeling and we finished the day with a glass of champaign in the boat.:)

The day afterwards, I took the bus to Townsville. There was a lovely beach where I spent some time in the evening and then had the great idea to walk up a mountain... When I was on the top (I felt to be on top of the world!:) ), it was already dark and had to go back all the way with flip flops...:) That feeling of being on top of the world was gone very fast!:) It was not that nice, because I could hear a lot of animal noices as well... Snakes would not be that far away in the grass over there... It was a little scary to go back... But managed it!

The day afterwards, I continued my journey towards Brisbane and stopped in Mackay. If you would every be on the Australian Eastcoast: this is definitely NOT the place to visit. I arrived in the evening, had a discussion the whole evening with a Kiwi guy about Israel (!?) and next day I had some hours to discover this town before taking the bus to Rockhampton. After a 30 minutes walk, I felt bored (not much to see), so I decided to walk further 20 minutes to go to the beach. It was worth, because the beach was absolutely beautiful. I asked a local if I could walk in the sea with my feet... She said:"No worries, mate. There are no crocs in September!". So I enjoyed me walking with my feet in the sea... 20 minutes later I remarked so footsteps and the traces of a croc (!?) on the beach... Well, I jumped out of the water, cried 3 times 'f*ck' and ran as fast as I could where I was coming from!!!!

I had 1 day of in Rockhampton, Australia's beef capital. I remarked that the honey, that I was carrying with me, did not make it to Rockhampton... And was spread all over my clothes... So I had to do some washing... Afterwards, I visited the Rockhampton Zoo (again crocs... had now enough of crocs!:) ) and the Botanic Gardens. And how could I finish this day better than with a big hamburger in this Beef Capital??? According to a Kiwi that I met yesterday, there was a place where they served 'hamburgers as big as a cow'... Well I got such a thing for 5 dollars and I definitely am no longer hungry!!!!:) Will go to Hervey Bay tomorrow and do a trip to Fraser Island...

I met 2 Italian girls on my trip from Darwin to Cairns and the funny thing was that afterwards I met them 3 more times: in Cairns, Townsville and in Mackay. They will go to New Zealand as well and asked to share a van and travel together around... Can you imagine me traveling around with 2 Italian girls??? Definitely be fun, but I think it is better to take the bus!!!:)))) 2 is a little bit too much Italy...:)))) And in Cairns, I met an American girl of San Diego... We went out and will see her again in Brisbane. She is funny. Very American: very sure of herself but not so intelligent!:) Am invited to San Diego next year...:)

Take care, Rubes

Fotos again!

Hi, some new pics:

CU mates, Ruben

Ruben in Australia

Cairns, 03.09.2007 English

Hello!

I just arrived in Cairns, a town full of life on Australia's East Coast. On Thursday, I went for dinner last time with my new Aussie friend, Jason. I tried a crocodile steak... Not bad, not bad! It was sad to leave beautiful Darwin... But I had no choice. I was going to taste... "the real Australian outback": 4 days without mobile connection, hunderds of kilometers without crossing another car, the toilets are the bush,... It was fun, but stressfull as well.

The first night we slept in the 'Heartbreak Hotel', Australia's most remote hotel. They planned to build it in 9 months, but because it was so difficult to get all the material there, it took them 2.5 years... That is why they called it like that. We traveled through villages of 7 inhabitants, towns of 160 inhabitants,... and the rest was bush, bush and bush! The thing which was shocking, was the many pictures of missing backpackers in those bars where we stopped. Our bus driver told us the story that he, when he was a truck driver before, saw one day a backpacker hitch-hiking. He stopped to go to a bar to get some food. When he wanted to continue his trip, he saw that the backpacker was gone but his backpack was still there. He went to the bar again and asked if someone noticed something strange. Nobody did... A few weeks later, he saw a picture in a bar of the guy 'MISSING'. No worries, I am not going to hitch-hike!!! PROMISED!!!

When we arrived nearer to Cairns, the landscape changed from outback into rain forest. We made walk there and went for a swim. It was a beautiful trip, but I am sooooo tired. Had not much sleep last 3 nights...

Now I will start traveling on Australia's East Coast... Keep you informed!

Sleepy Ruben

Fotos! Bilder!

Hi,

Here some more pics of my travels:

CU, mates!!! Ruben

Ruben in Australia

Darwin, 30.08.2007 English

Hi!

Leaving Alice Springs to Darwin, I had my last part of the trip in the famous train 'The Ghan'. I met a German from Bamberg in the train. The train stopped for about 5 hours in Catherine. A small town of 10000 inhabitants South from Darwin. The town was not so spectacular, but there is the beautiful Catherine Gorge that we visited. Then we headed on to Darwin. Darwin is just FAB! An amazing place on Earth!!! Though tired from the train, the German and me decided not to loose any moment and to go straight for some beers in Mitchel Street, the famous boulevard in Darwin with lots of pubs and restaurants.

The day afterwards I decided to make a trip on my own and discover Darwin. The German went on a 2-day tour, so I had to go out alone in the evening. I went to some dance-pub in Mitchell street. It was hilarious: 90% of the people were there in walking shoes, or 'have been wearing this shirt the whole week'... I FELT TOTALLY OVERDRESSED in my jeans and T-shirt! This is
just the capital of outback Australia!!! But it was funny, because I got into contact with some guy, Jason (in jeans and T-shirt as well) so the obvious question came up:"Do you also feel to have chosen the wrong spot to go out!".:) After chatting about an half an hour, this local decided to show me Darwin by night: we started with some cocktails on the beach and ended in a party buss that took us partying through the town! It was a great night.

The day afterwards, I went to the Mindel Beach in order to recover from my night life!:) Swimming was allowed, but at own risk: it is not the high crocodile season, so there should be no croc in the sea... But the past prooved that this was not always so reliable. Anyway, the alcoholic effect of the night before made me go into the water without fears... No worries: still have my 2 arms, 2 feet and 10 fingers!:) In the evening, Jason called me and took me to some market. An alternative market (lots of hippies) not far from Mindel Beach. Nice market!

The day afterwards I had a lazy day. It is the 'Darwin-effect': all people are so laid-back here. It is amazing. Most businesses do not start before 10am... In the evening, Jason showed me the most beautiful spot in Darwin to watch sunset. This is so good about Aussies: you can meet people so easily. Just by meeting that local, he showed me in that 1 week Darwin 'the things to see in Darwin', where I, as normal tourist, would never come!

Tuesday, I went on a 2-day tour to Kakadu National Park. Kakadu, a nature reserve as half as big as Belgium (!) is just wonderful. We started the day with a boat trip. So many crocs in the water!!! The boat was really surrounded by crocs. Our lady capitain warned us about 10 times:"Everything that has an heartbeat is just meat for them! You are just 1 good looking breakfast for these fellows, so don't hang over the boats!'. She said it so many times, that it became obvious that the woman had trauma about her job. Fair enough: she told us a story of a few years ago. A couple with a small child and they did not pay enough attention to their child. And that child was grapped by a croc. And there is nothing that you can do. If you shoot the croc, there are another 500 to replace them...

In the evening we made a camp-fire, had dinner around the fire. It was amazing how many stars there were in the sky. Because of no pollution in that area, you can see so many stars!!! We could also see the eclipse. I did not know about that, but just on that night, there was 'something that went in front of the moon' (sorry I am not so good in Geography of the universe). We slept in tents. Had to wake up at 5 am to enjoy the other day the most!!! Pfff! I got up once at night because we could hear a dingo. I slept with an Aussie, with Maltese roots, in the tent and we were like:'Do you think that this animal is far away?'.:))))) Luckily I was so tired, so I didn't care if that animal was just 1 meter from our tent or not!!!! Again: still have my 2 feet, 2 arms and 10 fingers!!!:)) The day afterwards we made some big walks in the park and in the afternoon, we could swim in the most beautiful beach I have every seen in my life. Chances were low to have crocs in it, but again: own risk! I did swim, but made sure that I was not the only one in the water...!!!:)

Everybody in the tour had to same feeling about Darwin: WE JUST ALL WANT TO STAY HERE. I can tell you: 'people, NEVER travel to Darwin, because it is a really sad feeling to leave this place when you have to!':)))

Normally, I should have left on the Litchfield tour today, but that one is cancelled. Because it is not that far and the park not so big, most people just go there on their own. So not enough participants. Could have done the tour on Friday, but then UNFORTUNATELY I have to leave Darwin in the morning... I think I will ask Jason to go for dinner, because I need to thank him.

Take care... Really feel sad that this is the last day in Darwin...:) But ok, it is time to discover Australia's East Coast!

Ruben

Alice Springs, 23.08.2007 English

Hi!

After my biking tour in the Barossa Valley around Adelaide, I met my new-made German and Swiss friends in the hostel for the last night together... We did a pingpong competition and I became second!:) The day afterwards, I catched the train again to go to Alice Springs. In the train were a lot of Dutch people, so I had no problem to feel bored because we started immediately to chat about Australia, and the Netherlands of course...

Arriving in Alice Springs, I must admit that I do not really like this town. It is REALLY in the middle of nowhere and it looks very 'Texas'... I went to bed quite early the first night because I had booked a tour next day. Had to wake up at 6am and got back at midnight... But it was worth it: I visited Uluru (the big red stone), the Olga's and we finished the day with a BBQ to see the sunset. We saw dingoes, kangaroos, camels,... And who did I meet again there??? The Dutch from the train of course!:) On this tour, I met a German girl from Freiburg, who was the type you should definitely not expect in the Australian outback!!! The poor girl got... homesick! I really don't get that...!:)

Yesterday was a day to be lazy and relax... Although I went for a walk along the Todd River. The first River I have seen in my life without water!!! But it was a lovely walk through the outback and at the end I climbed a mountain where I could admire a wonderful panorama...

Though I met another 500 Germans in Alice Springs, I never had to share my room with a German... I had shared my room every night with some people from France... The first night, it was some guy from Cannes, who was very nice. I chatted the whole evening with him about what to visit in New Zealand. He was already travelling 5 months in the South Pacific. When I got back from my tour next day, I saw some papers on my bed and he had made a map of New Zealand: what I certainly had to visit... That was sooo nice! He also left his email address to change some pictures after travelling. The next night, I was soooo tired, felt asleep immediately but another Frenchman from Paris woke me up at 01.00am because he was snorring as a lion!!! After 5 minutes, I stood up, woke him up, and said to him:" I am sooooo sorry, but you are snorring very loud... Can you please lay down on your belly?". He answerred:'Je vais l'essayer'... He stopped snorring for the rest of the night and I had a lovely sleep... I however think that he did not sleep
anymore, just focussing not to snor anymore!!! Poor fellow!!!:))) But the best is still to come...

... Yesterday night, another French man... A French movie maker, working most of the time for Arte. I thought: 'that is interesting...' But it was the type who is starting to discuss the MOST existential questions of life after 5 minutes of conversation... So after 15 minutes I asked what he was doing in Australia and if he liked it. He did not like it here at all and find all Aussies 'des Boeufs'... Apparently the water is very deep between adventurers and philosophers... Ok, that was it for me. I went after 20 minutes of discussion to a bar around to corner to ask some guy in that bar the most existential question of the night "how ya going, mate?". I returned to the hostel at 01.00am and hoped that the movie maker was asleep... I do not want to say that I hate philosophy or thinking about life, but I am here to have a great time and NOT to find out why I am living...:)

This evening I will take train, for the last time, to Darwin. Be glad for that because it was enough train... I planned to stay in Darwin for 1 week in total. I will first relax (will be about 35 degrees there!!!:))) ) and swim in the sea (if no crocodiles or not much crocodiles:))) ). In the second half of the week, I will go on a tour to the Kakadu national Park for 2 days and 1 day to Litchfield National Park. Afterwards, I wanted to travel to Cairns... Because the flight ticket Darwin-Cairns is about 500 dollars, which is the same price as a 4-day tour from Darwin to Cairns (accomodation and food included), I took the tour... The Swiss girls and a girlie from Berlin (I met her yesterday in the hostel) did that tour already and it would be THE MAX!:) Keep you posted...:)

Ruben

Adelaide, 18.08.2007 English

Hi,

Here are some new pics:

New pictures, check them out here.


Take care, Ruben

Adelaide, 17.08.2007 English

Hi mates,

Because writing in Dutch, French and German is too much time-consuming and three times as expensive as just writing 1 email, I will from now on write in Australian!:) Moreover, I have to keep my Aussie friends informed about my travels as well! That would be a fourth language... No way...

I am in Adelaide for the moment and it was "3 times the first time"... I left for Adelaide on Wednesday with the train. About 800 km between Sydney and Adelaide in 24 hours... It was announced that this train, the Indian Pacific, is not a high speed train, which let you admire the landscapes even more... We drove through the beautiful Blue Mountains, before it became dark. Then it was a little boring, but luckily the train personnel showed us a movie: National Treasure. They should have showed an Australian movie, but anyway it was good because after 6 hours train, I was already a little fed up with it...!:) When we crossed the border between New South Wales and South Australia, we had to change our watches: It was the first time in my life that I had to change my watch with an half an hour! Luckily the train was not full so I could take 2 seats in order to sleep. OK, it is not waaaauh, but it is an "adventure travel". Certainly because there was some lady from El Salvador who was snorring... The funny thing is that I once saw in a movie of Louis de Fumes, La Grande Vadrouille, that you have to wispel... I did that once before and it really helps, so after 10 minutes, the snorring lady turned into a peaceful sleeping madame!:)

When the darkness of the night disappeared the following day, the landscape was 'typical Australian', as we, Europeans think of Australia...: red soil, low vegetation, I could see kangourous and emu's... I decided to take a shower first. It was the first time that I took a shower on the train...:) Around 6.30 am the train stopped in Broken Hill. We had 1.5 hour to get off the train and walk into this little mining town. Time seems to have stopped for 100 years over there...

The last hours in the train were terrible... But I was just happy to be 'almost' in Adelaide. The Indian Pacific goes on to Perth in another 2 additional days. I saw a lot of people that went on to Perth and I felt really sorry for them, but VERY happy for me! At 3pm we arrived in Adelaide.
I was the first time in my life to be in a village of 1 million inhabitants!!!:) Even the railway station seemed to be in the outback!!!

I am staying in the international youth hostel. There are just 2 kinds of people: Asians and Germans! There was some 'strange' girlie from Thailand who started to talk to me when I cooked my dinner. Luckily, there were 2 German speaking girls as well, so I started to chat with them. They come from Switzerland, Luzern (Yes, Irina, die Schweiz folgt mir ueberall!!!) and have that great Swiss German accent (I wanna have that accent as well!!!), later on a German from Krefeld joined us and so the Europeans were united for the rest of the evening!:) We played pingpong and went for a beer. Cool, because they all stay the same period in the hostel and we already said to have dinner tonight together as well!

Only my German friends will understand this:The German's name is Bernd, so I said to him 'Bernd, das Brot'. He was really surprised that I knew that... But not so happy that that joke about his name is now even known by a Belgian!!!:))) I told him how you have to pronounce my name in Flemish and that, at the beginning of my 2-year stay in Germany, I did not know that my name had a bloody meaning in German!!!:)

Today, I visited the town. I informed myself as well for tomorrow: because I have already a planned tour in Alice Springs and think that I will do the same in Darwin (kakadu National Park), I did not want to spend too much money on a tour through the Barossa Valley... I decided to take the buss tomorrow to the Barossa Valley and hire a bike over there... Sounds really cool! Now I am going back to the hostel in order to meet my new German and Swiss friends again...

C U and keep you informed!

Greetings from Adelaide...

Ruben

Sydney, 13.08.2007 Francais

Salut tout le monde,

Ca fait maintenant un certain temps avant d'envoyer mes nouvelles!!! Desole! Demain, c'est mon dernier jour au boulot et le jour apres, je vais FINALEMENT commencer a voyager pour 2 mois...! Une p'tite partie de mon voyage est deja fixe je vais voyager plus que 3000 km en mois de 10 jours... Donc mercredi, je pars en train vers Adelaide. Je vais y arriver le jeudi. Je vais y passer 2 jours. Il y a beaucoup d'Allemands qui sont y emigres et on peut encore retrouver des traces de cette culture allemande... Je suis curieux si je peux y manger un 'Bratwurst' ou boire un 'Schwarzbier'...!? Apres ca, je vais partir vers Alice Springs afin d'adorer Ayers Rock, le grand rocher rouge, le symbole de l'Australie. 3 jours plus tard, je prends le train vers Darwin dans le nord de l'Australie... Apres ca, je ne sais pas encore ou aller, mais jesuis sur et certain d'avoir une reponse quand je suis a Darwin: plein de temps pour y penser quand je suis en train!!!

Je vous tiens au courant de mes aventures!!!!

A+

Ruben