• Katharina Schumacher
jul. 2016 – jul. 2017

Australien 2016-17

Et 350-dags eventyr af Katharina Læs mere
  • Start på rejsen
    17. juli 2016

    Let's go!!

    17. juli 2016, Tyskland ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    The beginning of a great adventure 💕.
    Let's see what the next 12 months will bring. Which friendships will form and what will we get to experience?
    Next year around the same time we will know. We will have left Australia behind probably with a heart full of amazing memories. 💕
    To what ever this year might bring 💕.
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  • Melbourne

    19. juli 2016, Australien ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    After a 26h journey we finally arrived in Australia. It took us quite a while to realize we are really here now.
    We got to experience what jetlag feels like and we walked around like zombies for the first two days. Still Melbourne enchanted us with its beautiful streetart, architecture and overall charme. 💕
    And even though it is winter right now (yes Australia does have winter and yes it does get cold in winter) we had an amazing time in Melbourne and are now looking forward to an incredible year in Australia.💕
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  • Armidale, our home away from home

    22. juli 2016, Australien ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Home at last. 💕
    We had the first weekend to settle in. We got our own little house on the school ground which by the way is enormous.
    The school even has its own equestrian center as well as a junior school, a gym with a pool, four boarding houses and of course the senior school buildings. 💕
    I work in Transition which is a class of 3-5year olds.
    I love these kids and I love the concept of Transition. It is the perfect combination of learning and playing. We do everything from writing, reading, music, drawing, crafts, swimming, horse riding, gymnastics to excursions to the fire and police station.
    There is never a boring day in Transition. 💕
    We even decided to get a guinea pig. 💕
    Our school has lots of special days and events throughout the year. Since we arrived we had a Harry Potter night and we dressed up for book week as our favourite book character and also for French day. 💕
    The people here and especially the ones I work with are the most welcoming and kind people I could ever wish for. If there is something we need we just have to ask for it (we even got a new TV). 💕
    We are slowly getting used to all the colourful birds and the different landscape around here. A lot of the birds look like the ones we have in zoos (especially Rosellas).
    I also met my first Australian spider which nearly gave me a heart attack. Just google Hunstman Spider and you will know what I mean.
    Apparently they are completely harmless (yet terrifying) not like Magpies (birds) who are the personified devil. Fortunately they only really attack you during nesting season in spring but they can't be trusted all year around.
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  • Dangars Falls

    4. september 2016, Australien ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    Our "compulsory fun" trip to Dangars Falls with the boarders started at 10:15am and it took us only about 35min to get there. The weather was quite nice and the walks around the national park including the waterfalls are just stunning. 💕
    After salad wraps and cake we drove home at about 1:30pm. It was a fun day and we even got to see nine wild kangaroos crossing our path just a few metres in front of us 💕
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  • Brisbane (day 1)

    24. september 2016, Australien ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Our first vacation started really early. We took a taxi at 1:30am to the coach terminal where we changed onto the Greyhound Bus at 2am.
    Our journey to Brisbane took us about 8h and we were greeted by the most amazing weather. Even though it is only spring in Australia it was already 26degrees in Brisbane (huge difference to Armidale ).
    We walked to our little house in West End which we found over Airbnb and basically went right to sleep.
    The next day we went grocery shopping and then straight to South Bank Streets Beach . It is a men made beach in the middle of the city and a really good place to just chill, enjoy the sun and go for a swim when it gets to hot.
    Later we found a place called "Kiss the Berry" which sells açai smoothie bowls. I had one called "Snickers Delight" which was really amazing 💕.
    What a great start for our time in Brisbane 💕
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  • Brisbane (day 2/3)

    26. september 2016, Australien ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    On Monday we decided to try the City Hopper which is a free ferry service.
    It was a good choice because you get an amazing view of the city 💕.
    We got off at the last station and decided to just wander around for a bit. Following the river and enjoying the amazing weather we took some photos (climbing trees).
    When we had enough we went back to the ferry and got off at South Bank again where we found the most delicious ice-cream shop 💕.
    "Mister Fitz" sells cookie ice cream sandwiches where you get to choose from six kinds of cookies, lots of tasty flavours of ice-cream and toppings to make your own perfect combination. I chose chocolate chip cookies with mint chocolate chip ice-cream and Oreo crumb topping which was perfection .
    Tuesday was a beach day again and I also tried the doughnuts from "Doughnut Time" which is just next to "Mister Fitz" . This place is perfection for someone who loves sweet things 💕.
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  • Gold Coast, Surfers Paradise (day 4)

    28. september 2016, Australien ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Gold Coast, Surfers Paradise sounds amazing, doesn't it? I can tell you it is 💕
    We heard so much about it we just had to see it with our own eyes so we went there by train which took us only about 1,5h.
    It was the first time we got to see the ocean in Australia apart from seeing it through a plane window. The view is stunning, you have skyscrapers lined up on one side of the beach and the sea on the other.
    We spent the whole day sunbathing and swimming in the ocean. Swimming was especially fun because of the waves. And we took a lot of pictures of course. 💕
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  • Brisbane (day 5/6)

    29. september 2016, Australien ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Even though the weather was mostly amazing (something between 25-28 degrees ) we had two days where we had clouds and a bit of rain.
    Thursday was one of these days so we decided to visit the Gallery of Modern Art (see we were not always at the beach ). The Gallery was quite impressive, we especially liked the short film about a McDonald's getting flooded and the Aboriginal art.
    Friday was our shopping day which I really needed because when you have to pack one suitcase for a whole year there is not much space for clothes.
    This being said I only brought clothes which I could wear to work at school, leaving me with nearly no summer holiday clothing. But don't worry I found a lot of nice pieces that day. The perfect end of the day was us making our own pizza 💕.
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  • Brisbane (day 7)

    1. oktober 2016, Australien ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Saturday started really early for us because we went rock climbing at 8:30am and left the house at 7am since we wanted to walk there. We walked to Kangaroo Point which are cliffs next to the river.
    The climbing was exciting and we had so much fun even though I was a bit scared during my first climb (20m climb and a fear of heights are an interesting combination). But I'm glad I did it (so proud 💕). After the climbing we took the ferry back to South Bank (we were to exhausted to walk) and went straight to the ice-cream shop (Mister Fitz💕).
    After sunset we went out to the city centre again and met some of our friends who are volunteering at different placements. 💕
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  • Brisbane (day 8)

    2. oktober 2016, Australien ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Sunday was a really relaxed day. We slept in and spent the day at the Streets Beach.
    After dinner we went back to South Bank and I got myself another doughnut from "Doughnut Time" 💕.
    We decided to take the ferry one more time because we wanted to see the city by night and take some photos. It was a truly incredible view with all the skyscrapers and bridges illuminated 💕.Læs mere

  • Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary (day 9)

    5. oktober 2016, Australien ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    This was one of my favourite days for sure. We went by bus to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary which took us about 40minutes.
    The weather was perfect and I was just overwhelmed by this place. I had never seen a koala in real life and they are one of the cutest animals I have ever seen 💕. I was beyond happy when I got to hold one of these incredible creatures 💕.
    I think I smiled like an idiot for the whole day.
    But at Lone Pine they don't only have koalas, they have a lot of Australia's native animals.
    They have koalas, kangaroos, Tasmanian devils, a platypus, dingos, wombats, wallabies and of course lots of Australian birds and reptiles.
    We watched a bird of prey show as well as the feeding of the Tasmanian devils and a snake presentation. Eric (the snake) was a non poisonous 3,5m long (very friendly) snake which we even got to give a little pet to.
    Apart from non poisonous snakes there are of course many poisonous snakes who can be found in Australia. Actually the Top 10 of the most poisonous land snakes live in Australia. We got to see the most poisonous (Inland Taipan) and the second most poisonous land snake (Eastern Brown Snake).
    Another big highlight of the day were the kangaroos. We got to feed them, pet them and take photos with them which was a lot of fun. They are some of the most relaxed animals I have ever seen 💕.
    The day was a big success and we made some incredible memories 💕.
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  • Fraser Island (day 10)

    5. oktober 2016, Australien ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    When you have to leave the house at 6am it should better be worth it.
    I can give you a little preview it definitely was. 💕
    We left the house at 6am and made our way to the Brisbane Transit Centre where we got picked up at 7am to go on a two day Fraser Island tour.
    Our "bus" was a bit funny looking but we got to understand why later that day. But first we had to get to Fraser Island.
    From Brisbane it took us about 4h until we reached Rainbow Beach where we made a short break at the beach.
    We then actually drove on the beach with our bus to get to the ferry which was waiting for us at the shore. Probably 10 minutes later our bus left the ferry again and we were on Fraser.
    It now became quite clear why our bus wasn't a normal bus. There are no roads on Fraser Island you either drive on the beach or in the rainforest.
    It can be a hell of a bumpy ride especially through the rainforest and you will definitely be glad for your seatbelt since it feels a lot like a roller coaster ride.
    Good thing nobody got sick and we actually had a lot of fun driving around. Our tour guide and driver told us some facts about Fraser and he had a really good taste in music, too so it definitely was never boring (and thanks for the photos Rhett). 💕
    Fraser Island is the largest sand island in the world and the aboriginal people call this island K'gari which means paradise 💕. I can definitely see their point this island is just pure perfection💕.
    Fraser is surrounded by the ocean (salty water) but there is fresh water constantly coming from under the island up to the surface.
    This means that there are various streams, creeks and seas on the island. All of them filled with crystal clear fresh water because the water is filtered through all the layers of sand before it reaches the surface of Fraser.
    Our first stop was at Eli Creek which is one of those crystal clear creeks. We went for a swim before driving to the Maheno ship wreck.
    The ship was once 120m long but it keeps sinking into the sand so you can only see the top of it today.
    Our last stop of the day was Indian Head which is basically a cliff from which you can get the best view of the whole island. 💕
    But it was not only the whole island we got to see from up there, we also spotted humpback whales, dolphins, eagle rays, a turtle and some really big tuna.
    It was such an amazing experience there are basically no words to describe it and even though the photos are beautiful they are nothing compared to what it looks in real life.
    On our way to the resort we were staying that night we also saw on of the many dingoes who live on Fraser Island.
    After we had dinner in our resort Rhett (our tour guide) took us to the beach to show us the stars and a special surprise in the sand. I have never seen so many stars at once. We could even see the Milky Way and two other galaxies 💕.
    The surprise in the sand was equally beautiful. Every time you walked over the sand right at the shore the sand would light up in a green-blueish light. The phenomenon is called bioluminescents and is coursed by tiny bacteria living in the sand. It was just stunning 💕.
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  • Fraser Island (day 11)

    6. oktober 2016, Australien ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    On our second day in paradise Bente and I got up at 5am and together we went to the beach (you should never go there alone because of the dingoes) to watch the sunrise over the ocean. 💕
    It was definitely worth it and breakfast was at 6:30am anyway.
    After breakfast we got back into our bus and made our way to Lake Birrabeen. Bumpy is an understatement for the ride but again we had a lot o fun.
    The lake was more than beautiful with its crystal clear blue water and white sand (if I, who would normally not even put a foot in a lake, go for a swim it needs to be a freaking special lake) and the water is actually really healthy because it contains the tea tree oil from the surrounding eucalyptus trees.
    It made our skin and hair really soft which was another added bonus.
    After a swim and some fun games in the lake we sadly had to leave (none of us wanted to).
    We drove into the rainforest (again fun ride) where we eventually went for a 2km walk. The walk was through the rainforest was amazing.
    There even was a liana swing which naturally formed and can actually carry your weight.
    Never in my life have I seen trees that massive which was really impressive.
    Our walk ended with a picnic in the forest after which it was sadly time to go back to the ferry.
    Our journey ended in Brisbane again and we truly had the most magnificent two days in paradise. 💕
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  • Brisbane (day 12)

    7. oktober 2016, Australien ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Our last day in Brisbane was again spent relaxing at the Streets Beach after two really adventurous days on Fraser Island.
    I got myself another açai smoothie bowl and a Nutella milkshake in the afternoon.
    I will really miss all of the amazing food here in Brisbane . But it is not only the food I fell in love with. I just love this city 💕.
    Brisbane is probably my new favourite city not only because of its look (and food) but also because of the overall feeling it gives you. It is a big city, it is actually the capital city of Queensland but it is not hectic or overcrowded it is just... perfect💕
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  • Back home, Armidale (day 13)

    8. oktober 2016, Australien ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    After eight hours we are home again (in Armidale). Don't get me wrong Armidale is fine and I absolutely love my placement and the work with my kids but still saying goodbye to Brisbane was hard.
    I'm gonna miss this city, the food, the weather, the beach and of course the unlimited WIFI.
    But still being back in our own little house is nice and even the weather got better while we were away (we are still gonna have -1 degrees on Tuesday night and 16 degrees during the day but Monday apparently 25 degrees so there is still hope that summer will eventually come).
    And in only two months we will fly to Bali for our next adventure 💕.
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  • Blue Hole Picnic

    20. november 2016, Australien ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Another fun trip with some of the boarders to the Blue Hole for a picnic and some swimming. 💕
    The weather was stunning and a lot of girls went for a swim while Sophie and I sat on the rocks and enjoyed the sun.
    When it was time to go back Soph decided to be a mermaid (involuntary) and went for a dip in the water. She very gracefully slipped and landed there but at least it was warm and it was definitely very funny. 💕
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  • Ubud, Bali

    9. december 2016, Indonesien ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Next holiday, next adventure.
    We started our 8 weeks of summer holidays with leaving Australia and flying to Bali.
    After about 7 hours on a plane we arrived at Denpasar airport.
    Even though we arrived at night Bali greeted us with 30 degrees and a really high humidity.
    We were picked up from the airport and drove for about 1.5h until we arrived in Ubud.
    The villa we rented via AirBnB was incredible (especially the bathroom and our pool) 💕
    We quickly got used to walking on the streets (no sidewalks) and the crazy traffic.
    Ubud is a really spiritual place with lots of temples everywhere and offerings on the streets.
    The ricefields are a stunning view and we stayed in Ubud for a week.💕
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  • Cooking, Yoga and Jewellery

    11. december 2016, Indonesien ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Since Bali is fairly inexpensive we spent our time in Ubud doing lots of fun things.
    We joined a Balinese cooking class where we made delicious spiced fish in banana leaves, fragrant fish curry, Asian spinach in tomato sambal, carrot and cucumber salad and black rice pudding for desert. 💕
    Another day we did a yoga class which was definitely fun but really exhausting as well especially if you consider the intense heat.
    We even made our own jewellery in a silver making class. It was a lot of work but definitely worth it. We were beyond proud when we looked at our finished pieces. 💕
    Another thing that I loved about Bali was the food. There are so many vegetarian or even vegan restaurants there which aren't expensive and have really delicious food. We went out for dinner nearly every day and my personal favourite was the Earth Café. 💕
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  • Elephants

    12. december 2016, Indonesien ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    This was probably my favourite day from the days we spent in Bali. We got up early because we had booked a tour called bathe and breakfast with elephants. 💕
    The picked us up and transferred us to the elephant park. The first thing we got to do was wash an elephant. It was such an incredible experience to be so close to such an amazing animal. 💕
    After that we put our swimwear on, SAT ON AN ELEPHANTS BACK!!! and went into the water with them. I was basically giggling all the time because it was so much fun 💕.
    We had a shower and breakfast while watching the elephants from our table. After breakfast we went for a ride on an elephants back through the jungle.
    It was an unreal day and we were beyond happy when we went back home. A big thanks to the amazing and friendly staff of the park who took the best photos I could ever wish for 💕
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  • Temples and Ricefields

    15. december 2016, Indonesien ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    On our last day in Ubud we decided to hire a driver for the day who took us to see some amazing temples, the elephant caves and the Jatiluwih ricefields (one of the biggest ricefields in Bali). 💕
    We had a fun day exploring and of course we took a lot of photos as well (no photos facing the camera because I and Bente had a mysterious rash in our faces ).
    At the end of the day we were sunburned because obviously we still hadn't learned that you will get sunburned here (and in) even if it is a cloudy day and you can't really see the sun.
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  • Seminyak

    16. december 2016, Indonesien ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    After one week in Ubud we transferred to Seminyak. I didn't think it was possible but Seminyak was even hotter than Ubud (in Bali your best friend is the aircon).
    Getting around with a massive backpack in the heat is not much fun. That thing is nearly my size. But I like it and I'm actually really proud that I only packed things I really need and made everything fit in there for eight weeks.
    The AirBnB place we stayed at was possibly even more beautiful than the one in Ubud because the pool was basically surrounding the whole house. 💕
    Luckily there is an Earth Cafe in Seminyak as well so we did get to enjoy the food a little while longer.
    One of my favourite dishes were the raw zucchini pasta pesto. 💕
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  • Potato Head Beach Club

    17. december 2016, Indonesien ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Since Seminyak is directly at the coast of Bali we planned on spending a day at the beach.
    We packed our stuff and made our way down to the beach but what we saw was not what we expected. Sadly the whole beach including the sea was covered in pieces of plastic and other rubbish.
    We didn't even want to put my feet into the water so we went home disappointed.
    Since we couldn't swim in the sea we went to the Potato Head beach club. We had a sunbed next to the pool with a view of the ocean that was mostly clean.
    We swam in the pool and had cocktails (some even straight out of a coconut). It was a really nice day and the disappointment of the other beach was quickly forgotten. 💕
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  • Gili Air

    24. december 2016, Indonesien ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    On the 24th of December (Christmas) I went from Bali to Gili Air via speed boat. The journey took 2.5h and was a little bumpy because of the big waves we had that day.
    I was on Gili Air 24.12 - 26.12 it was basically my Christmas present to myself. I went snorkelling and walked around the island which only takes around 1.5h. 💕
    The beaches are amazing and the water is crystal clear. I had my Christmas dinner on the beach while watching the sunset. 💕
    It was an incredible experience even though it didn't really feel like Christmas because it was so different to what I'm used to.
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  • New Year's Eve

    29. december 2016, Australien ⋅ ⛅ 34 °C

    We arrived in Sydney on the 29th of December. It is weird but coming back to Australia felt like coming home somehow. 💕
    I joined a Sydney New Years Eve Tour that I had booked in advance. We were a really nice group and spent the days leading up to New Years Eve relaxing at Bondi Beach and if course shopping for the perfect outfit for the night. 💕
    Over 2 Million people came to Sydney to watch the fireworks and while we saw most of them camping in different spots the whole day to get a good view of the fireworks we didn't have to save us a spot. Our tour included a harbour cruise. This meant that we were on a boat in Darling Harbour without a crowd and with the perfect view of the opera house and the Harbour Bridge.
    The last seconds to midnight were magical and the fireworks were beyond amazing. 💕
    I'm beyond glad that I did the tour because it was so worth it. 💕
    This year they spent 8 million!!!! dollars on the fireworks.
    I don't think I can ever enjoy the fireworks at home after having seen the ones in Sydney. 💕
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  • New Year's Day

    1. januar 2017, Australien ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    New Year's Day my alarm went of at 8am. I only had one day left in Sydney and I still wanted to see some things. So I had breakfast, got ready and started my day with a trip to the opera house. It really is a strange feeling standing right next to something you only ever saw on pictures. 💕
    To get a better view of the opera house and the Harbour Bridge I decided to walk through the Royal Botanic Gardens up to Mrs Macquarie's Chair which is kind of like a lookout.
    A million pictures later I decided to go to the SeaLife Aquarium. I haven't been to one in a long time but I always loved it so I gave the Sydney one a try.💕
    It was a good decision, I had a blast looking at all the different animals found in the Great Barrier Reef.
    I especially liked the Dugong's because I had never seen one of them before and they are really quite cute. 💕
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