I would like to record the details of my trip in australia as i used to do for every trips i've ever done. I would like to tell you all the exictment and advantures i had in australia. I actually did a little. I posted the emails i wrote to my friends while in au here in my blog. but it's not the whole story. it's only part of my thoughts and what i saw. so now i'm telling you something more.
I've planned for this trip for months. originally i was considering spending my chinese new year in somehwere warmer, and phuket island was the first choice. i persuaded a mate to go with me but eventually she changed her mind and decided to go with a tour group. so i had to change my idea as i thought if i had travel on my own it's better to go somewhere safer and more convenient to backpackers. besides phuket island should be a fun place to go with a bunch of friends or with a lover. anyways, i picked australia as the destination at last.
By the time i was preparing for my self-rewarded relaxing vacation in that southern hemisphere wonderland, my life in taipei had an unexpectedly slight change, which made me feel that going away travelling seemed not so important nor exciting to me at that moment. however the beautiful sun shine and alluring white sandy beaches was calling up my exhausting mind and exotic country stimulated my adventurous nature, i at last decided to take my heart away from this city a bit and go with my original plan.
Australia is such a paradise! the scenaries everywhere are like pictures and either women or men are all as beautiful as movie stars! once a while i couldn't tell if i was in europe or a used-to-be-british-dominated country. the cities or towns themselves are more like a combination of british and american styles, in the way of the lefthand drive but one story houses with huge shopping areas at the sides of roads. driving along the seashores did remind me california. probabilly the memories of the US trip was still clear in my mind, i suddenly felt australia didn't impress me that much, altho it's such a clean natural beautiful land.
Australians are friendly people, while they don't talk to strangers (or an asian girl) that much, while i sometimes couldn't get australian accent. Australian seagulls are the most aggressive birds i've ever seen tho. at the second that a tiny piece of my chip dropped off from the gap of my teeth, they had already gotten ready to jump forward to strike it. even if there's nothing dropping off, they'd start to stare at you squawking angrily as if you did something wrong that you didn't drop any food on the ground. that was the first time i got to know the seagull's eye is not a round hemisphere ball but looks just like a dartboard.
Have i told you i LOVE fish & chips? we can't find REAL chips in taiwan except for those skinny greasy french fries from McDonald's and KFC. i had this 'unforgettable expereince' with fish & chips in england so it became one of my favorite food in my life in this world. and of course i got fish & chips everywhere in australia. the chips should ALWAYS go with a lot of vinegar and a lot of salt. not with peppers. not with ketchup nor mayonnaise. and the fish should always go with tartar source. oh i miss that food!
Another food i had more than others in my trip was chicken wrap. i found this kebab fast food resturant called 'Ali Baba' which sells good deal of meat wrap and kebab meals. A small size of chicken wrap with a pack of chips and a bottle of 390ml drink in A$7.95 (around NT$200). in sydney you can seldom find a meal of food in less than 10 bucks. same reason, we can hardly find those persian style chicken wraps back home but i had really good ones in europe and i miss it. i was pretty glad that in australia there's some food that i familiared with and people don't really eat kangaroo or ermu meat.
I had my first horse riding expereince in newcastle. the bush riding was so much fun. i got this big horse named sandy, and her hair color is just like the name, sandy white. i was told that sandy is a good horse who always follows the front horse, and indeed she's an 'extremely good follower'! we tried several times slow running in the bush but no matter how hard i kicked her belly she just didn't go fast unless the front horse ran. when the front one stopped she stopped too, she didn't care if the front one stopped for just pooping or being stubborn. she didn't care if i was on her back contorlling her. it seemed she's the one who controlled the whole riding work. i felt bad for the boy riding behind me. he had tried horse riding for several times and was pretty confident and good at this activity. while my horse didn't go fast his horse couldn't go fast either. he must have hated me. nevertheless i did it pretty well in terms of a 'never-tried' beginner. i think i'd take lessons one day when i get chance, and wealth.:)
Kangaroo is another amzing animal to me. comparing to it, koalas seem not so fun any more as they spend 80% of life.... sleeping. I went to feed kangaroos, and surprisingly they not only approach food with their mouths but also hold your hand with their tiny palms! it felt so nice as long as keeping away their sharp claws. while there was an aggressive pony in a round fat body shape who always came to wrest food with the tiny skinny kangaroo. he would turn around and face the kangaroo with his BIG butt then spurn the little one away. the whole picture looked really funny. in that tiny farm they also keep koalas, ermus, ostriches, goats, cows, camels, vicugnas, some ducks and birds, and a wombat. the little ones would follow you around wherever you go, and all animals seem families living in that farm peacefully and happily. it reminded me those hollywood piggy sequel movies.
It's mid-summer in australia. the temperature is around 24-36 degree C. we got clear blue sky sometimes but most of time it was cloudy or stormy. i brought all sleeveless clothes and shorts with me and only one spring shirt, one jeans, and one cotton jacket. most of time it was a bit chilly, in fact. so i didn't really wear a bikini on the beach and had to put on my shirt while taking a nap there. nevertheless napping on the sunny beach was still one of the most enjoyable things to do in the life. i was proud of having gotten a tanned skin back home.
The last couple of days i did the bridge climbing, at night, finally, and participating a couple of events on australia day and enjoying the fabulous firework show by darling harbor. i think i was pretty lucky to be able to be in sydney on their national day, which i didn't really plan for at beginning. even if i was a bit fed of the opera house and sydney city in the end, overall the trip was pretty pleasant, and i wish my next trip would no longer be gone on my own.
The pictures will be coming up soon....
