Counting down starts at day 1
A new month, a new start for me. I’m in Adelaide and have to make my way to the farm in Gumeracha to start my 88 days of rural work. All of this has to be done to obtain my 2nd year working holiday visa for Australia. From Tea Tree Plaza I take a minibus into the Adelaide Hills. Besides the driver there is one other guy on the bus. We drive into the pretty hills and I see farmland and nature. It’s spring and everything is pretty and colorful.
Suit your case
I’ve spent quite a few years abroad in the last decade. I’ll take every chance I get. Going abroad, for whatever reason, is exciting and challenging. For different reasons you pack differently. When I left for an internship in Cape Town, I packed heaps of stuff, because I knew I didn’t have to carry it around with me. Backpacking in Australia for one year requires some more compact strategies. Slowly I developed a list of things I cannot live without.
Tourist friendly
As a tourist you are always a bit lost. Every new city raises the same question. Where is the hostel/hotel? How does the public transport work? Where can I find a map? Different cities have different ways of providing you with the necessary information. In my opinion Melbourne is a good example of a tourist friendly city.
Living abroad long-term
When you travel, you stay in a hostel, B&B or hotel. When you’re traveling for a long time though, you have several options to explore. On a working holiday you may be forced to live in certain places because of your job, or you choose to stay somewhere for a longer period of time. What are the options?
First settlers down under
Parramatta. It’s not a place many foreign tourists visit, but if you are in Sydney for a longer time, well worth the visit. In 1788 the first English entered Australia right here in Parramatta. Governor Philip arrived with a small group and built the first farms. It all started small, but now it has grown and became a suburb of Sydney.
Inside prison walls
The door shuts and there we are. We laugh nervous laughs, but then the lights go out. I imagine everyone is still looking around them with a little smile on their face, hoping they will know soon what’s going to happen. But we don’t see anything. The only ray of light comes from a roster in the bottom of the door. I don’t even see the girl sitting next to me. After about 3 minutes we are bored and one of the ladies decides to bang on the door screaming and laughing: “Let me go. Let me out!” The prison guard doesn’t think it funny and orders silence. Then we hear the door unlock.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Beginning
Locks on a bridge in Dublin symbolise a couple’s new beginning.
Dublin’s free tour
New Europe has free tours accross European cities. Amongst them is Dublin. Nothing in life is free, but the free tours works on the principle pay as you seem fit. Instead of asking for a fee, the tour caters for all budgets. At the end of the tour you just tip the tour guide as much as you think he/she deserves or as much as you can afford. Perfects for all you budget travelers.
Finding my inner calm at Longshan temple
Wrestling through the crowds I finally reach the square in front of Longshan Temple. A woman with a cart full of fish heads walks past me. Welcome to Tawain. Longshan Temple is original a Buddhist temple, but has evolved to a temple of different faiths including Taoism.