Hannah weltweit Step 4

See you in Sweden!

hannahweltweit — Thu, 19 May 2011 14:49:08 +0000

I’m back in my chosen home country. The idea of posting every day from Australia didn’t last very long. Needless to say that I had a fantastic time down under. Now it’s time to get back to business in Lund, working for the municipality, and the Jamboree work. Only 69 days left today until the world is gathering in Rinkaby.So I’m here now, the rest of the world is here soon and as always – see you in Sweden.

Heading West! Canberra to Renmark

hannahweltweit — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 04:54:38 +0000

Today we started our journey heading west. Final destination: Perth. Estimated time of arrival: in three days. Kilometres? 3742. So nothing really. I mean, the same distance driven from Helsingborg destination south would get you to somewhere in Lybia.. We had a lazy morning start and left Canberra at 10am. Already after an hour Mick thought is what time for me to face my biggest fear with this journey – the steering wheel and driving on the wrong/correct/pick one side of the road, in any case not the right one. I was so nervous and hadn’t been this nervous in god knows how long. But after the first kilometres my legs stopped shaking and my palms were back to normal moist and not as sweaty and after the first two hours I was happy enough to drive straight forward on a highway. Driving in towns with traffic shall be the next lesson. We drove through the ACT (Australian Capital Territory) to New South Wales, back into Victoria where we had to find a few detours due to the recent floodings. We saw a lot of water and continuous changes in scenery which I found really exciting. Towards the end of the day we were close to South Australia and decided that we definitely wanted to get there for the night, at least just across the border. Because that meant we had driven through one territory and three states in a day. We made it to Renmark and across where we now shall fall asleep, tired as few in a lovely motel, that I booked muahaha. Very happy with the accomplishments of the day and the journey so far. This is gonna be awesome! Tomorrow we’ll head towards the desert. Good night /H

(December 21, 2010)

A day of rest and reunion in the Australian Capital

hannahweltweit — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 01:56:27 +0000

Good morning Canberra! What a busy day we had! Meeting up with all the people from Kenya, which was just amazing, and simply showing me around the city. We also took a detour to Tidbinbilla to finally have a look at some kangaroos (they had been successfully hiding until today, or lying around dead on the streets..) and a koala!!!! Jess warned me that they’d be scary and all that but looking at it it was just sooo cute. Will continue to refuse to believe that they are scary. However, the long claws make me a bit weary. If I ever should get the chance to cuddle one of them I truly hope that they know that I am not a tree. Got introduced to Milo. It’s apparently very Australian and tastes kind of like Nesquik or O’Boy, but less sweet. Tasty! And yeah, other than that it’s been just a very lovely day getting ready for the big day tomorrow -starting the journey over to Perth! Puss /H (Canberra, December 20th, 2010)

From Lakes Entrance to Merimbula and beyond

hannahweltweit — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 05:33:55 +0000

After a relaxed evening in Lakes Entrance we woke the next morning and were hoping for some sunshine. It looked quite good whilst we were having breakfast but as soon as we left the hotel we were surrounded by big grey clouds – another rainy day. We still went to the beach to check it out and crazy Em and Bengt even went for a quick dip in the water, just because. Marie and I gladly refused. We all decided to drive on though as the weather did not seem to get any better. Another day in the road through Australian eucalyp forest began. And it rained and rained.. We decided to have lunch in Mallacoota and were lucky – the weather had at last decided to stop punishing us with raindrops. Em and I made friends with the local pelicans and in true Finding Nemo manner we called them all Nigel. After lunch we headed on, hoping to escape the rain clouds once we would reach Merimbula. On our way there my phone decided to connect with the outside world again as well and a text message was waiting for me… Mick got a bit restless and didn’t want to wait until the day after to get me (original plan was to meet up and hand me over in Bega) so he set off during the afternoon to see us already in Merimbula! We went out for dinner that night, lovely little town that was Merimbula, but I could hardly eat, I was so excited. After 4,5 months.. He joined us just in time for dinner and we had a lovely evening. After dinner we went to get my bags – the family would continue towards Sydney and we would head off with final destination Perth.. Time to say goodbye! It was a bit weird to not know when we’d see each other again (at least Marie and Bengt, Em and I would see each other in Melbourne again in a couple of weeks time) but a short while later Mick and I were on our way to Canberra where we arrived late that night between the 19th and the 20th of December.

(Somewhere between Merimbula and Canberra, 19th December 2010, late at night)

Get that roadtrip started – Melbourne to Lakes Entrance

hannahweltweit — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 05:47:15 +0000

On the road! Early in the morning, in the drizzling rain of Melbourne, the Eklund family and their hustysk left the city for Australian adventures. First stop – Wilsons Promontory. This national park was badly struck be the fires in 2009 but it was amazing to see how nature is recovering. We went for a 5 kilometer hike – constantly hoping there would be a koala to spot – but no luck. We saw some emus but that was about it. Oh and some roadkill kangaroos. The first kangaroo – a dead one – was quite surreal somehow but it made me realise that I actually landed down under. Melbourne is amazing but it is a big city like most big cities. Heading out in the coutryside made me realise that I finally ahd arrived down under. The weather was ok, a bit of rain in the morning but the sun came out whilst we were hiking and we got some amazing views over the ocean. Our next stop was in Sale to get some food for dinner and later on we arrived in Lakes Entrance. The apartment we’ll be staying in for the night has two bedrooms and there is a pool inhouse as well! Em and I will probably head there straight away before it’s dinnertime. Promised the parents to play some cards as well, guess who is so going to loose . Summary of the first day: weather mixed, only dead animals to talk of, no beach. But still a lovely day with lovely company. Tomorrow we’ll head for the beach and then on to Merimbula. Puss och kram /H

(Lakes Entrance, 18 December 2010)

Melbourne Day 4 – Balaclava and Botanic Gardens

hannahweltweit — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 04:54:14 +0000

Good evening everyobody, or well, good morning Europe .

Its the big night befire the big roadtrip. So excited. Dropped off some of my stuff at Emma’s just before. We had dinner there with a friend of hers and the parents and it was a really lovely night. We spent the morning in Balaclava with a bit of shopping, just Marie, Em, and me. Met up with Bengt in the Botanic Gardens which was great. We just had a glimpse the other day but it was truly lovely! I liked the Eucalypt walk with all different sorts of Eucalypt tree. I had no clue that there were so many different ones. And the scent is just fantastic. We got on the tram just before it started raining. I really hope it isn’t going to rain so much, that would be such a shame. But roadtrip it is tomorrow. We’ll start off in melbourne around 8 and head towards Lakes Entrance via the Wilsons Promontory, which is a National Park southeast of Melbourne. Hope all is well back home and christmas preparations are going well, too? Can’t believe it will be Christmas Eve in a week..

Lots of Love! /H (17^th December 2010)

City of beaches

hannahweltweit — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 06:33:36 +0000

Beach beach beach. You simply have to live on the coast. We can argue which coast but a city needs a beach. And to make sure that Melbourne’s beaches are worthwhile and to have a look at those Australian waves that I had heard so much about, we chose to spend the morning in South Melbourne. That was a good choice actually, though the waves weren’t much different to the ones we get in Mossby to be honest. There got to be better ones out there. But the Southern part of Melbourne is just lovely, not just the sand but the houses! All Victorian and pretty and absolutely adorable. We had a good walk around and a lunch in the sun before making our way back into the city center and the Victorian National Gallery with a lovely exhibition both in modern and Chinese art. Had ice cream at Trampoline (thanks Nico!!) and met up with Em to have dinner at her old workplace. That was so nice! We had an amazing family dinner with lots of laughter and good times and it was just great. Now I’m feeling slightly tipsy but very happy to be here. So far this trip is better than I ever could have imagined. I’m by the way still staying with Marie and Bengt in their holiday apartment. Tomorrow we’ll spend in Melbourne again and than it’s roadtrip time! Keep smiling back home and check out the pictures I uploaded on facebook Lots of Love from down under /H

(Melbourne, 16^th December 2010)

Melbourne – first day and graduation

hannahweltweit — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 07:16:11 +0000

My poor feet! Have been doing a lot of walking yesterday. Melbourne is really a lovely city. And you sure need to live in a city with a skyline. Very important. And if that skyline includes beaches I will be perfectly happy and satisfied. Got in touch with that Australian sun as well. Burned my shoulders and nose just by spending like an hour in the sun in the park. Sun block really is a must. As well as sunglasses (or sunnies as the Aussies say). Cant see a thing without them in the bright sunlight. Had lovely Thai dinner with Em, reunion was perfect. Had missed her sooo much. And for Heli and Emelie – the best Pad Thai is to be eaten here!!! Couldn’t believe it so good was it. Yum yum yum. So girls, come down here asap! Today we spent the day with Em as it is her graduation. The ceremony itself was in a huuuge stadium and they all wore their Harry Potter capes and the hats. Very cute. Weather wasn’t too nice though, a bit cold and drizzly. That wasn’t what we had signed up for when we booked our tickets for the Australian summer really. But hey – not much to do about it, is there. The drought was on in Melbourne for over 10 years so they are quite happy about the rain. Tomorrow we’ll be spending more time in the city whilst Emma is at work. And then its one more day before the roadtrip starts. So excited! That’s for now, more tomorrow. Lots of love from Melbourne! /H

Australia and how to get there

hannahweltweit — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 23:17:51 +0000

The journey started in a snowy Scanian landscape (felt like -10) with the ICE to Hamburg and an amazing concert in the O2 Arena with my sis. Fettes Brot just rocked the house, it was great!

Paid a visit to Cologne and the family and on the Sunday off to Frankfurt (+3 degrees) and the first leg of the journey to Dubai. Dubai was busy as ever, and the cheesy christmas music really got me taken aback. Had to recover with aweome juice (watermelon, pineapple, mint, lemon) before boarding the flight to Melbourne via Singapore. Couldnt really sleep on that flight and watched what felt like 500 episodes of Friends and Big Bang Theory. Singapore was humid and booooring. Sitting around for 45 minutes just to reboard the plane. But it made me tired enough to wake up just about when we had an hour to go before landing in Melbourne! Beautiful sunny morning in Australia! Adrenalin, endorphines and wat not pumping – I was so happy to finally arrive here! Customs no problem, though they were filmig for Boarder Control and I kind of regretted not to have taken anythin funny with me to become a famous tv person or something Now I’m back at the hostel where Marie and Bengt are staying, getting changed and having a shower before we’re ready to explore the city. Get the adventure started, I’m so excited!!!

(Hannah in Melbourne, Dec 14, 2010)

Step 4 – Oz Adventures

hannahweltweit — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 04:42:24 +0000

OK. I am perfectly aware that this blog entry has been taking me far too long to write, It’s been ages since you’ve heard from me and I’m really really sorry. I’ll blame it on the lack of internet access and the amazing times that I’ve had so far. My plan is now to give you a quick idea of what life is like at the moment and then post a blog entry for each day of the roadtrip. That way you can follow all the adventures sort of live and on the go. Sound good? It’s a sort of “how did I end up here” kind of story.

So, right now: I’m back in Melbourne, staying at Ems house still but looking for a room in the city. I got a job in a travel agency and it’s an awful lot of fun! Im responsible for the marketing and the sales as well so I’m making people happy by selling them trips and journeys all across this beautiful country. Melbourne is a place you simply must love, there’s now way around it. I dare say that in a couple of weeks I might love it more than NYC but I’m not quite there yet

Em and I are having a great time anyway and yes, me and the man are still having a great time, too So, that’s for now and tomorrow I’ll start telling you how I made it here! In any case, lots of love from Oz to all you fantastic people back home. Be assured I miss you lots and will see you soon!!!