Road trip

The sign might be a bit confusing...

I love signs

That's my cue!

Solo road trip, part two

Driving along the coast in Australia has been a lot of fun. I don't think I've ever seen so many different colors of green in one frame. And though I didn't see any actual koala's or kangaroo's, it's nice to see the signs warning me of them. I did find a dog running next to my car, though, but the car behind me stopped to save it from getting injured.

Australia is a beautiful, beautiful country. The skies are a perfect blue, as is the sea. The people are nice and relaxed. The food is great, the cappuchino's taste better than they do in Italy.

Weird signs on the way draw my attention and get me thinking. Like: 'Windmills for sale". One: why are they in the Dutch windmill business. Two: I can understand a situation where you have one windmill and you want to sell it. But how to you get into the position of being the seller of multiple windmills? And if there is such a job as a windmill realtor, howcome I as a Dutch girl have never heard of it?

Another sign got me worried. "Oil spill. Traffic hazard ahead." it said. So I kind of slowed down a little, in the expectance of finding some kind of black stains on the road or something. But nothing happened. 50 ks further along, still no signs of any oil spills. And then I started thinking again: if there was such a thing as an oil spill, wouldn't the traffic police do better cleaning it up as fast as possible instead of making a sign saying there is an oil spill? Maybe they did both things simultaneously (communication is a human miracle after all - don't get me started on the buzz word my former colleagues used to throw at anybody not having it their way) and later on thought it might be a good way enforcing speed reduction, so they let the sign be for a while --- this is what my mind is doing on my road trip, people, it's about time I get back to work and use my energy for more constructive thinking.

One moment I want home, the next I want comfort zone, the next I feel I am the luckiest person alive, then I'm lauging my socks off because of something funny I've thought up or seen, then I'm scared of people stealing my passport, then I'm annoyed with someone not bringing me my coffee fast enough, then I write and my thoughts vanish into thin air, then I'm grateful for such a nice coffee, then I love the sun, then I miss talking to people who know me, then I try out my English accent on the locals and am disappointed when they catch me on it, then I read my email smiling and want home again, then I eat sushi for under 10 euros and spend an hour watching all the sushi going round and round on the belt, then I sleep and wake up and do it all over again.

Water

Solo road trip

Well, plans are there to be changed, aren't they? And didn't Picasso once say: if you already know exactly what you are going to do, what's the point of doing it? And the guy could paint! So I wasn't that thrown when I changed my plan of travelling mostly through Australia and to tour New Zealand instead. My mother, who is currently in the Philippines, will visit me in Auckland March 2nd. So I bought a ticket there March 1st.

That leaves an Australian road trip of about a week, since I spent a lot of time in Sydney. And so far...the road trip has been a success. Driving on the left side of the road has been a bit weird. But the floods have gone, and the sun has returned and this country is simply beautiful. Also, it's easy to get into conversations with the local people here, which is fun. And Australia's got Target!!

This picture was actually taken in Thailand, but I don't know if I already uploaded it and I like it.
This one was taken yesterday. See the dolfin in the right hand lower corner?

Miscellaneous

Three sisters in the Blue Mountains

I went to the Blue Mountains on the train yesterday. I don't really know why they call them the Blue Mountains, I'd call them a reddish kind of grey. It's been raining a lot in New South Wales, but it seems today it's letting up. A few roads are flooded, though. Incidentally the one that I intend to cross in a few days, but probably by then there will be another marvel of nature to announce itself out here in a very surprising but destructive way!

They were beautiful, thought, those mountains. Enormous lookouts and views. Or is a view the same as a lookout? Oh, I don't know. All I know it, it was huge. I couldn't stop imagining myself jumping down and falling onto the treetops, which were very fluffy and soft in my imagination.

I bought a ticket for a hop-on-hop-off bus that stopped at all the nice places. The busdrivers were really nice and made old unfunny jokes, and gave me advice on where to go. Every time I got in, they said: 'Ah, the Dutch girl with the red shoes'. Except that by the end of the day my red shoes were brown because of all the dirt I'd stepped in on my hikes in the woods. Read that last sentence again, please. Yeah, I thought you wouldn't buy that. My two hikes in the woods. True story.

These are the three sisters. On the way I got the world's worst sandwich. I had to throw it away, because it was absolutely awful. So I went to a cute place later and ate scones instead.

I'd call that Divine Intervention, wouldn't you?

1st time on the road in Australia

I thought the sign was hilarious in itself until I noticed the speed limit when I watched the picture...

cute - amazing - unique - vintage

Koala's sleep 18 to 20 hours a day. Sounds like a plan.

BEE STINGS??!!?!!!!

The only picture ever made - and ever going to be made - of Thessa in a hostel..... :-)

Can't help it, just really love this stuff.

No worries, mate!

Ok. So here's the truth about Australia. People always tell you it's so relaxed and easygoing and beautiful. And so far I've experienced that all those things are true. But nobody told me about the weird things. So I feel a responsiblity here, people. Here goes.

First of all, there's nothing to be relaxed and easygoing about when people are attacked in Sydney harbour by sharks, when forests burn and rivers flood. Nature is such a fierce player in people's lives here, it amazes me why Dutch people complain about the weather.

Second, the pedestrian lights stay green only for about 10 seconds, after which a red light starts flashing for about 30 seconds. It is absolutely normal for you to keep on walking through this flashing red light. In fact, it's practically your only chance to get to the other side, because the streets are far too wide to cross in 10 seconds. If and when the red flashing light changes into a solid red light is totally unpredictable. I haven't been able to discover a trend in the length of the flashing. It's just Australia's way of saying: last chance for a while, you silly walking people! Make a run for it! So we all do, people actually start running whenever they see a crowd of people at a pedestrian crossing, because it means the light will soon turn green. And when the moment finally arrives (introduced by a weird sound that makes Starwars come to mind and signals all of us that the hunt is on), and the flashing stops, there are always those still in the middle of the road, trying to get back to the other side. And the cars wait for them, so no worries, mate!
Still, I want to be so kind as to introduce......(drum rolls...) the consistent yellow light! Nothing wrong with a little bit of clarity when it comes to traffic safety, eh? Let's send a party of traffic people to Europe or the States and let them try our exquisite system. Then we'll see that the flashing will end FOREVER!

Why there's no tipping in Australia.
I enter a restaurant, or at least that's what it said on the outside - restaurant - sit down and wait for my waiter to come. Or a waitress, for that matter. I'm not picky when it comes to someone bringing me food. Unfortunately, no one comes. I observe the other guests for a while, see what I'm missing here, and I find out that everybody goes to the bar first. So I go to the bar as well.
Me: Can I order food here?
Bar girl: No
Me: Oh. Where can I order food then?
Bar girl: at the kitchen
Me: Oh ok, so where's the kitchen?
Bar girl: on the far right side, behind all those 100 people sitting down with their wonderful food.
Me: ok, thanx
Bar girl: do you want something to drink as well?
Me: yes, but I'll order that at the kitchen while I order my food.
Bar girl: You can't.
Me: I can't?
Bar girl: nope, you have to order your drinks here.
Me: so let me get this straight. I order and pay for my drink here, then I have to go to the kitchen to order and pay for my food there, then I have to go find a seat and they will bring me my food?
Bar girl: nope
Me: nope?
Bar girl: when you order and pay for your food, they will give you a buzzer to take with you and when the buzzer goes off, you have to collect your plate of food at the kitchen.
And that's what happened. The waitresses do look very busy, though, but I'm not sure doing what exactly.

Oh, and the Australians have this strange thing with diminutising words, thereby making up new ones. English doesn't have what the Dutch language does have: diminutives. It's a great way of making it clear that I don't mean a table, but a LITTLE table. So I can understand why you'd want to have something like that in English. It's just that - as a result of this inveniveness - I don't understand a single thing of what people tell me sometimes. Examples: Breakfast = brekkie, Sugar in your coffee = suggies. Cute words, but a bit confusing. Or should I say confy?

Oh, and this last detail REALLY pisses me off. I was told Australia is a very dry country. So can somebody tell me why it has been raining here for the past 8 DAYS and the forecast says it will keep on raining for the next two???? I'm from f****** Holland and if it's one thing I'm bloody well not waiting for it's f******* rain!!!

Sorry, people here are so unbelievably relaxed about everything, it rather winds me up.... no worries, mate.

Fish

Blue blue blue

Bondi beach during the heatwave.

Spot the surfers.

Cool :-)