| Donderdag 24 juli 2002 Rustig op m'n gemakske naar 't stad... alleen was het niet die aan 't scheld. I took the train to Melbourne city while Chloe had all sorts of things to attend to before we drove off to Albury later that day. I tried to find a balance between being a tourist and just being in the city, and I think I found it. Well, I was happy with it anyway. The only really touristy thingie I did was visit St Pauls Cathedral Of course no cathedral can win from our own Onze Lieve Vrouwe toren, but I did like the tile floor inside. It wasn't really a huge one, but a nice and warm one. I looked around the shops, bought some real cheap CD's, bought Bob the Builder socks for my little niece - Louve zingt " Boooooob de bouwer " de hele tijd - just wandered around basicly and felt good and calm. In the evening Chloe and I drove from Melbourne to Albury, to meet Louise and her family. A warm welcome was waiting for us. |
| Zaterdag 26 juli 2002 Ken and Louise took me to see a real historical town. Beechworth. To me it was a rather typical little town, and I think one of the only reasons why it's a bit famous is the trial of Ned Kelly. He was a crook, but at the same time he seems to have some sort of hero status. Maybe because it took people such a long time to capture him? |
| De rest Pfeww... It's been a while since I updated this... So many things I've done ! Hmmm... touristy hightlights... Monte Cristo, a haunted house. We went there with 5 people. Afterwards we were all describing the strange feelings we experienced in the house, and even the man of the tribe felt pain in his back. The fact that he was already feeling that when we were driving up there is of course totally irrelevant. I also asked Ken - yes the same man - to steal some furniture for me, cos it would all look so great in my house, but he didn't. Must mean he was scared of something right??? I took the train from Albury to Goulburn. My local and personal guide did all she could to convince me that Goulburn was totally boring, and yet, I didn't get bored. Must have been the good compagny. Goulburn is the home of the world's largest Merino sheep. It was like a new cinema experience. You know : those American movies where they decide not to take the plane to cross the country but drive, and then stop at all these "world's biggest something" ? After Goulburn I took the train to Sydney, and the next day I spent there on my own. Walking around, looking around... I visited the NSW Art museum. Now the European museums can learn something here ! The entrance was free and I was allowed to take pictures ! I spent about an hour just sitting on the steps of the operahouse... I think of all the time I've been down under, that was the time I was most aware of the fact that I really was on the other side of the world. I know the image of the opera house for so long... I've seen it on tv, in movies, in books,... but it was always something really really far away. And now I was sitting there, enjoying the sun and just looking at people. From Sydney I took the plane to Perth. In the city of Perth I liked "London Court". It's on old victorian building that hides a tiny little street with of course shops, shops and yes more shops. In the city of Perth I didn't like the totally new built belltower . This very new building will have to be redone, because the people who built it forgot the fact that the tiles they used would have to be able to resist the trembling of the bells. So... all the tiles will have to go... Fairy and i went to a great show together, Umoja. It's a show about the history of African music, with singing and dancing all the time. It was wonderfull ! The plan to go to Fremantle came up the very first day. But we took a detour to Point Peron, and people that know me and see the pictures, will understand that I didn't feel like leaving there very soon, so the Fremantle trip was postponed till the next day. Fremantle is a nice city, with as a major tourist attraction the markets. I totally behaved like a tourist and bought some reproductions from the first stall we saw. Yes, literally the very first one. The sales person was very impressed because he gave me one of them for 20 AUD in stead of 40 for no reason at all. I didn't even ask for it. Of course there is the fact of me being " a beautiful belgian woman " ... hehehe Fairy and her dad also took me on a daytrip to I don't really know / remember where... There was some sort tree museum, where there was a furniture making school. Wow... was I impressed by the beautiful things I saw there. I kindly requested Richard to steal some of it - well ok lots of it - for me, but we decided the car wasn't big enough. There were of course woods around it, with blackburned trees. And there also was this platform where you could walk high and dry with the trees. |
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