Last update Australia

05-11-2012
Got picked up at 06.30AM. The Kakadu tour started.
Day 1: We spent most of the day at Litchfield National Park (NP) in the Northern Territory, southwest of Darwin. First we went to the Magnetic Termite Mounds. From a distance they look like graves, but they aren’t tombstones at all. No Magnetic Termite Mounds are a home for termites. Those little creatures build them up with the local dirt, grass and their spit. After the Magnetic Termite Mounds, we went to the Florence Falls, where we had a swim and then we went to Buley Rockhole Spa, where we also swum and the boys jumped in the water.

In the afternoon we had a boatcruise on the Mary River, as well known as the Billabong river. We saw a lot of wildlife, it was amazing! There were massive saltwater and freshwater crocodiles around us. They did freak me out, sometimes. We had our overnight at Point Stuart in luxuries tents.

Day 2: We spent all day in Kakadu NP. At Ubirr we’ve seen some famous Aboriginals artwork on the rocks. The view at the top of the hill was beautiful! It’s was a hot day, so the wind on top of the hill was a refreshment. After Ubirr we drove to Maguk, to have a swim in the Barramundie Gorge plunge pool. We overnight in twin tents at Gagudju Cooindo Lodge at Kakadu NP.

Day 3: The last day of the tour we went in a 4 wheel drive to the car park of the twin falls. It was a 45 minute drive with bumps after bumps. We really had to hold our self on something, to not hit our head or bang into each other. Sadly enough there was no water on the waterfall, because of the end of the dry season. The wet season was about to start. After the twin falls, we did a pretty hard/sweaty hike to get to the jim jim falls. Also here no water at the waterfall. The hike was over big, massive rocks, it was awesome! When we got to the water underneath the waterfall. I swum alone in the gorge. It was lovely and I didn’t thought about any crocodile anymore. Even though, that it was possible that there were some in the water. Cause a big warning crocodile sign was standing in front of the gorge. Don’t worry, people I survived ;-).

09-11-2012
I visited the Botanical gardens in Darwin. The red fingered mangrove crabs were funny. At Mindil beach a saw a dolphin and at the gardens I saw a massive spider, I hadn’t seen before in my time in Australia. I visited the Northern Territory Museum and after that I walked to Cullen Bay. In the late afternoon I went to the waterfront in Darwin city and when I got back at the hostel I found out that I had a minimum of 40 insect bites/mosquito bites all over my body. Horrible!! Every day it got worse and worse and I kept on spraying with poison. I never had that many bites in whole my life.
The rest of the days till the 14th of November, I didn’t really feel like doing that much, because of the bites.

14-11-2012
Got the Ghan through central Australia. Two nights and three days on the train. 54 hours from Darwin to Adelaide in total 2979km with an average speed of 85km/h and maximum 115km/h.

In Alice Springs a Aboriginal family came sitting in front of me. The three children between 2 and 8 were lovely. They were well mannered and they wanted to talk with me. I can imagine that people who read this, think that I am a racist for saying that they were well mannered. But actually I mean it in a positive way.
During my time in Australia I hadn’t met any indigenous that was friendly to me or didn’t drink all day and didn’t asked me for money. So I kind of was annoyed by them, even though tour guides told me that only a small part of the population is like that. I wanted to believe them, but I couldn’t. So from the moment that this family sat in front of me. I changed my opinion about them. The kids were sitting on my back, playing with my hair and glasses. There wasn’t a moment I had some rest. I didn’t mind, because the view outside was a disappointment. I had seen it already: the birds, the dry red sand, dead animals, cows. It was normal to me. The only thing that surprised me were the small sand tornados.

On the 16th of November I arrived in Adelaide. Family of my uncle picked me up and after a shower I walked to the inner city and back to their house. It took me 4 hours in total. The next day I went with Cathy to Mount Lofty. It was very steep, and my condition was awful. That evening and the days after I felt my calf’s so badly, that walking fast hurt me.

On Saturday night the whole family including me went out eating at the colonist in Adelaide. I thought the services was pretty good for Australian standards. On Sunday I did absolutely nothing and on Monday I worked in Glenelg. It was breaking down an event, called: Life Surf Savings Champions. The people I had to work for were so nice. They really appreciated my work and effort.

On Tuesday evening the 20th I flew to Sydney. Bonnie, the girl I met in 2010 in London picked me up from the train station. For a week I could stay at her place.

The whole reason why I had to be back in Sydney, was to apply for a visa for Viet Nam. So I went to Edgecliff and applied. At first they told me to pick up my passport and visa at Monday, but when they had a good look in my passport and saw my Vietnamese name, they asked me who Vietnamese was. My dad or mom? Ooooh here we go I thought. So I answered. Then they asked me if I had my birth certificate with me, cause then it would go quicker and it was cheaper for me. Yeah right I thought. So I told them with a big smile that it would take ages and that I just wanted to pay the 70 dollars and go to Viet Nam and have no problems at all. Eventually after some staring, looking and waiting I got the visa straight away and I didn’t had to come back on Monday.

After I got my visa I went to my job agency, but of course they had no work for me and put me on the waiting list again. So because I had no work and 3 weeks left in Australia I decided to see some of the East Coast.

I booked the greyhound bus from Sydney up to Brisbane with an hop on – hop off service. My first stop on the way was New Castle. The weather was beautiful so I went to the beach, to work on my tan.

There wasn’t much going on in New Castle, so the next day I went to Port Macquarie. Instead of 1 night, I stayed 3 nights. Such a small place, but so much sightseeing. I went for a walk to see all nine beaches. Town beach, Oxley beach, Rocky beach, Flynn’s beach, Nobby’s beach, Shelly beach, Miners beach, Lighthouse beach and along the way there is somewhere a small tiny beach. In the middle of the town they have a creek, named: Kooloonbung creek. It has a lof of walking ways around it and a lot of wildlife. Without paying a zoo you can see flying foxes, koala’s owl’s, kookaburra’s, water dragons, turtles, and you can feel mosquito bites. It’s so beautiful up there. The Port Macquarie backpackers hostel where I stayed in is a small, friendly, clean and good hostel. I enjoyed my time a lot and felt home straight away.

After Port Macquarie I went to Byron Bay. The beach and Nimbin were the places I’ve seen. Surfers Paradise was the next place to see, but no Paradise at all. Just a few surfers, but no high waves.
So after two days being lazy I went off to Brisbane. Some where to stay was the place to be. For 19 AUS Dollars I got a bed in a dorm. I was such a happy girl. I walked around passing Southbank parklands, the city beach, the markets, the botanical gardens, and the river. It’s that my eyes were concentrated on the path, otherwise I may have stepped on a water dragon. The further I walked the more I saw. In total 19, but I bet there were more. Everybody walks along without giving them a look. It’s like it is the normal case of the world. But it’s absolutely not normal! I had a stop at the lookout over the city from the riverside. It was pretty nice, quiet and peaceful, until a bus full of Asians came. Damn those Asians ;-) I walked further along the river and saw the statue of the Vietnamese boatpeople who didn’t survived at sea. It was a Vietnamese woman with on her left hand a bird who flew towards her. On her right hand side she hold hands with a small boy, who looked the other way. It was very peaceful.

After Brisbane I went to Hervey Bay to meet Marco. A guy who I met in the train from Darwin to Adelaide. He picked me up in a limo-taxi. I felt such a non-backpacker. We spent some time together and after that we said goodbye. In a fully-loaded bus and 25 hours later I was back in Sydney.

I met my cousin Paul the next day and we had a coffee at Hyde Park, a delicious pie at the Pietin and we played soccer. I had a good day out. In the evening I met Bonnie for a goodbye drink. The next day the 16th of December I left Australia to go to Hong Kong (HK).

16-12-2012
In the afternoon I arrived in Kowloon in Hong Kong. My first impression was not good. My guesthouse was in Chungking Mansion. It was a maze downstairs, all Indian and Pakistan people in the building. Was I really in China?? Finally found the elevator I had to take. Small and it took ages. Had to go to the 7th floor, but when I arrived there, the guy took me through the stairs up to the 10th floor. Not very handy with my big backpack. The room was very small for 6 person’s, but clean.

During my time in Hong Kong I visited twice Lantau Island, cause up there I felt more being in China, then Hong Kong. People were friendly and were smiling. The buffalo’s were walking on the middle of the street and the cats were walking on the rooftops. I visited Tai O, a fishing village and Ngong Ping where the Big Bronze Buddha statue is standing. The ambiance was so beautiful.

After a week spending my time in HK I flew on the 23th of December to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). At the airport I had some difficulties to get in. Always those bloody damn questions!
The first day I visited the Reunification palace. The post office, Chó Tân Đinh market and Cong vien Le van Tam park. I went on a tour to Mekong Delta and enjoyed all the lovely food. Christmas night the 24th was a busy evening for the Vietnamese people. Everywhere Santa Clauses where driving on motorbikes with presents on their back. Everyone was happy. For me it was the loneliest Christmas I ever had. My days in Saigon I spent most by walking around in the city and eating. I tried to avoid people who sell stuff, but that’s a hard job, I can tell you that.

I loved walking through the busy traffic. I even was thinking that if you want to kill yourself in the traffic as a walking person, it not that easy is. It’s damn hard, because they pay attention and see you. If you cross the street in the same rhythm then it would be a miracle you die. I noticed that Viet Nam is more expensive then 3 years ago and the people in the cities aren’t that friendly at all anymore.

On the 28th of December I took the train to Nha Trang. It was not that busy in the carriage, but all the seats around me were constantly occupied. Also I had to go to the toilet a lot. After 4 times I had it under control to pee faster. It’s not that easy with a hole in the floor and a driving train you know. I always have to take off my pants, otherwise I pee over them. After 7,5 hours I arrived in Nha Trang.

I stayed for more than a week in Nha Trang. I walked a lot around the city. Walked along the beach, went to Thãp Bâ Ponag ar, the Long son pagoda and ate a lot of delicious fruit, Vietnamese dishes, ice cream, Bahn Mi and drank Vietnamese ice coffee. Mmmmmmmm.

03-01-2013
I went on a tour to Yang bay falls. First we looked at some crocodiles, so boring that it was. And then we went to the hot springs, where I straight away stepped in the 35˚C pool. It felt like my body was burning, but eventually I managed to put my whole body in the water. I also swum in the waterfall, what was cold compare with the hot spring. After the hot springs and the waterfall we had the opportunity to ride on an emu. So I did and I bet on a pig in a pig race. Gambling with animals is a popular game in Viet Nam, so for one time I joined the game. I bet on number 4, and it won. So maybe I do have a gift. For lunch we ate crocodile and emu meat. After lunch we went to the Yang Bay falls and I had a swim. Nobody else went back into the water, because the weather was changed from sunny and clear sky, to cold and rainy. I was just thinking, I’m here now, probably for the last time, so I have a jumped in the famous Yang bay falls. So there I went, with everyone staring at me. But hey who cares??? Not me!

06-01-2013
Chu Vinh my uncle picked me up in Nha Trang to go to Phan Thiet. Also in Phan Thiet I stayed a week. Enjoyed the beach, the real life of Vietnamese people and the food. After 3 weeks in Viet Nam it was time to go home and back to reality.

The 15th of January I arrived in the Netherlands. It was snowing and freezing. From a temperature of 25˚C I came in a temperature of -2˚C and colder. Brrrr bloody cold that it was!

To see my family again was normal and surprisingly enough my Dutch language wasn’t that bad at all. After 2 weeks being in the Netherlands, I’m already acclimatized to everything. It looks like I didn’t travelled for a year, even though I remember every street in every city of Australia. the mosquito bites I had. The lovely people I’ve met, the hostels I stayed in and the tours I did. Damn it was a good year! I had an amazing time overseas and down under.

This is the end of my journey through Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Viet Nam. I want to thank you all for reading my stories and the comments you left behind. It really meant a lot to me and I hope I see you guys soon. For all the people I met down under, it was a pleasure to meet you and who knows, maybe one day we meet again too.

See ya!