http://www.wickedcampers.com.au/australia-campervans/van-type/chilled-campers.html

The days in Sydney have been nice. It was good to feel the vibe of a city again! We will be back for New Year’s Eve!

The road trip
The trip we planned goes from the Sunny Coast down south. In detail, this is Sydney, Adelaide, Uluru, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and back to the Sunshine Coast. There are many different factors that led us to this route, although it might not seem very meaningful to go this way – it is for us haha anyways this is it! At the moment we are staying in Sydney for some days. It took us about a week to come down here and we have visited pretty much everything on the way down here but Newcastle. I can already hear you saying ‘what?? You skipped Newcastle?’ Yes, we did as we were running out of time and the trip was already somehow a rush, at least it felt like that for me. But for the ones that know me and my way of traveling, they know also that I am a slow and laid back traveller

I don’t want to withheld stories from you but on the other side I also don’t want to bore you with endless stories about where we slept and stuff. So here comes a brief overview of what we did so far. Ready? We…
…laid on the beach of Surfers Paradise
…chilled in Nimbin
…partied in Byron Bay
…sighted in Coffs Harbour
…surfed in Port Macquarie
…saw a wild Koala in One Mile and
…got wet in Sydney

Well well, here in Sydney it is rainy. Very rainy. It just stops for some hours from time to time and then it starts again. Today, Meike and me were about to walk from Bondi to Coogee beach toady. But just when we started, the weather turned from sunny/cloudy to rain again. So we had a Pizza and a glass of wine at the beach which was not planned but nice as well.
Tonight we have to say good-bye to our friend Marco who joined the travel so far. He’s going home to Italy tomorrow early. Fabian, Martin, Meike and me will spend a few more days in the rain until Saturday, then Meike and me will get the campervan yhaaaaa, can’t wait for that!!

Thanks for reading and have a good time!

yesterday we’ve finally been on a whale watching trip! It is already close to the end of the season and not that many are passing the coast anymore. It was awesome, we saw a mother with her baby and an escorting whale, all Humpback whales
The boat is for 12 people max, so it is a pretty small one. Except of a woman with her daughter, it was just me and my friends attending the trip yesterday, excellent! Btw.: it is the fastest boat in Mooloolaba, 300 PS should be enough Check out the doughnut ring we did in the water… it was breathtaking!
Now, just watch the pics and enjoy!

I want to share a story with you guys, as I find it really funny

Since a few weeks, there is this bird going up and down on the beach-volleyball field right in front of my house in Varsity. As I found out it is a Heron, and I think Jack is a name that suits him pretty good. He comes every evening and tries to catch some flies, moths and other insects for dinner. The funny thing is actually HOW he does it. I wish I could film it, so you could see his hilarious behaviour. He keeps on walking around on the sand stretching his long neck to get one or the other moth that comes to close to the ground. Then, he is standing there waiting… just to start running and trying to get one more! As the spotlight is very bright, there are many insects around and Jack gets his free feast every night My roommate told me that last season, he used to come here with a friend. But after hibernating somewhere else in wintertime, he came back alone… what did happen to his friend?

This is just a sample image of a Heron, I’ll try to get him infront of my lense soon!

anyways, I want to have a closer look at one of the reasons for being quiet
Three weeks ago it was time for the spring break! Nice, sweet, awesome, and any other superlatives!

Together with five friends (including Fabian and Martin obviously) we rented a spacious family car and hit the road! yhaaaa
Road trip part 1
We booked a sailing trip on the Whitsunday Islands in advance, that was basically everything on our trip schedule that has been fixed already. On our way up north we spent the very first morning in Agnes Water (the place is also called 1770, just as the year when captain Cook arrived in Australia), where we’ve seen the sunrise. It was such a beautiful moment, standing there, above this little bay and watching the sun rising over the horizon. I tried to catch that moment by takeing some pictures.. but as with any sunrise or sunset… the pictures look all the same haha, I guess you know what I’m talking about. But still, check them out After hanging out on the beach and driving some more km’s, we tried to find a hostel for the next night. As the two drivers Fabian and Martin haven’t slept at all and the rest of us not much more, we were pretty tired and were looking forward to having a rest. Unfortunately, everything was booked out in this region.. to bad! However, decided to sleep somewhere on the beach but first wanted to have a barbie. As we found a place to have it, we just started putting the things on the barbie, when the sprinklers turned on!! Sh*t, every now and then we had to run away, but as the meat and veggies already were on the hot surface… no way to save it.. it got sprayed like a 100 times (we somehow managed to stay more or less dry). It was still quite good though After that we had a bonfire on the beach and watched the moon coming up, a red fireball, bombastic and huge! no worries, I haven’t taken any photos of that The night in the car was not to bad, I’d say… I had a good rest on my large pillow
I skip some things here, as I don’t want to get it boring for you. We finally made it up to Airlie Beach, which was the first mile stone, as we had to check-in to our sailing trip. We did that 1 minute before 5.. 5 was the deadline, nice!

The sailing trip
We entered our boat, the ‘S.V Whitehaven’, the next morning, all we were allowed to bring with us was a small bag with no zip. Why? I don’t know, well I don’t know why no zip, but it was small because there was no space for big luggage on the boat haha not at all! our cabin was next to the board kitchen.. well it was actually IN the kitchen. It was still a nice place and I wouldn’t complain at all. We started the trip by cruising to the Whitehaven Beach and spending the afternoon there. That was nice! Just a bit chillin’ and doing nothing – for those of you who know me better, you know that this is all I need
The second day we snorkeled around some magnificent reefs with colourful fish and corals! Just as on brochure pictures. If just the water weren’t that cold! Eieiei, after 40 minutes we were shaking! brrrrr Anyways… who would say no to a jump from the boats roof top? The next day we’ve seen humpback whales from the far and some turtles sticking their heads out of the water, so nice!
Our captain on the boat is aboriginal, and as the islands were populated by aborigines, some time ago, he could tell us stories that his relatives told him concerning the history of the islands, and as well about being on this planet. I will never forget the shout he yelled into that bay… chicken skin alarm!! Aborigines used to communicate like that, one can here the shout going around the bay, echoing again and again! Down in that bay we paddled with our kayaks amongst sting-rays that were chilling in the shallow water. That night we spent in the very front of the boat, playing the guitar and singing (as good as we could) songs together. On the third and last day finally some wind came up and the sails could be winded up! That was impressive, this silence.. the force of the wind.. … … and then suddenly dolphins surrounded our boat Just for a short moment they joined us and as fast as they showed up, they disappeared. This trip was amazing!

Road trip part 2
After two nights and almost three full days we returned to Airlie Beach and spent another night and day there by following personal interests: two were having a flight to see the area from the view of a bird, others were wakeboarding, and I just had a lazy day lying around, you’re not really surprised, aight?
On our way back south we had a stop in good old Bundaberg for breakfast, in Rainbow Beach for an over night stay and sunny day on the beach. Early in the morning – our last morning – we joined some volunteers feeding two dolphins that are showing up every morning in that bay in Tin Can Bay. Well actually we haven’t really joined them.. we’ve just been there with maybe a hundred other tourists, you know

We had such a good time together, thanks to my friends Meike, Katharina, Haley, Fabian and Martin! It was not just the family car making me feel like being in a family

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed!
Stay hungry, stay tuned!
Tamino

Tamino

ps.: try to find the kangaroo on the pic!

…flight:
“Last call for flight to Dubai!” Sitting there and starring on the free seat next to me made me think where the hell are the other two guys. At this moment they were probably running to the gate! Finally they showed up, the very last two person had boarded, so we were finally ready for take off. The flight was pretty comfortable, even if it was a loooooong looooooong flight. The time feeling was completely gone. The only orientation was about the meals we got. When you got breakfast you knew its supposed to be morning. However, the short pit stop in Dubai made us discover the airport. 33° degrees at 6am in Dubai. Just can imagine how hot its gonna be there during the day. The flight to Brisbane took us about 14 hours. Finally we arrived in Brizzie and already met some other internationals. As soon as we talked to our driver, which was supposed to bring us to our accommodation, we realised, that they got a pretty different accent down here. Anyway, we found our way and finally arrived at Sippy Downs.

…accommodation:
The speakers of our neighbours were on almost every day. Thats the price we had to pay living right next to the volleyball court. Probably the center of the party life in Varsity. Nevertheless, its a nice place to stay. The pool, tennis court and the bbq areas make me feel comfortable here in my new home!

…orientation:
The orientation week gave me a good overview about everything going on on the campus. The people are very helpful and always show you how it works. In addition there is a mentor programm. You can apply and you get a mentor. The mentor is showing you the ropes at the UNI and supports you with infos as much as they can. In the o’week there were study programms like “assignment writing”, “research” etc.. They are very helpful to get in contact with the facilities you are supposed to use for your studies. However, events like the international fiesta brought me in contact with other international students and I finally found my “Jane”!

…1st week:
The first week started and I was excited to see how the lectures and the work load is gonna be. However, the 1st week was more or less orientation. And there were no tutorials, so there was not that much to do! Except trying to get a 2nd hand book. The books for the lecture are pretty expensive and you spend about 100$ per book.
There was always live music on the campus and free bbq. Free bbq aussie style means a toast, sausage, onions, tomato sauce and mustard. Was good though!

…after 1st week:
After the first week there were a lot of readings to do to be prepared for the tutorials and the following lectures. Sometimes you have to answer questions or just to be prepared for a debate. Now we just passed the holly shit week. There was a lot to do and there is still an assignment waiting for next week. Anyway, I got used to the campus live and looking forward to get the first results of my work.

So far its really great and enjoy my time here on the Sunshine Coast. There are always a lot of parties going on and there is no day you dont meet new people.

I hope could give you a little impression, especially for the guys who might come over for next year, how it is to study at the USC.

I’ll keep you posted!

Cheers,
Fabian

Last Saturday Uni organized a party in Varsity. An impressive happening with Beach Volley, pro DJ’s and Jelly Wrestling — straight in front of my apartment (no worries, despite of that it was quite calm this week and I keep focusing on my studies)

As well on Saturday a few friends an I went to the Edmundi Market which is a huge market close to Sippy Downs, where we live. It took us about 3 hours to discover most of it, we haven’t even seen all of the market! It has heaps of food, clothes, jewelry, arts and other things to be found there! It was a great day!

Thanks for reading & have a good week!
Tamino

Have a relaxed start into the new week – cheers

Martin gave it a try and cook his birthday cake himself: delicious! (Made with Lindt dark chocolate).
Cheers mate!
The apartment was crowded quiet early: at around 8pm it was stuffed! Australians start early and finish (more or less) early.. at least earlier than we use to. Even though there were just two Australians Anyways we had a real good time! As there was that “neon party” in Fridays we tried to pimp ourselves a bit with neon-star-post-its in orange, green and yellow on our tshirts… however, these stars were the absolutely party-burner! Everybody was writing funny notes on them and stick it on somebody’s clothes … or wherever. Later on we moved over to Fridays – obviously still covered with stickers – and continued partying in the club. Just awesome!

Check out the pictures, hope you get an impression of how much fun it was
Click to view slideshow.