Hawaii, sunshine, reaggie

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Oh igen! Szaguldunk Hawaiira.

Noh, azert becsekkolaskor nem maradhatott el Ati, talan mar szokasosnak mondhato repjegyes balszerencseje. Ugyanis, mint a kedves kis csekkolo holgytol meginformaltuk, nem lehet belepni ugy az orszagba, hogy nincs repjegye az embernek egy USA-val nem szomszedos orszagba… Persze Atinak csak Kanadaig szolt a jegye, ami a jelen helyzetben keves volt, mint kempingsajtban a satorvas. Ez nem volt tul biztato indulas elott 2 oraval.

De semmi panik. Gyors reagalasu utazonk hamar kiotolte, hogy mikor is akar elrepulni az amerikai kontinensrol, es kb 15 perccel kesobb mar az izlandra szolo jegyet mutogatta buszken a repteri szolgalatnak. Ezt is tuleltuk.

Hawaiira reggel hatkor ertunk be, meg sotet volt, a kocsiberlo polinez srac is meg csak a csipat torolgette szemebol. Mi azonban mar tukon ultunk, hiszen vartak rank Hanauma Bay halacskai es egyeb szines tengeri allatkai. Az alvast es buvarkodast felvaltva muveltuk, hogy mind az elmenyt be tudjuk fogadni, mind ra tudjunk pihenni a hosszu utra.

A lelegzetelallito vizalatti utazast kovetoen felautoztunk eszakra Hau’lua-ba, ahol szallasadoink bazisa volt. Mivel eleg koran megerkeztunk, meg a szallasfoglalas elott megneztuk a naplementet a Pipe nevu helyen, ahol vilaghiru szorfversenyeket is szoktak rendezni.

Mar ranksotetedett, mire beertunk a hostunkhoz. Jessica es Jessy egy nagyon kedves fiatal parocska, akik nem tul regen kezdtek a couchsurfolest. Jessica tuzolto es vizimento, Jessy pedig buvar a haditengereszetnel. Nagyon meno kombo, szerintem! Bar faradtak voltunk mindannyian, kis beszelgetes belefert, sooot… most figyeljetek! Ok is nagy exploding kitten fanok, szoval meg par izgalmas robbantgatast is bezsufoltunk.:) Ezutan kovetkezett a szukseges rossz, az alvas, hiszen, mint tudjuk, masnap sietni kellett.

Petty

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Oh yeah! We are flying like rocket towards Hawaii!

Oh wait, no... Ati had his... let's say usual bad luck with flight tickets at the check in in Melbourne Airport. Because, as the nice check in lady said at the counter, nobody can enter the US, unless they have a flight ticket to a country not adjacent to the US border... Well, Ati only had a ticket to Canada, that was as useless as an ejection seat on a helicopter... Did not look to promising two hours before departure.

But, as usual, no worries. Our fast reaction traveler figured out in a short time where and when he wants to leave the American continent and 15 minutes later he was showing proudly his ticket to the check in personal. We survived this one too... :)

We arrived in Hawai'i at 6 a.m.. It was still dark. The Polinesian car rental fella was still cleaning the crust in his eyes. But we already were sitting on pins and needles, since the colorful fish and other cute sea animals of Hanauma Bay were awaiting. We were switching between snorkeling and power napping, so that we could enjoy the underwater view and could rest from the long flight.

After the breathtaking underwater journey, we drove up to Hau'lua where the base of our current host was waiting for us. We arrived a bit early, so we decided to check out the sun set at the Pipe, which is the hosting beach of world famous surfing competitions.

It was already dark by the time we arrived "home". Jessie and Jessica are a really nice couple, who started couchsurf hosting not too long ago. Jessica is a firefighter and lifeguard Jessie is a diver at the U.S navy. Pretty awesome combo, in my humble opinion! :) Although, we all were tired, we still had some chat and watch this! They are big exploding kitten fans!!! So, we squeezed in a few explosions in the evening. We finished the evening with the necessary bad... the sleeping, since as you know we were in the rush the next day... as usual.

Peter, Pumpkin, Hot Balls

Canberra and Melbourne, the quick drive through

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Ausztral kalandunk a vege fele kozeledik (legalabbis, ami a blog idovonalat illeti). Mar csak ket nagyobb varos van, amit etlapunkra bevalogattunk. A fovaros, Canberra es a meglehetosen europai vermersekletu Melbourne.

Az ut Canberraig meglehetosen hosszu volt. Par helyen megalltunk kis latvanyfotozasra, illetve a kocsikazas vegefele egy kis pancsolas is becsuszott egy ilyen oceanparti elkeritett mermaid pool szerusegben.

Igazabol egy celunk volt. Lejutni pebbly beachig, ahol a parton csillezo kenguruk a fo latvanyossagok. Pont sotetedes elott ertunk oda, es a latvany nem is maradt el.

Ekkora mar jo par kilometert elfogyasztottunk, igy egy kozeli erdeszeti uton tertunk alomra. Meglepo modon nem volt meleg ejszaka, olyannyira, hogy Ati hajnalban fel is adta es bekoltozott a satrabol a kocsiba. Ez eleg sokat elmond a korulmenyekrol, hisz tudni kell rola, nem egy fazos arc.

A kenyszer korai kelest meg kb tovabbi 150 km vezetes kovetett, mire beertunk Canberraba. Sokat nem lehet elmondani a helyrol, bar tagas, es szamomra valamiert egy kellemes kisugarzasu varos, nem igazan erdekes. Egy mestersegesen megtervezett es felepitett varosrol van szo, ahol a politikai es orszagvezetesi szervek kerultek elhelyezesre.

Az idojaras viszont eleg jo lett a nap vegere. Sikerult megtapasztalni a parasabb tikkasztobb viszonyokat, de tuleltuk. Ami kevesbe volt kellemes,az a buszozas Melbournig. Szallast probalvan sporolni, ejszakai buszozasra adtuk fejunket. Ez meg onmagaban nem is olyan rossz, de a megtomott es kis ulesekkel ellatott jarmu, es a neha picit orulten vezeto (ertsd sokszor lementunk az utszelet jelzo savra, amire persze gyakran riadtan ebredtunk, azt gondolvan, hogy a sofor alszik) soforrrel megspekelve az utazas eleg alommentesre sikeredett.

Ennek eredmenye az lett, hogy reggel elso dolgunk az volt, hogy elkutyagoltunk a varosi botanikus kertbe  (ha mar a tobbi varosban is ez volt a fo attrakcio), majd par orara leheveredtunk alukalni.

Estefele mar picit jozanabbul osszefutottunk Ati egy kedves ismerosevel, Klarival, aki epp testveret jott meglatogatni. Egyutt tettunk egy varosi setat, majd a backpackerben vegre sikerult egy jot aludni.

Valahogy ezen a ponton dontottunk ugy, hogy masnap nem csinalunk semmit, es ez igy is lett. Kis setalgatas es muveszetei muzeumozas volt a program. Fuuu, igen azert ez a kortars muveszeti galleria eleg jo volt, meg ha picit lassan is fogadtuk be az informaciot. Estere, meg egy varosi seta becsuszott, meghallgattuk a rendkivul tehetseges utcazeneszeket, beneztunk a kinai negyedbe, es meg valami gorog utcai fesztivalra is sikerult elkeveredni.

Masnap, mas dolgunk nem volt, mint gepre ulni es nekivagni USA-nak.

Petty

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Storywise, our adventures in Australia are closing to the end. There are only two bigger cities left on our menu. Canberra, the capital city and the more and the more European (at least regarding the vibe) Melbourne.

Our trip to the capital was quite a distance. We stopped at a few sight seeings, also we've found an artifical mermaid pool along the way, where we could wash down the happenings of the day.

Basically, we had only one goal for this day. To reach Pebbly Beach, where the main attractions are the kangoroos chilling on the beach. We have arrived just before dusk and we  have to the reward for our efforts. :)

By this time we already consumed quite a few kilometers, so we search for our overnight stop besides a nearby forestry path. For our greatest surprise it was not warm during the night, so cold, that in actual fact, Ati gave up at dawn and had to move from the tent in the car. This tells a lot since he is not the cold feet princess type.

The forced early wakeup was followed by an approx. 150 km drive, before we arrived in Canberra. Can't tell much about it. Although it is very spacious and from some very weird reason it has a nice positive energy for me, there is not much interesting there. It is an artificially designed city for all political, governmental institutions.

The weather turned out to be great at the end of the day. Finally, we had the chance to experience the real hot, humid Australian wonder weather. :) What was less comfortable was the bus drive to Melbourne. In order to improve our low budget performance and save the price of an accommodation we decided to take the bus. This is not to bad in itself but the tiny seats, snoring crowd and the slightly crazy driver provided a relatively sleepless night.

As the result of this our first thing was to march to the botanic garden (since that was always the main attraction for us anyway) and took a looong long nap. In the evening we restored some of our energy and were able to catch up with a nice friend of Ati. Klari was in Melbourne for a visit of her sister. We did a short walk in the city and had a nice chat and finally managed to get some proper sleep in the backpacker. At this point we decided to take a full day off and do nothing and so it was the next day. Some city walk and museum visit was our program. Gosh, that contemporary art gallery was pretty cool, even though we were a bit slow on processing all the info.

We filled up the evening with some walk and listened to the talented street musicians, we checked out the china town and also had the luck to explore the local Greek festival.

The next day, we did not have anything else to do, but to get on the plane and fly in the US.

Peter, Hot Balls, Pumpkin

Meeting some old friends

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Itt ulok California allamban az USA-ban egy farmon es fogom a fejem, hogy mar megint lemaradtam az irassal, de sebaj azert vagjunk csak bele. (Oke ez a resz kicsit atkualitasat vesztette, hiszen mar Canadaban ucsorgok es fogom a fejem)

Fun facts: az ausztralok (legalabbis a szorfosok) tojnak arra, hogy capak vannak a vizben. Kb nem beszelnek rola, es ha valaki capat lat, jeleznek egymasnak es mindenki szorfozik tovabb.

Errol az apro tenyrol tobbszor is sikerult tanubizonysagot nyerni, hisz tobb helyen is kerdezgettem a helyieket ezugyben. Az egyik ilyen hely Byron Bay volt, Brisbanetol masfel oranyira, ahol eletem legszebb hullamait sikerult felfedeznem, bar jo magam nem tudtam szorfozni, sikerult megszemleleni az igen hosszu, nem hazudok, kb percekben merheto hullam futasi idot. Es raadasul, kezdoknek es halladoknak is van tokeletes hullam a parton, legyel szorfos vagy chillezo long boards, van mindenkinek hely es hullam is.

Sokaig nem vesztegeltunk itt hiszen vart a termeszet es szallasunk valahol a semmi kozepen. Gyilkos allatoktol nem tartottunk hiszen a kocsiban kenyelmesen meg lehetett alukalni.

Reggel egy tehetos tojasos reggeli utan mar mentunk is turazni. Erdekesseg, hogy nem volt meleg, mint ahogy ismerosok beharangoztak, a 40 fokok helyett alig erte el a homero higanyszala a 25 fokot… kb 2 forro napunk volt egesz vegig… No, de a tura. Szoval a felhos paras idoben sikerult kellemes turautvonalakat talalni, es bar kigyok nem votlak, rengeteg pioca leselkedett az avarban, meg-meg allva azon kaptuk magunkat, hogy ciponkon es nadragunkon probalnak fel kuszni, hogy edes verunket kiszivjak, Atinal sikerrel jartak es egy kb fel centis kis harapasnyomot helyeztek bokajara. Kalandos ut.

A piocak hada mellett par kengurut is lattunk es rengeteg repulorokat. Az egyik ut mellett bukkantunk belejuk, hogy ezer szamra csungedeztek a fakrol. Ujabb, David Attenborough-os elmeny valt valora!!

Az elkozvetkezendo ket napban, tovabbi kisebb turacskak es botanikus kert lesek lettek beutve. Meglestuk Coffs Harbour kertjeit es New Castle setanyat es oceanpartjat is szemugyre vettuk.

Slartibartfast gond nelkul elrepitett minket kovetkezo allomasunkra Sydneybe, ahol Loic es Peta vart minket.

Nos, hat Sydney nem volt uj nekem, de meg mindig tetszik, bar igaz, Brisbane viszi meg a palmat. Szokasosnak mondhato botanikus kert setaval kezdtuk utunkat, majd belestunk a helyi muveszeti galleriaba. Olyan egy masfel ora kellett, hogy raebredjunk, mi mar semmit nem tudunk felfogni, amihez gondolkodni kell. :D Ennek fenyeben az operahaz elott kidoltunk egy kicsit a parkba.

Az operahaz meg mindig szep, sot ezuttal sikerult az esti ravetitett fenyjatekot is lencsevegre kapni a kovetkezo napon.  Este Loic-ek elvittek minket egy helyi pizzeriaba, ahol gourmeskodaskeppen, ettunk kengurus, emus meg krokodilos pizzat. Fincsi volt, leszamitva, hogy a kroki husnak nem volt sok ize.

A vacsorat egy kis setaval a varosi hidon jarattuk le, majd seta vissza a szallasra es szunya.

Reggel, ugy dontottunk, hogy szetvalunk, Ati maradt a varosban, en meg athelyeztem magam Manlybe a  helyi kis hajojarat segitsegevel. Manly tulajdonkeppen egy kis felsziget egy gyonyoru parttal, ahol snorkelezni es szorfozni lehet. Szorf megint csak kimaradt, de snorkelezes befigyelt. Nem, capat nem lattam, de volt par szep halacska. Egy helyi szorfos leanyt leszolitottam kesobb, hogy meginformalodjak a szorfozesi lehetosegekrol a kornyeken. A joizu beszelgetes soran kiderult, hogy sydneynel vannak capahalok, es hogy Byron Bay hez hasonlo szorf paradicsomokkal van tele az egesz keleti/deli part. Persze meg is van bennem az elhatarozas, hogy meg visszajovok ide egyszer szorf nyaralni.

Este megint osszeroffentunk a francia/ausztral kis baratainkkal. Egy sorocske elszopogatasa utan megneztuk az opera fenyjatekot, majd seta a szallasra es szunya megint.

Reggel, igyekeztunk idoben kelni, mivel a kocsink mar vart a repteren. No, de minek a siettseg! Peti elhagyta a jogsijat! Ami persze kocsifelvetel kozben derult ki. A 20 masodperces nyugtato legzogyakorlat utan eszembejutott, hogy letetben hagytam tegnap a Manlyben, amikor a snorkel cuccot bereltem… Oke, ket es fel ora tomegkozlekedes utan egy jogsival gazdagabban es boldogan sikerult a kocsit felvenni es ujra utrakelni, ezuttal koztes allomasunk Canberra fele.

Petty

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I sit here on the comfy couch in California state in USA and hold my head thinking: “How did I manage to fall behind with the posts soo much… once again”. But anyways, here it goes. (Haha,okay, this is a little bit outdated, since I am sitting in Canada in Toronto and holding my head…)

Fun facts: The Aussies (or at least the surfers) don’t give a crap about sharks. They simply don’t talk about it and if somebody sees one, he/she signals to the others and then they go on surfing as nothing had happened.

I managed to gain some verbal proof about this fact, since I’ve asked the locals about surfing conditions in many areas. Such place ws Byron Bay, about one and a half hours away from Brisbane, where I managed to find the best waves so far! Although I could not surf, I was able to witness the long (I am not lying by saying multiple minutes long) swells. Also the beach is perfect for beginners and more advanced surfers as well. Should you be a pro surfer or a chill longboarder all has a swell and place on this beach.

We did not stay long, since our campsite in the middle of nowhere and some nice hikes were already waiting for us. Deadly animals were not a problem, since we were able to sleep in the car comfortably.

After our dense morning breakfast with a bunch of eggs, we went to do some tramping. Another interesting fact. It wasn’t as hot as everybody told us. I mean instead of the high 40-s we, it was barely 25… and rainy as in New Zealand… I think we had maybe 2 days of full on hot weather. But let’s see the tarmping. So, on the rainy, humid day, we were able to find some nice hikes and although there were no snakes or spiders there were swarm of leeches waiting for us buried between the leaves on the ground. As we did our quick stops, we realized that they are trying to climb up on our trousers to get our sweet blood. They were quite successful with Ati and they made two half a centimeter bites on his ankle. What an adventure…

Besides the armies of leeches we bumped in a few kangaroos and into a big flock of flying foxes. We stopped by at the road when we saw a few tries packed with these cute mammals. Another David Attenborough-experience came true.

In the next 2 days we planned in a few more little hikes/walks botanic garden inspections. We had a quick look on the gardens in Coffs Harbour and had a stroll on the beachside walkway in New Castle.

Slartibartfast took us to Sydney without an issue, where Loic and Peta were already waiting for us.

Sydney wasn’t new to me, of course I still like it. Although, I think Brisbane takes the first place now. We started the trip with our usual botanic garden walk and then we ended up in the art gallery of the city. It took us about one and a half hour to realize that we cannot process anything that requires any percentage of our brain… :D Knowing this, we decided to take a rest not far from the Sydney Opera

That building is still brilliant, besides this time we had the chance to capture on photo the evening light show that is projected on the side of the building. My good friends took us to a pizza place, where as doing a gourmet evening we tried emu, kangaroo and crocodile pizzas. It was all very tasty, not considering the fact that croc meat does not really have any taste. We finished the evening with a stroll on the bridge, then walked home and had a good sleep.

In the morning we decided to split. Ati stayed in the city and I relocated myself in Manly using the local ferry service. Manly is really just a nice suburb on a peninsula with a beautiful beach where the one can surf and snorkel. I missed out surfing once again… but I had a good snorkel time. No, I did not see any sharks, but I saw cool fish chilling in the shallows. Later I started to chat with a local surfer lady to get some infos about the loal spots and conditions. During our entertaining conversation I learned that there are shark nets all around Sydney and that the whole east and south coast is full of beaches like Byron Bay. I got really determined about coming back here just for a surfing holiday.

In the evening we had another catchup with our nice Australian-french friends. After sipping a good beer, we checked out the lightshow at the opera, did the last walk back to the accommodation and had a final sleep before the long drive of tomorrow.

In the morning we tried to get to the airport as early as possible, since our new car was already waiting for us. But why the rush?? Peter has lost his drivers license! And the realization only came at the rental desk. :D After 20 seconds of meditation it has got to my mind, that I left it at the snorkel rental place in Manly… at the other end of the city. After two and a half hour public transportation with a drivers license richer and happy, we started our daily drive to head down to our next destination, Canberra.

Peter, Pumpkin, Hot Balls