Before I left Brisbane I weight my bags and counted the kilos, it’s still over 30 kg of luggage. Plus the weight of food and water, which depends on the distance I have to go to the next city. From Brisbane I cycled to Gold Coast in a day (95 km). I slept in a park at Southport. On the next morning I left Queensland and came to New South Wales. I started my first kilometre on the Pacific Highway, fortunately cycling on this Highway is legal. I couldn’t avoid this highway, all the side roads linking back to this highway. After 100 km I reached Byron Bay, where I stayed three nights in a hostel. After half a year being in Australia it was my first time that I payed for accommodation. Byron Bay is a resort which is very popular for backpackers. Most of the people in my hostel were from Germany. [...]

529. Day of travel

15.020 km

After 5 months of farm work and cycling abstinence I continued my travel. I left the farm on 22.09. and arrived in Brisbane on 25.09. It was weird to be back in a big city. So many people, I wasn’t used to this anymore. I stayed at Mark’s place. He hosted my already when I arrived in Brisbane five months ago. He had some brandnew tyres (Schwalbe Marathon Plus Tour) for me, that he ordered from UK. In Brisbane I did some shopping. I bought clothes, shoes, a new mattress and a light gas cooker with pot and pan. [...]

393. Day of travel

Since 18.04. I’m working on a farm. My work is simple, but physical hard. I’m picking mandarins and lemons. From 7:30 am to 5:30 pm I’m on the field and working with other travellers. They are around 15 backpackers on this farm. My workmate Hannes is from Germany. He showed me how to drive a tractor. We become good friends. Later we’ve got a French girl and an Englishman in our team. We encourage and help eachother, it’s a good fellowship. There is no pressure when we work. Our supervisor is easygoing and very helpfull. [...]

In Brisbane I had a nice host who I’ve met via warmshowers.org, it was my first time using this possibility to find a free accommodation. After a week at his place I decided to leave the city and look for a farm job. Later I want to come back to Brisbane. On 11.04. I started to cycle by heading north. My first sleeping place after Brisbane wasn’t comfortable. At first I stayed under a shelter in a small park, but then the police came around midnight and made sure that I didn’t stay overnight. It was raining and I didn’t had the passion to go somewhere else. So I went to the disabled toilet, which is big enough for my cycle and to sleep on the ground. But at 4:30 in the morning the cleaning staff knocked on my door. This was a very short night. [...]

Australia – I’ve never expected to come to Down Under. This idea just grown on my trip. I’ve applied for the work&travel visa when I was in Bangkok. Now, two months later, I’m here. I flew on 31^th March from Singapore via Kuala Lumpur to Gold Coast. The flight from KL to Gold Coast took 8 hours, it was my first long distance flight.

At the arrival at Gold Coast Airport nobody asked for my visa or for a proof that shows that I have enough money to start the work and travel holiday. They scanned my passport and found my visa in the computer. Therefore the Customs asked me where I’ve been before Malaysia, I answered „Singapore“, then they asked where I’ve been before Singapore, I answered „Malaysia“, then they asked, where I’ve been before Malaysia, I answered „Thailand“, then they asked again and again, and every time they wanted to know how long I’ve been in these countries and what I’ve did there. It was funny, my smile gots bigger and bigger by counting all the countries where I’ve been before Australia. Then I had to open my cycle box and they checked my tires for dirt, but luckily there were clean. Australia has a strict quarantine policy. After this procedure it was 10 pm local time as I stand in the Terminal. I got my first Australian money from an ATM and then I wanted to assemble my cycle in the hall but the security send me outside, because there are closing the terminal overnight. So I assembled my cycle outside of the terminal. I was very tired, I didn’t slept the night before. I decided to sleep next to terminal at the bus stand. Also some other travelers slept here and the security didn’t had a problem with us. [...]