Finally in OZ! After a quick stop in Hong Kong (1 day) we arrived in Brisbane, where one of my best mates Rico (a.k.a. Suave) picked us from the airport. We stayed at Rico and Kelly’s place and they showed us “the neighborhood” of Brisbane. We’d got the privilege of getting to know their family and friends and we’ve met some very nice people. Kangaroo point is a great place in Brisbane for having a BBQ and see the sunset.
During the week Rico and Kel had to go to work and so we went our own way during the day. In the weekends we got together and went out for a very nice Spanish tapas dinner in the Brunswick street area, that was a very cozy evening and we had a great time. It’s good when you haven’t seen a good friend for such a long time (it’s been years) and we got the time to “pull some old cows out of the creek” (Dutch saying), level and made a lot of fun.
Georgia and I went for a daytrip to North Stradbroke Island (a.k.a. Straddy) one day, witch was very nice. We saw our first dolphins and sea turtles there that day.
Of course we went to the Gold Coast for a surf session (at Burleigh Heads, Snapper point, Superbank and Kirra point). The current was very strong that day. We went in at Snapper point and by the time we got out of the water we were at Kirra point. Surfing here is a great workout, that’s for sure. We spent 3 days filming at Chris Garrett’s surf shop at Currumbin. He shaped a brand new surfboard for us and it’s beautiful! For more information about this read the Trip Turquoise part of the web log.
After two weeks in Brisbane we continued our journey further south to Byron Bay. Despite of the heavy rain we had for 3 days, we enjoyed our stay in this little village. We spent most of our time at The Balcony, a relaxed restaurant with great food and good vibes! Breakfast, lunch, dinner…you name it. Here in Byron Bay we saw our first whales at the lighthouse! After Byron Bay we went of to Yamba. In this (small) village we had a very nice caravan park, right next to the Yamba river and a 5 minute walk away from the sea. In the morning we spotted a dolphin couple with a baby, just from a few meters distance. Next to Yamba lies Angourie, a small village with a great surf spot…but unfortunately it wasn’t working. After leaving Yamba we went further south to Port Macquarie and during the way we took some nice scenic routes which brought us to places like Scotts Head, another great place for surfing. From Port Macquarie we traveled to beautiful Sydney were we stayed for 3 days. We loved the Rocks Area next to the bridge and near the Opera house. The Botanical gardens are worth a visit too! All the flying foxes are situated here during the day and at dusk they fly out over the gardens near the skyline, searching for some nice berry trees (figs). The fourth day we left Sydney for our final destination in Australia; Melbourne. We took ourselves three days to travel from Sydney to Melbourne and we made a lot of (overnight)stops at some very nice places like Wollongong (we took the scenic coastal route from Sydney), Pebbly Beach (kangaroos on the beach!), Lakes Entrance (pelican and black swan area) and finally we arrived in Melbourne!!
Once in Melbourne we contacted one of Georgia’s father best (Greek) friend who lives in Oakleigh - Melbourne. It was the first time we met and they are very nice people who reminded us to our own family! From day one they took us everywhere, and I mean everywhere!! Every night we went out for dinner, scenic tours, visiting family, crash the Greek Bazoukya (Kinisi), had a baptism party on Saturday (the ride back home…I can’t remember ;-).
George and I did the Great Ocean Road for 3 days in the first week in Melbourne. We started at Bells Beach, where the Great Ocean Road starts. What a beautiful ride! And man, we got some nice pictures… Anyway, we got really close with everybody from Melbourne so it was very difficult to leave!! But our flight was already booked and on the 28th of November we had to catch our airplane to Christchurch - New Zealand.
We had such a great time, that Georgia and I definitely want to go back again to Melbourne in the future…!
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Monday, December 04, 2006
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Friday, December 01, 2006
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Cebu - Philippines
Snakes, Ticks and Cocktails!?
It’s Sunday, the first of October 2006… We are 9 days in the Philippines now, where we stay in Cebu with the brother of Georgia. The first days were only for recovering. On the trip from Amsterdam, via Hong Kong, via Manilla, to Cebu, Georgia and I got sick from the airco’s from the airplanes and the jetlag. I believe it took 4 days to recover. During the day it’s like 36 degrees and the humidity is very high. You’ll sweat all day long and during night time the same thing… The couple past days we went out a lot in Cebu City and of course hit the nightlife. Didn’t see too much of the country, flora and fauna yet, until yesterday… We were in the office of my brother in law and suddenly the phone rings … it’s Panny, I could see him through the window sitting in an other office across, he said: “Huib, do you have your camera with you”…”No, why”…”The employees have found a snake and the’re trying to catch it, come out and see”... so we did. And there it was; a big fat brown snake of at least 1,30 meter. The locals said it’s a very poisonous snake, and he looked very aggressive too. We couldn’t scare it away, so the only option was to kill it. Otherwise it could kill an employee the next day or something. I’m sorry for the animal lovers among us, but the decision was final. Unbelievable how fast he was. He started attacking when the locals were trying to catch it with a broomstick. I’ll save the details for you, let’s say the snake didn’t survived it…
OK, finally we went home for a quick rest before we would go out. And just when you think you’ve had it all, I saw a tick chilling on my t-shirt while I was pulling it on! What the F…?! What a damn animals those things are, almost as worse as cockroaches! I flushed it through the toilet. I thought, let’s check the room… Unbelievable, I thought that I was in a new Alfred Hitchcock movie. In stead of “The Birds”…”The Ticks”! Without joking, I caught around 20 and flushed them all through the toilet, I alarmed Panny and the maids to check their rooms also. We went nuts from itching all over (all psychological imagination of course) and left in a hurry (escaped actually) and left a mission for the maids; disinfect the whole place!
After going out I did an extra check and caught another 4, and the maids caught 6 while we were out. And all of them only in our room!! If you think about it, we slept for about 7 days between +/- 35 ticks, but gladly we weren’t bitten. Georgia and I had therefore a good reason to hang up the mosquito net, and I assure you…it sleeps much better after an experience like that. Even though how many snakes and ticks you have to deal and process, I only dreamed of going surfing in Siargao since the day I got here. And that’s exactly what our next adventure is going to be. We are looking forward to it! Today, Sunday the 1st of October 2006 we have our last preparations and finally we’ll fly tomorrow morning at 09:30 hours to Siargao. I believe it’s an one hour flight and Andreas from Patrick’s on the Beach arranged an airport transfer pick up. I talked to him yesterday and he told me that the waves are fantastic!! Of course we just had a typhoon (Milenyo) running over the Philippines that terrorized Manila badly. Cebu stayed OK, although it rained a lot those days. The next typhoon is coming already, we understood from the locals. So we have to check the weather conditions on the internet for the next days. When we come back from Siargao (for the surfers among us, check: www.wannasurf.com) we shall post the first surfing pictures and stories and that will also be the beginning of Trip Turquoise…
See you soon!
The Travelflavours Crew…
It’s Sunday, the first of October 2006… We are 9 days in the Philippines now, where we stay in Cebu with the brother of Georgia. The first days were only for recovering. On the trip from Amsterdam, via Hong Kong, via Manilla, to Cebu, Georgia and I got sick from the airco’s from the airplanes and the jetlag. I believe it took 4 days to recover. During the day it’s like 36 degrees and the humidity is very high. You’ll sweat all day long and during night time the same thing… The couple past days we went out a lot in Cebu City and of course hit the nightlife. Didn’t see too much of the country, flora and fauna yet, until yesterday… We were in the office of my brother in law and suddenly the phone rings … it’s Panny, I could see him through the window sitting in an other office across, he said: “Huib, do you have your camera with you”…”No, why”…”The employees have found a snake and the’re trying to catch it, come out and see”... so we did. And there it was; a big fat brown snake of at least 1,30 meter. The locals said it’s a very poisonous snake, and he looked very aggressive too. We couldn’t scare it away, so the only option was to kill it. Otherwise it could kill an employee the next day or something. I’m sorry for the animal lovers among us, but the decision was final. Unbelievable how fast he was. He started attacking when the locals were trying to catch it with a broomstick. I’ll save the details for you, let’s say the snake didn’t survived it…
OK, finally we went home for a quick rest before we would go out. And just when you think you’ve had it all, I saw a tick chilling on my t-shirt while I was pulling it on! What the F…?! What a damn animals those things are, almost as worse as cockroaches! I flushed it through the toilet. I thought, let’s check the room… Unbelievable, I thought that I was in a new Alfred Hitchcock movie. In stead of “The Birds”…”The Ticks”! Without joking, I caught around 20 and flushed them all through the toilet, I alarmed Panny and the maids to check their rooms also. We went nuts from itching all over (all psychological imagination of course) and left in a hurry (escaped actually) and left a mission for the maids; disinfect the whole place!
After going out I did an extra check and caught another 4, and the maids caught 6 while we were out. And all of them only in our room!! If you think about it, we slept for about 7 days between +/- 35 ticks, but gladly we weren’t bitten. Georgia and I had therefore a good reason to hang up the mosquito net, and I assure you…it sleeps much better after an experience like that. Even though how many snakes and ticks you have to deal and process, I only dreamed of going surfing in Siargao since the day I got here. And that’s exactly what our next adventure is going to be. We are looking forward to it! Today, Sunday the 1st of October 2006 we have our last preparations and finally we’ll fly tomorrow morning at 09:30 hours to Siargao. I believe it’s an one hour flight and Andreas from Patrick’s on the Beach arranged an airport transfer pick up. I talked to him yesterday and he told me that the waves are fantastic!! Of course we just had a typhoon (Milenyo) running over the Philippines that terrorized Manila badly. Cebu stayed OK, although it rained a lot those days. The next typhoon is coming already, we understood from the locals. So we have to check the weather conditions on the internet for the next days. When we come back from Siargao (for the surfers among us, check: www.wannasurf.com) we shall post the first surfing pictures and stories and that will also be the beginning of Trip Turquoise…
See you soon!
The Travelflavours Crew…
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Bohol - Philippines
We went to Bohol! A big Island in front of Cebu, famous of the Chocolate Hills and the smallest monkey of the world. We had a hell of a boattrip. Because there was a typhoon rushing over the Philippines, Milenyo. It took us 2,5 hours to get to the island.We were shaked like a milkshake and the showed us a christmas!! movie in 40 degrees! So when we arrived, we were so sick that we just decided to make it a relax day. After arranging a personal guide, thanks to my brother, he went with us and showed us the island.
It was a beautiful island, very green, a lot of flowers and really nice palmtrees!
We took a boattrip along the river Lobok, a green river with amazing views and fresh water springs. Saw the smallest monkey/primate and the largest python from Bohol. We relaxed a bit in a resort next to the river, high upon the hill. After that we decided to spent our time in a beach resort untill our boat was leaving again.
It was a beautiful island, very green, a lot of flowers and really nice palmtrees!
We took a boattrip along the river Lobok, a green river with amazing views and fresh water springs. Saw the smallest monkey/primate and the largest python from Bohol. We relaxed a bit in a resort next to the river, high upon the hill. After that we decided to spent our time in a beach resort untill our boat was leaving again.
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