I won’t.
Month: April 2009
Part two
When I arrived in Cairns yesterday it felt like a whole new trip had started. It was 10 or more degrees warmer than Sydney and the humidity a lot higher. This kind of weather is for me strongly connected to holidays while the Sydney weather is more familiar. The pace is also significantly slower, people walk slowly and are just hanging around.
This is the kind of environment I will spend my last month of travelling in. Actually today I am a little worried that I will find it boring after being fairly active down south with hiking and other activities. But I have two weeks of diving and 3 days of sailing planned so I think I will be fine. 🙂 I am very good at adapting to the surroundings…
In just a few hours I will board the dive boat, the Spirit of Freedom, which will take me and about 20 other divers around the Great Barrier Reef and the Coral Sea for 7 days. So in a week and after 25 or so dives I will be back to civilisation in Cairns with more stories.
Until then… 
Oh, did I tell you I bought a boat….
Dear Debbie and Graeme
One good thing about joining a group is all the nice people you meet. Hiking the Overland Track was not only a fantastic experience when it comes to scenery but I also got to know you. I enjoyed our conversations about travels and Australian football. I didn’t realize before I came here that australian rules football even existed.
Thank you so much for you hospitality, for inviting me to your lovely home in Ballarat and to the footy game in Melbourne! You made me feel very welcome and it was a real treat to spend a few nights with you and your family.
I hope we will meet again soon, maybe in Sweden or hiking somewhere in the world. Maybe the European Alps next time?
Take care and send the family my love.
Angela
Canberra – hmm
I passed by Canberra on my way from Thredbo to Sydney without any expectations really and ended up mostly fascinated. There is a weird feeling about the place. Although there are people around, it is quiet and somehow unpersonal. I got a strange Metropolis (you know, Fritz Lang silent movie) feeling… I do not know if it was how the city is custombuilt for workers (it was designed by an American architect not even 100 years ago), the people who all seemed to be programmed to be going somewhere special or the cool Art Deco architecture of the Hyatt Hotel. I guess it was the combination.
It is like a big factory where it is decided how people should move and behave. Like everyone is here for a purpose, not just living here.
It is also odd how the city is small enough to walk around but not made for walking. Many streets does not have sidewalks, footpaths sometimes just stop and when you reach a crossroads it is not always possible to cross it. Again I get the feeling that somebody is trying to make you move in a certain pattern. I guess usually cities are build around people while here it was the other way around, the people was put in a city.
When I arrived I went for a walk to find lunch and have a look at the Parliament and other sights. The guy at the hostel had suggested Kingston or Manuka for lunch where there are many cafees and restaurants. Sure enough I found a nice place called “All things chocolate”. No, it is not what you think, it was actually the soup of the day posted outside that caught my attention. But after reading their menu and the raving articles on the wall I could not leave without a hot chocolate with chai flavour. Yummy!
The new Parliament.
After coming back to the hostel which was cituated in the centre of Canberra, I decide to go and check it out. I arrived 5.35 pm just to find that everything was closed! This is the capital city, is it not? The only thing I could see was people in suits walking focused down the street.
I decided to go to the movies to kill time. When I came out after 9 pm I could actually feel a different atmosphere. Finally, I thought, this is when things are happening. It turned out that the cafees all closed at 10 pm… But thankfully this is a big city and it was possible to find food later at night. I am sure you need some time to find where to go and figure the place out and that is what I do not have right now.
I was only staying one night but I could not leave until I had seen the city during business hours. This was just too interesting. So the next morning I went out to see the difference. The shopping centres were now busy so it seems that also here shopping is an important activity. Still though the streets were quite empty and it was fairly quiet.
Canberra is really a nice city, beautifully set at the foot of the mountains with a nice lake and lots of parks. The roads are very wide, it is very easy to get around and even in rush hour there is no traffic. The people are very friendly and helpful. I did like Canberra, maybe because it was interesting and made me curious. During my stay in Australia I have met a few people from the capital and after visiting the place it somehow makes sence.
Dear Chris
Dear Chris,
When I finished the Overland Track I was full of energy but when arriving in Hobart I relaxed and took the time to do nothing. It was wonderful after 4 weeks of travelling without any real stops. I loved having long breakfasts at the cafe around the corner from your house. It was great just wandering around town during the day, visit you at work and helping you with your (yes, it was boring…) paper work. I have never seen a jeweller work before. You make the most beautiful things and I can see how it can be very rewarding. Your customers are always happy! I do understand that you really love what you do. (http://www.metalurges.com.au/)
Thank you for meeting me in Lake St Clair and taking me in for a few days. I enjoyed every moment of it, the view from Mt Wellington, the pancakes, your delicious soup and your Skyline. Do thank your Dad for lunch and showing me around his winery. I have some hope for Chardonnay now. And thank your friends for extending their invitation to include me. I loved the lobster pizza. Jaaa….
I hope we will meet again soon.
Love
Angela
Late afternoon at St Clair.
More hiking
This trip was from the beginning going to be a diving trip but has so far been mostly focused on hiking. (I am planning to do about 50 dives so that is still to come.) Honestly I was not really aware of the hiking available in Australia. I did buy a Lonely Planet called Walking in Australia before I left Sweden but I did not read it until I arrived here. The result has been that I have gotten stuck in places like Bright and Thredbo, ski resorts which offer lots of brilliant hiking.
Because I did not bring any camping gear I can only see a small part of the National Parks and makes me realise that I have to come back to do more camping.
I had some bad luck with the weather in Bright. One day a storm prevented me from hiking and when the forecast promised me good weather on Mt Bogong, they were just joking… Mt Bogong is the highest peak in the Victorian Alps (1962 m, I think) and a challenge with its 1400 m elevation change in 8.5 km. In a few hours I was at the top and it was freezing… It was still frosty on the ground and a very cold wind was blowing. I managed to stay at the ridge for about an hour before it got too cold. It was partly cloudy and I had some good views but not the 360 degrees I was hoping for. The hike was beautiful though, especially when you reached the ridge above the tree line. On a nice summer day it would have been lovely to spend a day up there.
Mt Bogong.
On Mt Feathertop I was more lucky. I hiked the Razorback, a 10 km long ridge walk, to the top. When I started it was overcast but I could see blue skies at the horizon and I did have good views. About 1 hour before I reached the top clouds came rolling in and kept coming. It was not too cold on the top so I stayed there, had my lunch and hoped that the weather would get better. Just as I decided to leave the sun came out and when I turned around it was clear. I had the most fantastic view towards the Mt Buffalo Plateau.
The Razorback and Mt Feathertop.
On Mt Buffalo plateau I found my own little spot on Mt Dunn. This is one of the granite peaks on the plateau but obviously not the most visited. I got about one hour of solitude on the peak, one of those moments you feel like you are the only person in the world. Lovely! The highest peak on the plateau, the Horn, was full of people but a really good sunset spot. It had the most amazing colours.
Enjoying Mt Dunn.
On the way to Mt Dunn.
Sunset on the Horn.
In Thredbo, the main target was to climb Mt Kosciuszko, the highest mountain in Australia. Since Thredbo is a ski resort you can take the ski lift to almost 2000 m and then stroll up to the top at 2228 m. It is basically a highway to the top and it is very crowded because it is so accessable. The hike itself is not as rewarding as Mt Bogong but the views are spectacular from the top. Tomorrow I am heading up to the same area to climb a few more peaks.
On Mt Kosciuszko.