This is literally what I left in Australia......
and this is what I came home to in Germany.I'm going to try writing this blog now but the jet lag I've felt the last few days has been like being drugged, so we'll see how it goes.
I just arrived, EARLY Wednesday morning after leaving a very sunny Melbourne with 44 degree weather, traveled 29 hours, arriving sometime around 5am, in a snow covered Germany (something like -3 degrees) , with a 10 hour time difference. Needless to say, I've felt a bit shattered the last few days. And I then there is the readjustment to being submerged again in the German language after 4 weeks only speaking English. Its getting better, slowly. :) And of course, it was all worth it!!
FYI, you'll have to wait for the photos because we decided to just use Jens' camera to make life easier. Therefore he has all the photos right now. They're coming!! But I can start by just telling you all the things we did.
It all began when I left Stuttgart the afternoon of December 17th and arrived in Melbourne on the morning of the 19th. The delay, the even LONGER flight, and then lay-over in China were all made a little more bearable by the people I met along the way. I was lucky enough to meet a girl in the Frankfurt airport who was also flying on my same flights to Melbourne. She was a few years younger than me, flying by herself for the first time and she was a bit nervous about it. We talked quite a bit since our plane was delayed a few hours. In China while we were finding our way we also met another guy traveling to Melbourne (German of course) and it just so happened that he was sitting next to me on our flight from China to Melbourne (don't get any ideas, he was on his way to visit his girlfriend). Before we parted ways we also found out that he and I were on the same flights home (how is that for coincidence? even weirder tho is that we again had seats next to each other!).
In Melbourne Jens was waiting for me at the airport and we grabbed some breakfast and coffee for me (very important) and then took the train out to his house which is outside Melbourne in the Yarra Valley. We decided then to take his car that evening and drive to Geelong for the night and get a head start on the Great Ocean Road in the morning. In the morning we set out and began driving the beautiful Great Ocean Road.
In planning our trip around Australia I was pretty excited about seeing the wildlife, most especially Koalas. As we began our drive on this first morning Jens told me that if we were going to see Koalas on our travels it would most likely be somewhere here along the Great Ocean Road. They aren't so easy to find tho because they are usually very high up in the trees and they sleep something like 23 hours in a day. I was determined to find one however. I was literally looking along in every tree along the road for my Koala. And then I saw him!! I was shouting in the car for Jens to stop, to pull over. I jumped out of the car and ran across the road.....and there he was, just sitting in a little tree right at the side of the road, eating away and completely unfazed by us watching him and taking numerous photos. Heuey was so cute!! Eventually tho we drew quite a crowd as every car that drove by stopped to see what we had found. So we drove onward.
We drove all along the coast, stopping for photos, dipping our feet in the water or just enjoying the scenery. I was reminded a bit of Hawaii as we drove. The smell of warm mixed with wet made me think fondly in particular of the Big Island. Jens and I also commented to each other how some parts really reminded us of Scotland's landscape. Maybe we just have a soft spot. In any case, the drive was gorgeous and provided us with lots to see, including the 12(ish) Apostles. We made it to a very small town just past the 12 Apostles where we asked for directions back to the main highway to Melbourne. Our directions led us along roads that gave new meaning to the term 'back roads'. There was absolutely nothing along these roads and hardly any signs to tell us that we were indeed going the right way. After driving a bit it started getting dark and it was then that we turned down a particularly dark road. We hadn't driven very far when we saw two little beady eyes in the middle of the road...our second Koala sighting!! Thankfully Jens reacted quickly and no Koalas were harmed. Of course, then Jens wanted to pet the Koala and pulled over to walk back and find him. I was watching from the car and felt like I was in a bad horror film. With my door open a crack I could see him fading in the dark as he slowly walked back toward the Koala, and then we heard the loud rustling in the trees!!
"Can you hear that Kaija?" Jens was asking me.
"Yeah."
And then, "but that's too big to be a Koala, don't you think."
"Uh, yeah Jens, that sounds bigger than a Koala."
Well, he didn't find the Koala, and we also didn't find out what was making such and noise in the bush. Instead we just continued on our way and made it back to Yarra Valley for the night.
I'll leave you with that much for now and you'll have to check back for more later :D
