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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 244

    The End

    March 31, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    Difficult times, no right, no wrong, difficult decisions. Shall we stay or not? The interstate borders are closed, that means barely opportunities to see a bit more of Australia. We had to check the news daily to make a decision. Why should we come back to Germany, when the situation is far worse there than in Australia. But when is it possible to travel again? Shall we wait or come home three months earlier than expected? Difficult decisions. Some stay in Australia, we decided to come back to Germany before no airline will fly from Australia to Germany anymore. Emirates and Ethiad have already cancelled all flights, the only airline who keeps flying is Qatar. We checked the prices, 1,200$ per person! No way! Later, we found a flight for 850$ and booked it immediately. (Later everyone has told us, that we got the cheapest flight, at least once we had a little bit of luck). Because of Corona we had to cancel New Zealand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Kuala Lumpur.

    Buuuut before we left Australia, we strolled through Sydney and rented a camper van to explore the surrounding area there. I honestly didn't like Sydney, it is way too big and busy in my opinion. But, we also went to Tomaree Nationalpark (one more problem, all camping sites were closed), to the Blue Mountains (there we stayed at a hostel, but slept in our car, so we only used the toilet, showers and the kitchen and paid almost nothing for that). In the Blue Mountains we saw a couple of burned places, but everything already started to recover.
    Our last stop of our 5 days road trip was the Royal National Park near Sydney.

    On the 31st March it was time to say good bye to Australia. The memories will last. The destinations (Melbourne included), which we couldn't visit won't run away. Maybe after we have finished studying we can visit those places, hopefully.
    Gonna miss the overwhelming hospitality of the Australians (even though some of them act pretty fake). And of course, all the people I have met during my time in Australia.
    Living in a different country far away from home was the best experience, also to become more independent and self confident.    Read more

  • TravelerGap year 2019/2020
    Day 230

    Tasmania

    March 17, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Ready for take-off. ✈️
    After almost 6 months in Brisbane with ups and downs, we had to say goodbye to our colleagues and housemates. It wasn’t always easy but we also had some wonderful moments during that time.
    So yes, our next stop was Hobart, a small town in Tasmania. Even though there was a significant temperature change (we were used to hot and humid 35-40 degrees), the nature is just stunning there. In Tasmania you can find beautiful beaches to relax and amazing mountain ranges to go on some hikes. ⛰🏖
    One day we went to the Wineglass bay, the other day to the Russell falls and on our last day in Hobart we visited Mount Wellington.
    The day after we headed to Launceston, a really small and unspectacular town with lots of churches 😅 because of the current situation we decided to only stay one night instead of four there (and we didn’t like the hostel at all). So we only went to Cradle mountain, but it was definitely the highlight of our Tasmaniatrip. It’s a beautiful drive through the national park and we even spotted a Wombat :) and when we arrived at the lake it seemed like we were in New Zealand. I think the photos say enough ☺️    Read more

  • TravelerGap year 2019/2020
    Day 209

    Byron Bay

    February 25, 2020 in Australia ⋅ 🌧 26 °C

    Byron Bay - the actual surfers paradies.
    After a 2 hours bus drive we arrived in beautiful Byron Bay and immediately headed to the beach, the ocean breeze was all we needed. We enjoyed the sun, our ice cream and also our walk along the beach. 🏝 Byron Bay is definitely a must visit when being in Australia, the water is not too cold for a swim and very clear and blue.
    The next morning, we went to the Cape Byron Lighthouse to watch the sun rising with a pretty view over the ocean 🥰 on our way back (actually on our way to our breakfast spot) we could watch all the early surfers and even some dolphins who were playing with the waves 🐬    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

  • 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 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 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 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 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 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

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