Anyway, soaked as we were we managed to find ourselves a hostel for the night, where we are going to celebrate our 3 months away from home by cooking some good food and watch an awful lot of movies! I sincerely hope that the following days will have some nicer weather in store for us, but what can you really do about it.
Here you'll find some words about me, the places I visit and what's currently going on in the world, from my point of view!
13 december 2011
Westland weather
Anyway, soaked as we were we managed to find ourselves a hostel for the night, where we are going to celebrate our 3 months away from home by cooking some good food and watch an awful lot of movies! I sincerely hope that the following days will have some nicer weather in store for us, but what can you really do about it.
11 december 2011
Westland
The ride from Wanaka to Haast at the coast was by far the most scenic one so far during our month-long trip. For about 100km were we accompanied by the outlandishly blue lakes and the snow covered mountaintops. It all seemed so unreal and we felt very grateful to be able to witness this natural wonder. The profile of the ride however was perhaps not the easiest one. A LOT of steep ups and downs made us quite exhausted, but the will to keep on going still made us push through it and the gorgeous landscape did ofcourse play its part.
We went from the grazelands of the interior country, through the dense rainforests, over the exhausting Haast-pass only to emerge at the coast with the roaring surf welcoming us. No words can describe the feeling. It didn't take too long for our mood to change though when we discovered our new worst enemy, SANDFLIES. What these tiny creatures lack in comparison to mosquitos, they make up in sheer numbers. I'd gladly live accompanied by mosquitos for the rest of my life as long as I would never meet another sandfly again!
Now it's time to keep scrathing our sandfly bites, nasty buggars.
See you soon!
23 november 2011
Queenstown
The following day was pretty rough though, but the scenery totally made up for it! Biking uphill feels so much easier when you do it next to postcard landscapes! After those 65 kilometeres we finally made it to Queenstown, where we are staying right now! This means we have cycled a total of 830km so far!
Queenstown wharf |
The road along lake Wakatipu |
I heard a funny kiwi-australia joke today, Do you know the difference between Australia and yoghurt?
-Atleast yoghurt has got a little culture!
17 november 2011
South!
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The first 650km from Christchurch to Invercargill |
A tiny kiwi hill |
12 november 2011
Dunedin
It's got a lot of beautiful architecture from the old colonial days when Otago was the richest province because of the gold deposits! The word Dunedin is celtic for Edinburgh which does make sense because the whole city is filled with scottish influences!
We went to a nightclub yesterday called the "Monkey bar" which is located in an old church! Felt pretty awkward to shake the booty in the house of god? We also met a whole bunch of cool people here who also shared our passion for beer!
Today we went to see the new movie "In time" starring Justin Timberlake. Was pretty cool and definitely worth seeing!
Anyway, heading south towards Invercargill tomorrow!
Ciao
8 november 2011
Christchurch, the start of the Cycle trip!
We arrived in Christchurch at about
00:15 and realized that accomodation would be impossible to find this
time of the day. So we laid down on the airport floor, thinking we
could sleep for a few hours. Minutes later, we were awoken by an
angry security guard, declaring that we may not under any
circumstances sleep here, but we were however allowed to move twenty
meters down the hall to sleep at the ”designated rest area”. Some
hours later, we decided to go catch the bus to the city. We were of
course aware that an earthquake had hit Christchurch a few months
earlier but when the bus driver told us that the whole city centre
was inside the ”red zone” and that he could not take us there, we
were surprised! He did however take us to the bus station and we made
our way from there. A few hours later, we decided to walk around the
compound surrounding the damaged area. It was shocking to see it with
our own eyes. Around 600 buildings in and around the CBD had been
destroyed, taking the lives of 180 people with them. This happened in
February, but the city still looked like the catastrophy that had
struck it.
Our main quest in Christchurch though,
was of course to buy the bicycles this trip is going to be made upon.
After walking through a dozen stores or so, we decided to go
for the deal we had gotten in the first store.
We got ourselves two brand new Hybrid
MTB -GT Transeo 3.0, with disc brakes, kevlar tyres, 24 gears,
lockable suspension and all the necessary gear and gadgets, plus a
tralier with a drysack, to keep all our belongings in, for NZ$-1300,
which is around 7000 SEK.
We started the next day with some
oatmeal in the sun, packed our belongings and took off. The
landscape here in Canterbury is pretty much just farmland, farmland
and farmland. You can see the beautiful southern alps in the horizon,
but apart from that it's all just flat and green. (I've got a feeling
that's going to change pretty soon though!)
After about 50km we stopped for lunch
next to the main road. After a few minutes, two fellow bikers came
along and said Servus! It was a german couple that had been cycling
for 19 months. Starting in Germany, they had gone all the way through
eastern europe and asia down to singapore, then taken a flight to
Brisbane and cycled to Melbourne for another flight to Auckland and
they were just about to finish their trip once they got to
Christchurch. It really inspired me and gave me all the energy I
needed to keep on going the next 21km to get to Ashburton. Well
there, we find ourselves a nice little spot just behind an old
industry. We had to share it with some rats, but neither of us cared.
We are now in Oamaru, about 120 km from Dunedin, where we'll probably stay for the weekend, feeling proud of ourselves for cycling over 400 km already! After that, Invercargill in the very south of NZ is the goal and once we are there we are going to start cycling north on the westcoast!
See you soon.
31 oktober 2011
Halloween
After the Overland track, we got to Hobart, which is the largest city in Tasmania, but very small compared to Melbourne. It's a very neat and picturesque city located around the outlet of river derwent with the massive Mt Wellington in the horizon. We didn't have to sit down in Princess' park for a long time before a guy walks up to us and says, you must be Scandinavian! How could you tell, we replied. Then he said. You are barefoot, bearded, tanned and your drinking beers. Haha, is that the stereotype?
Anyway, this guy, Ben, had been living in Finland for about five years and could therefore speak excellent swedish!
After a few more days in Hobart, we flew back to Melbourne again. We've had beautiful weather, great temperatures, awesome people to share it with and cold beers to satisfy our thirst.
Last night was as you all know halloween and my dear friend Martin Bo Erik Eriksson, alias E-type, and his band Oh'Deanna was playing at the Empress in Nicholson street. I have so been looking forward to hear them play for a long time. I really liked it, glad they started playing together again! Good luck in the future!
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxzsIUITtkXmGMnHbIWsV2PAiJ1wtEPJ6tr-lRPdHgXCQj89tGatZ77BAAp6Jase8883S8FOwLiaVcS2tHAhZOAnUVYRvGsXY5xq-p-kHvCkoGoh-mMSjqGyL9293V904q7Lc6ZhZP1HsO/s320/IMG_1965.JPG)
Oh yeah, that's right... I forgot to tell you that a lethal virus started spreading through Melbourne yesterday, some of us felt really sick, we felt dead. After a few hours in the bar, listening to some other band playing after Oh'Deanna, it was time to say farewell to everyone. Because today, we are finally flying to Christchurch New Zealand.
We are going to buy them bikes, and start riding.
Are we excited or what!
Anyway, thank you Melbourne for this time, it's been lovely.. And especially the Vaughan family, thank you for taking care of us like we were family! I love you all!
Anyway, this guy, Ben, had been living in Finland for about five years and could therefore speak excellent swedish!
After a few more days in Hobart, we flew back to Melbourne again. We've had beautiful weather, great temperatures, awesome people to share it with and cold beers to satisfy our thirst.
Last night was as you all know halloween and my dear friend Martin Bo Erik Eriksson, alias E-type, and his band Oh'Deanna was playing at the Empress in Nicholson street. I have so been looking forward to hear them play for a long time. I really liked it, glad they started playing together again! Good luck in the future!
Ericsson and Deanna! |
We are going to buy them bikes, and start riding.
Are we excited or what!
Anyway, thank you Melbourne for this time, it's been lovely.. And especially the Vaughan family, thank you for taking care of us like we were family! I love you all!
29 oktober 2011
The Overland Track
You think I'm nuts?, the coachdriver answered when I asked him if he had done the Overland track. I might be lazy, but I'm not stupid, he continued. But it seems you got the best possible weather for your adventure, you know it changes rapidly here in Tasmania.
We were initially going to wait for a day or two in Launceston until the heavy snow covering the mountains had disappeared, But due to the fact that the buses only go twice a week from Launceston to Cradle valley, we had no choice but to get up there straight away. When we finally arrived around midday, the lady in the Visitors centre told us we shouldn't go out on the track today unless we were prepared for heavy snow. She said there had been more than one group turning back today already. I can't really say we were prepared for it, but we both thought that it can't possibly be worse than back home in Sweden. And to stay overnight in Cradle valley didn't sound very attractive at all.
The Overland track is a 85 km long track, divided into seven daytrips with small basic huts at the end of every day. We needed to walk 11 km to reach the first hut, Waterfall Valley. We had to climb the highest plateau on the whole track, trek through a snowcovered landscape, and then get down on the other side. In addition to that, the strong sun and the non-existing Tasmanian Ozonelayer had turned the tracks into rivers and waterfalls. When we after a few hours of climbing actually got up on the plateau and saw the Cradle mountain in the horizon, we felt very enthusiastic.
Once we got to the Waterfall valley Hut, we were greeted by 5 exhausted frenchmen. Placing our soaked shoes next to their boots under the heater, we realized that we should probably have bought boots ourselves because they weren't even wet.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1-kzPGLWU1BvF4XzGOf-E-OOu9cJPh5j4TmmfUAiSEoOLJ-ZhKBUzv9kxkkoldELFhOTY0EJwzvYpT-rip1PGFE8fzrWue-VIxo4RCTx_pHRgG7J6MEip7CMccmuaaM65EhXv_wpllDaC/s320/IMG_1667.JPG)
During the night, the temperature had dropped down to far below zero and the paths that had turned into rivers yesterday, were now frozen. We had to be very cautious trying to make the steep descend down from Waterfall Valley. But taking our time we made it without falling even once. After a few hours though we were accompanied by the sun again, thawing the track for us. Once we got to the next hut, it was only around 11 o'clock. We realized we needed to make two daytrips in one day to make it to the bus to Hobart, since they also only depart twice a week.
We decided to stop for lunch and then proceed the next 15 km. The soup we were boiling attracted a whole family of kangaroos and they weren't the slightest frightened by us. They got so close we could almost pet them. Not like the mainland kangaroos that leap away at the very first sight of a human.
The rest of the day we walked through a muddy, dense, myrtle beech rainforest, with roots and rocks everywhere to remind you that you can't just put your feet everywhere. This was a very exhausting part of the track and we were very satisfied to reach the Pelion hut, for some pasta and a good nights sleep.
The third daytrip included our first sidetrack. The 5 km uphill path to Mt Ossa, which is Tasmanias highest peak with it's 1617 meters, included a 490 meter climb. We could however leave our backpacks at the junction, only bringing a daypack for the sidetrip. When we after maybe 2 hours of climbing the steep rocky path up to mt Ossa could finally see its summit, we realized we weren't going to be able to make it. There was a 1 meter thick snowlayer covering the treacherous path. In addition to this, the sun had started to melt it and you could actually hear the water running beneath us. It would almost be like passing a glacier so we decided to turn back. I felt a bit sad when we were walking down but Johan cheered me up when he told me Göran Kropp had to turn back 100 meters from the peak of Mt Everest.
The following day, the blue skies had been replaced by a massive snowstorm. It didn't really matter to us though, since the fascination of walking through a snow covered rainforest made us really enthusiastic. It felt almost prehistoric in a weird way and the only thing that seemed to be missing was dinosaurs.
Doing the Overland track was pretty much my first multi-day trek and I loved it. I would recommend it to everyone. It's not just the trek itself, with an astonishing view of the harsch prehistoric landscape. It's equally as much a pause from civilization, a chance to reflect over your life situation and a great opportunity to meet wonderful people along the way. When we finally got to Cynthia bay, which is the very end of the track, I felt amazing. Full of endorfines, we sat down and had the beer we had been imagining for so long. I felt proud of myself for completing the whole walk and also very calm about the upcoming challenge of cycling through New Zealand. I can't wait actually.
We were initially going to wait for a day or two in Launceston until the heavy snow covering the mountains had disappeared, But due to the fact that the buses only go twice a week from Launceston to Cradle valley, we had no choice but to get up there straight away. When we finally arrived around midday, the lady in the Visitors centre told us we shouldn't go out on the track today unless we were prepared for heavy snow. She said there had been more than one group turning back today already. I can't really say we were prepared for it, but we both thought that it can't possibly be worse than back home in Sweden. And to stay overnight in Cradle valley didn't sound very attractive at all.
Johan at the start of the Track |
The Overland track is a 85 km long track, divided into seven daytrips with small basic huts at the end of every day. We needed to walk 11 km to reach the first hut, Waterfall Valley. We had to climb the highest plateau on the whole track, trek through a snowcovered landscape, and then get down on the other side. In addition to that, the strong sun and the non-existing Tasmanian Ozonelayer had turned the tracks into rivers and waterfalls. When we after a few hours of climbing actually got up on the plateau and saw the Cradle mountain in the horizon, we felt very enthusiastic.
Me with the beautiful Cradle Mountain |
During the night, the temperature had dropped down to far below zero and the paths that had turned into rivers yesterday, were now frozen. We had to be very cautious trying to make the steep descend down from Waterfall Valley. But taking our time we made it without falling even once. After a few hours though we were accompanied by the sun again, thawing the track for us. Once we got to the next hut, it was only around 11 o'clock. We realized we needed to make two daytrips in one day to make it to the bus to Hobart, since they also only depart twice a week.
We decided to stop for lunch and then proceed the next 15 km. The soup we were boiling attracted a whole family of kangaroos and they weren't the slightest frightened by us. They got so close we could almost pet them. Not like the mainland kangaroos that leap away at the very first sight of a human.
Skippy the kangaroo? |
The summit of Mt Ossa just behind me |
The following day, the blue skies had been replaced by a massive snowstorm. It didn't really matter to us though, since the fascination of walking through a snow covered rainforest made us really enthusiastic. It felt almost prehistoric in a weird way and the only thing that seemed to be missing was dinosaurs.
Doing the Overland track was pretty much my first multi-day trek and I loved it. I would recommend it to everyone. It's not just the trek itself, with an astonishing view of the harsch prehistoric landscape. It's equally as much a pause from civilization, a chance to reflect over your life situation and a great opportunity to meet wonderful people along the way. When we finally got to Cynthia bay, which is the very end of the track, I felt amazing. Full of endorfines, we sat down and had the beer we had been imagining for so long. I felt proud of myself for completing the whole walk and also very calm about the upcoming challenge of cycling through New Zealand. I can't wait actually.
6 oktober 2011
GMO and some parklife
The four muppets |
Now it's time to book some tickets for Tassie!
5 oktober 2011
Reunions!
Johan and Mr E-type |
Chilling at St Kilda beach |
These last few days have been really busy, we've been walking an awful lot, but it all feels necessary after two lazy weeks in Thailand but also because of the upcoming quest in New Zealand! We've met up with a lot of my dear Melbourne friends, but also with Sanket from India, whom i haven't seen since 2009! We've also had quite a few beers, only because we want to honour the Australian culture... Not really, but they are too good to resist!
Even though I'm enjoying the crap out of Melbourne right now, I very much look forward to Tasmania and some sweet trekking!
Life is awesome, keep living it!
30 september 2011
Cold VIC
After a few rough nights in Kuala Lumpur we're now finally down in Melbourne! It's so much colder than i could ever have expected, from a 35+ KL to 8 degrees VIC! It's still gonna be nice though, we have lots of stuff to do these weeks! When we arrived at the airport, the taxi driver didn't want to take us to Adam's place since it's in Essendon, and he was finishing. After a few minutes of convincing he would accept the way it is and start the engine!
Today is the Aussie rules grand finals between Geelong and Collingwood, and we'll be watching it at the quiet man together with best company! Looking forward to it!
See you soonish!
Today is the Aussie rules grand finals between Geelong and Collingwood, and we'll be watching it at the quiet man together with best company! Looking forward to it!
See you soonish!
27 september 2011
Koh Tao
Even though we had a quite rough night we woke up early yesterday and decided we should go for a walkabout around the island and see what we find. We walked for hours seeing nothing but houses, litter, people and advertisement, until like all of a sudden the most beautiful cove would appear in front of us! We were startled and thought that nothing we people create, no matter how grand, can ever compete with the natural beauty of our mother Gaia!
After a day spent in a boat and a bus, we're once again back in Bangkok for a last night before we'll go back to KL! I don't even know how many times i have been there but i always feel welcome! Then it's off to Melbourne to catch up with all them awesome people!
24 september 2011
Tuk Tuk
Johan enjoying a cold one in Bangkok |
You want Túk Túk sir?
It feels amazing to be back in South East Asia again! After another year in Sweden i almost forgot what it's like! It's incredibly hot and humid, and it's literally been raining all day but it doesn't really matter since we've had the best possible company since the minute we arrived. Not only are the Thai people remarkably warm and friendly but the other fellow travellers we've bumped into have been awesome people too.
It feels amazing to be back in South East Asia again! After another year in Sweden i almost forgot what it's like! It's incredibly hot and humid, and it's literally been raining all day but it doesn't really matter since we've had the best possible company since the minute we arrived. Not only are the Thai people remarkably warm and friendly but the other fellow travellers we've bumped into have been awesome people too.
The view from our balcony, a beautiful tree! |
We haven't really been doing anything
extraordinary so far though. It's been all about relaxing,
thai-massages, sun bathing, delicious Thai food and buckets of
whiskey. The country is beautiful and affordable and I understand why
tourists love this country. The thing that bothers me though, is
seeing what we tourists are turning Thailand into. For instance the
island we are living on at the moment, used to be an Island populated
by humble fishermen. 10 years ago, they had electricity for like 6
hours a day. They didn't have air condition or other western
comforts. They were living a simple life. Now, there's restaurants
serving food from all the corners of the world. There's five star
hotel resorts, cinemas, seven eleven stores, you name it. Isn't
travelling really supposed to be about experiencing the foreign
cultures without enforcing our own culture upon them?
The beautiful view of Koh Tao |
Having said
that, I still enjoy the shit out of life right now, and my journey
just only started! Thailand is a beautiful country where the poeple
are just as warm as the climate! And I am so grateful that i can be
here to experience it!
After a few more days of chilling out here on Koh Tao, we'll be heading back the intensive Bangkok and catch a flight to Kuala Lumpur!
After a few more days of chilling out here on Koh Tao, we'll be heading back the intensive Bangkok and catch a flight to Kuala Lumpur!
13 september 2011
The last day in Sweden
Johan and I, Ready for the world. |
Even though Australia is a marvelous country with amazing people, the main goal for this trip will be cycling through New Zealand! And not just some of it, My brother and I will be cycling the very length of it. from the southern tip, to the northernmost edge.
That's our quest, and also what you will be reading about in this blog!
See you soon!
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