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Making Belgian dish with Olivia. - 17/09/2009 19:49:43 - 5.9 mm - 1/35 - f/3.8 - ISO 1600

12.30pm wake up!

Olivia helped me out with shopping. Tonight I was going to make a Belgium dish. So we went to Coles and the Market to stock up on potatoes, onion, baby green bean thingys (princeskes), tomato, and 2 kinds of snags.

The afternoon I made my backpack cause I'm leaving tomorrow. I'm checking out at about 9 and will catch the bus towards Hahndorf. Tomorrow I will be helping out my new scaled and furred friends!

Card games and laughter filled the rest of the evening until Olivia, Ian and me started cooking. Thanks for the help guys! We made a 'Belgian' dish for 7 people. It's really not the same as cooking for 3 as I'm used to. But we kind of succeeded. Yataaa! Everyone had plenty of potatoes, sausages and veggies. It was a good solid meal. All of us chipped in again doing the dishes, like one big family xD

Tonight it's goodbyes for me. I'm leaving tomorrow in the morning so I'm a bit sad. I made some nice friends here which I have to leave behind again.

ps: Ian is a very very very nice and kind and funny guy who I have ever met!!!!!!!!!! and I'm very sad,coz I'm leaving tomorrow so I can't meet Ian anymore.... Ohh my god!!!!!!(>_<) I don't wanna leave here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Iaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Movies

Eating the Ultimate Double Whopper at Hungry Jakck. - 16/09/2009 19:01:58 - 5.35 mm - 1/25 - f/2.8 - ISO 400

Take it easy! A lazy day, so lazy that the day kinda started in the evening. Carol, Olivia and me went to the movies. But before that Carol persuaded me to try the Ultimate Double Whopper Burger at Hungry Jack. It was quit the burger alright, it's huge and I still felt it digesting after 3 hours. But never the less it was very 'umai' (delicious in Japanese). We enjoyed watching Inglorious Bastards. I loved the characters in this movie. Funny gore xD

Back at the hostel I didn't made it to late and touched my bed at 2am.

Mount Lofty

My first echidna, crossing my path near the Cleland Wildlife Park. - 15/09/2009 15:46:49 - 150 mm - 1/80 - f/5.6 - ISO 500

After a solid breakfast I went for another bike ride. Unlike yesterday I went alone this time. At about 11am I was heading South through the city centre. The sun is shining, my phone is pumping great tunes while the Adelaide Mountains are getting closer and closer. The summit of Mount Lofty was my target. It took me about 2.15 hours to get there. I don't know the height of the Mountain but it felt very steep. Certainly if you are not used to bike. I was drained once I got there, wasted. I sat down drank the last of my water and eat my peanut butter jelly sandwich. After I regained some breath I got some info about a short walk at the info centre. I started to walk but ended up having a nap on a bench after 10 minutes. Sleep seemed to be inevitable but the sound of people running past me kept awake. Good thing because I had to ride all the way back and deliver the bike back at 4.30pm.

The route back was great and down hilling was fast, really fast. It's funny to feel my hairs in the wind. I stopped a few times, to take pictures and to talk to Mike. Mike, or Michael, is pushing his 3 wheeled cart all the way to Melbourne for the good cause, arthritis. Good luck man!

Back in the hostel we had dinner with the whole lot. Ben was leaving us tomorrow in the morning. (btw, Thanks for all the food you donated Olivia and me!) Everyone has made a little dish and shared it. Taka and Ian prepared Okonomiyaki, the pancakes from Osaka. I ate it once when me, my sister and my brother in law where in Osaka. It's great to taste it again, good times xD.

It was a late night (4am), chatting, surfing, watching movies, having a good time.

Undies

Carol and me facing the cold water of West Beach

Slept till about 10 had breakfast and went to check up on the cat in the RSPCA office. Apparently the owners where on vacation which made the cat leave the surroundings of it's home. The owners would pick up the cat today. Glad to hear that.

So after checking up of the good deed of the week I went to the Travellers Contact Point to check my mail. There is lots of stuff regarding my bank account that needs to be posted from Sydney to Adelaide. But to bad... It didn't made it here yet. It's been about 7ish days already...

Ben, Carol, Taka, Ian and me went to West Beach again. The weather was nice so we took the free bikes again and drove next to the Torrens River al the way towards the sea. We had a great time at the beach. It was sunny but coldish. Carol and me had a very refreshing and awakening swim in our undies. We shot heaps of pictures while rode our bikes near and in the water. Another great day for sure.

Back at the hostel I made dinner for Carol and me. After that we had a lazy evening ahead cause we where all tired from the active day near the ocean.

Later in the evening I had a phone call from Sonia. I called her in the morning willing to ask if I could work at her Wildlife paradise for food and accommodation, but she didn't picked up the phone. So we talked about the work and me. The work would involve animal care. They have endangered species like bandicoots, reptiles, koalas, kangaroos and many more. So after talking a bit about me she offered me a stay at her place. Happy me! I will be helping them out for a couple of weeks, starting this Friday! Hooray!

A good day indeed xD

A furry friend

In the ally near the hostel - 12/09/2009 01:33:22 - 18 mm - 1/60 - f/4 - ISO 640

Today started with a rather boring morning. I slept in till about 10.30am had breakfast and went to McDonalds to give the internet another try. I managed to do a bit of Facebook and internet browsing but it's slow. I spend about 3 hours there and didn't really do a thing. sigh...

The evening starts to fall so I returned to the hostel. Today is spaghetti time! Apparently we, my dinner friends and me, had some miscommunication about the day I would make dinner. So a quick stop to Coles solved that issue. I made a bit more sauce and tried to season it all over again. Two big pots where boiling pasta and sauce. About 30min later the 6 of us where having Spaghetti in the common room. It was nice, not as good as home, but nice :)

After the dishes I crashed in front of the tele. But not for long, Ian told me to go outside because he spotted a cat in front of the hostel. Indeed, a big, black and white, furry, soft, and cuddly cat was strolling near the front door. The cat was way to nice to be a street cat. Maybe the cat escaped the Adelaide Show Grounds and made it till here. There where lots of pretty show cats at the Show Grounds. Getting the cat inside the hostel made some commotion. Animals not allowed. :/ I called the Animal Shelter but they didn't picked up the phone. It was to late. So what to do... Olivia helped me out (thx for that!) and we managed to put the cat in the ally next to the hostel. We managed to make a little house for our new friend consisting of a laundry basket and a heavy brick. I didn't want the cat to escape the ally. There is a lot of traffic and a front car bumper is not something an animal likes to meet in the middle of a street.

Some of my friends went out to the Casino but I stayed home to look after the cat. Gave it some milk, made a little bed out of my towel. No worries xD It's a really nice animal. It has been a while I heard a cat spin while it's pushing it's fluffy paws in my belly.

At 2am I gave the cat a last cuddle and put it back under the basket. Tomorrow I'll try to bring it to the animal shelter.

Ok sleeping time...

Bike!

Rianne, Ian and me jumping at the West Beach

Today Rianne and me had the idea to go to the Adelaide Hills but during the morning that idea shifted again, like anything else changes so fast whilst backpacking. The sun was shining nicely so we decided to visit another beach instead of hiking up the hills. Near to our hostel you can rent bikes for free so we gave it a try. Rianne, Ian, Richard and me hopped on the bike put on our helmets and set course towards the uni via the busy city centre. Once arrived we crossed the bridge over the Torrens River and biked aside it all the way down to the beach. It was nice, it had been a while I biked for so long. The weather was great and the route towards the ocean was beautiful.

At the beach we locked our bikes and had a bit of water fun. It's still to cold to swim but our feet had a refreshing time in the ocean. We stopped near the first toilets had a break and lunch, peanutbutter jelly time!

The way back was a bit more fast paced because we needed to be there before 5pm. But we made, we entered to shop all excited at 4.55pm. Hooray, I got my passport back xD.

So once at the hostel we had a little break and went out again to shop at Coles. Because the Japanese and Korean are such a nice bunch and cooked that nice dinner for me I wanted to return the favour by cooking something Belgian for them. But I don't know what exactly. You can leave ideas in comment section. But the thing is I don't have an oven, and I can't make fries. I was thinking about something easy like 'stoemp en worst'. But that would be for tomorrow or the day after. For tonight I wanted to make spaghetti like me mummy makes it.

Back at the hostel I made the sauce. Taka and Ian asked me out to have some Chinese food. Alright, I finished my sauce with the lovely help of Olivia, the second Belgian I met during my trip so far, and stored it in the fridge. Spaghetti tastes better the next day anyway ;)

We headed down to China Town and had very good Nasi Goreng. We returned to the hostel, had another late night chat with Olivia and others. Went to bed after midnight and felt asleep before my head touched the pillow.

Yataaaaaa!

A hell of a ride! - 09/09/2009 16:07:56 - 170 mm - 1/500 - f/5.6 - ISO 200

I slept till about 10ish had breakfast and went with my Asian friends towards the Adelaide Show Grounds. A weird choice to go there again, I know. But I didn't had anything planned today and I didn't got the chance to see the place at the time I worked there. After a 12 dollar fee the park was all ours, well kind of... For 12 dollars you are inside but you can't do really anything unless you pay up some more. We have seen Dog shows (lovely Shelty's xD), horse riding, crazy and fast rides, and a lot more. After 5ish I went back to the hostel and had my dinner that was waiting in the fridge for about 3days. Time to eat it!

In the evening I had the usual chat with other backpackers and tried not to fall asleep in the comfy sofa in front of the tele.