the first days

The journey towards Australia was pretty boring. 11 hours flight from Schiphol to Singapore in a B777-200 (a lot of legroom) followed by a 16 hours stop over in Singapore. I've hooked up with Adriaan, a Dutch guy heading for Christchurch (NZ) who had a 14h stop over. We ended up booking a room in the Transit Hotel, where we slept 5 hours before we got into the city. 26nd of October is a public holiday in Singapore, so a lot of people on the streets! At 21:00 my flight to Melbourne left Singapore. This time it was the biggest plane in the world, the A380, but I do not recommend it if you're tall. You will not have much legroom on that plane ! Result: a red eye flight without sleep... and that's absolutely not recommended. So here we are ... in Melbourne. About 2 days without decent sleep. It hurts ! I arrived at the hostel on Saturday morning around 11:00 o'clock. Paul, the manager, immediately gave me some very good tips about getting a job here in Australia. Seems I have to apply for an ABN (Australian Business Number), so I can work as a self-employed contractor in IT. According to other guests I shouldn't have a problem finding me an IT job. And they also told me IT jobs are pretty good paid... The majority of guests in the Collingwood Backpackers are so called long-term guests. They all staying here for a longer period while working. I really hope to become one of them too :) The hostel is not really that big. About 40 guests, and they're pretty close. The day I arrived there was a party celebrating a birthday and the leaving of 2 guests. I did not party along... I really couldn't, I just needed my sleep. So I went to bed early at 23:00. After 10 hours of sleep I'm becoming human again, but we're not there yet. Tomorrow all will be okay, I guess.  Monday will also be the day to fix my administrative situation. I need to get me an Australian mobile phone number, opening a bank account, apply for the necessary Tax File Number and the ABN. I'm really curious how this will evolve... Stay tuned for more news soon !

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So long and thanks for all the fish

So long and thanks for all the fish ! A known quote for those who read. Those who don't, google it ! :-) Actually, there isn't much to say so far. But I had to write something for those who did not remember the address to this blog. Tomorrow at 06:58 I'll take the train to Schiphol. Take off is planned at 11:15, Singapore stop-over from 07:00 till 21:00; finished by the red eye flight to Melbourne, scheduled to arrive at 08:00 on Saturday, October 27th. At this time no return date has been pinned. Probably I'll be back the first half of 2014.

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Preparing

Yesterday was my last day at the project I was working on... So once more I had to say goodbye to the people I was working with. That really can be a problem when working as a consultant. You just move from work place to work place, getting to know people, start appreciating them and then you have to leave again. But hey, I'm heading towards the adventure. That's just one of the few disadvantages I have to bear. It really is getting close now. One more week and I'm off. No way back. Well that's what I want to think, but off course I do know I can always return back home when I want to. In these days it just isn't what it used to be. Just try to image the people doing this about 25 years ago. No cell phones, no internet, no dslr's, no mp3 players, laptops, tablets, smart phones, nothing of this modern stuff. You had to write a letter, put in an envelope with a stamp and about 2 weeks later it was delivered. A century ago it took you twice that much time to reach Australia... [caption id="" align="alignright" width="250"] My stuff[/caption] At this time I'm preparing everything. Probably I'm forgetting things, but that's not too bad. I can always look for it when necessary. I just hope I don't take too much luggage or not very useful things with me. It's always a pity to leave things behind or send them back. Some items are travelling with me since my very first trip in 2003 like my Swiss pocket knife and A Short History of Nearly Everything (by Bill Bryson. Read it, it really is awesome !). Others were added during the various trips (solar charging set, 10" laptop, ext hdd). And of course you've got the basic stuff every traveller is carrying: a camera, mp3 player, sleeping bag, petzl, travel diary and of course your towel * ! I'm allowed to take 20kg luggage with me. Normally it should be possible to keep the weight under 17kg, but 15kg would be better.  In the photo you see what I'm taking with me. There are just some clothes to be added to complete it.

posted via: http://www.dew4chter.be/blog