Day six - Darwin

Day six – Darwin

We’ve been with the Aboriginal family for three days, and I’ve become close friends with Akama, which is an Aborigines name meaning “A Whale”. He showed me around in Darwin and even let me come and meet his friends. We had a lot of fun and they even showed me a traditional Aboriginal game called Brambahl. They told me that they don’t really know that many Aboriginal games except for Brambahl, and that they usually play games such as tag. Brambahl is a game that resembles our more modern game skip rope. When playing Brambahl, there must be two people holding the ends of a rope and spinning it. Then the third person must skip the rope, while doing different activities. It was quite hard at first since I never actually skip rope, but it got easier as soon as I got the hang of it.

I asked Akama how the school system worked in Australia, and if they had to wear school uniforms. He told me that they did have to wear school uniforms in school, and that they look absolutely hideous! He also told me that you start primary school at the age of 5, before starting secondary school at the age of 12. You will then go to secondary school until you’re 17, before moving on to upper secondary school for two years.

I’m so glad we don’t have school uniforms in Sweden, because you should be allowed to wear what you want. Although, school uniforms could prevent bullying so it’s not all bad. The Australian education system differentiates a lot from the Swedish education system, where you only have elementary school before moving on to high school or college. 

I also asked Akama what his views are about Australia, and Darwin. I instantly noticed that he was a bit saddened about the subject, and after taking a deep breath he told me that he, as well as his family, are very unpleased with the white people coming to Australia and taking over their land. Akama and his family believe that the land belongs to the Aborigines people because they were here way before the white people came.

Akama and his family do actually celebrate Christmas because they, just like many other Aboriginals, have adapted to the white peoples traditions. According to the real Aboriginal belief on the other hand, Aborigines do not actually celebrate Christmas. We barbequed in their backyard instead of making the Christmas dinner that I’m used to eating back home in Sweden. I even helped Akama and his family setup a Christmas tree, and decorate the house with fancy lights. It was quite weird to celebrate Christmas with the air conditioner running in the background, but I guess that’s the way they do it in Australia!

We had already bought gifts for Akama and his family back in Alice Springs, and they were quite happy with what they received. And they had bought gifts for us as well, great gifts actually! I received a DVD Player and a book about the Australian wildlife, which I was completely satisfied with. I bought Akama a great movie, and he seemed really happy about it! If I had given that same movie to my brother, I doubt he would have been as grateful. Australians seem to have more respect and gratitude towards each other, which is something that is needed in every society.

I’m really sad over leaving Akama, as we’ve gotten to know each other very well during the last three days. We’re going to end our stay with the Aboriginals with a long walk throughout Darwin. This way we’ll even get to see the smaller details of the city, which isn’t possible with a car or a bike.

Day three - Alice Springs

Day Three – Alice Springs

Afternoon! We’re off to Ayers Rock, or Uluru as it’s also own, in just a few minutes. We’re in a hotel in Alice Springs at the moment, and both of my parents, as well as my brother, are taking a nap. We saw a kangaroo on the way to Alice Springs, and it was huge! But that didn’t make it any less cute; it was completely adorable. It was standing still on a green meadow, with a baby kangaroo in its pouch. I’m hoping to see more of them on our way to Ayers Rock, as well as animals such as the wombat.

I found a computer at the hotel, so I took the liberty to find out some more information about Ayers Rock, since I couldn’t sleep. I found out that it was created over 600 million years ago, and that the Aborigines have been in the area for the last 10 000 years, if not even longer. The name, Ayers Rock, was given after Henry Ayers by William Gosse in 1873, although it is more known by its Aboriginal name Uluru. Ayers Rock is, surprisingly, not the biggest monolith in the world, even though it’s 3,6kms long and 1,9kms wide. It is Mount Augustus in the territory Western Australia that holds that title.

We’re planning to come back to Alice Springs just in time to take the private tourism train, The Ghan, up to Darwin. It was the man we met back at the Snowy Mountains that told us about it, he even told us that the train transports hired cars and bikes. It is supposed to be a tourism train from Adelaide to Darwin, but apparently it stops at Alice Springs as well. It isn’t quite like we planned, but it’s quite okay since we’ll be able to rest in the train and at the same time save up time so we can stay with the Aborigines longer.  

 

It is rumoured that you can look up and see the stars at night in Alice Springs, because it is a city located in the biggest area in the world without lights. Hopefully I’ll be able to see them when I look up from the train, as we’ll still be quite close to Alice Springs when the night falls.  

It is also rumoured that Darwin, which is the Northern Territory’s capital, is the only capital in Australia where you can cross the main street blindfolded at any time. I love remote cities so I can’t wait until we arrive at Darwin, from what I’ve seen so far Alice Springs isn’t as remote as I thought. It’s quite overpopulated really compared to a small city like Tumba, which is about one quarter of Alice Spring’s size.

The inhabitants of Darwin are known for drinking a lot of beer, which is quite acceptable since it does get quite hot in the outback. They are on the other hand also more open-minded and are known to speak what’s on their mind. Since Darwin is such a small town, big parts of it can be discovered without having to drive a bike or car. Which is why we’ll probably take long walks throughout the city, with the Aborigines of course. It might actually even be one of the easiest cities in the world to get around in!

Day two - Snowy Mountains

This video is filmed in a cabin at Snowy Mountains, Australia!

Day one - Canberra

Day one – Canberra

We’ve been in Canberra for several hours now, and it’s exactly like I imagined it would be! We wanted to see some of the reptiles that Australia is known for, as a start of our journey. We had seen a big poster for the Australian Reptile Centre at the airport, so we decided to spend the day there. We saw a lot of animals that we had never seen before, not even on the telly!

One of the animals that really caught my interest was a short and strong marsupial. Many of the animals in Australia are marsupials, which are animals that carry their children in their pouches. The sign outside gave us some brief information about this animal. We learned that the marsupial is nicknamed the “Bulldozers of the Bush” due to the fact that it can move most things in their way, such as fences. There are three species of this animal, which are all only found in Australia. There’s the common wombat, the northern hairy nosed wombat and the southern hairy nosed wombat, of which all are different from each other. The common wombat is usually seen early in the morning or late in the afternoon during the cooler times. Being an animal that is adapted to eating plant materials, they mainly feed on grass but can also be found eating roots and moss.

After reading about the Wombats, we continued further in and stumbled upon an animal that I’ve always wanted to see, a koala bear! I did some research about the koala bears back home, just in case I’d come a cross one. The koala bears are marsupials as well, which means that they carry their young in a pouch, just like the wombats! They are a part of the family Phascolarctidae, which is a family that has almost died out. The koala bear is in fact the only member in the Phascolarctidae family that hasn’t died out yet. The koala bear isn’t actually related to bears at all, they’re just called koala bears because they’re as cute as teddy bears! 

 

We left the centre quite early because we were all quite hungry, due to the terrible food that was given on the plane. We went to a restaurant close to our hotel, and I decided to order a plate of grilled wallaby with fried potatoes. The food presentation was great, but it didn’t taste as good as it looked even though it’s considered an Australian delicacy. I was quite disappointed by this really, as I was recommended by loads of people to try out the wallaby. I’m looking forward for tomorrow an awful a lot, as we’ll spend the whole day in the Snowy Mountains skiing. I’m especially excited to see the cabins there, since they look very cosy in the brochure.

I’ve noticed that the steering wheel in the cars in Australia is always on the right side of the car, which is a big difference from the cars in Sweden. I believe this is because the first settlers that came to Australia were the British people, apart from the Aboriginals of course. And as we know, the British people always have their steering wheels on the right side of the car as well. It’s not that big of a deal, but it’s something that I noticed right away!

 

Introduction

Introduction

G’day! If you’re here to read a blog about my amazing trip to Australia, I can promise you that you’re in for a surprise! I’m off for my trip in Australia in just a few hours, and I can’t wait! I can almost smell the Australian atmosphere! We’ve got it all sorted out! We’re going to land in Canberra, which is Australia’s capital. There’s actually a funny story of how Canberra came to be Australia’s capital! Both Melbourne and Sydney wanted to be the capital, but they made a city called Canberra right in the middle of the two cities since they couldn’t sort it out.

Anyhow, if it all goes like planned we’ll land in Canberra at around 1 PM, and have a car waiting for us. It’s amazing how much you can do now days, just by the click of a mouse!

The flight will take around 22 hours, and we’ll spend the day in Canberra with some sightseeing, before taking in at a local hotel. After a great night of sleep we’ll be off for Snowy Mountains, just west of Canberra. We’ll leave in the morning, so we have the whole day in Snowy Mountains just for skiing. Then we’ll rent one of the typical wooden cabins that can be found there, I’ve heard they’re really cosy!

After spending a night in the cabin, we’ll leave early in the morning for an astonishing car drive to Alice Springs, and the outback. My mom and dad will take turns with driving, so they don’t fall asleep at the wheel. We were planning to take in at a hotel on the way, but then we weren’t sure whether we were going to come across one on the way or not.

We’ll arrive at Alice Springs in the morning, although we might just take a nap at a hotel considering we’ll probably be tired from the long car ride. We’ll head for Ayers Rock, also known as Uluru, in the middle of the outback after some rest. We’re hoping to see some of the rare animals in the outback on our way to Uluru. There are so many animals in Australia that can’t be found anywhere else in the world, such as the kangaroo and koala bear!

After a day in the outback we’ll head back to the hotel and stay for the night. The last part of our journey will be in Darwin, where we’ll meet a couple of aboriginals that we’ve been in touch with. We’ll get to know their traditions, and since it’s Christmas we’ll even get to know whether they celebrate their Christmas or not. I’ve been dying to know! We’ll stay with the aboriginals for a couple of days, while preparing for the long and adventurous car ride back to Canberra. 

Since we’ll drive past Alice Springs on our way back, we’ll probably sleep over in the hotel for the night yet again. And if there’s not too much traffic, we’ll make it to Canberra just in time for the New Year celebration! I’m excited to get to know a bit more about their traditions, and how they celebrate their Christmas and New Year, and how it differentiates from the way we celebrate it!