Mount Kofel

I went mountain climbing today in the Bavarian Alps, together with my friend Alex.

The mountain we selected is the Kofel at the well-known town of Oberammergau. It is 1342 meters high (4403 feet) and it took us 1.5 hours to climb from the base (840 m) to the peak.

We had beautiful weather, sunny and 8 degrees Celsius. The weather is unusually good for end of November in Germany. As you can see, there is no snow, only a tiny little bit on the peak. Most of the walk is through forest. Only the last 100 m of it is real climbing where you need your hands.

And here we are on the top! From there we had a wonderful view of the surrounding peaks, the Ammergau (the Ammer valley) with Oberammergau and Unterammergau and Ettal.

If anyone wants to do the same tour, here is a good description (in German) that guided us.

What's happening

Sydney had a record heat of 41 degrees Celsius last Sunday, I was informed by my friends. Wow. Here in Germany everything is going its normal uneventful way. Towns are being Christmas-decorated and the first Christmas markets have opened.

After one week my cold is getting better, and my jet-lag finally too. I live with my family, see friends, share my stories of Australia and catch up with what has happened here in the year of my absence. I have also said hello to my friends and ex-colleagues at my former company in Augsburg. Many of them informed me they have regularly read this blog!

I should also mention that my Australian phone number is no longer valid. I have a new German mobile phone number, if you want to know it please e-mail me. Otherwise I can also be reached on my parent's land line at the moment.

I will post again when there's any news to report.

Back in Germany

I'm still jet-lagged and tired, and feel a cold coming. The days are short already, sunrise at 8 a.m. I have to sort out my papers, find various things I had put away in boxes, register at the employment bureau, reapply for health insurance, etc.

Leaving Australia

Goodbye Australia! I hope to be back soon.

Monday: 10 hours flight from Sydney to Seoul. I arrived in Seoul in the evening; Korean Air gave me accommodation in a hotel (Best Western), 25 minutes from the airport. It was 0 degrees Celsius outside. They are building big streets, bridges and skyscrapers. Driving is on the right. Reinforced concrete (Stahlbeton) wherever you look.

Tuesday: No time for any sightseeing, the bus took us back to the airport. On the flight to Frankfurt (11 hours) the aircraft had technical trouble and we had to turn around and return to Seoul. I got on another machine and finally arrived in Frankfurt 6 hours late, at 11 pm local time. No chance to get to Munich the same night, so I followed the directions for another night in a hotel. Many bows of apology from the Korean Air staff. Due to a Messe (trade fair) in Frankfurt they took us to a hotel one hour's drive away, a Steigenberger near Neustadt an der Weinstraße, where we arrived at 2 am.

Wednesday: I considered the option of doing the rest by railway instead, but then decided for the flight. After only 3 hours of sleep I had to get up and get on the bus again. There was further trouble at Frankfurt Airport. I missed one Lufthansa flight and the next one was delayed. I finally arrived in Munich on Wednesay at 11:20 am, after 60 hours of travelling. My parents and Moni had come to meet me, holding up a huge sign that said "Herzlich Willkommen Martin!" and waving a big Bavarian flag. The lost son was welcomed home like a star!

The weather in South Germany was gorgeous: sunny and not cold at all, a beautiful day. And then the next surprise waited for me: they had prepared everything for a Weisswurstfrühstück right next to the car parked outside the airport terminal. With warm Weisswurst sausages, sweet mustard, fresh pretzels and cool Weissbier in real Weissbier glasses! I was overwhelmed.

In the afternoon I saw my dear Omi (granny) and Anja with Sarah and Lisa, and we sat in my parent's conservatory (Wintergarten) and had coffee and afternoon cake, just like we had always done.



Lisa, Sarah, Moni, Mom.

Farewell party

We had a farewell picknick party with 8 friends. We all went to Balmoral (the nice beach in Mosman) and used one of the picknick tables for an open-air dinner with chicken, salads and a huge pavlova dessert.

A photo will come later!

Hunter Valley Gardens

I feel slightly better already, and remembered that people typically lament when they forget how blessed they are in other respects.

On that note, I want to share something happier: pictures of the Hunter Valley Gardens that Peter and I visited two days ago before I took the train back from Fassifern to Sydney.

This is a private botanical garden situated in the Hunter Valley, which is one of Australia's most famous wine growing regions. I was not interested in tasting or buying wine, so we went to the gardens instead. They were only built recently and opened a few years ago. The landscapers and gardeners have done an impressive job as you can see.

Everything is in bloom now. This picture is the Rose Garden. We were there in the morning, but the gardens must also look fantastic at night. We saw how much effort they spend on illuminations. They probably employ as many electricians as gardeners. And they are heavily busy putting up Christmas themed decorations in the gardens right now.

This is a Chinese Moon Gate. Maybe it symbolizes my passage back to the Old World?

Depressed

I'm back in Sydney for my last 4 days in Australia. And I must reveal I'm in low spirits at the moment, as time forces me to draw my conclusions. It is 4 a.m. in the morning. I need to type this off of my soul.

It has surely been an exciting year, with so many fantastic impressions and pictures and memories and things to learn. I have had much time for myself too, much time to think. Not that I have come to any big new conclusions though.

I am very grateful, I have made so many new friends this year and everybody has been so wonderfully kind to me and helpful. My CV is good and so are, I think, my professional qualifications, my English and my character. And still I have not succeeded in getting an opening for work. I'm still in discussion with NCR Australia about a possible sponsorship and contract for next year, but as of now I have nothing whatsoever in my hands.

I have not made a new relationship either. Instead I have suffered. It was torture to be so close to several most attractive girls, but on a non-touch, mateship-only basis. I realize that I'm not just shy, and not just unlucky either. There's more wrong with me. Nature does not want me to find happiness outside of my solitary self.

I spent countless hours writing this blog, which I did for myself, to preserve the memories in a diary, as well as for you, my dear family, friends and readers, to let you participate in my journey, my impressions and thoughts. In a way this blog will be what remains after this one year of my life in Australia. In a few weeks I will have it printed and bound in hardcover.

I'm going home now, full and empty at the same time, and unsure what to do next.

God, I wish the next 4 days would be over already.

Wallabies

I have some nice kangaroo photos to share with you... they were taken this morning at Rosco Club.






They are wallabies, which is simply speaking a small type of kangaroo, and their baby is called a joey.

(Compared to the little Rock Wallabies I saw in August at Granite Gorge, these are about double the size.)

Rosco

I followed an invitation from Peter and Toni to Rosco, the nudist resort near Toronto/Newcastle where I had been staying a couple of weeks ago.

After several days of clouds and rain, the sun came out again and we got some nice weather. We played a lot of songs on guitar, had a barbie (BBQ), a campfire and did some bushwalking around the property of the club, watching birds.

Toni and Peter are enthusiastic birdwatchers and so I can tell you that this bird here is an Eastern Spinebill, a species of honeyeater, who feeds on nectar and small insects. There are many different types of birds here, and also kangaroos and wallabies, possums and lizards. There's even a wombat, but we only saw the hole of his burrow.

After the walk we had to pick leeches (Blutegel) from our feet! They thrive now after the rain. But they are easy to do in ("to do someone in" = ihnen den Garaus machen) with just a bit of salt.

Apart from the birds, Rosco is very quiet during the week. Although there are 96 campers (Wohnwagen) parked permanently on the club's 400m by 400m property, we are nearly the only people here at present. But we did our best to make some noise with Peter's guitars, bass guitar and amp. :)

I'm learning an instrumental piece, Tangerine Puppet by Donovan. Peter and I are working on some new songs, such as True Blue by John Williamson and Whenever It Snows by Tex Perkins/Don Walker. Both of these are very "Aussie" songs and I'm happy to take them home in my mind and heart -- as well as the meaning of the Australian words True Blue.

The other Peter (from Penrith, you remember) permitted me to sleep in his and Ange's camper while I'm here. And Toni gave me a present, a beautiful blue shoulder bag which she had sewn herself and embroidered with the picture of a Crimson Rosella, which is a red parrot that lives here.

While we're speaking of music, here is a (of course very incomplete) list of Australian bands and singers that should be well known even in Germany:

• The Bee Gees ("Staying Alive", "Words", "To Love Somebody")
• AC/DC ("T.N.T", "Highway to Hell", "Thunderstruck")
• INXS ("Mystify", "Devil Inside")
• Men at Work ("Land Down Under", "Who Can It Be Now?")
• Kylie Minogue ("Locomotion", "I Should Be So Lucky")
• Midnight Oil ("Beds are Burning")
• Crowded House ("Don't Dream It's Over", "Weather With You")
• John Farnham ("You're the Voice")
• John Paul Young ("Love Is in the Air")
• Natalie Imbruglia ("Torn")

Yes, they are all from Oz. I find it impressive how much great music comes from a country of a mere 20 million people.

Australian houses

I wanted to share with you a few examples of Australian residential home architecture that I find beautiful, interesting and inspiring. Very different ones of course.

A lizard encounter

I went for a 2-3 hour walk the other day, to a point on Sydney Harbour called Little Sirius Point. There is a small patch of bushland left over, with a walking track. It is a good little getaway from the buildings and streets of the big city, quiet and with a nice view. It is located right next to the famous Taronga Zoo on the north shore of Port Jackson.

Australia is always good for surprises and I was delighted to see more than a dozen of big lizards along that way. They are called Australian water dragons (auf deutsch Australische Wasseragame). They hold perfectly still for some time, and then all of a sudden they run away extremely swiftly. When they run, they look funny because they stretch their legs to raise their body up high. They are also good climbers and swimmers.

An Indian dinner

To celebrate the selling of my car, I invited my Sydney friends for dinner. To make something different for a change, I cooked Indian style -- rice and three different curries (a vegetarian eggplant curry, an egg-tomato curry and a chicken curry). We also had poppadums with mint and chili-yoghurt sauce, sparkling wine, beer, wine, and chocolates for dessert. Cheers!

The guests were (ltr) Michael, Treska, Chris, Helen, Michael, and one more Michael. :)

Springtime in Sydney

Hooray! It is getting sunnier and hotter in Sydney now every day. Spring is here, and it feels like summer already. The Jacaranda trees are now in full purple bloom. Their colour is actually even brighter in real life than it comes out in the photo.

We are also already approaching Christmas again. Santa Claus invites the drivers-by for shopping. :)

(I think his face looks Indian, possibly.)





Yesterday I was in Newtown, a suburb of Sydney, where they had a Goth street festival (Under The Blue Moon) and a Halloween Party at night. Halloween is celebrated in Australia, but not nearly as big as in America. The Australians are trying not to adopt too much American culture too quickly. The above Santa Claus may suggest otherwise, I admit. Anyway, there are NOT pumpkins everywhere here at Halloween, not like in Germany. But maybe that's also largely because it's not pumpkin season here now.

Those people dressed in black fancy Goth costumes must have been sweating in the 30+ degrees afternoon sun. I did sweat, anyway, wearing black as well for the party later on. Which was nice, they had live bands and DJs, dance performances and neo-burlesque shows, only the music was too loud for my ears.