Newcastle – Visiting Rob

by FroeWiAustralia, NewcastlePosted on No Comments

Not only is Newcastle special because of Rob but also because we spend our first night with our camper on a parking lot in Newcastle 6 1/2 years ago – Welcome back to Newcastle!

So this time there was no need to find a place to park our wicked camper. Robs place is extremely nice – just 2 minutes from the beach. He picked us up from the airport Friday evening and we chatted till late night. The next days we met some of Robs mates, went to the beach, “chillaxed” and of course went out. The night we went out we discovered Australia’s greatest weakness – yes there is a “weakness”!: clubbing. No one is allowed to enter the clubs after the lockout. In Newcastle the lockout is at 1:30 am and most clubs close at 2 am already! Basically that’s a children’s birthday party. But Newcastle is still a nice place to hang out.

The day of departure turned out to be different than expected. The plan was to in the morning, catching the train to Sydney, meeting with Mus and Roman and catching our flight at 3:30 pm. If only the flight was at 3.30 p.m…. Everything worked nearly as planned. Having a great lunch with Mus and Roman until we found out that I (Eva) mixed up the arrival and departure time. By the time we found out it was way too late to catch the flight. Arriving at the airport I went to the Quantas counter and explained our misery. We got told that we don’t need to worry as there was another flight only 2 hours later. Both of us were expecting horrendous surcharges for the reschedule, once more Australia (Qantas) surprised us: we did not pay a single penny extra! However, if that wouldn’t be enough: entering the plane the cabin crew gave us free champagne and snacks because of the stress we had.

The whole situation assured us even more that Australia deserves to be our favorite country in the world!

Newcastle – the surfer city02_Newcastle_11

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Fiji – The Yasawa Group No. 2

by FroeWiFiji, Yasawa IslandsPosted on 4 Comments

The Barefoot lodge on Drawaqua island was beautiful: a lovely resort with small cottages (called bures), sunrise and sunset restaurants right on the beach. The surrounding reef is very healthy with an amazing variety of fish and colorful corals. While we had dinner the sun set over the ocean.

Because of the great snorkeling Eva decided to do a cave dive which turned out to be a great idea. The corals might have been the best she has ever seen. Time flew by very quickly in the Barefoot lodge (also because we met Mus and Roman (see section “Peopl”) and way to soon it was time for the next island again.

It is one of the most northern islands in the Yasawas – Tavewa island. While Eva took a nap Niels made friends with the whole staff (thanks to Tomu) and came back to the Bure with many gifts (coconuts, mangos and citrus leaves for tea). Being addicted to diving, Eva couldn’t resist the opportunity to participate in shark feeding (Lemon sharks, many Reef sharks and !Bull Sharks!). One evening we were invited by Tomu to a Kava ceremony with the staff. Turning down this offer is considered a serious insult to Fijians, therefore we gave it a try. Kava, is made from a pepper plant but only the root is used. The powder is mixed in a huge wooden bowl with fresh water. It looks and taste like muddy rain water. It is known for its pleasant relaxation effect and after one cup you begin to feel your lips and tongue tingle a bit (compared to a local anesthetic at the dentist).

The last island was Nanuya Balavu where Eva talked Niels into an Open Water Dive Certification Course. Hence Niels was busy most of the time diving and preparing for the exam while Eva had relaxing time. Surprisingly, the “great” Dr. MüWi passed the final exam and now, he is not only a Dr. but also a certified diver 😉

The time flew by and our 12 days in Fiji were over to soon. After all time doesn’t pass by slower in Fiji – no Fiji time!

Welcome committee of the Barefoot lodge 03_Barefoot_05

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Fiji – The Yasawa Group No. 1

by FroeWiFiji, Yasawa IslandsPosted on No Comments

Paradise here we come again!

Due to the many choices (all of them sound great) planning the Fiji trip was a lot of work. Even after Eva decided to limit the trip to the Yasawas 20 islands and around 30 resorts the choice was hard. But after 7 month of travelling we are well trained travel agents: it took one long and exhausting night of planning only 3 days before the departure to get everything booked. The 11 nights in Fiji were allocated to 6 different islands and our transport was booked in advance.

The first island was Beachcomber island, which is supposed to be THE party place. However, during our stay it was very quiet. After having only 4 hours of sleep on the night-flight we didn’t mind this at all. The island is one of the smallest in the group it only takes 10 minutes to walk around it. It’s a picture-postcard island at its best.

The next island further north was Wayasewa, also known as Wayalailai. The island is dominated by a huge volcanic rock which towers over the beach and the resort below. The sunrise hike to the top took us an hour but the reward was a beautiful view over the Yasawas. That included the neighboring island where the movie “Castaway” with Tom Hanks was shot. At the moment Fiji has a rough drought period therefore some islands have only limited water supply and we could only take a quick shower when the tide was high. But that doesn’t really matter in Paradise 😉

First sight of Beachcomber Island01_Beachcomber_01

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Australia – Mother of all perfect countries!

by FroeWiAustralia, MelbournePosted on No Comments

I arrived earlier than Eva did – at 6 am. So it was not until 12 pm that we could finally leave the airport and step into our favorite country. Being back was an amazing feeling: sunshine, friendly people and a beautiful country. Our host awaited us in his apartment (AirBnB), his wife – Nara – was still working. Carl is from Norway but migrated 12 years ago. If he hadn’t told us, we’d never guessed that he is no true Aussie. Entering their apartment we immediately felt at home. Their apartment is a cozy, warm place with a lot of charm.

After we did all the unpacking and so on we started exploring the city. Melbourne is comparably big to German city, it has 4.3 Mill. inhabitants and is rapidly growing (unlike German cities). It was very easy to find our way around because of the organized tram and bus system as well as a language that we could finally understand again. The CBD was even more built up than we expected it to be, with a remarkable amount of sky scrapers forming the skyline of the city. Still, Melbourne does not feel too dense. Also, the amount of different languages being heard in the streets and the great number of coffee places, bars and restaurants are impressive. There was no holding back – we fell in love with that city J

Over the next few days Mikaela (we met her on our trip through Central America) showed us around the different areas of the city and invited us to a very nice barbecue with her whole family on our last evening. Also that day we met Leon again, who Niels got to know 4 years ago at the AMCIS in Peru.

How could you possibly get into Christmas mood when the outside temperature is around 30 degrees? But anyway, Merry Christmas!Melbourne_11

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Queenstown – Fav City in NZ

by FroeWiNew Zealand, South IslandPosted on No Comments

It might be the nicest city in NZ,m but I had my worst hostel experience ever! Niels dropped off the campervan while I stayed on the horse farm. Therefore, I had to use public transport from Te Anau to Queenstown. It is a very scenic drive, especially when Lake Wakatipu comes up.

Queenstown is a little town situated by the lake and surrounded by snow-capped mountains. It is definitely has some of the most stunning scenery I have ever seen. The city has many restaurants, laid-back cafés and fancy bars. It’s a pity that I only have 15 days in Queenstown. You could easily spend 4 days checking out some nice walks, restaurants cafés with their great selection of coffees, cakes and biscuits. The city is also famous for its many adventure activities like bungee-jumping, skydiving, skiing and much more. Therefore the city attracts many young people who are seeking adventure, and know how to party.

The time passed by very quickly whilst visiting a few cafés, exploring the city center, having the famous Fergburger (gourmet hamburger) and going for some beautiful walks along the lakeside.

Hoping it would be much quieter, I chose a 4-bed female dorm. But sharing a room with 3 young girls is not always a good idea. The first night the girls came back making a lot of noise. But that wasn’t not enough. The next night I was woken up because of weird movements and noises on the bed above mine. It took me a while before I understood what was going on above me (it seems a male was invited into the female dorm). A few hours later the two other girls came back (at least they were alone) and, without any consideration, they switched on the lights and packed their stuff. Without a lot of sleep I got up early and left for the airport.

This experience taught me a lesson and the next time in Queenstown, it will be a private accommodation 😉

Scenic drive and Lake WakatipuQueenstown 02

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Special Mission: “PhD Defense”

by FroeWiAllgemeinPosted on 5 Comments

Most important and foremost: Yeeees – it – is – done! I am proud and relieved to say: all went very well – magna cum laude! For the last 4 years I have been a PhD student. All of you know about the ups and also quite a lot of downs I had during these years. After handing in my thesis in the beginning of February I finally had to hold my defense on the 12th of November 2014.

My professor called me home on short notice – only 2 weeks before the actual defense. As you can imagine, cheap flights were long gone by that time and flying home from Queenstown, New Zealand to Hamburg, Germany is not exactly what one would call a short distance flight. In my case it took 34 hrs not including the 1 ½ drive in the morning, camper van return, check-in, etc.. But well, the 14 hrs leg from Sydney to Dubai should provide some restful sleep. I am pretty sure it would have done its job, if those two little kids (~1 year and 5 years) with their juice head father, and “Cindy from Mazan” mother were not on the flight! Flight length: 14 hrs, Screaming time: 13 hrs 59 mins.

As compensation for the first part of my expedition, the flight back to Melbourne was very cinematic. 5 movies and 3 episodes of “two and a half men” made me forget all the trouble and stress of the past week.

In writing this I’d like to thank everyone who supported me during the last few years.

Special thanks fly out to:

  • Martin – Most probably the person I learned most from in my whole working life + without Martin I might still be writing my thesis, thank you so much!
  • Martina – She has three children, still she always managed to help me. She had the energy to explain, advise and support me where ever she could.
  • Marcus – First, second and third level technical support – not a problem! Printing PhD thesis – yes he can! Psychological support (in form of beer) – he loves to help!
  • Nico – Not only A3S is still haunting him in his dreams.
  • Raghav and Klaus – My English left and still leaves room for improvement. Raghav and Klaus converted “denglish” into “English”….
  • My Family (Eva, Parents) – thanks that you still talk to me 😉