Goodbye Land of Oz

It's been 3 days since I left Australia and somehow it feels really weird being in Thailand. Don't get me wrong. It's very nice here but I do prefer Oz.

What can I tell you. The last 2 1/2 months have simply been awesome. I've seen so much and met so many wonderful people. Most certainly one of the best things I have ever done: packing and leaving. :)

In two weeks I will be in Europe, studying and living there for the first time in almost 15 years. It will be strange but I am looking forward to be creative and work again. I do love travelling, don't get me wrong here but I am no fool and I know it's time to get back to reality and work hard to make a name in the culinary world :)

Alright, lets try to update you on what happened since I left Magnetic Island.

I went up north to Mission Beach, where I spend some lovely days, kayaking, diving and walking Gilly the dog from the hostel.

From there I took the greyhound (for the last time) all the way up to Cairns. On the way to the hostel I met Dagmar from Germany and we decided to "travel" a bit together. We went on a 3 day on board diving trip with Pro-Dive. Yup, I finally saw my first shark when I was underwater and I've seen more when I wasn't in the water... go figure. lol
We became friends with Iain who was staying at the YHA as well and did the 3 day diving trip. :) Yes Iain, I still don't get the whole thing with the camera but I'm sure, when you visit me in Paris, you'll give it another try to explain ;) lol

After the diving tour, I ventured to Port Douglas and went on a tour to the daintree forest from there :) Pretty cool I have to say :)

Back in Cairns, I went on some more one day trips, met up with Dagmar and Iain and hope to catch a glimpse of the solar eclipse (of course that didn't really happen as it was pretty cloudy lol, just my luck).

The day after the eclipse, Dagmar and I said cheerio to Iain and were flying out to Darwin. Had lovely dinner and said goodbye the next day, as Daggi was going on a tour and I was heading to Alice Springs by plane.

I decided to send a lot of luggage by greyhound to Melbourne and just take what I really need to the Outback.

The morning after arriving in Alice, I was picked up by Groovy Grape :) OMG what a cool troop we were. Which is lucky as we spend 6 days together in "no-where's-land" :) Waking up at 4AM and sleeping under the sky looking at the stars, sharing chocolate with Max and laughing at Cath running around looking for her moisturizer, just a few memories that will keep me smiling for a long time. ;)

Unfortunately, every trip comes to an end and we had to say goodbye once again. The good news was, there would be a "reunion" with some guys as they went on certain other trips at the same time.

Kangaroo Island was amazing and having some of the boys from the Outback tour on board made it even more fun. :) Same on the Great Ocean Road where some of the Outbackers and some Kangaroo'ers met up again.

It's pretty funny to think, Australia being such a small country, but when you travel, it really isn't. You always meet again. :)

In between Kangaroo Island trip and heading towards Melbourne, I took a flight to Port Lincoln (not Port Douglas - yes Dagmar haha you just laugh). I went on a one day diving trip to cage dive and see the Great White Shark. What can I tell you, the MOST AMAZING ANIMAL ON EARTH! It was super peaceful and they are just sooooo beautiful. Very tempting to touch them. But I behaved. (I guess there's a reason why they put the humans in the cage... simply to protect the sharks from being cuddled to death)

Finally I arrived in Melbourne and had one last trip to go to: Philipp Island. We went to see the baby penguins and believe it or not, I managed to cuddle with a dingo!!! woohooo :)

On my last day, I met up with some Groovy Grapers again and said goodbye to good old Australia.

Ok, you might wonder... all this time, Gali hasn't had one real BLONDE MOMENTS... you just wait.. it was bound to be happening sooner or later, wasn't it? And so it did... at the airport, when I was told, that I missed my flight.

I looked at the lady behind the counter and thought she must have gone mad. Here I am, on the 9th of December at 7pm when my flight won't leave until after midnight. Well... he did leave after midnight.. but ON THE 9th!!! (silly me).... How on EARTH could I not see that.

Lucky for me, they had ONE seat left in business (economy was fully booked) and as I wanted to upgrade anyway, it was not a problem to take the plane on the 10/12/12 at 00:00!!! (gosh I feel so blonde).

What an amazing feeling to fly business... I actually slept!!! The food was awesome and you honestly feel like a million dollar babe. :) Plus... Thai Airways upgrade isn't even that expensive. (Unlike Swiss where they ask for $5000 for an upgrade - no wonder Swissair got bust... geez.. I want to RENT a seat.. not BUY the whole plane!!!) Guess no sleep for me again when I leave Thailand.

Anyways, for now, I am here in Thailand, in Phuket. Going for early runs along the beach (7AM - 25C, 95% humidity) :) 4 pools to have fun in and a very nice spa. Yup I already got a full body wax. :) Smooth like a baby :)

Alright, I guess that's it for now. time to do something productive, like taking a nap. :) And then it's pool time :)

2 more weeks to enjoy before the cold hard reality hits me in the face.

From Hervey Bay over Airlie Beach to Magentic Island

Ok, I am way behind my blog writing... I know... sorry :)

Anyways, I've been to Hervey Bay and went Whale Watching. It is sooo different when you do that from a boat than from the coast. Those humpback whales are so curious and come super close to the boat. Just wonderful. Mommies show off their little ones and you get awesome pictures. (they follow someday... on FB)

I decided to go on a 2 day Fraser Island tour. Of course I was curious about the Dingos, as I am a huuuuuge fan of them. And believe it or now... not ONE Dingo showed up.... oh buuhuu... but we had two awesome days with our tour- guide Steve. And I finally met 3 Swiss girls... yay my first Swiss (and I see Swiss girls all over since lol). Anyway, Fraser Island is most certainly a MUST if you are close by. It's simply stunning and pure nature. The lakes are wonderful to swim (don't forget your swim goggles) and the trees and plants are just wonderful to look at. I very much enjoyed it despite not seeing a Dingo.

From Hervey Bay, it was a loooong bus ride to Airlie Beach (14 hours!!!). And I promised myself before, not to do that anymore... ah well.

Once in Airlie Beach (meeting another Swiss Girl) I decided to take a small plane (well not taking it myself obviously as I don't know how to fly...) and fly out to the Great Barrier Reef. It is breath taking and if you have just a wee bit of spare money, worth going. (Do the one hour trip as this takes you all the way out). You see all the Whitsunday Islands and you see the Heart-Shaped Reef. Simply wonderful.

The next day I went with Evelyine, (a French traveler whom I met at the YHA) to the Crocodile Safary. I am not a fan of Kroc Farms, so we went to see them in the wild. It was pretty impressive to see them all out there... and the young ones (1-3 years) are sooo tiny. Super cute. You kinda want to cuddle them. Well I wanted to. (Guess that's just me).

On Sunday it was finally time to go on to the Summertime. A timber boat that took 15 silly tourists (one of them was obviously me) out to the Whitsundays for 3 days. I decided to buy a diving mask and not to freak out on board.

The trip was unbelievable. The first day we discovered the white sands of the Whitsunday Island and went for a little swim and saw small sharks and sting rays.

The food on board was wonderful and the whole crew really funny. In the evening we "had to" look at all the pics that were taken during our day and went early to bed.

Next morning was "dive day" and of course I was really worried about it. In the end... I went diving 3 times, twice through a cave and I got hooked on it. (Thanks Mickey and Adam!!!)

During our last day, we had a bit of a Kayak Tour and then sailed back. As the weather got a bit worse and the wind picked up, it was perfect to sail. And nope, I didn't get sea sick at all. :)

Tuesday evening we met up with the crew and the group and had a bit of a "eat and drink" thing going on.

Wednesday it was time to say goodbye. I took the bus to Townsville and went straight to Magnetic Island. The first morning, I decided to explore the Koala Sanctuary and cuddled with Koalas, Snakes, Crocodiles and other animals. :) So yup I was in heaven :)

I wanted to leave the next day and make my way up slowly to Cairns do get my OW PADI license but in the end, decided to stay on the island and do it here. My instructor Maria, from Sweden, was absolutely AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) I honestly love her for being such a funny, bubbly person who makes everything look so easy. Yes of course I freaked when I had to fill my mask with water in the pool and almost died... (I must look sooo terrified hahahaha) but in the end... not only did I pass my OW license test but I went on to do my Advanced OW License and yup... I am now an advanced OW Diver :) Can't wait to get into the deep again :) (Already checked out some wrecks to dive to).

Today is my last day here on Maggie Island and I went horseback riding and swimming with the horses :) Super fun. :) Now I guess it's time to finish my laundry and go for a last time to Geoffrey Bay to feed the Wallabies. I am a bit sad to say goodbye. I honestly like it here... Well maybe once I retire I come back here and have some horses and go diving all the time.

Anyways, for anyone who wants to learn how to dive and doesn't have tons of money to spend, Pleasure Divers is the place to go. Maria, Rob, Simon and Matt are all wonderful people and take you out to dive and teach you all you need to know. :)

And yup, who ever told me "once you see a fish you simply follow and forget you're underwater" was most certainly right. :)

Heading up North

So my journey goes on here in Down Under. After Sydney, the Blue Mountains, Byron Bay, Brisbane and Noosa, I finally arrived at Hervey Bay.

I am honest here (and please Aussies no offense) but I do like Queensland better than NSW. I really liked Brisbane and I did enjoy Noosa. (I should buy a flat there for investment, honestly!)

Anyway, let me tell you a bit about my "trip into the wilderness". I booked an unguided tour to the Noosa Everglades (yes... there are two Everglades). So this "unguided" tour means, you are picked up, put on a boat, drive to the everglades, are given a kayak, a map, a tent and cooking stuff and then you are sent off for the next 2 1/2 days. On your own. (Well as a group obviously but no guide).

I was sharing my kayak with Joern from Germany and we soon got into the whole rowing thing and yup, we beat 'em all. haha... (no no.. we were NOT competitive at all... haha).

So here we were, paddling upwards Noosa River towards our campside. At some point we were sure, that we took the wrong turn, just, there was no other turn really, so we just kept going. Finally arriving at our destination, we set up our tents. The good thing was, being a small group of only 14, we had a lot of space. After the tents were up, it was time for a swim. (we didn't meet any sharks, but they say, Bullsharks are around here).

Dinner time came and we set up our cookers and made some food... then we just sat there, around one table, with two candles to give some kind of light and were wondering, if 7pm is an ok time to go to bed. We did laugh a lot and at around 7:30 quite a few went to bed. I guess by 8:30 everyone was tugged in their sleeping bags.

We all woke up real early. No wonder, those "mattresses" we got were worth nothing. It really felt like sleeping on the ground. Anyhow, breakfast and off we went up north. After about 1 1/2 hour paddling we got off our boats and started walking uphill for 6K to get to the Sandpatch. It really is impressive. All the green around and then this "desert" in the middle. (Pics will follow, I promise).

On our way back down, we felt some rain drops, so we decided to hurry back to our camp. Well of course, while we were paddling downstream, it really started to rain like crazy and 4 of us got back to camp and the other 3 went out of the water further up north. Tents were wet, sleeping bags were wet and we were wet. As you can imagine, it was a lovely sight. And a cold one for that matter.

We tried to dry up and change into something warmer. As this is in a nature reservoir, we had no shower or hot water. The actual plan was to go for a swim to get clean which, in this rain with lighting was impossible. Well, I guess that's part of the adventure.

After some time the rain got less and we found a place where we could sit down under a roof and at least try to have dinner without being soaked.

One of the tents was "lost" so Joern and I shared our tent with Tom. I will never look at a "3-some" the same way again!!!! hahaha

I couldn't sleep at all and my back was in so much pain that I was ready to go at 3am. At 5 am I gave up and just got out of the tent, watching the sunrise and warming up. 6AM came and we woke up the rest of the gang, had something to eat, packed up and paddled back downstream. Joern and I were the last ones to leave and even though the "flying Dutch" left 40 minutes before we finally took off, we got them before the end. (I think we should register as an international rowing team for the next Olympics). :)

The boat arrived with new "victims" and we were taken back to civilization. You have no idea how wonderful a hot shower and those cheap hostel beds feel. Heaven I tell you.

And now, I am venturing again into the "wild". Fraser Island it is. Going to see tons of Dingos hopefully.

Well, that's all from Down Under right now.

G'Day :)

First week in Down Under

It's honestly amazing how fast time passes when you're busy. It's already over a week since I left Switzerland. I've landed really early on Sunday morning in Sydney after 2 long flights (over Bangkok) all in all over 22 hours in the air.

Luckily I was able to check in to the hostel right away and decided to explore the city. It's dangerous when you have 8 hours time difference and you arrive tired in the morning. Do NOT go to bed. Try to get on track right away, less jet lag.

So I went to the harbor and explored the aquarium and the wild life center. Hopped on a boat to explore the city from the sea side and checked out the coffee shop next to the hostel. As I got back around 6pm, I was beat. There were quite a few girls in the room and one older lady (originally from Poland but claims to be living in Australia for 30 years) started talking to me. I wish she wouldn't. I usually try to be open minded and nice to people whom I share a room with but at some point I just wanted her to shut up. Of course I didn't tell her but she was just odd.

During my 4 days in Sydney, I met some nice people, saw quite a bit of the city and decided, this is NOT the place I would wanna live.

Thursday I said goodbye to the big city and went up to the Blue Mountains by train. First night was very stormy (so was the second one and the last morning). I went horseback riding and encountered not only a big group of oh so cute kangaroos but a big black poisonous snake. (I love snakes, so no worries, just don't pet them). We saw a lot of cows (unfortunately they end up on the plate sooner or later, yuck!).

It's now Saturday noon and I am leaving the Blue Mountains again towards Sydney (yes without a car, this is pretty much the only option you have) and then up the coast towards Byron Bay.

Slowly but surely I start to get the hang of the backpacker feeling again. It's been a few good years since I've been travelling like this.

Well, I keep you posted on my trip... up all the way to the Great Barrier Reef.

G'Day :)

Packing

One more week till I am finally leaving Israel. Well I won't be gone long.... as I have to take care of a few more things here.... hence, I'll be back end of July.

At the moment, I'm trying to get my travel schedule together which isn't so easy. I would love to fly with Swiss but somehow I am not able to use my "Miles & More" and no one can give me an answer on how to... it's pretty frustrating to know when you wanna fly and where but you can't book and the flights won't get cheaper...

I went to Jerusalem last week to say goodbye to my "adoptive family". Funny enough I'll be seeing them again in a month in Switzerland. :)

Need to start packing and inform my family and friends when I'm where in Switzerland.

Ah well, the stress is a bit annoying but in the end, it will be tons of fun :)