A little bit of catching up in english

For our english readers (basically just you Marvin) (no actually there is also Kjetil, Roy :p)!

The second day on the Great Ocean Road was better, we left the hostel not too late and managed to see most of the things we planned, as the 12 apostles! We had a quiet lunch in Warrnambool, where we were supposed to sleep the night before, and we moved on on our way. We even got to see a seal colony! We arrived in Mount Gambier in the late afternoon, it wasn't dark yet so it was good!

We then met our couchsurfing host of the day, Jess! It turned out that the girl is great, super friendly! She hosted us as if we were part of her family, she showed us the blue lake, made a dinner for the three of us, and left us alone in her apartment in the evening because she had to work. When she got back she even prepared a small dessert! We used her washing machine, her internet connexion... she even left us her bed to sleep in, while she slept on a small 1 person mattress. We would have stayed longer, but we had to be on our way. It's a shame though, she was really great, I know if we ever come back over there we will contact her.

The following day, after a farewell hug with Jess (at first we didn't know if we'd give the cheek or just a handshake, she went for a hug), we were on our way to Adelaide, where the following day we would take the plane to Sydney. We stopped on the way in several small towns, with beautiful empty beaches... The road to Adelaide was quite long, but as it is a real highway, we managed to get there before the sunset. We arrived end of the afternoon at our next couchsurfing host. He was at work but he always leaves a backdoor open (some people aren't afraid!)

And this was when we considered maybe not telling him we arrived, and just leave for a regular hotel... the place was awful, dirty, shoes everywhere, stains on the carpet, disgusting bathtub with mushrooms on the curtains, dishes waiting to be cleaned for probably half a century... and the smell. I don't even know why we stayed there.

The guy really only offers a couch, he didn't try to entertain us or to feed us. Not that it's wrong, I mean he doesn't have to, we can take care of feeding ourselves. But the place was such a mess... anyway this was the last of our couchsurfing experiences in Australia, believe it or not I found no one to host us in Sydney. Sure there are more people in Sydney on CS than elsewhere in Australia, but somehow none of them could host us.

We eventually managed to sleep alright, and the next day we left for the airport, and to Sydney we went.

Arriving at Sydney, we went to the hostel, located in a neighbourhood called Glebe Point. Very green, wonderful odors of a jasmine tree. After that we went to Circular Quay, the main hub for bus, trains, and boats in Sydney. We saw our first glimpse of the famous opera, the skyscrappers behind us, the blue sky... beautiful city.

The next day we did a real city trip. We visited the bridge, the Royal Botanic Garden (full of bats) (sorry, "grey headed flying foxes"), then we went to the fish market to have a lunch. We visited Darling Harbour and a little zoo next to it... we even went to the most famous (is it?) Bondi Beach. But by then it was already dark so we got back to the hostel!

The hostel was very clean, the room was nice, and the perfume of the trees outside got into the rooms, it was a nice hostel, I recommend it. It was only 25minutes away from Circular Quay by bus!

Sydney is really a wonderful city. We'll have to come back again some day.

This morning we took a flight to Darwin, north of Australia. It was a five hours flight (4h30?), it's really long... we arrived here at 18h00, and the air was humid and warm.

I booked a hostel for our stay in Darwin, again couldn't find any host (but Darwin is much smaller so it's less surprising). We're staying in a hostel in the city centre, there is a swimming pool available it's very convenient!

The hostel is located just in front of a tour organizer that will take us tomorrow on a trip in the national park of Kakadu. It looks great, we'll tell you more about it when we'll be back on Tuesday!

Oh while I think about it: Australian people are very nice. Actually it's just their way of being polite: when a clerc in a shop greets you, it usually goes like that:
"Hi, how are you doing today"

And you kinda want to answer "huuuh today I feel good I guess, what about you?"

We bought a ben&jerry ice cream one time, the guy wished us "all the best". Sure, I mean it's only an ice cream but yeah I guess it can bring all that I wish for.

But the bus drivers in Sydney are kinda rude... they expect me to pay the exact fare required, and if I dare ask how much I need to pay it's like I'm stupid or something. The fare is always different depending on the zone, the stop where you want to get off, etc... how am I supposed to know how much it is? :s and well yes I'm not good with Australian coins but whatever I've seen them for 4days it's not like I was born with them! And it seemed they would always get into arguments with customers getting in or off the bus.

Tomorrow we'll wake up early to go to Kakadu ^^

Cheers!