The flight to London was totally crowded but I got my windows seat, when approaching my row I saw two men already sitting on middle and aile seat, and both looked very very kind of aehem arabic , I just started to think about it when I saw them wearing thongs and boardshorts, on a LONG HAUL FLIGHT, guess what, they were Aussies and it was a comfy flight, I managed to sleep 7h out of the 13 but I was still wasted when I could finally check into my hotel at 2pm after arrivin at such an ungodly hour as if 5h30 in the morning.

Here in London the circle somehow closes after almost exactly 4 month. On March 31st I started here and on July 30th I will be returning by Eurostar to Brussel and then Cologne.

Thank you all for accompanying me on my journey, I always felt safe and sound with the knowledge that I have such a great familiy, friends and colleagues. 

A short summary , yes? I somehow cannot resist to play bookkeeper here :-)

No of different countries I visited : 10 (with firsts Belize, Guatemala, Cook Island, Fiji, Samoa, Australia, Cambodia, not included here the airport visits of New Zealand and Tonga)
Number of new stamps / entries in passport : 19
Number of at least highly shady stamps in passport : 1 (Big Foot Island in the Cook Archipel)
Airlines I flew with : 10
Airlines that lost my lugagge : 1 (Singapore Airlines)
Best Service : Abord Air New Zealand (You are from Germany, cool, here have the bottle of Riesling 0,7 liter and when you require a 2nd just ping but tell is if it is a good whine, yes)
Airline that returned to silverware instead of plastic : 1
Long Distance trains I used : 3
Days of sickness : 0 ( I was more than lucky I reckon)
Hairy situations : 2 (with good ending)
Number of things I forgot somewhere unintentionally: 1
Number of things I choose to loose : a lot
Money I spent in total : classified :-)
Things I schlepped around the world I never used : 0
Number of clothes I started with and brought back : 5 (socks etc not counting)
Minutes of watching TV : 0
New author I discovered and like : Vince Flynn
Book I schlepped around the world and still did not finish : Collapse 
Number of guitars I carried with me all the way and back : 1
Most asked question : Are you travelling alone ?
Dumbest question ever : Why are you travelling with a guitar ? (at Miami customs, I better not comment that)
Second dumbest question ever : Where can I buy your contact lenses to get such blue eyes ? (in Los Angeles, I also refrain from comment here)
Average weight of bagpack at check in times : 18Kilo
Things I unintentionally smuggeled through airport safety control : Pocket Knife, Metal nail shortener, small water bottel, shells
Attempts to mug me : 0 (the world is not such a bad place as people like to make it)
Snakes I had around my throat with picture to proof: 2
Most scary moment : Flight to Kadavu Island on Fiji
People I met somewhere and then bumped into them again in another country : 4
Exotic animals I saw : Sharks, Turtels, Delphins, Snakes, Leguans ...
Exotic animals I eat : Croc, Roo, Emu, Camel, Buffallo 
Things that impressed me but I cannot rember right now: HEAPS

It was an awesome once in lifetime journey and I do not regret a minute or an Euro I spent !

London out !

Current Location: London, UK
Current Mood: jubilant
Current Music: SOS

All english speaking tourist here carry around the Cambodia Lonely Planet, well and all the restaurants that fared well in the eye of the author are quite busy etc but all tourist entering the Siem Reap post office have only one mission : The survival and welldoing of their postcards. Since in the LP it is noted that sometimes postcards go astray in the Siem Reap PO and you better watch them stamp them, ALL tourists that read the LP including me enter the office, ask for the stamps to put them on the cards by themselves AND then ask to please stamp the stamps in front of them. The people there feel like screaming I am sure and they roll their eyes, oh no another LP reader sigh...I am sure they hate by now the author and it is also a thing to notice, the power a little guide book can have.

I am feeling a little bit watched here in Angkor, so far I was asked by some asian tourists more than 10 times to photograph me together with them, always with a giggling 1,45m tourist from .......(enter here any asian country sigh) obviously they think tall woman with auburn hair exotic sigh. I always smile and comply ...

So I am off now to do some wandering through the old market and tonite local time I am on board to London, that will be a tour de force, 2h from Siem Reap to Singapore, then 2h stopover and then 13,5h to London and since I cannot check in here via Internet and also not get my boarding pass to London  I fear I might end up in a middle seat squished between two idiots. In that case I pop a sleeping pill, drink myself into a coma and hope they reanimate me when I arrive in London.

Siem Reap out !
I am on my way back to Europe, guys.

Current Location: Siem Reap
Current Mood: impressed
Current Music: Tequila Sunrise

First things first, even though Singapore Airlines told me they will send the bag with the 3pm flight to Angkor it jst arrived, I stop to wonder and will not investigate why this happened. It is all in one piece, really dirty but otherwise unscathed HAPPY ENDING.

I am a total wrack now after 3 days of extreme tempeling ! The temp is ca 45 degrees in the sun, the humidity killing and the temples have no clear walkway, steps are sometimes 1m high so I have to crawl, and or are slippery and steep as hell, you climb over piles of ruins, stones, roots, trees and whatever and follow your instinct or a little red arrow GREAT ..this is a real Indiana Jones-resque visiting adventure and I love it, OK my knees are killing me by now, the sweat is running and I am dirty like all the other tourist but it is real fun besides the slight worry to not leave the trail or step into something that goes boom.

All temples have their own beaut. Ankgor Wat is of course the mother of all temples but I love Ta Prohm. Think Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider, the huge roots in the temple and you know about Ta Prohm, esp at 7 in the morning when the light is awesome and the temple still silent.

Today I went 30km outside of Siem Reap to the jewel of Angor temples, B. Sreay, lovely and I could get a good glimpse of the countryside with the rice fields and the landscape.

The people are very friendly, of course when the 27th come and ask You wann buy cold drink you are tempted to scream, but better not, you loose your face with the people here and you have to remember the people are trying to make a living, so at least say no thanks. The girls who sell the bracelets are also happy if you spent some minutes so they can practise their englisch on you, so it is not necessary to buy each time but they very muach appreciate the interaction with the tourists.

The landmine problem is still obvious everywhere, you see the victims, who try to make a living, you see the signs Danger, Landmines do not enter and in a museum you can inform yourself reg the years of the Khmer Rouge. I guess everybody knows The killing Fields, so no need to go into the details here. I visited some workshops where they teach the people how to do stone carving and wood carving etc so that after 2 years they can make a living. 

The english language requires a lot of fantasy here, if somebody says pooo oois , that means post office, and if the friendly lady in the food stall asks you stieee raii ? mean, she asks if I like to have steamed rice with my meal, I am getting better at this. Sometimes I still do not understand , I politely nod and eat what I get :-) so far no problems.

A complety Curry Dinner with apetizer and beer is 5 US Dollar and that in a middle class restaurant, in the stalls it is 2 Dollar but I chickened unless I am with the Driver, where eats I eat also, otherwise nonono. (Compare this to my Ankgor Temple pass, 20 US Dollar per Day or 60 for a week !!!!  )

Siem Reap out !

Current Location: Siem Reap, Cambodia
Current Mood: happy
Current Music: Klingklong

The flight from Sydney to Singapore was uneventful and the flight with Silk Air to Cambodia , Siem Reap well was interesting. We were only 30 pax in the Boing and had a trainee cabin crew, sweet. I could not understand their Englisch but after hearing yaddayddafishyadda I uttered a hopeful Fish ? and got a fisheous lunch with a chilled Chardonnay, OK 5 points here. Then the Copilot announced the usual flight dadada and well I again understood nothing only 1 point here and began slightly to worry since Silk Air sometimes like to park their aircraft deep in the cambodian dschungel but shortly before landing a deep american voice announced, Cabin Crew prepare for landing OK at least 1 person onbord spoke englisch and that was luckily the pilot. 

The visa thing in Siem Reap is THE show, after you filled out 5 pieces of paper you go top the left side of a huge long counter with 13 (I counted yes) people sitting next to each other and try to look unfriendly , all in uniform. The first took the papers, the photo and 20 US Dollar and sent you to wait in front of the 13th on the far right. You now could watch your passport travelling from 1 person to the next, they all stamped and scibbeled and looked at the visas etc pp and finally I got my passport back with 2 pages full of above mentioned stamps and notes CUTE !!!

Gaisa knows what is coming now, I mean I always thought NO this will never happen again after Ione total loss of lugagge years ago  ( I am still traumatized and stare each time hard at the belt when I wait) but this time I stared at an empty belt and dumbfoundedly asked the customs guys AND WHERE IS MY BAG ???? It was 33 degrees in Siem Reap and 100% Humidity and I came from chilly Sydney (ok they say redheads have the 6th sense so I packed my Bikini god knows why in the carry on ) and was already soaked. The lost bagagge guy spoke practically no englisch and when I asked OK but where is my lugagge he only said I do not know we have no computer here THUD. In Cambodia it is extremly important to not show anger in order not loose face so I smiled and clenched my teeth and answered , and now ? He happily answered oh we will see  aaaargh so I got 50 Us Dollar and my lugagge is going on vacation, Rio ? Los Angeles ? I have no idea....maybe it was a bad idea to pack the boomerangs with the return guarantee into the bag and it is now again in Sydney ? tstststst

So I shopped in Siem Reap and got a faked adidas shirt a faked Columbia 3/4 trekking Hose, toothpaste, Mossierepellant and a large beer and gone were my 50 bucks.

So today I went to see the Mother of all tempels, Angkor Wat, plus of course Ta Prohm and all the others jewels. This was really the Indiana Jones part of my travel climbing up and down the stones, look at the carvings or the huge trees that grow inmidst the heeps of ruins awesome !! I have my personal TukTuk Driver, Mr. Si Deth, he brings me to all temples (they are somewtimes more than 15km from each other) and he waits so I can take all the time that I want. Today I templed from 7h30 until 14h30 and have only seen half of the highlights. Which means tomorrow at 7 the next round (in the same outfit I reckon)

Angkor is really a dream, if you liked Borobodur and Prambanan for example you will get crazy here !!!

I hope they find my bag and I hope that they will deliver it here to Ankgor before I fly to London, otherwise things could get difficult, I still have hope !!!

Angkor out !

Current Location: Angkor, Cambodia
Current Mood: cranky
Current Music: Ventilator

The Camel Cup in Alice was cool, a lot of locals Alice residents came, all looked like typical Aussies in broad cowboy hats, flannel shirts and drinking beer out of stubby holders, the races were hilarious since a lot Camels were not in an exact racing mood and either refused to run, ran into the wrong direction meaning the other way round the race track or just bumped off the jockey and idled along alone without jockey, great fun !!!

Now I am in Sydney and the first time I saw the Opera House and the harbour Bridge, I have to admit it gave me the tingles, I have never seen a more beautiful harbour in the world, I am blessed with azur blue skies and sun, but cold weather.

Hence, I think I made a new scientific discovery ! Angelenos and Sydneysiders obviously share a genetic disposal complete alien to Europeans brrr. OK, Yesterday I went to Bondi (oh yes that is The Beach !!) , it was acc report 14 degree both water and air, all tourists like me wore jeans, boots, fleace things and jackets and DIG, the Aussies were surfing and swimming, some without wetsuits, or lazing at the beach, just in Bikini or Shorts , incredible !!! I mean it was freezin cold, but blue sky and very sunny, so they obviously drop all clothes regardless of the temperature and wear thongs and shirts...very like the Angelenos muahahaha

The 3h walk from Bondi to Coogee along the coast was great, with nice views along the cliffs and the beaches ! I never realized that Sydney is so muchmore than just a city.

But now to the Army. My friend Dell, a Sydneysider, took me yesterday to a cool daytrip (thanks Dell that was lovely day, cu soon :-)) around the northern parts and northern beaches of Sydney, one part more beautiful than the others and then, we stopped for lunch at the RSL , that is the Return Soldiers League. That started as a club for returning soldiers of the Australian Forces and provided them with a kind of club and nice meals, think English Officers Club with Bar, Resaturant, dark timber ceilings plus posh alfresco dining decks and you got it. I was allowed as a guest and we had lunch, very interesting because I reckion usually tourists not go there ! And I sticked out of course since I was much younger than the average customer there hihi..

Today I will tick some tourist thingies to do, do some shopping, catch a movie etc pp and back. For tomorrow I am booked on a Whale Watching day, can you imagine they give a money back guarantee on the whale watching , if we see no whales, we get the money back ( i just hope they do not pull a plastic whale out of the ocean lets see).

Friday I am off to Siem Reap. Since communication in Cambodia is very infrequent, do not worry if I am silent !

Have fun and enjoy your summer, Cu you soon.
Sydney out.

Current Location: Sydney, Australia
Current Mood: peaceful
Current Music: Idiots shouting around

The last 3-4 days were really a highlight !  

After we left Alice we headed to Yulara, I was not really aware that the Uluru is 450 km from Alice Springs, I thought it is closer, but all the people in the group thought that, even the guys from Sydney and Melbourne. After the drive we checked into our accomodation in Yulara and already had a good view of the Ularu (Ayers Rock), that was already awesome. Yet this day our prime target was Kata Tjuta (Olgas). We did a hike 9km though the domes with great views and steeeeeep climbs (sometimes on all 4), I was a little bit chicken because of my knee but we all made it (me, my knees and all others who went) and were rewarded with a great experience ! Cool colours in red , sky in blue, flora and fauna, that was really something and we had fun.  After the hike we went to the base of the Uluru for the usual sunset watching, with wine and nibbles. NOT BAD and not crowded, so we watched the changes of the colour on the rock, sipped a glass wine and did some pictures, exciting day !  

Next morning wakeup call at 5 boerks to see the sunrise at Uluru, so we headed to another location on the other side and watched the sunrise, it was freezin minus 6 degrees and strong wind, we wore all our clothes and looked like mummies but we made it CHECK ...ok fingers and toes were a goner but who cares hihi...a part of the group decided to climb the Uluru, I decided to not climb (this was for everone to decide on their own, because the Aboriginals basically do not want people to climb and it is very dangerously), we did the 9 km Base Walk around the Uluru,  and we enjoyed the silence and the views, because it was basically just us, who did the walk. We then met with the climbers who all made it in one piece, yet with hurting knees. I was delivered then to my Harley Man, with whom I took a 30min cruise around the Uluru and Kata Tjuta, that was cool :-) #wave to Andrea and Heiko ....

Then I was a kind of KO after the second day with fast hiking and was glad that we spent the afternoon driving to Kings Canyon where we bunked for the night. We originally were supposed  to sleep there 2 nights in our sleeping rolls under the stars but we did a mutiny and requested tents, since it was minus 7 in the night there. So we got tents , it was cramped and we shared a tent with 3 but it was cosy. Dinner was cooked on the camp fire and we happily went into our tents.

After a pancake brekky we went off to another hike , this day in the Kings Canyon (Watarrka) and THAT was the burner, 9km with STEEEEEP climbs , uneven and rocky patches , slippery as hell and not secured aehem, I was glad I put on my bigger knee bandage and off we went..we were advised to bring water, hat, sunscreen, got a food pack, and our guide in front and happy climbing...that was even better that Kata Tjuta , I had no problems with going up and endurance but climbing down steeply was hell for my knee so I took my time and all went well. What a fantastic hike !!! After this we really were done, we did 27km in steep terrain in 3 days, but Ok that is what we all wanted, allright :-) 

After lunch, which we kind of wolved down regardless what it was we were so hungry we had some free time on the Station and wandered around and took a rest. At 5pm then I went with 6 others for Quad Biking . I have no idea how to drive a motor bike and when the flannel shirt wearing Quad Aussie guy explained all the gears and brakes and accelarate things I suddenly felt oh no, I will never manage this but the other also had no experience , we asked some stupid questions, the guy literally rolled his eyes, and off we went.  It took us 2min out of 75min to go from how the bloody hell is this thing working to how fast can we go with that cutie and roaaaaaaaaar we drove more than 1hour through the outback JIPPIE that was fun and I looked a red mud cake , all covered in red dust :-) (no further comments here guys !! I know what you are tempted to comment :-))

Since we had the sundowner ride we saw another nice sunset on the bike and came back just in time for our terrific dinner. Lamb from the campfire with potatoes, garlic bread and squash, that was really a great dinner. We watered the lamb with enough beer and white wine to guarantee a nice shut eye and we crawled happy and totally exhausted into our tents ( I shared the tent this night with C & C and after we stopped giggling another tent crew starting to joke around and I reckon we kept the station quite entertained that night) 

www.kingscreekstation.com.au

Our didgeridoo wakeup call (imagine a dying cow) came then suddenly and unexpected at 6h30 but somehow we made it onto the road at 8h30 after we discovered that 1 couple was still peacefully sleeping in their tent, their absence at brekky and during packing the sleeping bags went completely unnoticed in the mayhem until the usuall headcount at takeoff (everybody got a bus buddie...ooops there are 2 free seats who is missing muaahahahah).
On the way back to Alice we visited Dinky the singing Dingo (hilarious) and in Alice we visited the Royal Flying Doctor Station. After this the tour was officially over, we were delivered to our different hotels. I reserved the posh Alice Springs Resort and on my arrival they were tempted to shut the door in my  face , imagine after camping in the red dust covered outback, not be able to pack everthing nicely becauce in the camp we had no light, I arrived still slightly covered in red dust, schlepping a dusted backpack and 2 other dirty backs with stuff plus a Guitar, wearing hiking boots, outdoor trousers and some fleece things and crashed into their posh 4,5 star lobby hihi but I had a voucher and they had to give me my room, yet they really refused to help me with my luggage I WAS SPEECHLESS ) 

We then met at 7 in the rowdiest pub I (!) have ever seen. We had dinner (grilled Kangaroo, Camel, Emu, Buffalo, Croc) , drank beer and watched the Snakes that were either in their glas house or on the arm of the owner, they have a webcam and if you have a glimpse at lets say local time 11pm / 23 h, you get an idea what is going on in an Aussie Outback Pub (it beats all bad movies really !) . It was a GREAT evening.  

http://www.boslivesaloon.com.au/welcome/default.htm

Tomorrow is Camel Cup and on Sunday I am off to Sydney. I had some great days here in the Outback, also because the group was so nice, we all enjoyed these 12 days. 

The Alice out.

Current Location: Alice Springs, Australia
Current Mood: pleased
Current Music: Mamma Mia

I was a little bit disconnected the last week but now I am back. Ok, folks what happened so far, let me give you a short summary of my personal highlights:

The snorkeling was awesome because we saw SHARKS while snorkeling, that was definitly a highlight for me and a first so I am really happy I did the tour in Cairns. Also the Rainforest Cableway to Kuranda was cool, I never seen this before and the hiking tour through the rainforest was so interesting with all the huge trees and foliage and animals, I loved it ! I think Cairns is really nice because you have the beaches, the rainforest and a neat small city!

Darwin greeted me with 34 degrees and riverblue sky, I was so happy so see that the rainfront was moving away from Australia. In Darwin I met my fellow camping buddies and we are now on the road. After Darwin we spent a few days in the Kakadu Nationalpark and did a lot of nature things like swimmig in icecold waterfalls, river cruises with heaps of salties (saltwater crocs, huge and mean and dangerous) and cayaking with freshies (freshwater crocs, smaller , friendly unless annoyed and not so dangerous).

Two days ago we camped out in BankaBanka in the middle of nowhere, we slept under the stars (yep NO TENT) in a swag, a kind of sleeping bag and that was really cold (we are approaching the desert so daytime is warm, nightime is freezing)  unfortunately we will do this again in Kings Canyon for TWO nights and there, near the Uluru it will be zero degrees aehem, so we all just knocked over the Alice Springs outdoor shop to get some thermal undies .

This morning I went Hotair Ballooning here in Alice, and since our pilot John did not want to smash us at the McDonnell Ranges, we got an additional 20 min ballooning to find a good landing place so we got almost 1h , LUCKY US. That was cool, we saw a lot of roos and other animals in the morning because we started at 6h30 with the sunrise and had a cool chicken and champagne brekky afterwards. So even if this a outdoor camping tour, we travel in style, mates !

And the group is really nice, usually you have one or two idiots travelling in such a group but we are very very lucky. We have people from Australia, Austria, Norway, Denmark, UK, Canada, United States and Germany on board, our driver is from New Zealand, we all enjoy the international experience and if we run out of talking we entertain us by singing songs from our countries around the campfire or try to drive our driver crazy.

We also watched a nice kind of Aboriginal Culture Show and visited some culture centres, that was very interesting for us, we asked a lot of questions and tried to at least learn a little bit about the aboriginal culture. Yet, there is a shocking and disturbing sight, that I do not want to be left out when writing from Alice. You see unfortunately  everwhere aboriginal people drinking and sitting around in the parks and on the streets, clothed in rags. The alcohol problem is becoming so strong, you can hardly buy any alcohol here in the Territory, even for us, we cannot just buy a beer. This whole sight is very sad and obviously not easy to solve. We were also advised to not wander alone in the dark and always take a taxi back to the hotel in case we been out in the city, especially us girls who travel alone.

Tomorrow we are heading to the Rock / Uluru, the Olgas and Kings Canyon, then back in Alice on the 12th. Then the group thingie is over and I am back on my own device, will stay here in Alice to watch the Camel Cup on the 14th ( wave to Mirek :-)) and then fly to Sydney. 

Have a good day, enjoy your weekend and I am seeing you all soon !
Alice Springs out.

Current Location: Alice Springs, Australia
Current Mood: artistic
Current Music: Tequila Sunrise

Boah guys I am back from Palm Cove and well to those of you who have been in Down Under that is no big news but I must admit I am scared. I knew about the ozone hole and about slip slop slap (check Wiki) but I already noticed that my nose was slightly burned even with LSF 15 and FULLY CLOUDY in Sydney and Brissy and I am tanned up to the max after almost 3 month in the Sun !!!!!  (always with sun screen , no sunburn, always careful so no worries) but I here you cannot survive without a 30+ sunscreen and a shirt and a hat...that is really frightening especially because we have winter right now. You feel the UVA burning on your skin and you smell the ozone on your skin...no kiddin...

So I am out of the sun right now and go shopping for a UV Shirt for my snorkeing tour at the Reef, otherwise I am TOAST.

Cairns out !!
Ciao

Current Location: Cairns, Australia
Current Mood: shocked
Current Music: Halleluja

I am now in Cairns allright, the rain stopped, we have 20 degrees and rumour has it, the sun will make a return tomorrow so I boldly book the Great Barrier 5 hour Snorkeling Xtrem-tour for Friday.

Sailing the Whitsundays was not too bad , it was cold and rainy the first 2 days, cold and no rain the other 2 days. We were 19 people and since the boat sported up to 8 sails the captain wanted to give us a good time and ordered us to tear the ropes to bring the sails up and down, up and down ,  GOSH that was heavy work . Wind was 25 knots and swell 3m  boerks, we all took some seasick pills , without we would not have survived . It was fun, because the crew tried their best to give us a good time, it was food all you can eat and a well stocked bar, we managed to dry them up beer wise :-) We anchored at night in some bays and tried not to think about the rocky boat. I got a cabin for myself, that was a nice upgrade at least . Snorkeling was great, the water was far warmer than the air and we saw big colourful fish and nice corals.

The train ride to Cairns took me 10 hours for 600km, but I saw a lot of outback landscape and talked to some people on the train OR I better correct that, some guys tried to chat me up, but I DID NOT UNDERSTAND A SINGLE WORD...I think they tried to open a conversation but aeh without the command of regular english that was a mission impossible sigh ...sorry blokes !  I thought the stuff they wrote in the guide books about the outback type of males, that wear only thongs, singlets and shorts , speak a weird english and sport a weird hat were a myth, but NO tstststts

Tomorrow I am heading north to Palm Cove, Friday I go boating again and Saturday maybe Kuranda, Saturday evening I am on my way to Darwin.

Cairns out .

Current Location: Cairns, Australia
Current Mood: amused
Current Music: Unknown

I was already warned from fellow Aussies, that the furher north in Queenslands the stronger the accent and I would not understand the people, but I thought hey , I understand the people in the US, in UK , in NZ and in OZ so far so what the heck. So, I arrived at Proserpine Airport , this is the Whitsunday Gate Airport and approached the Transfer Bus Ticket Guy (wearing shorts and boots like all the male guys here, no kiddin)  I asked, is this the transfer to Airlie Beach and will you bring me to my Hotel ? He obviously understood me allright because he replied - in a language I did not understand a single word, I was really like EXCUSE ME , SAY AGAIN..he repeated something and I knew it was Aussie English by the intonation but the rest, NO CLUE...I thought, who cares since it sounded affirmative and dropped him 15 squid he gave me ticket and said something like bus and luggage but that was it, I could have been Kisuahelie, I was clueless....I mean by now I knew about Brissy, Goldy, Barbie, Brekky, Roos etc but this tstststs....really strange but I am gettin better  at this also due to my shopping : 

The Aussies like to CHAT, when I went shopping a lot of shop assistants were circling around me like sharks , NOT to sell but to chat...ok I avoided them usually , got me my things but then the greatest timeconsuming hurdle came, one you must approach, the cashier...so after the Hey, and how was your day so far  blahbla oh you are planning anything specifi this afternoon blahblab oh that Top is really nice, you know I have the same, blablah oh you are from Germany my friends/family/colleagues are from Germany yaddayadda AND SO ON...they expect you to not only say yes and no like in the US but be specific and talk and tell and aaaaaargh after some trips to the shops  I decided who cares, I have time, and so my aussie english is improving fast, G'day , How are you doing this morning ? See you later etc ppp .

Currently I am stuck in Airlie, that is hit by the worst cold front since ever, usually we have here 28 degree and no rain, now we have a max of 11 and heavy rain, it is now pouring down since 2 days w/o interruption, check the news from Australia and you see also snow in Sydney, storm in NSW and so on. I am booked on a 4 day cruise starting this afternoon and I seem to be not so lucky when it comes to Sailing , sigh. I tried to cancel but the agency said cold weather and rain is no reason and they wanted to charge me 75% cancelling fee. So I will go, and luckily I am booked on the Whitsunday Magic, I got a cabin all to myself, since we are not fully booked, the ship is fully licensed meaning the have a bar on board, I get all meals freshly cooked AND the best things is, they have some nice dinning area under deck, where we can sit and watch the icebergs outside when listening to the music, we are asked to bring our CDs so I will bring my Jeff Buckley I bought yesterday...so instead of lazing on the aft deck this will be a booze, reading and playing the guitar cruise, we are 16 people and 8 crew, including a chef for our food. Lets see, maybe when we reach the Outer Great Barrier we see the sun ! 

So I am back in 4 days unless we get lost in the fog and ice and storm or mutiny  :-) and then I am on my way to Cairns (by train just because) , I HOPE until then the cold front is gone !!! 

Now would be a good time for the Schwaebisch-SWAT team to drop some thermo underwear, daunjackets icepickels and woollen caps onto the main deck of the Whitsunday Magic (my floating home until Monday).

Airlie Beach out ! 
See you later , have a nice weekend .

Current Location: Airlie Beach, Australia
Current Mood: cold
Current Music: Californication