progress report

G’Day!

I am still in the advance class. It is hard yakka, eh! I gotta bite the bullet. In the class are three blokes and seven chicks. We have a good chalkie. I always wear my sunnie. The sun was belting down.

Now in English: (!)

Hello!
I am still in the advance class. I have to learn a lot of vocabulary and grammar but I think I will do that. In our class are three men and about seven girls. The most of them live here in Australia as immigrants. They have a job after the school and do not come out for a beer. Well, I have to spend my time without them. The class is good. We have a lot of fun in the lessons and it is not deadpan.

Afternoon I often go shopping, to the beach, walk to a special place in the city or go to the beach. (For my Swiss-mates: Ja Ihr haend richtig glaese, ich gane go shoppe! Ich lane einiges a gaeld ligge da… J ) At 6 p.m. I always want to be at home because then are the Simpsons on channel ten!

The host family is great. I think I have the best family you can have here! They also cook very good vegetarian meals!

I founded a good pub. They have all day live music and good beer (Coopers)!

my first school day...

Yes, I had my first school day! First I made an exam, that they know my English level. I was terrible!!! 24 out of 40 Points!!! The composition I wrote was not so bad. In the speaking they told me, that I speak very well. I know that I am bad in grammar and I have to learn the vocabulary. So he put me into an advance class! Wow! But that will be a difficult time for me! Actually, I am of the opinion to change in an other class, but he said that this would be boring for me, because I speak so well.

We are a small class of about 10 students from Brazil, Thailand, Poland, Mexico, Bolivian, Korea and me! That’s great: no other Swiss and no German! That is why I chose Adelaide

In the Afternoon I went to the Beach and tried to learn a little bit, but hey! Sun, beach, sea...! I am on holidays!!! So I was just laying in the sun and took a swim in the great wide ocean...

Adelaide

I like Adelaide. There is the Mall with many nice Shops and my school is in the middle of this street. From the rail station to the school, it takes some 5 minutes to walk. That is great! The centre is surrounded by green parks and the houses are around there.

Yesterday I was going out for a beer. Adelaide has one street with a lot of clubs, pubs and discos. But I have not found a really good bar. I was looking for an English pub with live music but I founded a lot of pubs and discos where the music was too loud and not really my stile.

Interesting is also, that is Australia it is prohibited to consume alcohol on the streets. The pub is responsible for the customers. It is a law that you do not serve to drunken people. If a drunken man makes some trouble, must in a hospital, or makes an accident, then the pub is also responsible for that! And the best of all: Smoking is also prohibit! That is so beautiful! You can go in every pub, disco or restaurant and its never smelling for smoke! I love that! Why we don’t have this in Switzerland. That is so great!

With the Indian-Pacific to Adelaide

I had to check in on Wednesday for the trip to Adelaide. I haven’t know, that I’ll travelling 1^st class! So I had a own small room with full-service! For lunch and dinner you could always choose from 2 or 4 different meals including entrees and sweets! One Meal was always vegetarian, bur you could also choose between gluten free and lactose free! Well, the food was good! Really! No joke! I liked the food in the train!

Sometimes I just sited for an hour on the window and was watching into the great wide nature. Its so fantastic! I made maybe 100 pictures… In this small room, the Day can be long, so I was reading a lot (I finished my book, reeded the time magazine, pc world, rolling stone and some Indian-pacific stuff…) I Made a lot of funny pictures of myself (No i don't show they here!), made same stretching, sudoku, was sitting in the bar-wagon and talked with other peoples from Australia, Germany and yes, also from Switzerland…

The bad side of this tour was, that it is difficult to find some sleep in this shaking train! But in the second night i was so tired, i think i could sleep some hours... The train was always climate to 20 degrees, so I wearied always a pullover.

The Train had a delay from 40 minutes in Adelaide. I took the shuttle bus to the city rail station and the train to Woodville, where my host family lives. The daughter (Niveoita) let me in and showed me the house. It is a nice house and I have a big room for me! Her parents are working today and I will see them in the evening. But, first I go for a sleep for some hours…

Letzte Tage im Westen

Nach einer Nacht, in der ich gewuenscht hatte, ich haette doch die Oropax dabei, habe ich erst mal in der Jugendherberge die Waesche gewaschen. Wirklich sauber wird die Waesche nicht, aber man kann sie wieder anziehen...
Am Nachmittag traff ich mich mit Kenjiro, welcher an der Monkey Mia tour dabei war. Tomoko und Sayano stiessen ebenfalls auf ein Bierchen dazu. Kenjiro fuehrte mich in ein Thai Restaurant weches ganz gut war, nur hatte es nichts vegetarisches. Das fand ich aber erst heraus, als ich denn Teller bekam! Das Gemuese war jedenfalls ganz gut und Kenjiro ass dann meine Tintenfischstuecke... :-) Danach gings wieder auf ein Bierchen in eine Bar, wo Sandra (ebenfalls von Monkey Mia) dazustiess. Der Abend war richtig kuehl! Es bliess ein kalter Wind. Angeblich regnete es in Perth, als wir in Monkey Mia waren... Was fuer ein Glueck wir wieder hatten!
Heute habe ich wieder ausgeschlafen. Der schnarchelnde Kerl vom Zimmer war wieder da... na ja.
Am Nachmittag werde ich mit Kenjiro an den Strand gehen und am Abend gehen wir zusammen mit Tomoko und Sayano Essen.
Am Mittwoch werde ich meine Zugfahrt nach Adelaide antretten. Ich hoffe einige schoene Bilder schiessen zu koennen auf der Tour. Ich komme dann am Freitag um 7.20 Uhr an und werde meine Gastfamilie aufsuchen.
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Monkey Mia

Hey all out there!

This is my story about Monkey Mia, where I have seen a baby dolphin, touched kangaroos, feed an emu and had a snake on my head... but one by one:

The day before

I wanted to go for a beer in a bar. So I went. I planed to be in bed on time but it was not so easy as it seemed to be... A Russian woman took the seat next to mine. She told me, that she had lost her mobile and that she wanted to meet a friend at this bar. So she tried to make a call with my phone. We were waiting together, and waiting and waiting... taking one beer more and more... it was funny! But at one time in the night I thought, that I really have to go to bed know... So I could sleep very well, but it was a short sleep.

First Day
I get up at 6 a.m. to catch the tour bus. That was not the problem, but after I washed my teeth and want to go inside the room I can not find the key. F***! So I must go to the reception to become a second one. I was already in time and catch the bus.
The group look s well, there are two other Swiss guys, one from New Zealand, one from Japan and four Japanese women, one from Korea, two from Sweden and the tour guide! He is a young man and absolutely great!!! So we can start the tour.
We drive to the Pinnacle, this are stones who looking like cooks they are standing out of the sand! J After lunch and a long bus drive we are taking a swim on a great beach. We take the dinner on a typical Australian farmer’s farm. The farmer cooks very well!

Second Day
After a short night we started for a short drive to the Kalbarri National Park where we began the day with a bush walk to check out the magnificent views of the Murchison River. Then we took a bath in the river. After another bus drive we stoped to visit the Stromatolites (the oldest living thing on our planet) and the shell beach. One of the world largest shell beach. Onto Denham we made a stop on a bottle shop to buy the drinks for the evening. In Monkey Mia we made a BBQ and had a lot of fun in the evening. A night swim in the sea was a must!

Third Day

I got up early to see the feeding of the dolphins. They feed the dolphins every morning at 7 and 7.30 a.m. so the wild dolphins are coming there. But there were so many people at the beach to see that. The dolphins were swimming just some meters from the beach. It is not allowed to go into the water there, when the dolphins are there. But they swim a little bit next to you... I relaxed the rest of the morning at the beach and took more than one swim in the sea. My sun cream was also good enough here! Yeah I already got a little bit brown! After lunch we drove to the Shark Bay. There you have a great view and we could see some sharks. This night we stayed at another farm. The dinner was very good again. We played there games, told us some scary stories and went to bed...

Fourth Day

After a longer bus ride we left Australia, and entered the Hutt River Province. That is a state on his own. The population counts 2: Prince Leonard and his Princess. He really celebrates his state, so he makes a stomp into the passport and gave us a visa for 10 years!!! That’s great!!! He also showed us some hidden things in the passport. It’s interesting. So we took some photos of the government (his house, the only house there...)

We stoped also for a short sand boarding. That’s like snowboarding, just in the sand. But if you could snowboarding, skiing or “schlitteln” once in your life, then it’s boring! But it was funny to watch the others!

The next stop was the Greenough Wildlife Park. There we could feed different kinds of Kangaroos, Emus and Birds... It is a bit like the Tierpark Goldau in Switzerland. Then, one of the Park showed us the snakes. First he showed us the baby snakes, maybe of one meter length. We could take it into our hands. After that the man showed us the mama-snake. She is a little bit longer... maybe 3 meters. And we took her on the shoulders... I like these animals!!! I want to have a snake too! Lea, please prepare the terrarium... !!!

After that great experience we had a long drive back to Perth. It was really a great group and i think a made a lot of new friends. Even we trade our addresses to stay in contact. So, if one of the group is reading this: Thank you and if you will ever come to Switzerland, contact me!

In the evening I went downtown to eat something. After the dinner at Hungry Jack’s I went to the bed and read a little bit before a felt asleep. And dreamt of this wonderful tour!

That must be the paradise like.

back in perth city

Fremantle was nice, but in the room at the YHA, were 9 other people who didn't care about hygiene. So that’s why I didn't feel so well in the YHA. Now I am already back in the Hotel for one night to charge all my electric stuff, wash some underwear and to sleep in...
Today I organised the rest of my time in Perth. I will join a 4-day tour to Monkey Mia... That must be great... but you will read it here if it really was great!!! :-)
Stay tuned!

Fremantle 2

Fremantle is a sleeping nest. During the day, there are so many
people on the streets, but when all the shops close just few bars and
restaurants rest open. Nothing special.
Today I found out, that the sun blocker is good. I was some hour at
the south beach of Fremantle. My only red part of the body is on one
foot...! but not much... :-)
Tomorrow I want to go on...

Frementle

Am Samstag musste ich beim Hotel auschecken, nun beginnt das backpacker Leben!!!
Ich habe mich in YHA in Perh fuer eine Nacht angemeldet.
Am Samstag habe ich den Bahnhof fuer den Zug nach Adelaide gesucht, damit ich dann auch weiss wo ich sein muss. Dazu fuhr ich mit der gelben Katze erst mal an einen falschen Bahnhof, lief zurueck und nahm die Stadtbahn, um an den richtigen Bahnhof zu kommen... Dort war alles geschlossen, weil der Zug nur zweimal in der Woche nach Adelaide fahrt.
Anschliessend habe ich mich nochmals mit Patricia getroffen. Sie fuehrte mich zum Kings-Park, von wo man eine geniale aussicht auf die Stadt hat... Aber ich merkte meinen Heuschnupfen!!! Die muessen da irgenwelche Importpflanzen haben... Kaum zurueck in der Stadt war auch mein Heuschnupfen nicht mehr spuehrbar.
Am Abend lief ich eher zufaellig ans Norhbridge-Festival. Dazu war die Northbridge-Strasse gesperrt und ganz viele Staende, eine Art Chilbi war da. Auch live-Musik wurde auf einer grossen Buehne gespielt. Ich ass da etwas zu Abend und fand anschliessend eine absolut geile (sorry das Wort) Bar: The rocket room. Da spielten andauernd lokale Bands.
Gegen Ende der Nacht kam ich dann doch noch einige Stunden in die Jugi um zu schlafen, aber nicht sehr lange, denn um 10 Uhr musste ich auschecken. So kam es, dass ich mich halbverschlafen in den Zug nach Frementle setzte. In der Jugi einquartiert machte ich einen kleinen Stadtrundgang und schlief am Nachmitag in der Jugi ein...
Jetz ist Abend und alls ich vorhin in eine Bar wollte, musst ich meinen Ausweis zeigen. Ich nahm die schweizer ID hervor. Der Tuersteher schaute sie an, drehte sie 4 mal und sagte, "Sorry I need your international passport". Nach kurzer Diskusion wars mir zu bloeoed und ich ging zurueck in die Jugi, wo "australian Idol" lief (in der schweiz unter Popstar bekannt). Morgen mochte ich am Sandstrand Frementle die Sonnencreme testen...

Rottnest

Yes, I had it! I hope I can post a picture of my first real Australian beer to the blog soon.

Yesterday I tried to call my girlfriend in Switzerland, Lea, but I think I made something wrong with the public phone, so I could not call her. I miss her. I’ll try it again this evening …

Today I got up at 6 a.m. and met Patricia, a friend from Switzerland. She stays also here in Perth. We went by train to Fremantle and by ship to Rottnest Island. There we rented a bike and we rode around the island with some stops at the beach. We have seen a lot of nice nature and a funny animal, a Quokka! That’s the smallest kangaroo and it’s just living on this island. (I hope I can post the picture soon). After that ride we went back to Perth and I took a shower to get rid of the whole sand… Tomorrow I will go shopping once again in Perth, and I will have to move to the Youth Hostel. On Sunday I want to leave Perth…

cat-tour

I have to admit something. I had no beer yesterday. Yes it’s true, I’m since 3 Days in Australia and I still had no beer. But don’t worry I’m not ill…
Yesterday evening I was in a good Indian restaurant. I just boozed some water… and when I was finished it was 11p.m. and I don’t know why, but the most bars were closed. So I got in the Hotel and fall asleep.

My feet made a rebellion and they said to me, that they don’t want to walk too much. After a small Breakfast for $5.20 I played with the cats. In Perth are three kinds of cats: red, blue and yellow. So I started to make a cycle with the first cat (the red one). Maybe I have to tell you, that the free city bus is called cat and the colors are different lines. Ok, so in the second cycle I quit the cat when I saw something interesting. The Cats are all 2-8 minutes coming so it is no problem to get out, make a picture and wait for the next one. I did the same with the blue cat. It was interesting and I seen a lot of new things. And I found maoz, that’s vegetarian fast food. And it was good.
This evening I like to get my first beer…

first full day

Today, at breakfast, I remembered why I booked the hotel without breakfast: The hotel charges 10$ for a fruit salad, a cup of tea and toast... usually I just need the tea and bread, makes 3.99$. And here is a free hint for you:
Never try vegemite!!!
Maybe it sounds good for a vegetarian but you really cannot eat that shit!!! Cannot be possible that any human being can eat something like this!

After breakfast I started to walk around in Perth for more than 2 h. I visited the Swan Bells. That’s a tower, where the old bells from an old church are exposed. I met a German girl, who works there, and she told me some things about Perth. She also worked for a YMCA before and told me stories about bad bugs in beds there. Never the less, she was friendly enough to tell me how I can find out weather there are fucking bugs in my bed or not... Well, now I am a bit afraid of youth hotels! After that shock I really needed a little siesta at the hotel!

In the afternoon I walked another 2 h around, mostly in the same streets! Now I know every little street in the shopping area. I also found a supermarket and suddenly I wanted to try what Australian gold cheese with "authentic swiss recipe" is: its real cheese! So, that was my first full day in Perth and I hope somewhere to get a beer now...

Reise gut uberstanden

Meine lange ersehnte Reise hat nun begonnen! Ich habe die langen Fluege (6h Dubai, 12h Perth) gut ueberstanden und hoffe nun, dass alles so gut klapt, aber mehr Spass als die Fluege machen wird!!! Das Hotel hier in Perth ist ganz gemuetlich und soviel ich schon gesehen habe, direkt neben der Ausgangsstrasse (wieviele es wohl davon gibt?). Da ich erst am Abend angekommen und noch total muede vom Flug bin, werde ich mich nach einem kleinen Spatziergang bald in mein kleines Zimmer zurueckziehen und die naechsen Tage planen.