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Friday 30 December 2016

Visiting Friends

Dear Everybody,
I know I did not write such an interesting blog last time, but I hope this one will be more entertaining.
Yesterday we went to friends that we saw last time we went to Australia. Their house is beautiful and they have two dogs and lots of beautiful fish. The highlight of the day was feeding the wild kookaburra family that that sat on the balcony railing and screeched for food. They also had a pool we are allowed to swim in this time.
Adrian had made some little snacks such as sausage rolls that were AMAZING !!!!! 
Next we went to get changed for the pool in the bathroom… with two lovely spiders.


Amelie was screaming her head of and in the end one of the spiders was dead but the other one…shiver.
The pool was so cool but of course something had to go wrong…it was my swim suit.
I forgot it! 
The food was so good and still after 24 hours I was still not hungry. For the staters we had gnocchi and then we had lovely meat and the dessert. I had two portions. 
The two dogs Molly and Maxi were mistreated, Adrian and Inge took them in. Maxi and I had great time playing.



This is Inge and Adrian with one of Inge´s paintings.

XOXO Marlene  

Sunday 25 December 2016

The BOLD and BEAUTIFUL - we did the 1,5 km

As an Austrian, living in Germany for the last 7 years was not easy. 

All these jokes about people from the mountains with no access to a sea - even got called Schluchtenscheisser once by the ex- major of Estebrügge (OK - it was after a couple of Kümmel enriched by smoked eels - but still hurt). 

Also having lost our last marine battle ships (plus port) to the Italians sometimes in the last century and now trying to secure the Danube with a couple of 1920s Cannonships did not help to build up a solid marine reputation. 

So it is of great pleasure that I now can prove now to all of the Germans - THAT AUSTRIANS CAN SWIM. 

Every day at 06:00 and 07:00 in the morning a group of people - calling themselves the Bold and Beautiful - gather on the shore of Manly Beach and go for a 1,5 km Ocean Swim to Shelly Beach (and back).
Not an easy task, considering that you have to break the vicious surf of Manly Beach first, circumnavigate The Point with rocks and breaking waves and survive several Blue bottle attacks out in the dark black sea. (see previous Blog Entry) 



Having said that, Jules and I have been practicing since summer this year "with great mental support of my neighbours - Judith and Andreas in Frankfurt" to manage this challenge once we would be here in Australia. On the 24th in the morning we did it the first time followed by a another one with proper outfit this morning. 




After our magnificent swim performance I was even asked to model with the latest Budgy Smuggler Design's on the beach and guys - there is no photoshop involved in the next picture.



Ron



Friday 23 December 2016

Marlenes Mini Blog Entry

Dear everybody 
Yesterday, my family and I had a great day at Shelly Beach with another family from New Zealand. First we had some sandwiches and went for a little swim. We had some amazing milkshakes and made a water choreography that ended up being more funny than graceful. After that fun time we went to a Chinese restaurant were we met some very nice friends from my grandparents and ate some REALLY good food. 
Today I am hoping to have some fun with our neighbours and their dogs AND THEIR AMAZING AWESOME COOL POOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    XOXO Marlene   

Thursday 22 December 2016

ATTACKED!!!

"Australia is a dangerous country and has the most poisonous creatures on this planet"

Something we hear all the time from magazines, newspapers, TV shows (even the crocodile hunter did not survive the ozzy wildlife) and of course the Australians themselves.

Having been in Australia now for the 6th time, I started to get a bit bored, as all my experiences of "the country with the most poisonous animals" were limited to a half dead lazy black snake on a road, when driving around in Queensland, and a (full) dead Stingray on the northern beaches this April.

But once you become complacent - mother nature strikes back.

In our case - Jules and I have just survived a "BLUE BOTTLE" ATTACK this morning.

First, a couple of facts about the "BLUE BOTTLE".

Lying on the beach, they look like any other jellyfish - "blue coloured jelly"



..... but when floating in the sea the meters long tentacles with hooks and poison are a "another" strange protection mechanism created by mother (ozzy) nature. When you look at this thing you wonder why on earth does it need a protection mechanism - nobody would touch this ugly thing anyway.





A couple of days ago, we were already told, that blue bottles are out in the surf, which got my kids very excited and Ami was particularly proud of finding 42 dead ones on the beach.

This morning though, Jules and I went for another ocean swim and while we saw a couple of dead ones on the beach, we were not too concerned, as there were no particular warning signs.
LEARNING No. 1: Trust your instincts and not only the lifeguards.

We made a good start into the surf and just past the rocks at South Steyne, when Jules got the first  little sting on her hand. As this was not too painful, we continued and headed towards Shelly Beach.
LEARNING No. 2: If you get warned twice, and you still ignore it, you really run into troubles.

.... because then came the came the really scary bit.

Heard a cry - looked up - saw Jules face covered with one of these blue animals including some tentacles over her body. Looked like in a horror movie!  Tried to rescue her with my basic first aid knowledge - almost strangled her - and was told to "bugger off".

LEARNING No3: Basic "Seepferdchen" knowledge is not enough, to rescue someone troubled in the ocean!

Anyway, managed to scare the blue bottle away and rescued Jules, not without some pretty painful reddish mark on her body and face.





Marks are still visible!

Summary of all the LEARNINGs today: AUSTRALIA is a dangerous place after all.

Your Ron






Sunday 18 December 2016

Das ist Chippy

Mein Opa hat einen neuen Vogel bekommen. Der Vogel heißt Chippy.


Er ist blau und ist noch sehr klein und verspielt. Meine Schwester und Oma haben übers Wochenende drei Spielsachen gekauft, damit ihm nicht so langweilig ist und er viele Dinge zum Spielen hat.


Chippy liebt alle Dinge, in denen er sich sehen kann. Er glaubt dann, dass im Spiegel ein anderer Vogel ist, mit dem er dann auch spielen kann.


Damit er aus den Käfig herauskommen kann, braucht er einen Holzlöffel. Ihm wurden als Baby die Flügel gekürzt, und deshalb kann er nicht so gut fliegen.


Deine Amelie aus Australien

Saturday 17 December 2016

Coming "Home"

My first day back in Australia was only administrative. I renewed my driving licence. Which was relatively easy given it expired less than 6 years ago.....just! After June 2017, I would have had to re-done the written and practical parts. Phew. In fact I was even impressed with the friendly staff at the RTA office.

Then it was off to Medicare (medical insurance) to get cards for me and the girls. After a long wait they were issued and it was off to get a local SIM card for my phone. I was then ready for a quick afternoon swim at the beach to refresh.

We were then spoilt with a lovely meal at a local Seafood restaurant. My Dad and I shared a whole grilled barramundi and large plate of Moreton Bay Bugs.....delicious. We sat outside and enjoyed the whole alfresco experience. What a great start to our adventures here.

The morning "home schooling" has been relatively painful for us inexperienced adults. But we felt it
was important that they keep up some schooling (maths and German/English) whilst their counterparts are still attending school. Thus the blog is also a way for them to write actively for friends and family to follow our adventures.

Its not all work, there has been more than enough time to get down to the beach and refine boogie boarding skills. We also went for a tour of their new school (German International School) that they will attend February - June 2017, ate an enormous amount of Frozen Yogurt at a friends shop and extensive clothes shopping (a whole season of Aussie style clothes purchased) thanks to the Aussie Oma. So all in all a busy but fun start to living Down Under.

Ron and I are practising to join the "Bold and the Beautiful" Manly ocean swim - our aim is to be ready for December 24th.....

Thursday 15 December 2016

Wer einmal hinterm Stern gesessen .......

..... wird es niemals mehr vergessen.


David, mein Schwager, hat uns für unseren Aufenthalt hier in Australien eine Mercedes 320 organisiert. Erste photos wurden schon im voraus ausgetauscht - aber was man wirklich an einem Mercedes hat, weiss man erst, wenn man auch persönlich hinter dem Steuer gesessen hat.

Vorab aber die technischen Daten von "TANKU" (Panzer auf Albanisch)
Erstzulassung: 2006
Motor: 3 l Maschine
Innenausstattung: Schwarzes Leder
Gewicht: 1,7 to
KM Stand: 73.000 km
Vorbesitzer: Pensionisten Ehepaar
Beschleunigung von 0 auf 100km: Da 100km/h in Sydney nicht erlaubt sind, wurde dies noch nicht eruiert. Die Mutter aller Fragen: Messgrösse Sekunden oder Minuten???
 

Das erste mal nähert man sich diesem Auto mit Respekt - wenn nicht gar mit Ehrfurcht - da es das grösste Gefährt in Kangaroo Street ist und mehr als einen Parkplatz benötigt.
 


Einstieg gestaltet sich schwieriger als gedacht, da es um einiges tiefer gelegt ist. Im ersten Moment erschien es uns fast, als hätten wir eine Art Sportversion hier ergattert. Diese Annahme relativierte sich aber sehr schnell, da die Beschleunigung von TANKU aufgrund der Tonnage und der ein wenig schwerfälligen Automatik doch ernüchtert. Wobei die Vorbesitzer - Zur Erinnerung Pensionisten Ehepaar - sicher auch seines dazu beigetragen hat.

Highlight ist aber die Stereo Anlage. Das Bild bedarf keiner näheren Erläuterung -


- hier wurde weder an Detail noch an Innovation gespart - entsprechend gestaltet sich das Klangerlebniss (erinnert an Bezaubernde Jeanny auf einem Schwarz Weiss Röhrenfernseher 1982).

Zweites Highlight ist der Kofferraum. Fassungsvolumen im mehrstelligen "menschlichen Körper" Bereich, was auch auf den Nutzungsschwerpunkt von TANKU's Artgenossen (v.a. im SO Europas) rückschliessen lässt.


Erste  Einkaufsfahrten wurden schon erfolgreich absolviert und damit steht unserer Rundreise nach Tasmanian nichts mehr im Wege. (Vielleicht leg ich mir aber noch eine schwarze Lederjacke zu - "wenn schon denn schon").

Lg euer Ron


Tuesday 13 December 2016

NOT NORMAL

Hello everybody😀,

This is Marlene, and sitting at a table at my Grandparents house in Sydney. I realise that you might not know what Sydney is actually like. People think that it is like in the jungle, that any moment you can get bitten by a spider💥. BUT it is nothing like this. It is a normal city, with normal people (with a weird accent), with a not so normal animals, with normal malls and normal beaches 😎with not so normal SEAWEED ( I hate SEAWEED 😳). BUT living on the other side of the world, with all these things is a total new experience for me, my sister and my dad. 

Here in Sydney it is most likely that it is double or even triple as warm then where you are. It is a totally new climate and so different to what I and my family is used to. Every day we go to the beach for a swim and then you drag your body around the house desperate for a glass of water to stay alive.  But the view is beautiful and to be here is amazing. I Love the way people are so friendly and loving to their country. I hope you enjoyed this entry. Please feel free to leave me a comment.

XOXO Marlene 

Monday 12 December 2016

Mein Flug nach Australien und der erste Tag - Amelie Hamedl

Wir sind in jetzt endlich in Australien. Davor sind wir 24 Stunden um die halbe Welt geflogen und haben in Bangkok einen Zwischenstopp eingelegt. Das Photo haben wir noch in Wien am Flughafen gemacht - da waren wir noch einigermassen happy.


Zuerst sind wir mit der AUA geflogen. Da hatten wir viel Platz und ich hab super geschlafen. Später sind wir in Bangkok in eine anderes Flugzeug der Thai Airlines gestiegen. Davor gab es noch ein super Photo mit einem goldenen Tempel am Flughafen und ich habe fried Reis mit Shrimps gegessen.


Während des zweiten Flugs habe ich folgende Filme geguckt: Pets, Angry Birds, Findet Dorie und Micky Maus. Zum Essen gab es folgendes: Ein Sandwich (war grauenhaft), ein Joghurt, Hühnchen mit Reis und zum Abschluss gab es einen Schokoladenkuchen (der war das Beste).
Endlich waren die 24 Stunden rum und wir sind um 07:00 am Montag in Sydney angekommen. Abgeholt wurden wir von Aussie Opa und Aussie Oma, da wir so viele Koffer hatten und wir 2 Autos brauchten. Der Opa kam ein bisschen später, weil er sich verfahren hatte und dann keinen Parkplatz fand.
Am gleichen Tag habe ich zusammen mit Aussie Oma den Weihnachtsbaum geschmückt. Dabei habe ich aber eine Weihnachtskugel (Oma sagte, die war ziemlich teuer) auf den Boden fallen lassen, und die war dann auch kaputt. Gott sei Dank, dass es noch eine zweite, gleiche Kugel gab.



Papa, Marlene und Mama waren schon am Strand Boogie boarden. Es war aber ziemlich stürmisch und die Wellen waren nicht so toll. Bei Aussie Oma und Aussie Opa gibt es jetzt auch wieder einen Wellensittich - der heisst Chippie 10 (1 bis 9 sind schon tot). Chippie 10 ist noch sehr jung und macht viel Lärm und Schmutz.
Am Abend gab es leckere Pasta und wir sind um 19:00 voll fertig ins Bett gefallen. Davor gab es noch eine Geschichte von Papa - Die Ponygirls.

Liebe Grüsse von eurer Amelie