This is the end

...my friends! The end of this blog.

Thank you all very very much for following my stories and pictures, and for your many comments and e-mails throughout my journey of the past 2 years. Your attention and encouragement means a lot to me. I was never alone, wherever I was, because you were always with me.

The "Aussie Blog" is finished here. But I will continue posting on a new blog --> Martin's Tuckerbag. It will be somewhat different -- I can't tell you exactly how. You and I will see. A new section of my life will unfold.

See you there!

Welcome home party

I had a wonderful "Back-From-Down-Under Party" on Saturday.

Nearly 40 friends came to celebrate my return home. And we were really lucky with the weather: On Friday and Sunday we had quite a bit of rain here, but on Saturday afternoon it all cleared up and we could sit outdoors in my sister's garden all night.

The decoration was German-Australian, as you can see in the pictures. Everybody brought some food: we had what is known in English as a potluck party. We also lit a bonfire, let it burn for a couple of hours and then barbecued the marinated meat and sausages on a tripod grill right above the embers -- the good German traditional style of BBQ, not the fried-on-steel-plates-over-gas-flames way the Aussies prefer. All the food was really yummy. Thanks everybody for your fantastic contributions!

After dark, we had party lights, candles and sat around the fire, singing songs until 3 a.m. And the big surprise of the night was a magnificent fireworks!

Back to Germany

I have safely arrived back in Germany.

Everyone's happy and excited about my return and I can also say, it's good to be back. I'll be living again in my parent's house until I've found a new job and a new place for myself. It's summer here with long days, and everything is lush and green.

We celebrated my sister's and my birthday today, and the breaking news is that I'm going to become uncle of a new baby in January 2011! Her first one. That is so wonderful and I'm so happy for my sis. The news got me completely by surprise too! They had all kept quiet about it for the last month so they could tell me in person when I arrived here.

All packed up...

...and ready to go!

I had a nice last evening together with my friend (and colleague) Gaetano, my housemates Anna, her boyfriend Mathias, Jade, her friend Elena, Gavin, and his girlfriend Carol.

We had dinner together at our place -- the first time we cooked for 8 people in this house! -- and afterwards went for a drink to the Orbit Bar in Sydney, which is a revolving bar in the 47th floor. It has an awesome view, as you can see! And that's the happy ending of part 2 of my Australian Adventure™!

Tonight's my flight back home to Germany.

Hans

One of the happy coincidences that just happen magically was that I got to meet in person an interesting man from New Zealand who has the same last name as me, Hans Maurer. He is a German emigrant, a relative of Heidrun who I mentioned earlier in this blog. We actually came to know each other through this blog here. And perhaps Hans and I are also related; we just have to find the 'missing link' between our genealogical trees...

We had a good conversation over an excellent dinner in a French restaurant he recommended in Port Vila, a house with historical significance: it was in this very place that the constitution of Vanuatu was negotiated 30 years ago, as a brass plaque on the wall tells.

The steering wheel above is from the vessel in the picture to the right, the Coongoola, on which I went on a day cruise to a remote beach on one of the smaller islands. A nice boat. 61 years old. Arr!

Vanuatu

Only been back to Sydney for 2 days and off in an airplane again! This time I went to...

"Vanuatu? Wo ist das denn?" was the question more than one of my German friends asked. The small country is seldom heard of. I first learned about it a few years back when I administered our Plan website for which we had a (free) .de.vu domain; the "vu" stands for Vanuatu.

The Melanesian island group is located roughly between Australia, New Guinea and Fiji. It was formerly co-governed by the French and British, known under the old name 'New Hebrides', and has been independent since 1980. This week they celebrate their 30-year existence as a nation. The emphasis of the word Vanuatu, by the way, is on the second 'a'.

I came here in order to relax for a few days in warmer temperatures before heading home, but it's not as warm as I had hoped. Overcast with clouds, very windy, rough sea and too cold for swimming. That was a bit disappointing. But it is still a good getaway here, and it is a little warmer than Sydney. I'm staying in a small resort near the capital Port Vila on the island of Efate and have a big self-contained bungalow all for myself.

The island is tropic and volcanic and there are beautiful creeks with waterfalls coming from the inland mountains. This image shows me at the picturesque Mele Cascades. You can walk up alongside, and in, these rapids of crystal clear water and get as wet as you like! Very pretty place.

Kata Tjuta

Kata Tjuta is Uluru's 'sister'. It's also a red sandstone formation and only 30 km to the west, which is why they made a national park that encompasses them both. Kata Tjuta is also called "The Olgas", but that's a silly name.

People say that the two, Uluru and Kata Tjuta, are connected underground. My German friend Heidrun, who had visited them in March, told me that the Earth's solar plexus chakra is located just in the middle between the two. In any case these two 'islands floating in a sea of sand' are, like any good pair, both similar and opposite in a number of ways.

Kata Tjuta is bigger than Uluru in terms of size and height. But while Uluru is one block, Kata Tjuta is many, it's divided in 36 dome-shaped objects. This means you can walk into those gorges between these walls. It feels as if you were going into a body, the womb of a fertile earth mother.

I did the short Walpa Gorge walk and also the long Valley of Winds walk. It was really very windy there, and quite cold! But an amazing surreal place to be in.

Uluru (Ayers Rock)

Finally, my last big highlight of my travels in Australia: the world-famous Australian landmark, Ayers Rock, or as it is known now: Uluru!

It is located in the "Red Centre" of the continent, in the deepest outback, far from any coast. By car it would take me 2 weeks to get there. But by flight it is so easy to reach, there's a direct flight from Sydney to Ayers Rock Airport.

The rock, a massive object made of red sandstone, eroded by wind and rain for millions of years but still there, is a marvel the way it rises in the otherwise flat landscape. It is also famous for its red colour in the sunrise and sunset. This is the classic view that you find on thousands of postcards.

As you see, Uluru is majestic from a distance, but it's also awe-inspiring and fascinating when you get close up and can discover its concave and convex shapes, its smooth and coarse surfaces, varied textures, streams of water, holes and caves. I did the full walk around Uluru, which is about 10 km. I did not climb it -- the Aborigines don't like people to do that and besides, it was forbidden due to weather conditions (wind, chance of rain) when I was there.

I arrived on Monday and stayed for two nights in Ayers Rock Resort. On Tuesday I got up really early, 2 hours before sunrise, to drive (in my rental car) to the best viewing spot, and was rewarded by one of the most beautiful sunrises I've ever seen in my life. Isn't it just amazing?

And then on Tuesday I visited Kata Tjuta, which will be a separate posting.

Last day at work!

Finally -- it's my last day at work. I made it. Yay!

Two more weeks before I'll fly home. And two final highlights coming up -- stay tuned on this blog! *sings* Uluru -- I'll soon be seeing you...

Sold my car

That went quick! I put up an ad on Gumtree and waited this weekend for people to call me... and the first who saw it bought it.

So now I'm on foot again... and one less worry.

The photo shows last night, our new Korean housemate (Jade) made a special Korean dinner for us! I need to explain how that goes, I've never had something like this before: You make a kind of wrap. You take a lettuce leaf, put a Perilla leaf on top, then comes some rice, fried pork belly (Samgyeopsal), bean paste, and Kimchi. Roll it into a ball and stuff it into your mouth! Yum. And then you make the next one and so on...

Paul was right

Paul the Octopus was right. :(

Manly Scenic Walkway

Today we had a nice day, cool but sunny, and I went for a walk on a bushwalk trek known as Manly Scenic Walkway; it's along the coast inside the harbour on the north shore between Manly and The Spit. It is very pretty; the water is so blue and the view of North Head, South Head and Middle Head, and out to the open sea is awesome. There are always a lot of sailing boats cruising in these waters, nice to watch.

There are also some idyllic small bays, overhanging sandstone rocks, and ancient aboriginal engravings to see.

Improv Theatre

On Friday night I've been to an improv (improvisational theatre) show, called Scared Scriptless. Most of my friends in Germany know me as a big fan of improv, so I'm sure you may have already wondered whether there is any here in Sydney too. Yes, there is.

They did a theatresports show (9 players in 3 teams, one host, one timekeeper and one light-man for a small audience of about the same number of people). The players and the host did a fairly good job; although I must say I think 'my' group in Augsburg (Deschawüh) is just as good as them. For a city the size of Sydney you might expect a bit more, but I think improv is particularly big in Germany, which is why I'm spoilt (verwöhnt).

It's freezing

Oooh is it cold now. This morning we had frost. And a layer of ice covered the cars parked in our street.

They said Sydney, being at sea level, does not get frost, but this is apparently not true.

Last year at this time I had escaped to Fiji for 2 weeks...

Computer crash

Yesterday night my laptop computer was infected by a virus. I did have anti-virus software running (avast), but it could not block or remove the virus.

It looked pretty bad and I decided to wipe the hard disk and reinstall the computer. And then, this morning, I had an idea how to turn the problem into an opportunity. Why not try to install Linux instead of Windows? I had a setup CD for Ubuntu 9.10 here.

This is something I wanted to do for a long time, so I should be thankful to the virus for giving me the trigger. I haven't worked with Linux for many years, and never with Ubuntu, so I will need some time to familiarise myself and find out how things work. But the first and most crucial obstacle is already taken: I successfully managed to connect to the Internet.

Rudd is gone

Normally I don't post political news here, but this is an exception: Australia's prime minister Kevin Rudd has resigned this morning after he had lost his party's support to his deputy, Julia Gillard. She is now the new prime minister. Some things happen very fast here in Australia, when they happen.

At work and after work

This is the view I have from my office window, taken on a sunny day. It does look surreal in a way, doesn't it? Just office buildings in all sizes and shapes, and no people visible -- although thousands of them are there -- just a lettering that says 'people'.

This strange place is North Sydney.

A different sight! Here's me with some of my colleagues on a Friday night after knocking off (Feierabend) in a pub in Sydney. We're all software specialists, but other than that we're very diverse. My boss (not in the picture) was born in Australia. All others come from somewhere else: from England, New Zealand, Mexico, South Africa, China, Germany (me) - and the Indian colleague was here for a short time only. And this cultural mix is very typical Australian.

By the way, that beer with the nice red colour is James Squire Amber Ale. It is brewed in Sydney and named after James Squire, a convict who was transported to Australia on the First Fleet in 1788. After serving his sentence, he became a free man and was the first to successfully brew beer with hops in Australia. His death in 1822 was marked with the biggest funeral ever held in the colony!

FIFA

Yes. I did go to the outdoor screening of the FIFA games in Sydney at Darling Harbour.

The two girls in the picture are Anna and her friend Kathrina. The match we watched was last Friday night, Germany-Serbia, which didn't go too well (0:1). Oh well. You can't win all of the time.

It wasn't as overcrowded as on the matches when Australia plays, so that was okay. There are lots of Germans here in Sydney, with black-red-gold flags and all. But also a surprising lot of Serbians -- who were, of course, beside themselves with joy at the end.

Long weekend at Schonegg

The rain is over and this Monday is a public holiday, Queen's Birthday. I spent the long weekend visiting my friends in Country Guesthouse Schonegg, which I'm sure all you blog readers know by now, it's 300 km from Sydney near Canberra. It was a very happy weekend; everybody had been looking forward to my visit, especially the children, Mathias and Katja, and so had I. Knowing that it might be longer until we meet again is sad to think, but we made the most of the time!

We enjoyed perfect winter weather, sunny and blue skies! We played soccer, board games, and a cooking competition called Mystery Box Challenge, from the popular Aussie TV show MasterChef. You get a box with surprise ingredients and one hour time to cook something from them. No recipe books or computer permitted. The box contents is the same for all contestants, and you can use up to 5 additional ingredients. That was great fun, and of course a great learning experience too. When the time was up, we presented our creations to the jury (Richard and Evelyn) and received scores in different categories. And lo and behold: I won the prize apron! :)

I was also invited by Evelyn's mom for Sunday lunch, and she had again made something very special for me: a self-baked cake in the shape of my initials (MM). She is such a dear! From her you can learn deep and simple truths, such as that the joy you give to others comes back to you -- and that the sky is like an ocean, with the clouds like waves. Evelyn's dad was up and about too, which was really good to see.

In the evening, Katja, Mathias and I made a campfire in the garden, with a perfect improvised tripod and pot to make hot punch. And of course we also made damper on a stick (Stockbrot) , marshmallows, and fire-baked potatoes, under an ice-cold clear starry sky.

Oh, and Germany beat Australia in the soccer worldcup 4:0, but that you surely already know!

Penrith and Castle Cove

Wow -- we had 1½ days without rain! That was good. I spent a very nice Saturday in Penrith (50 km west of Sydney), playing guitar with Peter and enjoying a walk at the banks of Nepean River and watching people go down the artificial Olympic whitewater (Wildwasser) slalom course in rubber rafts (Gummibooten). It's a bit like the Eiskanal in Augsburg, but bigger and the course is in a circle, the water being pumped up at an amazing volume of 14 m³/s. From the finish, the boats can get conveniently back up to the starting point on a big conveyor belt (Förderband). Sorry I can't show you any pictures of this, I didn't take my camera with me.

But what I can show you is another pretty spot called Castle Cove. It's quite close (11 km) to Sydney's center but it's a very idyllic and unspoilt place. The 'castle' is a private residential house built in the 19th century by an Australian parliamentarian, Henry Willis.

Vivid Sydney

There's currently a nighly illumination of the Opera House. The event is called "Lighing the Sails", part of the festival "Vivid Sydney".

The colours and patterns are projected onto the white "sails" of Australia's iconic building with giant projectors from across Circular Quay bay. They move slowly and change every few minutes. That looks spectacular, of course!

Rain...

That's pretty much all I can write about at the moment. The rain in Spain falls mainly in the plain. And elsewhere? In central Europe, massive floods. In Germany, very cold and miserable. And here in Sydney it's been raining every day since I came back from Broome two weeks ago, except for two days. Life is dreary and in this weather I need all my efforts, and lots of hot drinks and baths, to keep my spirits up. I wish they had a Therme here like those we have in Germany.

For some cultural uplift, I visited (again) the Art Gallery of NSW. It's not too big, but free entrance, and features a nice selection of classic art, which I like better than the modern art.

The rain photo above is (c) by dejan markesevic.

Goodbye Broome

Here come some last pictures from Broome.

The first is of the brightly orange coloured crabs in the mud of Roebuck Bay, where the Bird Observatory is. They hide quickly in their holes when you come closer.


Then comes a photo of what I think might be Broome's most beautiful beach: Reddell Beach. Peter and I went there on Sunday morning before he dropped me off at the airport.

Then we visited the port, where a nice breeze blew.

We also saw nearby Gantheaume Point (with the lighthouse and cliffs). At very low tide you can see dinosaur footprints there, but we were there at high tide, so we could only look at the plaster model of the dino footprints.


Finally we visited the Japanese Cemetery (Japanischen Friedhof) of Broome. The town had a considerable Japanese population because of the pearl diving and pearl farming industry.



My flight back to Sydney went via Perth and took about 8 hours in total. I took this photo just after take-off in Broome, an aerial view of Roebuck Bay.

My stop in Perth was only for 1 hour, so no time to see anything of the big city in Australia's west, other than from the air.

Now I'm back in Sydney. It's cold, dark and raining here. Brrr.

Cape Leveque

My Western Australia wilderness adventure continues: Peter and Toni kindly lent me their own car so I could go by myself on a two-day trip to explore the area north of Broome, the Dampier Peninsula.

The first photo is Cable Beach at Broome. This is the Indian Ocean. The beaches at Australia's west coast are differerent from those at the east coast: they are usually much longer stretches of beach uninterrupted by bays, headlands and rivers. Cable beach is 22 km long, so it will take you a while if you want to walk it... Further south is Eighty Mile Beach, which is actually not 80 but 140 miles (220 km) in length!

I enjoyed driving the four-wheel-drive Nissan Patrol! The 2.8 tons car ran smoothly and was comfortable (with automatic gear and air-con) and good fun to drive. I had everything I needed with me for this expedition: water, a tent, air mattress and blanket, a battery-powered refrigerator, food and drink, a gas cooker, a foldable table and chair.

I camped the first night at the very remote Middle Lagoon, a tranquil and picturesque campsite by the sea managed by an aboriginal family. I saw a most beautiful sunset there while collecting firewood, so I hurried back to get my camera!

The second day I reached the very tip of the peninsula, called Cape Leveque, and stayed at the popular tourist resort Kooljaman. I also visited the aboriginal villages Lombadina and One Arm Point (with a hatchery where you can see how they breed fish, shells and turtles).

Look at those marvellous red-white sandstone rocks, eroded by time, wind and water. The weather turned overcast and rain kept coming and going from Thursday on, so swimming and walking was a bit limited. I returned to Broome on Friday because the weather forecast had predicted heavy rains and I've been warned that the roads might then be flooded and hard to drive on. It turned out I was very lucky to have come back in time: today (Saturday) Cape Leveque Road has been closed for traffic, and I would have been stuck up there!