SomewhereSouth.net

Well, here I am...

Well, as you can see, here I (Murf) am... In Sydney, Australia that is. Didn't have the chance to update the weblog after dec 30th but now I'm in an internet cafe somewhere in Newtown, Sydney. Let's start from the beginning... The 31th I got one of the most rememerable newyear party's I've ever had. Lots of friends, lots of alcohol and lots of hugs from people I won't see untill august. It was really, really good. Thanks people to give me an incredible time with you. Next day Schiphol Airport. Almost everyone I wanted to be there was actually there. It didn't make my departure very easy, instead it was quite hard but it's all part of leaving. Friend who I don't see crying very often actually cried. Impressive. We had a few hours together before I went to customs and leave Holland. ~18:00h i gave everyone a big hug and left. The first hour was quite hard, I was sitting somewhere at the end of the airport just waiting for my plane to leave. I was quite lucky though, 25.3Kg in my bag instead of the allowed 20Kg, just because I had some presents for Nicky to bring with me. (Candy "drop" and a big book) Plane left as expected, a little bit more than one hour later I was in Germany. Next plane to Singapore, had dinner at around night, had a fairly good sleep in the plane (needed that, it was a long day) and landed on Singapore's Shangi Airport around 18:00h Singapore Time. The first (and obvious thing) was that it was HOT out there. Almost 100% humidity and around 25 degrees celcius. Minivan to my hotel at the end of the city and straight to my room. Went to bed as early as possible (~21:00) because the next day a city trip was planned. Because of some aftershocks (I think) I woke up 2 times in the morning, quite scared because my sheets moved. Kicked around, shouted and fell asleep again. 7:30 my phone rang, it was my tourguide to tell me she would pick me up at 8:30 at the hotel entrance. 9:30 the actual tour around the city begun. That was absolutely cool. Singapore is a strange city/country. It only has skyscrapers, even factory's are in those buildings and Singapore is GREEN. They spent around 16 million SGD dollar a year to keep it all in good shape. You really won't recognize the factory's, they're in exactly the same buildings as offices are. In there (we went to a gems & metal factory) you'll find the workers. Upstairs there was the showroom. It's really easy to spend 1 million SGD there, just buy a couple of "paintings" and maquettes, 50.000SGD each. Incredible. Also visited a Hindu Temple, right in the middle of Chinatown. After that we went uphill to a great viewing point on the second highest hill in Singapore (~150m above sea level) and from there you had a great view at the city's harbour (one of the biggest of the world), downtown Singapore and Sentosa Island. (The main attraction in Singapore for both locals and Singaporians with several beaches, an underwater world and everything you can imagine.) I used the public transportation the second day to get me around. No organized trip was planned but I didn't want to wait 8 hours just for my plane to leave so I went to Sentosa Island. Public transportation is GOOD over there. No timetables, just busses ariving and departing every 15min max and an extremely clean, fast and reliable underground system. From the hotel to Sentosa took me around 45 minutes. Not a very long time if you imagine that Singapore is quite huge, it has ~1.5 million inhabitants, and that I had to travel from the north-west end to the south-east end. Sentosa was strange but ok. Used the cable car to go up the same hill I went the day before with a great view again. It soars somewhere around 60 meters above sea level and the trip takes 15 minutes. Well, back at the hotel again and waiting for my minivan to take me to the airport. Had a good chat with the driver, it was the same as on the first day. It's absolutely forbidden to smoke in a vehicle but on the first day we did. It was sunday, no cops around and as simply dissapears in the wind was his excuse... Check-in at the airport went smoothly, again no complains about my 5.3Kg overweight, just a somewhat smiling officer. (They only smile over there, they're asians remember...)

Airplane took off, 7 hours later I suddenly was in Sydney at 6:10 local time. I got a little bit nervous then, to see Nicky again and to pass customs and the Immigration Office (for my Working Holiday Visum) but it all went extremely smoothly. No strange checks, no hassle, no nothing, just showing my candy (no problems there) and getting out of the arrivals to meet Nicky and her aunt Anita. Strange moment, a hug, a kiss, a few dutch words an off to Anita's house in Enmore. (a suburb of Sydney) From there English was the only language for us, even when just talking to eachothere. Even my diary changed to english now because I'm already so used to it that Dutch simply sounds strange. Didn't do much that day, had a walk, developed a film, had lunch in the local park, arranged my Bali and New-Zealand tickets (in fact Nicky did, I was way to tired to think and act properly) and went back because the next day WOULD be a very busy day. And it was. Hmmm, Nicky just reminds me that I forget one big thing. We actually went out that first night. Some of her friends where leaving Sydney and we might not see them agains. So we went to a bar downtown and had a great time. Drank some beer, had a talk, a hug and went home around night. Her friends where a bit surprised about a few things like the fact that we speak english to eachother and that even after a 7 hour trip and some jetlag I was not really tired and I joined Nicky to the bar. Nicky was surprised that I actually survived talking English in a busy bar... Ok, next day... (thursday) We arranged a lot of things this day. First we went to the Travellers Autobarn to have a look at a car and the rules. Took the rules with us, headed off to Hyde Park to have a lunch, arranged my Kiwi Experience trip at the Travellers Contact Point, got the address of the Indonesian Council, got myself a VIP discount card, and some minor things and headed back to the TAB to actually get ourselves a car. Well, at least try to. But... We succeeded. By next wednesday we'll be the lucky owners of a Ford Econovan from 1987 which is pretty young for a backpackers car. It's quite cool, has a big bullbar on it's nose, a 2-person bed and a stand-off at the back so we have a bench to sit on. I've had my few Km's of driving on the left. Quite scary but luckily I didn't hit anything and actually the driving went quite well. Which is surprising because it's quite strange to have the big part of your vehicle on the left side and suddenly driving a car about twice the size of my own 205. Well, Nicky just remembered me of the fact that officially this is my car as well. It's on my name. So now I have 2 cars, one in Holland, one in Australia. One quite new car from 1998 (my 205) and this huge thing. It's really cool to drive a minivan, we'll have plenty space to store all we need for the big trip and to live in it the next 5 months. We'll hit the road next thursday for a 2-day trip to the Blue Mountains to get used to camping, the car, the traffic and everything. After that we'll stay just one night here and then hit the road for the big trip.

Then yesterday (Friday), we went to the local zoo. Off course by public transportation which remembered me of the Singapore System. No timetables, just busses and trains every 15 min max. Took a boat the zoo entrance, had a great view of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House and had a walk through the zoo which was quite good. Went back, had a walk through the Botanical Gardens (with the famous flying foxes, maybe thousands of them) and headed off home again. Again another good night sleep and well, here I am... Sitting next to Nicky, enjoying the fact that I'm here and at the very start of the biggest and most exiting trip of my life. Really looking forward to the Blue Mountains and the rest of the trip. We'll keep you updated off course. To all the people up there, I really do miss you all and don't forget that I'm having a great time already.

Bye!

Murf