South Island, New Zealand

We are in New Zealand and we LOVE New Zealand! What follows is an account of our short week on the South Island.


walking from our bus stop to our hostel in Christchurch

After a very comfortable 3-hour flight from Sydney we arrived in Christchurch in the afternoon. We were immediately charmed by the locals who are friendly, helpful and down-to-earth. We made our way downtown by public bus to our hostel Jailhouse - a historic building that was used as a prison from 1874 to 1999. The place is spotless and we can't help but notice the difference between our fellow backpackers here and those in Australia - people are quiet, don't drink much and go to bed early. New Zealand oozes calm and I like it. Christchurch's CBD is still off limits to visitors due to the many earthquakes that still affect the area, although we didn't experience anything out of the ordinary while we were there. We spent our afternoon browsing the internet and eating pizza in the sun.

The next day we have to wake up early again because we have a bus to catch to Nelson at 7 AM. Although we have been told that we'll be travelling far, it only takes us 7,5 hours to get there, and with views such as these, who would complain?


a scenic break in Kaikoura during our bus ride from Christchurch to Nelson


waiting for our connecting bus to Nelson in Blenheim

My friend Derek, who travelled through New Zealand for 6 months, recommended the Golden Lodge for our stay in Nelson and, boy, am I glad he did, because it wasn't in our Lonely Planet while it is arguably the best hostel we've ever stayed in. It's more like a mansion than a hostel and it feels like a temporary home that you wish you could stay at for a while. We were lucky to get our own room and we were so giddy with happiness over this wonderful place that we bought a bottle of Malborough Sauvignon Blanc 2010 from New Zealand to celebrate. On a side note: while buying this bottle we were checked for our ID because, apparently, we don't look over 25. Since I hadn't brought my ID we weren't allowed to buy it. Jochem had to go back in alone to purchase it without me. Mag, I hopes this makes you feel better, since you're obviously not the only one who's assumed to be too young to drink!


dinner at the Golden Lodge in Nelson

The next day, then, we woke up early once more to catch a bus to Marahau near Abel Tasman National Park, the most popular national park in New Zealand and our #1 must-see on the South Island. Derek had recommended the Barn, but, sadly, they were full, so we headed next door to Old MacDonald's Farm, which wasn't too shabby either.


the view from Old MacDonald's Farm


our camping spot pre-rain

We spent the afternoon at the waterhole there where Jochem was obviously reverting back to childhood. The water in the river was freezing, but since it was so hot, we got in anyway and it was really refreshing.


the waterhole at Old MacDonald's Farm

At night it rained. I was pretty anxious about our never-been-used-before tent, but, luckily, it held. We woke up early for the fourth time in a row to explore Abel Tasman National Park. We didn't have a lot of time and we had a very specific to-do-list in mind, which is how we ended up with Kahu Kayaks. In the morning, we went on a guided kayak tour from Sandy Bay to Observation Beach. We passed Fisherman Island and Adele Island, where we saw wild seals, including a couple of babies. Although travelling by kayak is a great way to see a different side of the national park, it's not really my thing. It was pretty hard and it's impossible not to get drenched, which is something I don't care for very much. It was also raining a lot and, although it wasn't cold, I was wet and welcomed our hot chocolate break in Appletree Bay with open arms.


Abel Tasman National Park


Abel Tasman National Park


Appletree Bay

At Observation Beach we were picked up by a water taxi, which was probably my favorite part of the trip. The water taxis glide through the water at top speed and, due to the rough weather, it was kind of like being in a collercoaster. We were dropped off at Torrent Bay from which we walked to Bark Bay. Supposedly, this is the most scenic part of the Abel Tasman Coast Track and it was indeed really beautiful - at last a piece of wildlife that at least comes close to Nusa Tenggara! Unfortunately, Jochem had left his hiking boots on the water taxi and had to walk the entire way barefoot. Jochem is losing a lot of our stuff lately, so I thought this was pretty funny. We were picked up by water taxi at Medlands Beach and brought back to Old MacDonald's Farm.


Abel Tasman Coast Track


Abel Tasman Coast Track

Back at our camping spot we found the place deserted. The weather report for the next day was pretty bad, but we figured we could at least make it through another rainy night. It turned out that it was not just rain that was coming, but storm - 70-knot winds and pouring rain. Our camping spot was quickly turning into a river. I woke up at 1.15 AM because my sleeping bag was flooding. We somehow managed to move our tent, our backpacks, our rucksacks, our food and ourselves to the common room where we spent some time trying to dry everything. We slept on the couches, but not before we removed three huge cockroaches from the room. I don't mean to exaggerate, but I've been in South East Asia, okay? Cockroaches generally don't gross me out anymore. But these were crazy mutated cockroaches. I was ready to leave by then.


our deserted camping spot post-rain/pre-storm

So, the next day we took a bus back to Nelson and, of course, the weather has been beautiful ever since. Right now we're staying at the Green Monkey and the hostels just seem to get better and better - this one feeds us homemade cake every single night. It also hands out free bikes, so we grabbed a few and made our way to downtown Nelson, where we are right now.


Nelson


Nelson

We don't have much time here either, but we planned it that way. In hindsight, we spent a lot more time in Australian cities than was really necessary and we wish we could have seen more nature. Since we only have three weeks in New Zealand we decided to just skip the cities altogether and try to spend as much time outside as possible, which is why we eventually gave in and rented a campervan for a week. First, we wanted to rent a car and use our tent, but I don't want to spend the week frantically reading weather reports and analyzing each and every cloud. We quickly learned that the weather in New Zealand is unpredictable, so we spent some extra money and now we'll have an actual campervan, including a bed, a kitchen and a flatscreen TV. I'm so excited! Tomorrow morning we are taking a bus to Picton and then a ferry to Wellington. On Monday we take another bus to Auckland and there we will pick up our campervan and we'll explore the North Island from there. Almost everyone tells us that the South Island is more beautiful than the North Island, but we are nothing if not stubborn. We want to see the North Island and that's what we'll do. Our wish list includes: Hot Water Beach, Waitomo Caves, Rotorua, Lake Taupo, Tongariro National Park and Napier, but we'll see how it goes. I can't wait!

If you'd like to see more pictures of our world trip, check out our picture gallery here!

MY FAVORITE AUSTRALIA

ACCOMMODATION Eyal and Marieke's apartment, Melbourne, Victoria

ALCOHOLIC DRINK Choc-a-Bloc at Lambert Estate in the Barossa Valley, South Australia

BAR n/a

BEACH Castle Rock Beach, Manly Scenic Walkway, New South Wales

CITY Sydney, New South Wales

CLUB n/a

DISAPPOINTMENT every city besides Sydney

DRINK Australian-made ginger beer

FELLOW TRAVELLERS Alice Springs, Northern Territory

FOOD Eyal's cooking

LOCALS Alice Springs, Northern Territory

MELTDOWN Almost dying of rabies due to an incompetent/bad-tempered nurse in Cairns, Queensland (not to be dramatic, or anything).

MONUMENT Kata Tjuta, Northern Territory

MUSEUM South Australian Museum, Adelaide, South Australia

NATURE Outback, Northern Territory

RANDOMNESS 4 out of our 5 weeks in Australia I've shared my bedroom with twentysomething boys that should really try to cover up their privates more carefully when they go to bed at night.

RESTAURANT Fratelli Paradiso, Sydney, New South Wales

STATE Northern Territory

SURPRISE Sydney, New South Wales

WEATHER Cairns, Queensland

I wouldn't have wanted to miss...
...Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Watarrka National Park and West MacDonnell National Park, Northern Territory.

I could've skipped...
...every city besides Sydney.

I want to go back to...
...Sydney, with high heels, short skirts and lots of cash.

[inspired by The Other Flying Dutchman]

Sydney, New South Wales

We arrived in Sydney on Tuesday morning and have been enjoying the city for almost a week. You read that right: we LIKE Sydney! At last an Australian city that we loved at first sight. Sydney is very different from any other Australian city we've visited so far. It was founded in 1788, which makes it the oldest city in Australia. It feels much more European here than elsewhere - first of all, the city center wasn't designed as a grid so you'll find no large city blocks here. Hallelujah! I had almost forgotton what it was like to cross the street at whim without having to wait for a street light every 5 minutes. The streets and buildings appear to have been formed organically, naturally, which makes the city very 'gezellig'.

We are staying in Kings Cross in a little neighborhood called Woolloomooloo. I see no irony in the fact that we're staying in a neighborhood whose name is identical to the club owned by the most popular fraternity in Utrecht.


our neighborhood in Kings Cross

Our hostel is called Eva's Backpackers and it's a great place. There are no twentysomethings who start drinking at 11 AM, but people who work in the city, couples and even a few families with small children. The kitchen is small, cosy and always clean. We share our dorm room with 2 other girls, which is a relief in itself, because the teenage boys who usually share our dorm rooms always stare at me, sleep in till 2 PM and smell a little bit weird. We even have our very own en-suite bathroom, which is always body hair free.


our hostel in Woolloomooloo

The best part about our hostel, though, is the awesome rooftop terrace, which has some amazing views of the city center.


the view of Central Sydney from the rooftop terrace of our hostel

It doesn't end here, though. Sydney is arguably also the most expensive city in Australia, but there are a lot of things on offer for backpackers. For free! On Wednesday morning, for example, we were picked up by Sarah from Peek Tours who took us and a bunch of other tourists on a free 3-hour guided tour. She did a really good job and told us lots of cute little details. Sydney is stuffed with cute little details. A few examples:

The Domain, which is part of the Royal Botanic Gardens, where you are encouraged to smell the roses, hug the trees and talk to the birds.


Royal Botanic Gardens

The Matthew Flinders statue on Macquarie Street, where Matthew has been portrayed with his pet cat in the background. According to Sarah, poor Matthew was never able to find "his lady love" and therefore always travelled with his cat to combat loneliness.


Macquarie Street

This particular boar statue on Macquarie Street whose nose you're supposed to rub if you want luck. Jochem was looking to get lucky and thus rubbed a different body part of the poor boar.


Macquarie Street

This beautiful piece of art called 'Forgotten Songs' that not only displays bird cages but also plays bird songs. It is there to remind us of the bird species that used to live in Sydney before the Europeans settled and who have since been forced to move to the city limits.


'Forgotten Songs'

And, of course, we also saw these little fellas.


Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House

Although Sydney is a great city to shop, eat and drink, we had no money for any of that and so on Thursday we took the Manly ferry to Manly. Manly is named Manly because one of the early European settlers was impressed by how manly the Aboriginals who lived there looked. We had come to Manly to walk the 10-kilometer Manly Scenic Walkway, which is an absolutely beautiful trail. We passed seaside mansions and harbor viewpoints, hiked through the Sydney Harbor National Park, saw kookaburras and goannas and longingly looked at the little coves and beaches on the way. We had a picnic and a little nap at Clontarf Beach before hiking to the Spit Bridge and taking the bus back to the city. I love cities that have such outdoor opportunities right around the corner. It's why I love Edinburgh and why I can't wait to get back there in June.


Sydney Harbour National Park


the view of Manly from the Manly Scenic Walkway (including the tiny Manly ferry in the distance)


the view from Dobroyd Head on the Manly Scenic Walkway


the view of Castle Rock Beach from the Manly Scenic Walkway


Clontarf Beach


Clontarf Beach

On Friday we woke up at 5 AM for our tour to the Blue Mountains. They are called the Blue Mountains because of the blue mist of oil that comes up from the many eucalyptus trees. It was already going to be a cool day, but in the Blue Mountains it's even cooler than usual. In our case, it was rainy and foggy. Our tour guide said that it was like winter! His name was Jimmy and he grew up in the Blue Mountains. He called us 'possums' and said things like: "It's easy to get lost on this bushwalk, so we need to stay close together, like we're friends and stuff." He was hilarious.

We started our day at Katoomba with a bushwalk down the Furber Steps to the Katoomba Falls. At the bottom of the Jamison Valley we took the Scenic World funicular train back. However, this was no ordinary train. Back in the days it was used to haul the coles back up from the valley floor and it's quite steep at 52 degrees. It was fun, but also scary.


Scenic World

The sad thing was that, due to the intense fog, we weren't able to see the Three Sisters! So right before lunch and the Aboriginal dance performance, we hiked down the Giant Stairway at Echo Point where we at last caught a glimpse of the first sister. Definitely worth the extra trouble!


Echo Point

After lunch we went on another bushwalk to the Wentworth Falls where I was once again reminded of my dislike of stairs, but the views made up for the sore legs.


Wentworth Falls


the view of Jamison Valley from Wentworth Falls

Our last stop of the day was at Flat Rock where the fog once more made an appearance. It was quite dangerous, to be honest. Jochem barely made it out alive.


Flat Rock


Flat Rock

After all that walking and hiking we decided to take it slow on Saturday. We made our way to Bondi Beach, arguably the most popular beach in Sydney, and it being a sunny Saturday in January, it was very busy. We thought that it was quite windy and cold, so we didn't go into the water but just hung out with the seagulls.


Bondi Beach


Bondi Beach

At night we had dinner in Kings Cross at an Italian restaurant called Fratelli Paradiso. This was a real treat - it's the kind of place where the locals eat, the menu is in Italian and all the waiters speak with an Italian accent. Here we feasted on prosecco and white wine, eggplant with cheese, spaghettini and risotto, and cannolli. Why I can't find cannolli anywhere in the Netherlands is beyond me, so I had 3 pieces. Just to prove a point. Thank you, Joke, for making this lovely meal possible! It was a great way to end our time in Sydney and in Australia.

I can't believe we've been in Australia for 5 weeks already! Time flies when you're having fun, but time also flies when you're racing through a big country in just a few weeks. But I feel very proud of us - 5 weeks, 5 states (Queensland, Northern Territory, South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales), 6 major cities (Cairn, Mt Isa, Alice Springs, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney), 7 major tourist attractions (Great Barrier Reef, Uluru, Kata Tjuta, King's Canyon, Barossa Valley, Great Ocean Road and Blue Mountains), 8115 kilometers, 5 overnight bus rides, 6 youth hostels and 1 homestay. We survived it all! Of course we hope to come back some day and we've already got it all figured out - we want to fly into Sydney for a couple of days, then fly to Melbourne to visit Eyal, Marieke and Eddie again, then fly to Perth, rent a 4WD and drive to Darwin, visit Arhemland from there, and then fly to the east coast for a sail trip to the Whitsunday Islands. But first we're off to New Zealand tomorrow!

If you'd like to see more pictures of our world trip, check out our picture gallery here!

Melbourne, Victoria

First of all let me wish you a Happy New Year! I hope that your holidays were as relaxing as ours have been.

We spent no less than 11 days in Melbourne because we were able to spend the holidays with Eyal and Marieke. Jochem and Eyal studied Hospitality Management together in The Hague and have remained good friends despite the fact Eyal moved down under. I also consider Eyal a friend and we were thrilled to stay with him for a couple of days. It was great to be with them during the holidays because we really missed our family and friends during this time. Moreover, Eyal and Marieke share a beautiful apartment that was a real feast after weeks of dorm rooms. Although it was cooler in Melbourne than in any other part of Australia we've been, it was still warm and sunny and didn't really feel like Christmas at all. So we just used our time to relax - no Lonely Planet, no maps, no sightseeing. Instead we slept in, drank wine and caught up with one another's lives.

On our first night in Melbourne Eyal had to work and he invited us for dinner at the restaurant where he runs the kitchen as head chef. Here he prepared a 10-course vegetarian tasting menu. I think Eyal was a little bit disappointed that he couldn't persuade us to try any of his meat or fish dishes, but we loved the vegetarian food. Quite inexplicably and surprisingly, Jochem has also become a vegetarian. You certainly won't hear me complain!


awaiting our dinner at Bomba Stuzzichini e Aperitivi

Most of all, though, we spent our time walking Eddie. Eddie is Eyal and Marieke's 10-month-old Jack Russel Terrier. We love dogs so we used every opportunity to walk him. As you may remember from some of my earlier blogs, we really enjoy the many parks and gardens in Australian cities and Eyal and Marieke took us to a couple of them to walk Eddie, which was always a lot of fun.


catching up at St Kilda Botanic Gardens

We walked Eddie so much, in fact, that during one particular, unexpectedly long and brutal walk my beloved new shoes lost their soles! But I've since been able to fix them in case I care to get into a nice restaurant, bar or club.


barefoot at Albert Park

Meeting Eddie and getting to know him better was definitely one of the highlights of our stay in Melbourne.


i ♥ eddie!

We did have one big outing during our time in Melbourne and that was our 2-day road trip on the Great Ocean Road. Miraculously, Eyal and Marieke agreed to let us borrow their car, Suzi Blue, and we were thrilled to finally explore Australia by car. We've come to find that for independent travellers such as ourselves who are a little bit older than the average backpacker, riding the bus and sleeping in hostels is more of a necessity than anything else. Were we ever to come back to Australia for another trip, we would save up more money so that we could rent a 4WD and go camping. So you can imagine our excitement at the prospect of being free to go wherever we wanted for two whole days.


between Lorne and Erskine Falls

And the Great Ocean Road is not at all exaggerated in its beauty.


between Lorne and Aireys Inlet

The Great Ocean Road starts at Torquay, which is about 67 kilometers from Melbourne, and goes on for 250 kilometers until it ends at Warnambool. We started driving on Boxing Day and made it as far as Princetown where we slept in a hostel called the 13th Apostel. The next day we drove a little bit farther to Port Campbell before heading back to Melbourne. We were so happy to be together on the road again that we even made some videos of ourselves singing along my iPod. It was cool but sunny with not a cloud in sight. It was great fun!

There were two spots on the Great Ocean Road that I loved the most. The first is the area between Anglesea and Kennett River. This is not the most spectacular part of the journey but the towns along which you drive are incredibly idyllic and pretty.

We made our first stop on the very windy (and thus: cold) beach of Anglesea.


Anglesea

We had lunch at the beautiful area surrounding the Split Point Lighthouse in Aireys Inlet.


Split Point Lighthouse at Aireys Inlet

We drove inland at Lorne to see the Erskine Falls where we witnessed these beautiful trees.


near Erskine Falls

And our last stop of the day was in Kennett River where we were lucky enough to see 8 wild koalas hanging out in the trees.


on Grey River Road in Kennett River

The next day we made our way to Port Campbell National Park and this is the second spot that we really loved. It is probably the area that most people associate with the Great Ocean Road and the many sights here are definitely of the GRAND category. The area between Princetown and Port Fairy is called the Shipwreck Coast and the limestone cliffs here are constantly at battle with the elements, which created beautiful structures along the shore. We saw a lot of them, including the Gibson Steps, the Lord Ard Gorge, the Arch, the London Bridge, the Grotto and the iconic Twelve Apostles.


Twelve Apostels at Port Campbell National Park

It was little bit sad to go back to hostel life after all that. It seems that the closer we get to Sydney, the hostels get bigger, the backpackers get louder and the booze is consumed in larger quantities. It's not exactly my kind of scene. Don't get me wrong - the hostels have excellent facilities and are generally much cleaner than our accommodation in South East Asia (though if I never find another shower clogged with somebody else's body hair it'll be too soon). I wish we could afford to sleep in hotels and go out to restaurants. But we can't. So we deal the hand we've been given.


Habitat HQ in St Kilda

Now our time in Melbourne is almost up. Tonight we board our last overnight bus from Melbourne to Sydney. Sydney seems extremely big and overwhelming, but we booked a hostel that's supposedly nice and quiet, so I hope it'll be okay. The nice thing about big cities like Melbourne and Sydney is that they're much more 'gezellig' than other cities we've been to. But still, they can't hold a candle to South East Asian cities, let alone European ones!

I guess there's only one thing left to do and that is to thank Eyal and Marieke for showing us 'their' Melbourne. It has been our pleasure!


Urban Hotel in St Kilda

If you'd like to see more pictures of our world trip, check out our picture gallery here!