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Gap year 2019/2020

August 2019 - March 2020
A 244-day adventure by helloiamjessi Read more
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  • TravelerGap year 2019/2020
    Day 46

    Whitsunday Islands ✈️

    September 15, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Ready for take off.
    One of our stops was Airlie Beach (before we stopped in Townsville, and stayed at the most awful hostel ever, but it was cheap and for one night endurable), the Whitsunday Islands are famous for their magical beaches and water colors. But instead of booking a sailing tour we decided to make on of our dreams come true, to see the Whitsunday Islands and the Great Barrier Reef from above. It was a one hour flight, which was just stunning, amazing and breathtaking. Particularly it’s just overwhelming to see how beautiful nature can be and I am so grateful to be able to experience that beauty. Still, can't believe that I had the opportunity to experience something like that.Read more

  • TravelerGap year 2019/2020
    Day 47

    Hitting the road

    September 16, 2019 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

    Yesterday we didn't think about our car, but another problem occurred, what else haha. so, punctual at 8 am we stand in front of the mechanic in Airlie Beach. We asked if they could check our cooling water tube, because we had to refill it after every 90 km on our way from Townsville to Airlie Beach.
    Unfortunately, the mechanic told us that he thinks, that the water pump is broken & it costs around 800$ (450€) to get it fixed. 🤦🏽‍♀️

    But we already know that we have to go to a mechanic in Brisbane anyway because of our broken tank item which has no name. Our plan now: to let it fix there. Maybe a bit risky, but as long as there is enough cooling water, nothing can happen to our engine.
    So we decided to hit the road again and go further south..
    During our drive we also got a rockfall on our windscreen.
    I guess, we are haunted by bad luck.
    After three stops to refill the cooling water, one $5 pizza at dominos, one instant cappuccino with coconut milk and 311 km of driving, we arrived at our free camping ground somewhere between Clairview and Marlborough.
    Now it’s time for Netflix and Lindt chocolate (😍🤤) in our car!    Read more

  • TravelerGap year 2019/2020
    Day 49

    Somewhere near Gladstone

    September 18, 2019 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 20 °C

    Australians are just friendly and helpful people. Over and over we experience their great hospitality here. But what happened yesterday was just wow.
    So, we arrived in West Stowe. To get there, you have to take a road, which is only suitable for 4WD and it is really just a dirt road. After 5 km of no house in sight we arrived at Matt. We found him on gumtree.com (the Australian version of Ebay), he is a single man in its mid 30’s, who offers accommodation and food for travellers. Ah and not to forget to mention, every second or third word he uses is “yeah”. But on our way to Matt we thought, hell where are we? Are we stuck somewhere now? (We were not the only ones who thought like that, as we heard later.)
    But no worries, even if its a bit strange at first, it's the best way to get to know to the people and their way of living.
    He also noticed that we still have some struggles with our car and he immediately wanted to help us. In the end, the water pump wasn't broken (= $800 saved) and the solution for our problem only costs $20! 😅 Well, hopefully it’s now working and no more problems with our car will occur!    Read more

  • TravelerGap year 2019/2020
    Day 52

    Roadtrip day 7 and 8

    September 21, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    I just want to give you a short update. The last two days we visited two National parks, Noosa and the Glass House Mountains, both are absolutely beautiful. We have enjoyed our time there.

    In Noosa you have the sea, a pretty nice coastal walk and a high chance to see dolphins and whales. 🐬🐋
    In the Glass House mountains you have the opportunity to go hiking, have a nice view over a part of Queensland and can see the Milky Way.

    Ohh and near the Glass House Mountains we saw the first Aldi in Australia with a couple of German products. 😋    Read more

  • TravelerGap year 2019/2020
    Day 77

    Still alive

    October 16, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    After a few weeks of looking for jobs, changing the accommodation twice and lots of stressful days I can say, we are still alive and still in Brisbane 😅 on Sunday we moved into a shared house full of Latin American people (before our car needed a kickstart, sorry dad for calling you at 3 am in Germany) and yesterday I finally got my second job as waitress (after 9 trials in cafes and restaurants here? Maybe more maybe less, I stopped counting) 🙏🏽 yes, it’s very very hard to find jobs in Australia (never believe what is written on the internet) . (At that time I worked in an Indian and Italian restaurant, but a few days later the Italian restaurant fired me because they didn't need me anymore, that is how it works in Australia, I wasn't the only one who had to deal with it. Its not because you are not good enough, the reason is that the demand is too high and if a student or a citizen applies for the job, they prefer them because they stay longer.)
    But that’s enough about work. Now about Brisbane. Brisbane is just nice, it’s like the little sister of New York and there are free things like a swimming pool and several bbq areas 🤓 and the food markets are the best, well you can taste a lot there (fruits, nuts, protein balls, yoghurt, falafel, chocolate honey, ...) 😋 everyone who knows me well, it’s a paradise for me. All in all I feel quite comfortable in Brisbane and can imagine to stay here for a while. Btw, we also fell in love with one ice cream store, even though the prices are expensive for ice cream in Autralia, the gelato is to die for 🤤🤤🤤    Read more

  • TravelerGap year 2019/2020
    Day 124

    Patience is the key

    December 2, 2019 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Long time no see. But yes, I am still alive, just enjoying the life in Australia. Despite of the fact, that the last couple of months have been kinda difficult for me, I can say that I am living a happy life in that beautiful country. 🥰 We had to face lots of challenges; our car broke all the time, we got a parking ticket of 100$ (60€), didn’t find jobs (or the right ones, where we feel comfortable) and this all led to sadness, disappointment and some (small) fights between my friend and me. 😂 But you have to be sooooo patient here in Australia, it’s annoying, because anyone who knows me will tell you that I am the most impatient person on earth 😂 So now, we are living in a wonderful share house near New Farm Park 😍, each of us is working in a Cafe (and we literally love it, we have even changed our flight to NZ to stay & work longer in AUS) and in total, I still can’t believe how happy, friendly, helpful and whatever Australians are. I haven’t met such amazing people before. ( I will talk about it more detailed someday).
    Last week we celebrated Luises birthday, went for breakfast in a cafe (first time here, kinda embarrassing when you think about it how many times you have been out in GER 😂) and took a day trip to North Stradebroke Island, I can highly recommend that Island 😍😍😍

    So that‘s it for today, already a too long text haha
    So see you later alligator 👋🏼    Read more

  • TravelerGap year 2019/2020
    Day 194

    Lifeupdate

    February 10, 2020 in Australia ⋅ 🌧 28 °C

    Actually my plan was to keep you more up-to-date but apparently it didn’t work out. So just a little flashback of the last 3 months.
    I changed my 2nd job, left the underpaid restaurant and now, I am working in an Italian restaurant in Chermside (north of Brisbane). I like working there, the most of the team are nice and they even wanted me to take some „behind the scenes“ photos for their social media, which have made me really proud. 🥳
    But anyway, I still do love working in the other job even though the boss there makes me insane every time. I need to ignore it but it’s not that easy 😂 but the rest of the team is like a family and I honestly don’t want to leave them.
    About Christmas: we spent Christmas together with our housemates, on Christmas Day we went to the park to have a typical Aussie bbq and made secret Santa, which was fun. Anyway, Christmas in Germany/Europe is far better, more traditional and the feeling is completely different.
    The day after, on Boxing Day we went for a little sunset hike to mount co-thaa and had a good view over the city.
    On New Year’s Eve, after I had finished working in the restaurant we watched the fireworks near the story bridge. Good thing in Australia, there are only organised fireworks by the city. It was a small one but compared to Europe it’s in my opinion even better, also because of the rubbish on the streets afterwards.
    Well, the last weeks we were working quite a lot but also went to Moreton island for instance. There, we tried stand-up paddling, it was fun but way too wind haha.
    Ahh and one more thing, we both got a tattoo 😍    Read more

  • TravelerGap year 2019/2020
    Day 195

    Outback Day 1

    February 11, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 36 °C

    After quite busy weeks for us, we took four days off to go on a new adventure and have a little (& well needed) break from hospitality .
    So, we decided to go to the famous middle of Australia, the outback. Ready to take off we were sitting in the plane to Sydney to go from there to the Ayers Rock Airport. But yeah, you know I always have soooo much luck with flights or the gap year in general. Well, we couldn’t start because of a technical problem. At the end, we had to change the plane and fortunately our connecting flight was waiting for us 😅 after 3 1/2 hours from Sydney we arrived at the probably tiniest airport I have ever seen. There, our tour guide Andy collected us and brought us to the camp ground, had lunch and went to the Uluru afterwards. Even though, it was quite hot (around 45 degrees each day) and we were surrounded by 300 flies each, I can say that this place is stunning and breathtaking. We were walking a bit around the huge mountain and headed back to the camping ground for dinner, took our definitely needed shower (the water was 20 degrees 😂🙄) and got ready to sleep in swags (like a big sleeping bag with a mattress) underneath the Milky Way. I am so glad to be able to experience something like that. ❤️Read more

  • TravelerGap year 2019/2020
    Day 196

    Outback Day 2

    February 12, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    The alarm was set for 4 am, breakfast was at 4.30 am, we left the camping ground at 5 am and arrived at Kata Tjuta around 6 am to catch the sunrise. Again surrounded by flies and warm temperatures we started our track through The Valley of the winds.
    It’s just amazing to see how the sun makes the mountains/huge stones glow.
    I think I don’t have to say anything about this place, the pictures are enough. All I can say is, that this place is even better then the Ayers Rock.
    After a quick shower and lunch we started our way to the next camping spot near the Kings Canyon. On the way there we collected some wood to have a bbq and a nice campfire under the stars that night. I also tried kangaroo meat, honestly it’s not too bad.
    Afterwards, we slept under the stars again, just unbelievable.    Read more

  • TravelerGap year 2019/2020
    Day 197

    Outback Day 3

    February 13, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 37 °C

    On Thursday at 4.45 am we were ready to start our last full day in the centre of Australia.
    This morning we were hiking around the Kings Canyon, an absolutely amazing place.
    To see another sunrise was one more wonderful experience there. On our way through the National Park we also went to the Garden of Eden, palm trees and further plants are growing in the desert, just amazing. After full three hours we headed back to our camping spot to cool down at the swimming pool and enjoy our lunch. Then, we hit the road again for further 3 hours to go back to the Uluru to go for a swim in the pool there, to see one more sunset and enjoy our last dinner somewhere in Australia.
    On Friday, we just watched the sunrise and chilled a bit. Not to forget (#myflightstories) some of our group and we almost missed the flight back to Brisbane (the baggage drop closed 2 mins before), but we were lucky and they made an exception 😅
    All in all the tour was funny, interesting, exhausting and we got to know new people from England, the Netherlands, Brazil, USA, Japan, the Philippines and from Switzerland.    Read more

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