. I also hope everyone had a nice Christmas and New Years holidays and forgive me if I haven't been in touch lately.
There's only one reason for that, I took some time off work and went travelling for the past two weeks.
A few weeks before Christmas my friend Mathilde (aka Tilly) and I decided to leave the city and celebrate the festivities on The Great Ocean Road. Shame on me, I have been living in Melbourne since February and had never been to Great Ocean Road, so Tilly and I thought renting a car and cruising down there would be a fantastic idea. Initially a few other 'orphans' without families wanted to come along, but they bailed and a week before Christmas Tilly found a great ad on the gumtree website, where three guys were looking for two girls (to balance things out ) and planning the exact same trip we had in mind. We soon got in touch with them, met up for coffee and decided this could work out well. On top of that the guys had already hired a station wagon (Petsy or the Cube) and so we left for Adelaide on the 22nd.
Gaz (the Kiwi), Fabio (the Italian) and Gary (the English) - this sounds like the start of a good joke were really good fun and we were the perfect team for a special x-mas road trip. After almost 12 hours we arrived in Adelaide, where we met some of Gaz's friends, possibly the only attraction of the city. Compared to all other bigger cities in Australia I have been to, Adelaide seemed deserted and boring. Hence we only stayed for one night, but were nevertheless introduced to the rocking nightlife.
The next day we hit the road again to slowly drive back along the coast and in the evening we arrived at our first stopover on Great Ocean Road, Port Fairy. The YHA hostel was pretty cool and we (the girls) prepared a nice Christmas dinner for all of us.
On the 25th still nobody was feeling like Christmas (no snow anywhere!) and so it seemed the perfectly right thing to check out a Nature Reserve close by, where we encountered Koalas, Emus, Kangaroos, Echidnas and many more typical Aussie animals. The guys suggested taking some meat home for the Barbeque, but I firmly rejected this plan and rather opted for some delicious prawns.
Just like things in Australia have to be, Tilly and I went for a Christmas walk on the beach while the guys took over the barbie. Our lunch was fantastic, we even had presents, Christmas crackers and lots of yummy punch. The party continued on until late at night and this Christmas was certainly one I won't forget easily.
Nor will I forget Boxing Day, as we went to play minigolf (slightly hangover I might add) and later cruised along the real part of the Great Ocean Road. We stopped over heaps of times and the coast with the 12 Apostles is one of the most spectacular ones I have ever seen. At night we arrived in Apollo Bay, a cute little seaside town with exactly two pubs. Enough for us to spend another fun night!
Back in Melbourne on the 28th, I needed to recharge batteries and slept for 12 hours before hanging out with my friend Mike. In the evening we spontaneously went to the latest establishment in Melbourne, a rooftop cinema. What the hell, you might ask? It's probably the coolest cinema I have ever been to, on top of a building in the city centre with deckchairs, faux grass, a nice little bar and some stunning views. And they showed a classic, the Neverending story, which reminded me on my childhood when I went on a school trip to the site where they filmed the movie and we could ride on the dragon's back. Mike was pretty impressed, Germans can be so cool
.
The next morning it was already time to leave Melbourne, in order to get to Sydney for the New Years celebrations. Again, the gumtree website proved to be good as gold as we got another lift to Australia's biggest city. This was going to be my fourth time in Sydney and I was also going to see my Kiwi friend Mel again, after three years! This is what I love about some special friends of mine, it doesn't matter for how long we don't see each other,we just hit it right off again.
Mel is now living in a beautiful apartment with a view of Maroubra beach and apart from Tilly and me, two more Melbournian girls, Lucy and Lauren, were staying in her flatmate's room. Friday night, it was one of Mel's friend's birthdays and all of us partied and danced the night away until early Saturday morning. This was definitely the start of a wicked girlie time, with lots of beach, wine and talking about boys! The five of us spend an awesome time together and I really got into a perfect holiday mood. Life is great!
And so was New Years! Around midday Tilly and I met up with my friend Andrew to buy a few things for lunch and the big night. We had planned to go to the Botanical Gardens for the best views of the Harbour fireworks, but already in the early afternoon we heard rumors that no more people were allowed in. We therefore decided to catch up with some more Irish mates of Andrew and found a perfect spot to watch the fireworks right next to the Opera house in front of the Harbour Bridge. Lauren and Lucy joined our little orgie later (according to Tilly, in France they call a party an orgie - no wonder they all love the French
).
The fireworks were totally worth the wait, at 9 there was one for the kiddies and at midnight the harbour was illuminated by millions of lights. A once in a lifetime experience and it seems funny that some of you saw me celebrating the arrival of 2007 as the Sydney fireworks is the first broadcasted around the world. Sorry, I was more than likely asleep when it came to midnight in your countries as the night continued with more orgies and when the sun was well up we finally made it back home to Maroubra beach to get some beauty sleep.
The last two days of our stay in Sydney we spend with more sunbathing and girlie talk and I can well say that I returned to Melbourne very relaxed and happy.
Ready for the next adventure?!
Bilder und überhaupt alles toll.
Viele Grüße
Jutti
ein Gesundes Neues Jahr