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In October 1998 I planned to learn diving. As this was not
reason enough to take six month off I had to find another excuse for
vacation -- learning English! Having these arguments I could convince
my family to let me go and realize my dream to travel through
Australia. With no special plans what to do and where to go I landed
in Cairns. After two days acclimatization in urban area I went
straight to the bush - Hinchinbrook Island. It took five days to cross
the uninhabited island on small bush paths that disappeared quite
often in tidal creeks or bacame one with the brush. Sandy beaches, the
sound and smell of the rainforest and the ubiquitous exotic animals
made it easy to quickly realize beeing at the other end of our planet.
Somehow I had to do what i promised - learning diving and the Englihs
language so I registered for a Open Water diving course at Mike Ball
in Townsville. I was so amazed by the underwater world that I
continued the education and finally worked as a dive guide and
instructor at the diveshop on Magnetic Island. After new years I left
this wonderful place to explore Australias east coast.
The places I mostly liked was Noosa (snorkeling in Hells Gate),
Brisbane (where I saw skyscrapers the first time) and the Julian Rocks
in Byron Bay. After more than three months in the rainforest or
under-water I missed the mountains and wide views. So I hitched from
Canberra to the Snowy Mountains. Climbing the five highest mountains
in Australia was not a big deal since the highest - Mt Kosciusco is
only 2228 meters high, but it sounds good to climb the continents
highest peaks ;-).
Even more visibility is found in the desert. From the Alps I took the
bus to Adelaide and straight to
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