Tuesday 6 March 2018

Meeting some old friends



(for english scroll down, please)

Itt ulok California allamban az USA-ban egy farmon es fogom a fejem, hogy mar megint lemaradtam az irassal, de sebaj azert vagjunk csak bele. (Oke ez a resz kicsit atkualitasat vesztette, hiszen mar Canadaban ucsorgok es fogom a fejem)



Fun facts: az ausztralok (legalabbis a szorfosok) tojnak arra, hogy capak vannak a vizben. Kb nem beszelnek rola, es ha valaki capat lat, jeleznek egymasnak es mindenki szorfozik tovabb.



Errol az apro tenyrol tobbszor is sikerult tanubizonysagot nyerni, hisz tobb helyen is kerdezgettem a helyieket ezugyben. Az egyik ilyen hely Byron Bay volt, Brisbanetol masfel oranyira, ahol eletem legszebb hullamait sikerult felfedeznem, bar jo magam nem tudtam szorfozni, sikerult megszemleleni az igen hosszu, nem hazudok, kb percekben merheto hullam futasi idot. Es raadasul, kezdoknek es halladoknak is van tokeletes hullam a parton, legyel szorfos vagy chillezo long boards, van mindenkinek hely es hullam is.


Sokaig nem vesztegeltunk itt hiszen vart a termeszet es szallasunk valahol a semmi kozepen. Gyilkos allatoktol nem tartottunk hiszen a kocsiban kenyelmesen meg lehetett alukalni.


Reggel egy tehetos tojasos reggeli utan mar mentunk is turazni. Erdekesseg, hogy nem volt meleg, mint ahogy ismerosok beharangoztak, a 40 fokok helyett alig erte el a homero higanyszala a 25 fokot… kb 2 forro napunk volt egesz vegig… No, de a tura. Szoval a felhos paras idoben sikerult kellemes turautvonalakat talalni, es bar kigyok nem votlak, rengeteg pioca leselkedett az avarban, meg-meg allva azon kaptuk magunkat, hogy ciponkon es nadragunkon probalnak fel kuszni, hogy edes verunket kiszivjak, Atinal sikerrel jartak es egy kb fel centis kis harapasnyomot helyeztek bokajara. Kalandos ut.



A piocak hada mellett par kengurut is lattunk es rengeteg repulorokat. Az egyik ut mellett bukkantunk belejuk, hogy ezer szamra csungedeztek a fakrol. Ujabb, David Attenborough-os elmeny valt valora!!




Az elkozvetkezendo ket napban, tovabbi kisebb turacskak es botanikus kert lesek lettek beutve. Meglestuk Coffs Harbour kertjeit es New Castle setanyat es oceanpartjat is szemugyre vettuk.






Slartibartfast gond nelkul elrepitett minket kovetkezo allomasunkra Sydneybe, ahol Loic es Peta vart minket.

Nos, hat Sydney nem volt uj nekem, de meg mindig tetszik, bar igaz, Brisbane viszi meg a palmat. Szokasosnak mondhato botanikus kert setaval kezdtuk utunkat, majd belestunk a helyi muveszeti galleriaba. Olyan egy masfel ora kellett, hogy raebredjunk, mi mar semmit nem tudunk felfogni, amihez gondolkodni kell. :D Ennek fenyeben az operahaz elott kidoltunk egy kicsit a parkba.
Az operahaz meg mindig szep, sot ezuttal sikerult az esti ravetitett fenyjatekot is lencsevegre kapni a kovetkezo napon.  Este Loic-ek elvittek minket egy helyi pizzeriaba, ahol gourmeskodaskeppen, ettunk kengurus, emus meg krokodilos pizzat. Fincsi volt, leszamitva, hogy a kroki husnak nem volt sok ize.


A vacsorat egy kis setaval a varosi hidon jarattuk le, majd seta vissza a szallasra es szunya.


Reggel, ugy dontottunk, hogy szetvalunk, Ati maradt a varosban, en meg athelyeztem magam Manlybe a  helyi kis hajojarat segitsegevel. Manly tulajdonkeppen egy kis felsziget egy gyonyoru parttal, ahol snorkelezni es szorfozni lehet. Szorf megint csak kimaradt, de snorkelezes befigyelt. Nem, capat nem lattam, de volt par szep halacska. Egy helyi szorfos leanyt leszolitottam kesobb, hogy meginformalodjak a szorfozesi lehetosegekrol a kornyeken. A joizu beszelgetes soran kiderult, hogy sydneynel vannak capahalok, es hogy Byron Bay hez hasonlo szorf paradicsomokkal van tele az egesz keleti/deli part. Persze meg is van bennem az elhatarozas, hogy meg visszajovok ide egyszer szorf nyaralni.



Este megint osszeroffentunk a francia/ausztral kis baratainkkal. Egy sorocske elszopogatasa utan megneztuk az opera fenyjatekot, majd seta a szallasra es szunya megint.



Reggel, igyekeztunk idoben kelni, mivel a kocsink mar vart a repteren. No, de minek a siettseg! Peti elhagyta a jogsijat! Ami persze kocsifelvetel kozben derult ki. A 20 masodperces nyugtato legzogyakorlat utan eszembejutott, hogy letetben hagytam tegnap a Manlyben, amikor a snorkel cuccot bereltem… Oke, ket es fel ora tomegkozlekedes utan egy jogsival gazdagabban es boldogan sikerult a kocsit felvenni es ujra utrakelni, ezuttal koztes allomasunk Canberra fele.

Petty

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I sit here on the comfy couch in California state in USA and hold my head thinking: “How did I manage to fall behind with the posts soo much… once again”. But anyways, here it goes. (Haha,okay, this is a little bit outdated, since I am sitting in Canada in Toronto and holding my head…)

Fun facts: The Aussies (or at least the surfers) don’t give a crap about sharks. They simply don’t talk about it and if somebody sees one, he/she signals to the others and then they go on surfing as nothing had happened.


I managed to gain some verbal proof about this fact, since I’ve asked the locals about surfing conditions in many areas. Such place ws Byron Bay, about one and a half hours away from Brisbane, where I managed to find the best waves so far! Although I could not surf, I was able to witness the long (I am not lying by saying multiple minutes long) swells. Also the beach is perfect for beginners and more advanced surfers as well. Should you be a pro surfer or a chill longboarder all has a swell and place on this beach.


We did not stay long, since our campsite in the middle of nowhere and some nice hikes were already waiting for us. Deadly animals were not a problem, since we were able to sleep in the car comfortably.

After our dense morning breakfast with a bunch of eggs, we went to do some tramping. Another interesting fact. It wasn’t as hot as everybody told us. I mean instead of the high 40-s we, it was barely 25… and rainy as in New Zealand… I think we had maybe 2 days of full on hot weather. But let’s see the tarmping. So, on the rainy, humid day, we were able to find some nice hikes and although there were no snakes or spiders there were swarm of leeches waiting for us buried between the leaves on the ground. As we did our quick stops, we realized that they are trying to climb up on our trousers to get our sweet blood. They were quite successful with Ati and they made two half a centimeter bites on his ankle. What an adventure…


Besides the armies of leeches we bumped in a few kangaroos and into a big flock of flying foxes. We stopped by at the road when we saw a few tries packed with these cute mammals. Another David Attenborough-experience came true.


In the next 2 days we planned in a few more little hikes/walks botanic garden inspections. We had a quick look on the gardens in Coffs Harbour and had a stroll on the beachside walkway in New Castle.





Slartibartfast took us to Sydney without an issue, where Loic and Peta were already waiting for us.




Sydney wasn’t new to me, of course I still like it. Although, I think Brisbane takes the first place now. We started the trip with our usual botanic garden walk and then we ended up in the art gallery of the city. It took us about one and a half hour to realize that we cannot process anything that requires any percentage of our brain… :D Knowing this, we decided to take a rest not far from the Sydney Opera



That building is still brilliant, besides this time we had the chance to capture on photo the evening light show that is projected on the side of the building. My good friends took us to a pizza place, where as doing a gourmet evening we tried emu, kangaroo and crocodile pizzas. It was all very tasty, not considering the fact that croc meat does not really have any taste. We finished the evening with a stroll on the bridge, then walked home and had a good sleep.


In the morning we decided to split. Ati stayed in the city and I relocated myself in Manly using the local ferry service. Manly is really just a nice suburb on a peninsula with a beautiful beach where the one can surf and snorkel. I missed out surfing once again… but I had a good snorkel time. No, I did not see any sharks, but I saw cool fish chilling in the shallows. Later I started to chat with a local surfer lady to get some infos about the loal spots and conditions. During our entertaining conversation I learned that there are shark nets all around Sydney and that the whole east and south coast is full of beaches like Byron Bay. I got really determined about coming back here just for a surfing holiday.



In the evening we had another catchup with our nice Australian-french friends. After sipping a good beer, we checked out the lightshow at the opera, did the last walk back to the accommodation and had a final sleep before the long drive of tomorrow.



In the morning we tried to get to the airport as early as possible, since our new car was already waiting for us. But why the rush?? Peter has lost his drivers license! And the realization only came at the rental desk. :D After 20 seconds of meditation it has got to my mind, that I left it at the snorkel rental place in Manly… at the other end of the city. After two and a half hour public transportation with a drivers license richer and happy, we started our daily drive to head down to our next destination, Canberra.

Peter, Pumpkin, Hot Balls

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