I've been in Australia for a week now. When I first arrived in Brisbane I thought, "Hey, nice temperatures!" and even the slight drizzel in the evening was fine with me.

All over the hostel there were signs saying that we should please restrict our water usage because "Queensland is in the middle of a drought". There actually were hour glasses in the shower so you could make sure that your shower did not last more than 4 minutes.

Well, what shall I say, it rained all day on Sunday so I took the bus to Noosa on the northern end of the Sunshine Coast on Monday morning where the weather was actually better for one day.

Then I went on a trip to Fraser Island - the world's largest sand island which supposedly has some beautiful beaches and cristal clear lakes. Supposedly because on the day the trip started the rain started all over again. But this time for real. I didn't even get a glimpse of the sun for three days. Some towns along the coast near Fraser Island had downfalls around 700mm in 24 hours.

Once something got wet during those three days it did not dry anymore for the rest of the trip - and we did get wet a lot. There are some beautifully clear fresh water lakes on the island so while we were there we thought, we might as well jump in. Besides, as soon as you got out of the bus to have a look at them you were soaked anyway so it really did not make that much of a difference anymore. When I get the chance I'll upload some pictures that I took before my waterproof camera turned out not to be waterproof after all and started steaming up.

In our second night on Fraser Island the rain got that hard that the roof of our accomodation started leaking. At times the torrential rain on the tin roof of the community room was that loud that you had to stop conversation for a couple of minutes until it eased off a bit again.

Now I'm back in Noosa where I was before I headed off to Fraser Island. I've been forced to stay here a bit longer than I initially intended to because the rain caused some serious flooding on the road going north.

Yesterday night some of the roads close to the sea here in Noosa were shin deep under water. I can tell you, it's a funny feeling to walk on a sealed road and having to worry about being bitten by a shark.

Today the sun came out again so I'll use the day to dry my stuff and maybe have a quick peek at the beach.
Datum: 25.08.2007 01.30 Uhr

My time in New Zealand is almost over. Tomorrow I'll board the plane to Brisbane and leave this magnificent country.

I'll certainly miss the pies and chocolate fish, the beautiful countryside and the walking barefoot.

Whoever from New Zealand reads this, thanks for the great time I had here. I don't know when yet, but I'll be back.
Datum: 17.08.2007 04.47 Uhr

This is something I have wanted to write about for a long time. Probably my favourite kiwi custom is walking without shoes and socks - everywhere.

I guess, nobody would be too surprised to see people walking barefoot on the beach but a lot of people here in NZ don't put their shoes back on as soon as they step off the sand. It is rather common to meet people in the city center that seem to have forgotten their footwear at home. I have even seen people wonder around barefoot on petrol stations or play bowling.

To be honest, I still don't understand how you can possibly go bowling without your shoes on. Not only do you lose any chance to bowl your ball with a graceful slide but you also risk increasing your footprint to a size that would make a yeti jealous.

Of course I had to find out for myself what all this barefoot business is about so I started leaving my shoes at home when going to the supermarket. If you've ever tried this yourself, you will be able to confirm that not wearing any shoes definitely forces you to make fast decisions in front of the vegetable, dairy and beer coolers. For the average European the floor temperature in these areas is just a little too low.

After an encounter I had yesterday I'm not so sure anymore if New Zealanders feel the same way though. Here in Wellington it's been raining for the last two days with maximum temperatures around 10 deg Celsius. Even under these conditions where everyone else is starting to wear gloves and hats there are still people walking the streets in shorts and jandals - and one guy still did not seem to think that shoes were necessary at all.

I'll certainly try this back home in Germany. Even if it's just to see how many weird looks I get. Although I'll probably limit it to the summer months...
Datum: 10.07.2007 00.57 Uhr

I'm in Wellington. After I spent 14 hours on the train I finally made it into the New Zealand capital.

And it's f$&%ing freezin here. The first thing I did on Saturday morning was getting a pair of gloves. Equipped with these I then took a ride in the famous cable car and strolled through the botanic gardens.

So far, not really much exciting has happened. I'm just unwinding and relaxing, reading books and taking my time to decide where I'll go next.
Datum: 08.07.2007 02.16 Uhr

That was it. After more than a year I'm leaving my flat in Auckland and will start doing what I came to New Zealand for in the first place - travel.

Tomorrow I'll board the train to Wellington, spend a couple of days there, hire a car and slowly make my way up to Auckland again.

I'll try to revive the front page again and add entries on a more regular basis.
Datum: 05.07.2007 09.55 Uhr