Australia - Dreams come true...

After almost 3 years of working I`m down under. The stopover in Bangkok was quite strange. On the one side you see a perfect transportation system which is even better than in every town in Germany and on the other hand people living under a bridge beetween the garbage and near highways where it isn`t possible to breathe because of the emissions. And you see people with no arms and no legs lying near a bus station and nobody really care about them.

Stopover Bangkok -34 degrees, 90% humidity

daily flut in Bangkok

After this mixed visit in Bangkok we arrived Sydney. Getting the visa was totally uncomplicated. Just a small dog from the customs was smelling our luggage. To safe the unique environment and landscape the rigorous entry regulations forbid to take any food on Australians terrain.

Bondi Beach Sydney - 36 degrees

After taking some cash and buying an Australian SIM Card we left the airport with a bus shuttle for A$ 10 each to Central Station. Arriving there I phoned our first host Melissa. She was just working in huge office tower on the opposite site of the street. After a warm welcome we took our luggage in her office because she had to work till 4pm. There was enough time to explore Sydney and to find a sleeping bag for Jens. But after the night flight with no sleep and the jet lag we realized that the best is to chill somewhere in the park. There was so much to see, so much new, so much input but it was just impossible to think in a clear way after such a long trip. After work we went from central station to the suburb Marrickville. Just my first impression of Sydney was : so many immigrations and most of them from Asia. I still thought we are in Bangkok ;) So we bought a week travel pass (ea. A$33) as I thought it would be the best for traveling around Sydney the first week.

near Tamarama Beach - Sydney

Well our first hosts, Melissa and Jess where really helpful and offered us big bed and after some days I was really happy about it. Because of the jet lag with 8 hours time difference I was totally zapped in daytime.

view: Tamarama Beach and Bronte Beach

We organized the first days every bureaucracy things like (bank account, tfn-tax file number etc.) I thought I can leave this things behind me but you know everywhere the same ... I bought the "Trading Post" and "Good Morning Herald" to look after a 4WD (4 wheel drive). Made appointments and so we spend 3 days with visiting sellers and looking after there cars. We also looked after cars in the Kings Cross Market (really funny parking area with a lot of backpackers. But most of them needed to be repaired and some of them looked like they never saw a service in their life. I preferred to go into the local market. (private sellers, dealers, Internet markets)

German Club Sydney - host Jess(sitting)

Maybe you do not find a car who is ready to sleep in it but we wanted to do it by our self. On last Sunday Melissa was ready to help us with finding a car. So we drove all the morning with her car from one 4WD to another. Luckily we had Melissa because she was the king of negotiation. So we found a `94 Mitsubishi Pajero in a good condition. Just one mirror was a bit slackly and he told us the gear between 2 and 3 isn`t so easy to get in. But after a test drive it was not really bad. The car was ok in my point of view. He said he sold the car already to a french guy but couldn`t pay in the next days. He said if we can pay next day cash he will sell it to us. So I was in a difficult situation. This was the best car we found till that day BUT there was no time for checking it in a garage because it was Sunday and if we want this car we need cash in 1 day. So after some discussions we took the risk and Melissa started to negotiate with the men. And what a surprise we got it for A$5500. He offered it in Internet for A$6500 wanted to sell it to the french guy for A$6000 and after Melissas negotiation we got it for A$5500. Good price for 4wd. Just he said the car need a service.(oil,brake oil, power seering oil) So after some complication with the bank we bought the car next day and Melissa showed us a good garage for the service. (we paid A$270, not really cheap I thought)

Next days I organized the paper stuff. Transferring the registration(RTA) and searched for a good but not so expensive "Third Party Property Damage Insurance" (a german "KFZ Haftpflicht") Because in Australia you just need a "Compulsory Third Party Personal Injury (CTP)" that cover just damage to the people in a car accident but NOT the damage of the other car. I dont wanted to go so unsaved through AU.

About Sydney I can say: A rushed city with quite slow local transport. I can speak about the sights but I don`t like them because Iam here as traveller not as a tourist. We moved already to our next host Mark in the suburb Oackley near nice river. He is a really great person and Jens like his clear accent free English. These days we are looking for cheap camping gear and we build already a bed in the car with some tools from Mark and things from a hardware market.

fixing a chipboard in the car

stabilisation for the bed

bed with a 1,83x1,20m mattress

Yesterday we went for a evening to play "social dart" and after that to a local pub. It ended in Marks home with 4 empty bottles of wine and some funny/crazy Aussies ;)

our second host Mark and some guests

Our plan is to finish to prepare our car and then to spend some days in the Blue Mountains. After that we will come back to Sydney to take our mail (tfn,bank cards etc.) and then we don`t know,yet!