More Skydive
Skydive – take 3 and 4
I tried doing a skydive in Rotorua before mom and dad came to NZ, I had it booked for after we’d done the whitewater rafting but it got cancelled due to bad weather.
So I booked it in Wanaka to do after the wine tasting. Andrew, mom and I got to the airport, I filled out all the paperwork and then they told me that unfortunately the weather conditions had changed and I wouldn’t be able to do the jump! I was starting to think someone was telling me not to do it (besides Andrew and dad) considering it had been a very nice day all day. But as we say in Sweden “skam den som ger sig” (“shame on the one who gives up”) so I rescheduled to do it the morning after.
So Saturday morning at 8.45 we got to the airport and they were waiting for me (even though I was 15 min early) so I had to quickly get ready, well, they would have waited but I don’t want people to have to wait for me, so I got changed as quickly as I could, I got my harness and got strapped in, it got double and triple checked and then I got to meet Bernard who I’d be jumping with. I checked that he wasn’t suicidal and then we went to the plane.
The plane ride was really nice, the views are gorgeous! I got to see the lakes, snowy mountains, vineyards, Mt Cook and more. Then I started to think, who is gonna take my pictures? Everyone else seemed to have a cameraman so I asked and he told me that I hadn’t booked pictures. What!? Of course I had, it’s taken a lot to do this jump and of course I want proof! Crap! That really put a damper on my spirit. But Bernard was great and called down and spoke to his colleagues and assured me that all would work out. Then he asked if I still wanted to do the jump or go down with the plane and go up later with a cameraman, I said that of course I want the pictures and he said I would be able to go back up on the next plane so everyone else jumped but we stayed in the plane. We went up to 15,000 feet cause someone was doing that jump and I got some oxygen cause the air was really thin. Then we went back down to the ground. Needless to say mom, dad and Andrew looked a bit surprised when I got out of the plane, well I think they were more surprised when they noticed that I didn’t get out of the plane in the air, but then they had explained it to them what had happened. Dad was so nervous he had to have a swig of whiskey :)
Then I met my cameraman and then we went back up in the plane. This time I jumped! I was the first one out and that jump out of the plane was terrifying! I hadn’t been nervous about the jump at all, not even a little , not even when the others jumped, but when we left the plane I could feel the fear. It was so scary! I was so high up (12,000 ft)! Then there was 45 seconds freefalling which was so cool. It was awesome, truly awesome! I was flying! Well, technically falling, but still.
When he pulled the parachute I got a little bit freaked out for a nano second, cause when he pulled the chute it almost felt like he had released me, it was so weird and scary, but as I said it was only for a very very short while. Then we were properly flying. It was soooooo cool, what else can I say? It was just so cool.
It took me 4 attempts to do it but I did it!
Ironically the CD with the pictures doesn’t work! I called them though as soon as I noticed and they will send me a new CD, so I will get it in a couple of days when we get to Christchurch. They did e-mail me a couple of pictures though so at least I got to see something :)
Getting on the plane (I'm last)
I did it!
I'm flying!
and I survived and still smiling
9 years
Whitewater rafting
Christmas number 2
GOD JUL
Christmas market
Förra helgen va vi, John och Kate på Svenska Kyrkans julmarknad i Toorak. Vädret var bra men inte speciellt juligt, det var ju över 20 grader och solsken. Men marknaden var bra, det var en massa olika stånd med svenska, norska, danska och finska produkter. Det fanns även en Volvo och en Scania-lastbil och en liten hage med lite bondgårdsdjur, tex en kalv, gris, gäss, kaniner, marsvin etc. Sen fanns det ett stort skandinaviskt cafe med olika mackor, kakor och kaffe. Andrew tog en räkmacka, jag ville ha en köttbullemacka men dom hade tagit slut så jag tog en våffla och jordgubbstårta. Jag var faktiskt lite besviken på maten, jag hade förväntat mig lite mer julig mat och dryck, tex julmust, lussebullar, glögg och sånt men nej inget sånt blev det, men det är ju ändå svårt att vara besviken på våfflor och jordgubbstårta :)
Sen va det ett luciatåg som sjöng. Det var så konstigt att se ett luciatåg sjunga julsånger när det är så varmt men det var jäkla trevligt ändå!
Jag var duktig och köpte inte så mycket, köpte faktiskt bara ätbara saker, lite nyponsoppa, pepparkakor och tablettask.
Dagen innan hade jag varit på IKEA och köpt köttbullar, gräddsås, lingonsylt, lingonsaft och Daim. Så det var en riktig svensk helg.
Last weekend John, Kate and us went to the Swedish Church’s Christmas market in Toorak. The weather was really nice but not very xmasy, it was 24 degrees and sunny. The market was good, full of stands with Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and Finnish stuff. They even had a Volvo and a Scania truck and there was also a little paddock with farm animals like a calf, pig, geese, rabbits and so on. There was also a big Scandinavian café, Andrew had a prawn sandwich, I wanted a meatball sandwich but they had run out of those so I had waffles and strawberry cake. I was a bit disappointed that there was no real xmasy food or drinks, I was expecting a bit of that, but hey it’s hard to be disappointed with waffles and strawberry cake :)
I was very good and didn’t buy a lot, I actually only bought things you could eat! And the day before I had been to IKEA and bought meatballs, sauce, drink and chocolate. So it was a very Swedish themed weekend.
Luciatåg
Some of the stalls
Tassie 2
På morgonen i Hobart vaknade vi tyvärr av vägarbetare, jag förstår inte varför dom måste börja så förbannat tidigt på en lördag morgon!
Vi åt brunch i stan, våfflorna va sjukt goda! Kollade runt lite i affärerna innan vi drog vidare.
Vädret va lite pissigt och det regnade mer eller mindre hela dagen. Målet för dagen var Coles Bay i Freycinet National Park. Det tog inte så lång tid att ta sig dit, men jag sov iof nästan hela vägen. Vi checkade in på en camping och sen åkte vi till turistinformationen och kollade vad vi kunde hitta på. Vi bestlutade oss för några kortare vandringar. Först blev det Cape Tourville Lighthouse. Det duggregnade bara nu så det var ju bra och det var inte så mycket dimma så vi såg rätt långt. Vi såg tyvärr inga valar men det var ändå trevligt.
Nästa anhalt blev Sleepy Bay, det var lite häftigare. Efter en promenad genom skogen kom vi ner till vattnet och en stenstrand. Vi såg lite färgglada krabbor, några slemmiga havsdjur och vackra snäckor. Det var lite dimmigt och rätt häftigt.
Sen blev det Honeymoon Bay, inte lika romantiskt som det låter, jag tycker Sleepy Bay va bättre.
När vi kom tillbaka till campingen hade det börja regna lite mer så vi tänkte att det var lika bra att sätta upp tältet innan det blev värre. Vi var smarta och satte upp det i campingköket, som är under tak och sen bara det till campingplatsen.
Vi lyckades få in allt i tältet innan det började spöregna. Kvällen spenderade vi i campingköket, åt lite middag, drack lite vin och spelade Yatzy. Helt underbar campingkväll :)
Söndagen var vår sista dag och vädret var mycket bättre! Efter vi hade packat ihop allt åkte vi för att vandra upp till Wineglass Bay lookout. När vi kom till parkeringen satt det ett par wallabies där och dom ville inte flytta på sig, jag försökte skrämma bort dom men det gick inte, dom blev bara nyfikna och kom närmare. En av dom hade tom en liten bäbis i pungen. Så söt.
Nåja vi lyckades iaf parkera utan att ha ihjäl några djur. Sen va det bara att promenera uppför i 45 min. Solen sken men det blåste lite vilket var skönt för det var rätt jobbigt. Men utsikten när vi väl kom fram va väl värt besväret. Det var så otroligt vackert! Jag vet att jag säger det ofta men det är sant.
Vi beslutade oss för att inte promenera ner till stranden, det skulle ta minst 1,5 timme till och vi hade inte tillräckligt med vatten med oss, men det gjorde inget. Vårat nästa stopp var Friendly Beaches, kritvit sand, turkost vatten. Underbart vackert. Det var lite för kallt för att bada men det var bara underbart att vara på stranden.
Dagens lunch blev en picknick vid havet i en liten stad som hette Bichero.
När vi kom fram till Launceston så hade alla affärer stängt och vårat flyg var 22.30. Vi funderade på att gå på bio men det var bara Arthur Christmas som gick och det kändes inte så intressant. Istället tog vi en promenad längs floden, åt lite fish n chips. När vi kom till flygplatsen fick vi veta att flyget var försenat. Typiskt. Vi kom hem kl 1 på morgonen och sen upp igen kl 7 för att gå till jobbet. Man va rätt trött på måndagen, men det var så värt det.
Tasmanien kan jag verkligen rekommendera. Så jäkla vackert! Plus att de har så underbart vackra stränder, vacker natur, mysiga städer och en sak som vi älskade var att det är rökfritt i städerna. Tex på shoppinggatorna så är det rökfritt och på många andra platser. Många uteserveringar har oxå rökfritt! Helt underbart! Det är så det ska vara. Jag vill kunna sitta ute och äta utan att sitta i ett rökmoln. Underbart!
En konstig sak med Tasmanien är att det är väldigt många vita bilar. Sen hörde vi på radion att Holden (typ australienska Toyota) gav väldigt stor rabatt på just vita bilar. Undrar varför.
Unfortunately we woke up pretty early on our morning in Hobart thanks to some road works, I don’t understand why they had to start so early but they did.
We had brunch in town (the best waffles ever) and had a look in the shops before heading out.
The weather was a bit crappy and it rained more or less all day. The destination for the day was Coles Bay in the Freycinet National Park. It didn’t take too long to get there but to be honest I think I was asleep for most of the way. When we got there we checked in at the campsite then went to the visitors centre to see what we could do. We decided on a few short walks. The first one was Cape Tourville Lighthouse. It wasn’t raining too much by now which was good and the fog had more or less lifted. Unfortunately we didn’t see any whales but it was still very nice.
Next stop was Sleepy Bay, which was pretty cool. After a pretty short walk through the forest we came down to the waterfront and a pebble beach. We saw some colourful crabs, giant seaweed, some slimy seathings and beautiful shells. It was a bit misty down there and really cool.
Next stop was Honeymoon Bay, which wasn’t as romantic as it sounds. It was nice but I think Sleepy Bay was cooler.
When we got back to the campsite we decided to put the tent up. We were really clever and put it up in the camping kitchen (which is under a roof) and then carried it to our camping spot.
We also managed to get everything in the tent before the rain got worse. It was properly pissing down so we spent our evening in the camping kitchen, had some dinner, drank some wine and played some Yatzy. Perfect camping evening :)
Sunday was our last day and the weather was a lot better! After we’d packed up and had breakfast we went to hike up to Wineglass Bay lookout. When we got to the carpark there were a couple of wallabies there that didn’t want to move, I tried scaring them off but it didn’t work, they just came closer. One of them even had a little baby in her pouch. So cute.
Anyway we eventually managed to park without hitting anything and then we started the 45 min trek uphill. The sun was shining but luckily it was a bit windy cause it was quite a trek. The view when we got to the lookout was amazing. It’s one of the most photographed views of Tasmania and I understand why. It was stunning! I know I say this a lot that everything is amazing but it is!
We decided not to walk down to the beach, it was gonna take at least an extra hour and we didn’t have enough water or anything to drink, but it was fine cause our next stop was Friendly Beaches. Perfectly white soft sand, turquoise water, again, absolutely beautiful! The water was a bit too cold for swimming so we skipped that.
The lunch of the day was a picnic by the sea in a little town called Bichero. When we got to Launceston all the shops were closed. We were thinking of going to the cinema but they were only showing Arthur Christmas and we didn’t really fancy it. So instead we took a walk by the river and had some fish n chips. Our flight was at 22.30 but got delayed so we got home at 1ish, then had to get up at 7 to go to work. Needless to say that we were a bit tired, but it was so worth it!
Absolutely loved Tasmania and we highly recommend it. So bloody beautiful! Beautiful beaches, amazing mountains and parks, lots of wildlife, nice towns and one thing which was great was that in the towns the shopping streets were a non smoking zone! And a lot of outdoor food places were non smoking! Great! It was nice being able to sit outside and eat without being in a cloud of smoke!
A strange thing we noticed though was that Tasmania had a lot of white cars. Then we heard on the radio that Holden (like Australian Toyota or Opel or something) gave a massive discount on white cars. Wonder why.
Sleepy Bay
Andrew at Sleepy Bay
Andrew cooking
Eating and drinking in the rain
Cuties
Wineglass Bay
Friendly Beach
Beautiful
Tassie
När vi kom till Cradle Mountain checkade vi in på en camping och sen tog vi en gratis buss in i Nationalparken, vi åkte till Dove Lake och började vår vandring runt sjön. Vädret va bra, sol, moln, rätt varmt men lite vind, helt perfekt. Utsikten vid Dove Lake va helt fantastisk! Det var så fridfullt, vattnet var så friskt och rent, luften i Tasmanien är den friskaste luften i världen (där det bor folk iaf) och det var så vackert!
Detta hände när vi var typ halvvägs så vi hade fortfarande 1 timmes vandring kvar! Kul. Va lite små paranoid och såg ormar överallt, men som tur va såg vi inga fler.
När vi kom tillbaka till campingen satte vi upp vårat tält och sen behövde vi båda ringa men det var ju ingen mottagning så vi satte oss i bilen och körde en bit, hmm vi fick köra 45 km innan vi fick mottagning, eller ja, jag fick mottagning men inte Andrew så vi körde lite till, högt upp på ett berg.
Dagen efter ville Andrew sova lite längre men jag kunde inte sova längre än till kl 6 så jag tog en promenad. Blev en längre promenad än planerat, 5 km. Jag fick till Pencil Pine vattenfall. Jag var alldeles ensam och det var så fridfullt, det var inga kakaduor som skrek, det var så skönt. Ok det var flera pademelons och wallabies i buskarna som skrämde mig men annars va det lugnt.
We’ve been camping and hiking in Tasmania! It was so amazing and so cool! Loved it!
We had a very early start our first day, the flight landed in Launceston at 7, (had to get up at 4.30) so it was a very early start! We picked up the car and off we went. First stop Alum Cliffs, it was a pretty short walk and the view was stunning. The sun was shining, the sky was blue and it was just so peaceful.
Our next stop was Cradle Mountain National Park, when we got there we bought our park pass and then checked in to a campsite. Then we took the shuttle bus into the park, we got off at Dove Lake. It was beautiful! The views were just amazing, the weather was great and it was so quiet and peaceful. The water was so clear and clean and Tasmania has the cleanest air in the world (besides maybe the poles).
The hike was really nice but all of a sudden Andrew stopped and said something, I had no idea what he said but thought he wanted me to stop and take a picture or something (vain? Me? Never), but then I saw what he had seen, about 1.5 meters from where we were was a snake! A Tiger Snake! They are lethal of course like every other snake here, I mean we are in Australia. Luckily the snake didn’t seem to be in a killing mood so he just watched us walk past.
Unfortunately when this happened we were only half way so we still had over an hours walking to do. Great. The snake didn’t hurt us but it still freaked me out a bit and I could see snakes everywhere! But we didn’t actually see any more snakes.
When we got back to the campsite we put up the tent and had some food. Then we both needed to make phone calls but there was no signal so we got in the car and drove for a bit, well we had to actually drive 45 km before I got a signal then we had to drive a bit further so Andrew could get a signal.
On the way back we helped some Chinese people who couldn’t read signs. I was not too happy about this cause on the way we saw a couple of wombats! I love wombats but we couldn’t stop since the damn Chinese were behind us.
They finally left us but I didn’t want to go back to the campsite, I still wanted to see wombats and I had a feeling I knew where I could find some. So we drove a little bit further and there they were, on a field! There were at least 4 of them! I just wanted to tackle one and cuddle it but I didn’t. We also saw a few wallabies, pademelons (they are like a mix between wallaby and possum I think) and echidnas! Love those too, they are so adorable, it’s like a mix between a hedgehog, porcupine and anteater. So cute!
The first night in the tent wasn’t as bad as I thought, there were no snakes or spiders but we did have some possums and pademelons running around the tent.
I got up at 6 in the morning and when I got out of the tent there were a couple of pademelons there looking at me. So cool!
Andrew wanted to sleep a bit longer so I decided to go for a walk. The walk got a bit longer than planned, 5 km, but it was nice. I walked to the Pencil Pine waterfall. I was all alone and since there were no cockatoos screaming it was very peaceful, although some pademelons and wallabies scared me a few times running around in the bushes.
After breakfast we started the drive towards Hobart. This took forever, the roads were long and windy and there were a few mountains to get round or over. We stopped and did a walk to Nelson Falls and then we had lunch in a small mining town called Queenstown.
We had another stop planned along the way, Lake St Clair where we did another walk. It wasn’t as nice as Dove Lake but still very nice. It was sooo hot though and they were warning people about snakes but we didn’t see any, only a couple of echidnas.
We got to Hobart just as all the shops had closed but we were pretty tired anyway. We spent the night in a pub and no we didn’t just pass out in the pup we had actually booked a room.
We took a walk by the seaside and had a nice meal and wine.
Dove Lake
Me
Andrew
Some of the track
A Tiger Snake
Echidna & wombats
Pademelon
Pencil Pine falls
Wakiti Creek
Förra helgen åkte jag, Andrew, Kate och John och campade, typ. Vi bodde i en indian-tipi, som hade golv och madrasser och en lampa så det var lite lyxigare är vanlig camping.
När vi lämnade Melbourne på fredagen var det så varmt! Det var 37 grader med VARMA vindar! Lyckligtvis hade bilen AC. Vi stannade i Shepparton för middag och det första stället vi gick till serverade inte mat, eller ja, inte till oss men lokalborna fick iaf mat. Nåja vi gick till ett ställe som hete Vic och där fick vi mat som var både god och rätt billig.
Vi kom till campingen strax efter 20.00, vi bäddade, packade upp lite alkohol och satte oss i campingköket. Det tog inte lång tid innan vi märkte alla insekter! Det var stora flygande gräshoppe-aktiga saker, flugor, vandrande pinnar och värst av allt, spindlar! Om man tittade upp i taket såg man en massa spindelnät och en del hemska spindlar.
Som tur va så va inte toaletterna så hemska, bara ett fågelbo och en vandrande pinne på dörren :)
Sov ganska bra men vaknade före kl 6 tack vare de förbannade kakaduorna! De är sådana vackra fåglar men shit va dom låter hemskt, de låter som hysteriska apor som slåss eller nåt. Jag kunde inte sova så jag gick på en promenad.
Efter frukosten tog vi en bush walk till floden. Den såg inte så trevlig ut så vi beslutade oss för att inte paddla kanot. Istället åkte vi till Echuca. Vi fikade och tog en titt runt stan, vi provade lite ostar, choklad och choklad-port vilket var intressant. Vi tog även en promenad längst floden och såg några ångmaskiner och sånt.
Sen shoppade vi lite, inte direkt en camping-aktivitet men ändå.
Vädret var inte det bästa så när vi kom tillbaka spelade vi lite kort och drack lite öl och cider. Middagen bestod av stek, potatis och sallad och allt (utom salladen) tillagades såklart på grillen.
Denna natt hade jag öronproppar i så sov lite bättre. Gick upp vid 8 och gick en promenad, mitt alarm väckte de andra kl 9 hehe hade glömt att jag hade det på. Efter frukost packade vi in allt i bilen och sedan var det dags för lite bågskytte innan vi åkte. Det var så roligt! Vädret var mycket bättre och solen sken, men flugorna var en total plåga. John vann flest omgångar, men Andrew och jag var de enda som träffade mitt i prick och i slutet fick vi alla en pil var och närmast mitten vann, och gissa vem som vann ... ... jag! Allt som allt var det en mycket bra camping helg, trots de läskiga spindlarna och insekterna, och vi blev bara bitna av mygg så det var ju bra :)
Last weekend Andrew, me, Kate and John went camping, sort of. We stayed in a tepee which had a floor and mattresses and a lamp so it was a bit more luxury than normal camping.
When we left Melbourne on the Friday it was so hot! It was 37 degrees with WARM winds! Luckily the car had air con.
We stopped in Shepparton for dinner and the first place we went to didn’t serve food, well not to us anyway, but the locals sitting there were eating. Oh well, so we went to a place called Vic, food was pretty cheap and nice.
We arrived at the camping just after 8pm, we made our beds, unpacked some alcohol and sat down in the camp kitchen. It didn’t take long to notice the insects, there were massive cricket-type of insects which could fly, there were stick insects, flies, other flying creatures and worse of all, spiders! If you looked up to the ceiling you could see it was covered in spiders webs and there were some really horrible spiders!
Luckily the toilets weren’t too bad, just a birds nest by the door and a stick insect on the door.
Slept pretty well considering I was a bit paranoid at first. However, woke up before 6 thanks to the damn cockatoos. They are such beautiful birds but when they scream it’s like fighting monkeys or something. I couldn’t sleep so I went for a walk. There were hundreds of cockatoos in the trees, screaming their little hearts out.
After breakfast we went for a bush walk to the river. The river didn’t look that nice and we decided not to go canoeing. Instead we went to Echuca. We had some coffee and cake, then had a look around the town, John and I did some cheese tasting, then Andrew and I did some chocolate tasting, they even had chocolate port, which was interesting.
We also went for a walk by the river and saw some steam engines and stuff. Then we got told off cause we hadn’t paid for the walk, we missed the sign. Oh well, we just kept on walking. Then we did some shopping. Not really an activity for a camping trip but hey, it was sort of a luxury camping trip.
The weather wasn’t the best so when we got back we just played some cards and then it was time for dinner. Dinner was steaks, sausages, potatoes and salad, with some wine, beer and cider of course. And of course everything was cooked on the barbie (obviously not the salad, we didn’t cook that).
This night I had earplugs in so I slept a bit better. Got up at 8 and went for a walk, then my alarm woke the others up, I had forgotten about that hehe
After breakfast we packed up the car and then it was time for some archery before we left. It was so much fun! The weather was a lot nicer and the sun was shining but the flies were a total pest. John won most rounds but Andrew and I were the only ones who got the bullseye and at the end we all got one arrow each and closest to the bullseye won, guess who was the winner……me!
All in all it was a very good camping weekend, in spite of the creepy spiders and insects and we only got bitten by mosquitoes so that’s good :)
Creepy crawleys
Breakfast
The river
Andrew and John on a bush walk
The boys cooking
Doing some archery
Grattis pappa!
Idag fyller min underbara pappa år. Grattis pappa! Jag har tyvärr inga bilder på pappa som liten på den här datorn, så ni för nöja er med dessa istället.
Today it's my dad's birthday. He is without a doubt the best dad ever! Unfortunately I have no pictures of dad as a young boy on this computer so instead these will have to do.
Grattis pappa!
Last day on GOR
Sista dagen på Great Ocean Road va det även Jennifers födelsedag!
Vi började med en "rester-frukost" som faktiskt var väldigt god.
Sen började vi resan tillbaka till Melbourne. Vi började med ett stopp i Timboon där vi kollade in ett whiskey distilleri Timboon Railway Shed Distillery där provade jag och Nicklas whiskeyn, den var väl sådär, jag gillar ju inte whiskey, men sen blev det bättre och då ville tom de andra oxå prova. Då blev det kaffelikör, jordgubbssnaps, äppelsnaps och limoncello! Satan va gott det var! Kaffelikören och Jordgubbssnapsen va mina favoriter, så jäkla goda! Jag och Jennifer köpte med oss båda. Mums
Sen skulle vi till en bärgård som bara låg ner för gatan, men det visade sig vara på en annan gata ön den vi körde på så vi skippade det. Istället skulle vi till en vingård, men vi hittade inte den heller.
Vi åkte till Red Rock och kollade på typ kratrar och sen kollade vi in vingården där, dom hade bara öppet på helger men dom gjorde ett undantag för oss. Så vi fick smaka lite viner oxå. Dom hade en jättestor hund som blev väldigt förtjust i Maria, han försökte tom följa med henne in i bilen, men det fick han ju inte.
Sen blev det lunch i en liten by som hetter Birregurra, skitgod lunch blev det faktiskt. Det var snorhett ute så det blev även en glass.
När vi kom tillbaka till Melbourne checkade gänget in på vandrarhemmet, vi packade om våra väskor och sen drog vi till St Kilda beach. Vi drack Bag in Box vin, killarna kastade lite boll och sen badade Nicklas, Jennifer och Jaina, galna människor. Det var svinkallt i vattnet.
På kvällen va det happy hour i baren på deras vandrarhem, en norsk tjej jobbade i baren och blev så glad att träffa andra skandinavier. Killarna drack kannor med öl och jag och Jennifer drack Toblerone drinkar och isbjörn.
De andra tjejerna va lite sena, blir lätt så med Facebook :) Vi hade tänkt äta middag på Lygon Street där det finns en massa italienska restauranger men det var för sent. Istället gick vi till Chinatown och hittade ett litet ställe. Servitören försökte lära Andrew att äta med ätpinnar, det gick sådär, så han fick bestick. Han beställde extra kryddstark mat och det var jäkla starkt, jag smakade en halv liten morot och det bara brann i käften på mig!
Jag åt nån nudelrätt med biff, köttet va sådär men nudlarna va goda och servitören verkade stold för jag var den enda av oss som beställde riktig kinesisk mat. Det var såklart en slump men ändå :)
Efter middagen promenerade vi bort till casinot. Det är ju södra hemisfärens största casino och ja det är stort. Tror att alla spelade lite och en del vann faktiskt! När klockan va runt 1-2 tiden gick vi hem. Det hade varit en lång dag!
Dagen efter åkte Jaina och Maria till Sydney. Vi andra shoppade lite och sen gick vi till parken och softade. Det var så underbart! Vi låg i solen, kastade lite frisbee, sparkade lite boll och hade det jäkla bra.
På kvällen åkte vi till St Kilda, kollade in solnedgången och åt middag. Jennifer provade Victorias nationalrätt, Chicken Parma och tyckte det var gott.
Dagen efter va det dags för dom att åka vidare till NZ. Kändes lite tomt när alla hade åkt.
The last day on the Great Ocean Road was also Jennifer's birthday!
We started with a "leftover-breakfast" which was actually very good.
Then we began the journey back to Melbourne. We began with a stop in Timboon, where we checked out a whiskey distillery, Timboon Railway Shed Distillery where Nicklas and I tried the whiskey, it wasn't as bad as I thought, considering I don't like whiskey. Then it got better cause then we got to try some liqueur :) All of us wanted to try those, it was coffee liqueur, strawberry schnapps, apple schnapps and limoncello. It was sooooo good! The coffee and strawberry ones were my favourites so I bought a couple of bottles. Yummy
Then the plan was to go to a berry farm, which was supposed to be just down the road, unfortunately it was down another road than the one we were on so we skipped it. Instead we headed for a winery but we couldn't find that either.
We went to Red Rock and watched some kind of craters and then we checked out the vineyard there, they were only open on weekends but they made an exception for us. So we got to taste some wines as well. They had a huge dog who was very fond of Maria, he even tried to follow her into the car, but she managed to get away.
We had lunch in a small village called Birregurra, it was really really good and since it was suc ha hot day we also had some ice cream.
When we got back to Melbourne the gang checked into their hostel, we repacked our bags and then we went to St Kilda beach. We drank some wine, the guys thucked the rugby ball around and then Nicklas, Jennifer and Jaina went for a dip. Crazy people, the water was freezing!
In the evening it was happy hour at the hostel, a Norwegian girl worked in the bar and she was so happy to meet some Scandinavians. The guys had jugs of beer and Jennifer and I had Toblerone cocktails :)
We had planned to eat dinner on Lygon Street where there are a lot of Italian restaurants, but we were a bit late. Instead we went to Chinatown and found a little place. The waiter tried to teach Andrew to eat with chopsticks, it didn't go too well but luckily he got a fork and spoon as well. He ordered extra spicy food and he got it! I tried half a little carrot and holy crap it was hot!
I ate some noodles with beef, the noodles were really good and the waiter seemed very impressed with me since I was the only one who ordered authentic Chinese food. I didn't know that but I'll still take some credit :)
After dinner we walked over to the casino. It's the southern hemisphere's largest casino and yes it's massive. I think everybody gambled a little and some actually won! We left around 1-2ish, it had been a long day!
The day after Jaina and Maria went to Sydney. The rest of us shopped a bit and then we went to the park and chilled out. It was so wonderful! We played with the frisbee, footbal and rugby ball and just enjoyed the nice weather.
In the evening we went to St Kilda, checked out the sunset and had dinner. Jennifer tried Victoria's national dish, Chicken Parma and the boys had steak.
The day after it was time for them to continue their journey to NZ. Felt a bit empty when everyone had gone.
Rugby World Cup
Yesterday it was time for the final of the Rugby World Cup. NZ All Blacks against France. I wore my "I Heart NZ" T-shirt and felt a bit nervous. It was a good game and it was so even between the teams! France really stepped up and played really well and the All Blacks obviously also played well but you could tell the pressure got to them a bit. But the final score was 8-7 to the All Blacks!! The final minutes were not good for the nerves, but hey they won! And at home, that must have made it a bit more special.
I bet it was one hell of a party in NZ yesterday and I wonder how many got to work on time this morning :)
GOR part 3
Here we are at 12 Apostles
On Monday we left our house at Johanna and went on to Port Campbell where we would spend the last night.
First we went to Johanna Beach and was going to take us down and check out Wreck Beach, but unfortunately the tide wasn't right, we could probably have made it round to see the anchor on Wreck Beach but we wouldn't have had the time to get back and then we would have been screwed and we decided it wasn't worth it. But it was still awesome!
I kept a safe distance from the shoreline this time, Andrew was on a couple of rocks and did well, but Nicklas got wet.
Then we went to the Arch, it was awesome, the views were wonderful and it was just so awesome. The water had such power and it was so foamy, so cool.
Then we went on a little tasting tour. First chocolate tasting which was a bit disappointing, not a lot of chocolate and they didn't tell us anything about it. The cheese tasting however was great and well worth the visit. We went to the Apostle Whey Cheese and got to try several different cheeses. They were so good! I'm not a big fan of blue cheese but I did try the 2 they had and they weren't that bad. The others were so nice though. We bought some brie and feta.
Apostle Whey Cheese
Then we went and checked out the 12 Apostles, which is the most famous scene along the Great Ocean Road. To be honest, I think Arch was cooler, but it was of course still awesome and beautiful.
We also saw a couple of lizards, one of them looked like a short snake at first cause you couldn't see its legs when it moved. Yuk
Then on to London Bridge, less people there than at the 12 Apostles and again, it was so incredibly beautiful and peaceful!
In the evening we went back to the 12 Apostles and watched the sunset, we also had some cheese, crackers, beer and bubbly with us :) Life is so good sometimes
When we got back to Port Campbell, we went to a pub, there was only one that was open. We were the only girls in there, and well we got a little too much attention so we went back to the room, drank some wine and played cards. The guys stayed behind and tried to play pool
Wonderful day!
Johanna Beach
The 12 Apostles
Awesome eh?
In the evening
Evening snack
Big Lizard / Little lizard
London Bridge
There used to be another arch over to the little island, but it collapsed in 2009
Beautiful!
Andrew and I at London Bridge
Sunset
GOR Part 2
När jag skulle gå och lägga mig såg jag en skitstor spindel i Maria och Jainas rum, Andrew slog ihjäl den och så kastade vi in den i brasan (för att vara på säkra sidan).
The boys at Triplet Falls
The way to the falls
Triplet Falls
On Sunday when we woke up it was windy as hell! It had been raining and been very windy more or less all night, at one point I thought the walls were gonna cave in, but they didn't.
The weather wasn't actually as bad as it sounded. We had out breakfast and then we were off again, Nicklas wanted to drive so he could get some practice for when they go to NZ.
The first stop was Triplet Falls. It was an hour long walk through the woods. They warned of snakes, slippery roads and falling trees but it was fine, although we did almost hit a wallaby on the way there, it kind of whipped the car with its tail but no injuries to anyone.
The waterfalls were cool and this time Andrew and Nicklas kept to the track.
After the waterfalls we went to Otway Fly Tree Top Adventures, but we thought it was a bit expensive plus it was still very windy so we had a snack and then went to Otway Lighthouse. The way there was so cool, we saw sooooo many koalas! So awesome!
We didn't get to see the lighthouse cause they charge $17.50 for that, we didn't feel it was worth it, so we went back and had a look at more koalas.
Then we stopped at Gibson steps. It was soo windy, we all almost got knocked out when we got out of the car!
We went down to the beach, the sand was so soft and the waves were so big. I had a bit of an "accident". A wave came in a little too fast for me to have time to get away, clumsy as hell really. My legs and trousers got a bit wet, but since it was so windy they tried quite quickly anyway.
In the evening we went to Apollo Bay and watched the rugby, it was the semifinals, NZ All Blacks against Australia's Wallabies. All Blacks kicked the Wallabies butts :) so this weekend we will be watching the final between the All Blacks and France.
For dinner we BBQ'd steaks and drank some more bubbly :)
When I was going to bed I saw a huge spider in Maria and Jaina's room. Andrew killed it and we threw it in the fire, just to be on the safe side
A bit windy at Gibson Steps
Andrew and I on the beach
Rough sea
Koala
Cutie!
Jennifer, Jaina and Maria are doing some koala spotting
Mommy and baby koala
Sunset
Spidey (RIP)
Visitors
Last Friday, I showed them around Melbourne, the sun shone brightly, it was 25 degrees and we walked for about 7 hours! I showed them the town, the Shrine, Botanical Gardens, Yarra River, the stadiums (MCG, AAMI Park, Rod Laver, etc.), then we ate lunch, then Andrew came and he was nice enough to bring the sunscreen so we didn't have to get too burnt.
In the evening we got to rest for about an hour before we went to meet Kate and John at the pub for some happy hour drinks and some food.
On Saturday it was time for the Great Ocean Road (GOR)! We picked the car, Andrew got the others while I got fruit, veg and bread at the market, we had bought the alcohol the night before. Then we were off. The weather was like usual in Melbourne, it was the sun, rain, wind, sun, clouds and so on.
The first stop was Torquay, had lunch and checked out Bells Beach, which is a famous surfing beach. A lot of people were surfing, crazy muppets, it was really cold in the water!
Then we came to Lorne, where we ate a bit again and then we took a walk to Erskine Falls. Of course the boys had to get closer to the waterfall than was suggested, but the rest of us were happy with taking in the view from the rocks.
Then on to Teddy's Lookout, where we kind of went the wrong way, the signs were not that clear, so we took a walk through the woods which we hadn't needed to, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. All of a sudden Nicklas started making funny noises but it turned out he was saying "kolla koala, kolla koala" (look koala, look koala in Swedish) very fast. And yep up there in one of the trees was a small koala. Then we decided that some of us were on koala watch and the rest on snake, lizard and spider watch. We didn't see any more animals during the rest of the walk. Instead we came to the lookout and it was sooooo beautiful!
Then off again, this time was the Kennet River, we drove along a dirt road in search of koalas and we found them. It's like picking mushrooms, you just have to find the first one, once you have done this and get your "mushroom-eyes" you see them everywhere! So was this, we saw loads of koalas in the trees. Lucky though Andrew still kept his eyes on the road as there were also quite a few kangaroos around. A few of them jumped in front of the car but ut was ok.
We had rented a cottage at Johanna. Such an amazing find by Andrew! It was really really nice! It was a bit chilly when we got there but we got the log fires going and then opened the sparkling wine. Life is bloody good sometimes!
30
Jaha då var det även min tur att fylla 30. De flesta av mina kompisar fyllde ju 30 förra året och jag såg deras ångest och lärde mig från dom hur man inte ska göra. Varför tror ni att Andrew och jag beslutade oss för att flytta till Australien just detta år?
Ni behöver inte oroa er, jag har ingen åldersångest. Jag mår bra och känner mig inte ens en dag äldre än igår :) och som ni ser så är jag som ett bra årgångsvin, jag blir bara bättre (och vackrare) med åren ;)
Mini Sofie
So, here it is, it is my turn to turn 30. Since most of my friends turned 30 last year I got to see their anxiety and I learned what not to do. Why do you think Andrew and I decided to move to Australia this year? :)
You don’t have to worry though, I have no age-related anxiety. I feel good and I don’t feel (or look) not even a day older than yesterday :) and as you can see I’m like a good wine, I just get better (and more beautiful) with age ;)
5th Birthday Out fishing Honeymoon in Greece
Grattis Mamma
Helicopter
I lördags va det äntligen dags för att åka helikopter! Jag fick detta av mina kära kollegor på Towers Watson och Andrew fick det i födelsedagspresent av sin pappa och Nicola.
Vädret va inte det bästa, det var väldigt typiskt Melbourne väder, dvs hysteriskt varierande, det började med monsunregn, sen blå himmel och solsken, sen blåste det halv storm och sen när det var dags att flyga så va det molnigt. Jag är bara glad att det inte regnade och som tur va så blåste det inte för mycket.
Så vi tog spårvagnen ut till flygfältet (denna gång ramlade jag inte av), vi fick väga oss och sen ut till helikoptern. Vi fick ducka och jag fick hålla i håret för att rotorbladen va rätt låga och man vill ju inte bli träffad av en sån. Så in i helikoptern och på med hörlurarna. Det lät ju rätt mycket.
Det var väldigt bekväma säten måste jag säga.
Sen bar det av! Han varnade för lite turbulens men det var inte så farligt, det är mer när man flyger i plan. Vi fick se kusten, en massa hus, jag såg även Albert Park och där dom har formula 1 banan. Andrew fick se stadskärnan, the Shrine, MCG, Rod Laver Arena, AAMI Park, casinot mm. Jag såg IKEA och en kyrkogård :)
Flygturen tog runt 20 min och sen efter flygturen gick jag och Andrew och åt brunch.
Här kommer lite bilder.
On Saturday it was finally time to do the helicopter flight! I got this as a leaving present from my dear colleagues at Towers Watson and Andrew got it as a birthday present from his dad and Nicola.
The weather wasn’t the best, it was very typical Melbourne weather, which means extremely varied, it started off with monsoon rain, then blue skies and sunshine, then windy as hell and then when it was time to fly it was cloudy. I'm just happy it wasn’t raining and luckily it wasn’t too windy either.
So we took the tram out to the airport (this time I did not fall off it), we had to weigh ourselves and then out to the helicopter. We had to duck and I had to hold on to my hair cause the rotor blades were quite low and you don’t want to get hit by one of those. So into the helicopter and on with the headphones. It was very noisy without them.
I have to say that the eats were very comfortable!
Then off we went! He warned of some turbulence but it wasn’t so bad, it's usually a lot more on a plane. We got to see the coast, a lot of houses, I also saw Albert Park, where they have Formula 1 track. Andrew saw the city centre, the Shrine, MCG, Rod Laver Arena, AAMI Park, casino and more. I saw IKEA and a cemetery :)
The flight took around 20 minutes and then after the flight, we went and had some brunch.
Here are some photos.
Grattis Fredde!
Idag fyller min kära lillebror år. Grattis på födelsedagen hoppas du får en underbar dag! Jag får väl fira dig lite extra nästa år =)
Today it´s my brother´s birthday! Happy birthday Fredde, hope you have a wonderful day and I guess I´ll give you an extra nice present next year =)
Liten har blivit stor (större)