Hi folks
This is what has happened since Kuala Lumpur:
Bene went to Norway for a week, which is on the way to Singapore, so no
big deal! We met us at Christmas in Singapore and had a very different
celebration from the traditional ones. In the shops one could find snow
made of soap. In the evening everyone was out on the streets celebrating.
Seconds before midnight everyone counted backwards and toasted, like on
New Years Eve. Even early in the morning the streets were full of people,
which we only know from hear say…
Before the new year, we flew to the land of kangaroos. We celebrated the
new millenium in Sydney with about two million others. The fireworks were
spectacular and we decided to make an exception and go to bed after 10 pm
for once. We also decided to have one beer more than our thirst allowed.
After all, you only experience a new millenium once in a lifetime. When we
were sober again, we rented a camper for two months. It consisted of a
bedroom, a living room and a kitchen. We are living in a moving apartment
so to speak! But you would never guess how many crazy drivers there are in
Australia; we tried to convince them that they are driving on the wrong
side of the road, but they wouldn’t hear of it. We gave in and have now
become just as dangerous. We drove through Hunter Valley, Port Maguarie,
Byron Bay (where Bene became blond) Brisbane, Surfer’s Paradise, Nimbin,
Harvey Bay, Fraser Island (a highlight of our trip so far), Rockhampton,
Airlie Beach, Townville and Cairns. This is where we are stationed now and
sweat day and night. At the moment it is so hot that we would be ready to
give up some of our heat for your cold weather.
Since snow is only available in fluid form, we decided to try out
water-skiing. After a few mishaps we soon looked half ways professional.
Talking about water sports: in Airlie Beach we went diving. After a try
out in a pool, we were out in the Great Barrier Reef for three days.
Diving is superb; we saw 1.25 sharks per dive. Luckily they don’t enjoy
Swiss meat too much- it must be because of all the cheese and chocolate.
Bad day:
WE drove in the direction of Rockhampton in order to get our mileage
indicator fixed. 45 minutes before we reached our destination, the camper
started to stutter and stood still. The mobile did not move despite all
the tenderness and loving care! After about an hour we did get Paul,
that’s our campers name, to roll along again. We tried to call up the
car dealer in Rockhampton but still couldn’t find Bene’s cell phone
after half an hour’s search. So we drove back to our last stop, the
place where Paul had died on and what do you know? There was the cell
phone, peacefully lying in the grass and enjoying the sunshine. But back
in Rockhampton, we discovered that the car dealer had closed 10 minutes
ago. We stayed on camping grounds for the night and put our energy into
personal hygiene. But as soon as Reto had closed the door behind him, he
began to swear. Bene knew what this was all about right away- the car key
had been left in the now locked car. So we stood there infront of Paul in
our shorts with a toothbrush and towel in our hands. At the reception they
were able to help us out with some useful tools, which made quite a
doubtful impression on us. During the procedure of opening the door we got
bitten by more many mosquitoes than the three days on Fraser Island. We
finally got the door open and all that was left for us to do that day was
have a beer…
Warm greetings and don’t forget to wear your gloves and hats!
Bene and Reto
P.D. Reto hat troubles to sell the concrete-mixer
