Indoor Rock-Climbing

Trying something different....

MJ

Have you ever wondered where Michael Jackson disappeared and what he is doing now??

Well I found him!

And ironically enough he is sharing his buisness with a psychotherapist and a paedeatric... :oP

Another weekend the same story :o)

Rain and wind in the forecast – no big trips planned, but one of the German doctors here at the Royal Hobart offered Nicolas (another German Elective - we are everywhere…) and me to go on the LOST WORLD track at Mount Wellington on Friday. Happily I said I was in.
We left quite late in the afternoon (it has been pretty stormy in the morning but cleared up from noon). It took us sometime until we finally found the beginning of the track. It was fun and really like in a lost world, bizarre rock formation and steady climbs involved. Unfortunately it started to rain again and we had to go back. The “really” challenging parts where still ahead and slippery rocks… no thanks…





Maybe when Adina comes, we ll try again…!

BTW: left hand side :that’s our backyard and the storm did a heavy damage to the lovely tree... one of the bigger branches came down... and on the right hand side: that’s Diezel the little dog of Andrew- I am dog sitting this weekend and he is getting spoiled...

MELBOURNE

I had some great days in Melbourne. Having been there 2,5 years ago- I definitely wanted to go to Melbourne during my stay here.
And I still think and got strengthened in my opinion: Melbourne is THE city in Australia (not a big fan of Sydney here….).

Isabella, Carsten and Vasu might remember THE CORNISH ARMS!? It is a little pub in Coburg and we went there a couple of times for the Monday special: kangaroo steak (Roo) with mashed potatoes and broccoli. I had to go back there and have it one more time. When I told them I wanted to have the Roo, I got a “Sorry mate, no 'Roo' today, we ran out” as reply …
Buffed as I was I could only stumble in my speech: “b-but that’s the only reason I came here for” and I told them my little story. The chef went back to the storage room and returned grinning with their last box of kangaroo and I had a really yummy dinner…

The weather was not like it was supposed to be for summer in Melbourne at all: it basically didn’t stop raining for more than 2 hours in a row… I flew to Melbourne to catch up with places I have been to, to see how the face of the town has changed, watch some tennis and do a little bit of shopping (in the end that part of my list was a “bit” more intense than anticipated)
I was there to see some tennis as well.

I got a ground pass ticket on Saturday which allows you to see all matched at the outside courts and in vodaphone arena (only Rod Laver Stadium= Court 1, is excluded). After having had a great party the day before (midsumma opening, went to bed past 4 a.m.) I dragged my lazy bum out of bed by 9:30 in order to be at the tennis ground on time.

First matches start usually at 11 a.m. and I wanted to see the German duel: Thommy Haas vs. Florian Mayer. As I mentioned above the weather wasn’t very nice and I just got in the tennis park (around 10:40a.m.) when it started to rain (again). I tried to make my way through down to the vodaphone arena and get a seat under the roofed shelter. Approx. 50 people were queuing in front of me when they announced that the arena was full and the only way-in is when other people leave. That doesn’t sound too bad, but no-one left!- people exiting the arena got return tickets and only when they didn’t want to have it another one could get in. What happened was many people were outside smoking, getting lunch, … and having return tickets. Inside it wasn’t really full at all but we had to wait and wait and wait…
After 3 hours we were told, the outside matches are about to begin: quick quick- Margaret Court: the German duel. I got to know another German (another Johannes) and a Greg - a South African - while queuing and we rushed to see that match. We got really good seats in the seventh row. People were cheering, clapping; the players finally entered the court, when it started to drip again. Head over heals with a lot of booing from the audience the players left again…We returned to Vodaphone arena, hoping the situation has changed with more people trying to see any of the outdoor matches. But NO!!… We could squeeze in to our old position in line, cause we haven’t left for more that 30 minutes and that was according to the (strange) queuing policy… But the match in there (Grosjean vs. Nalbandjan)was tight: the 4th set wasn’t finished yet. Nalbandjan evened out and they had to play a 5th …

By 3:30 p.m. I hit the critical point- Annoyed, mad, aggressive and tired I left. Ticket sellers would exchange your tickets for any other day. And I was about to do so and get another ticket for Sunday. Checking the forecast though, I got to know rain was about to continue. I went to the ticket sellers booth (bad karma points) and lied I was flying out tonight and exceptionally (as they made me understand by handing me the money in an envelope so no other in line could see it and whispering) I got a full refund.
A bit disappointed but still happy to leave I left and watched some DVDs later on...

Mount Field and Wildlife Sanctury

About 82 km northwest from Hobart is Mount Field National Park - if I am not totally mistaken the oldest one in Tassie. Famous for the wetspots and fern trees around Russel Falls (left (in summer less water)) and the giagantic hardwood trees (one of the Giants is to be seen in the third pic from the left, approx. 85 m high, and the pic on the far right shows one of the fallen ones... even some meter higher/ nowadays longer :-) ...)



And we stopped at SOMETHING WILD- a wildlife sanctuary for koalas, wallabies and kangaroos, golden possums, tasmanian devils (from the left to the right), wombats, owls and much much more ....

My beloved auntie Gisela passed away recently. I got the news today. I’m very confused, sad and shocked. She was making big plans for her upcoming birthday, when a mesenterial infarct ended her life on earth.

I haven’t seen her in a while just a random 3 min talk when we met by coincidence in the streets of Mannheim. I wanted to meet up with her before I left to Australia, but we couldn’t find a date for a meeting.

That makes that whole feeling worse.

It is not only me to blame. I was working and busy with my preparations. My auntie was a little travelling fool and often not home. She went to the states for 3 weeks just in May and at least twice a month on a little day trip with a travel agency specialized on trips for pensioners. We called each other and chatted on the phone in December and agreed on meeting when I’ m back. This will not happen anymore…

I’m very sad about the loss and the missed chance.

“Memory becomes your partner. You nurture it. You hold it. You dance with.”
M. Albon

Mt Wellington

I have mentioned Mt Wellington in previous post.


Last Wednesday Andrew took us up there. We left to see the sunset and where not disappointed by a fabulous play of colors in the sky.
It was really cold up there - 1270 above Hobart and its streched suburbs.
We all had several layers....


We waited until we saw all the streets, bridges and house illuminated - spectacular views...





Sheepy almost didnt come back from that adventure. It was very windy and suddenly the wind hard while I was trying to arrange a new pic and he was almost blown away...

Summer festival

January is summer festival time in Hobart.

Besides music and events for the kids, it is maily about food: The Taste of Tasmania.

7 days, about 70 stalls this year and more than 250,000 people keen on tasting different wines from represented Tasmanian vineyards, and a variety of food from Hyon Valley mushroom dishes, goat dishes from Ghana, local popular Annapurna Indian cusine, Swiss röstis (my Swiss friends: have a look at the right ending of the picture ;-) ...) up to sweet berry dishes and crêpes.

2007 here we come

Yippieh, another year of joy, fun, work, progress, fears, tears, laughter and much more.

I had quite a silent NYE.
I mean in the end not really, but I still wasnt feeling like 100%. We had a little bit of alcohol and I really stopped myself still using antibiotics :-)



We danced a bit at CURLEYS a nightclub in down-town Hobart where INFUSION were playing. Kinda underground electro- techna-singsang act. It was ookay but not my kind of music. For the final countdown of 2006 I left the club going to the waterfront and watching the fireworks. A bit strange to me since in Germany everybody is allowed to n(well age-restrictions apply) buy fireworks and so there is a big firework machinery all of the place.
Here, it is not possible to buy fireworks as a private person. So in the end you have to hope the city organises a good one- 'cause that's it.

After that I went back to club. A bit more dancing- hey, I paid for the tickets :-). Left around 2 and went to bed.................