G'day from Oz!

Here we are again with another update, from Australia this time! Finally in the land down-under! We've always dreamed of coming here and now we're here! Unbelievable!

Australia reminds us a bit of the USA, everything is oversized: the cars, the tv's, the malls, the meals and much of the people. The weather is great (hot!! between 35 and 40 C!) and the people are friendly.

Thanks to everyone for their comments. Good to hear from you!

Denis, thanks for the update from Ansell, glad to hear all is going well and the company did not completely go down the drain :-). Keep on rowing the boat(s)!

Brisbane
17 – 20 January 2009

We arrived much much later than planned because of a delay in Christchurch. But it worked out well for us because the rental company had already rented out our car, so we got an upgrade to a gumoungeos outrageous 4x4 Mitsubishi Pajero! Marcel gasped and revolted of the colour and Lisette shrieked of excitement. It was not our intention to get another big car after the huge campervan experience, but we decided it's best to downgrade the size with small steps at a time :-)..

We arrived late at our hotel in Brisbane. FINALLY a nice warm shower with an indefinite amount of water and space to turn, a normal-sized toilet which did not need emptying, a double bed in which we can step in and out and a TV!! What luxury!

We saw ourselves in the mirror for the first time.. oops..!

Two weeks of outdoor living has taken it's toll, we looked scruffy, unclean and we've gained a lot of weight.
We have a lot of workouts to do...

Nightlife is great in Brisbane. There are more restaurants than people and everybody is dressed hip and trendy, big diffence with New Zealand. We ended up in a fancy nightclub with a terrace overlooking the river. We enjoyed some new Ozzy cocktails with lots of alcohol.

We called it a day after 2 cocktails as we were very tired of the 5 hour waiting at Christchurch airport. We were looking forward to sleeping
in a real bed. And after drinking the complimentary bottle of champagne we got from the nice manager, we counted the sheep we saw in New Zealand and slept like babies.

The next morning we went to a Koala sanctuary and got to see and cuddle koalas, walibis and kangaroos for the first time in our lives! It was very exciting! They are really as soft as they look! We also saw Tasmanian devils and dingos. A real ozzy wildlife experience..

Next days: shopping, shopping, lunch, dinner, drinks and more shopping..

Surfer's Paradise
20 – 22 January 2009

Finally beach, sun and surf! What a complete different world! Surfer's Paradise reminded us a bit of the Costa del Sol, but warmer, a little classier and more surfy.

We saw our Kansloze friend Ronald N's twin brother! Ronald, how could you leave your twin brother behind in Australia to perform on the streets?

We took surfing lessons and it went quite well! We both actually managed to stand on the board for a mini-second after a gruelling 2 hours of constant rolling over, almost drowning in the huge waves and getting smacked on the head by someone else's surfboard. Of course bystanders had an amusing time watching us. Marcel's balance is way better than Lisette's, so he actually did pretty well. Lisette decided to go on a crash diet after seeing herself in a bikini on the photos..

Photos: we will publish the photos shortly, once we find a CD reader.

We visited “Tropical Fruit World”. It sounds corny, but it was actually very interesting to see all the exotic fruit actually growing on trees! We got to taste a few and we got to pick the fruit ourselves and had a feast on all the macadamia nuts you can eat (in 10 minutes).

Okay, it was corny, but we learned a lot and got to taste fruit we've never even heard of before. Lisette actually knew a lot of the exotic fruit from her grandma's garden. So she had a trip down memory lane.

Photos below: once again proof that men by nature are hunters and women are collectors.. Marcel picked the fruit and Lisette ate them.

Lamington National Park (“The hinterland”)
22 – 24 January 2009

They call it the Hinterland, not quite the Outback. It's in the middle of nowhere, but not quite the place where they will only find your body after months of searching :-). No kangaroos on the road, just cows and then endless forest.

Waaayyyy out in the Hinterland is a Spa called The Lost World. We decided to go there after being so sore and bruised by the surfing. We deserved it! The place was really in the middle of nowhere in an endless rainforest. Lisette had a bit of a freak-out moment when she saw the oversized spiderwebs everywhere, but thanks to Marcel's spider watch, it all went okay.

The spa was stunning! We had half a day of spa, and then went for a long walk through the beautiful rainforest. Lisette's ever-watchful eye for spiders and snakes brought us to the waterfalls and little lakes safely. But we had a major leech (= “bloedzuigers”) incident when we arrived at the lakes: they were dropping out of the trees and sucking themselves into our clothes and skin! Lisette got bitten twice and decided to call it a day and almost ran back home (no more watchful eye..).

Australia Zoo

24 January 2009

On our way to the Sunshine Coast we passed by the Australia Zoo. This is the Crocodile Zoo of the famous Steve Irwin; the Australian Crocodile Hunter who got killed while playing with a stingray. He is a national hero in Australia! We must say it's quite impressive to see a croc show in the Crocosseum where the main attraction is feeding a giant croc. Those are scary monsters, we hope not to run into those. You also see a picture of us together with what is suposed to be the largest saltwater crocodile found; 8,4 METER!!! By the way, saltwater croqs are the most agressive croqs in the world. Should we stay away from the water?