Chirripo Base Camp - San Isidro

2.45am - finally, the alarm-clock rang. I (Nicole) couldn´t sleep anymore from 9.20pm onwards. Was that because of the altitude? We got ready and at 3.20am we were off.

Of course, it was still pitchdark outside, some stars were to be seen. Maybe we will really see a nice sunrise. In the light of our torches we started. Just as when climbing Mt. Fuji ... old memories! Hopefully it won´t get as exhausting!

However, it started with a steep part. Must this be? In fact, it should only be 5.1 km to the summit but this also were 427 meters in height. And we are supposed to make this in two hours?

Only about 15 minutes later we met the Canadian couple who we had met yesterday already. Their torches didn´t work any longer. What? How can one want to climb a mountain at night and not carrying enough batteries? We couldn´t believe it. But of course they can walk with us ... but she didn´t like our speed. It didn´t take long and we had to stop. Gee ...

At 4.11am we got to the first sign - still 2.8 km to the summit. Unfortunately, the height wasn´t mentioned. But 2.8 km, that´s not too far. It will be steep though and take us at least one hour. We saw a last sign which showed us the way to the summit at 5.12am. No height was mentioned. It wasn´t really necessary as we could already see the cross at the highest point. It looked really pretty steep!

Gradually the sun showed up behind another mountain and we saw a beautiful sunrise. We were lucky as there were hardly any clouds.

Let´s go now, final spurt. The German guys are almost half way up. We followed them and noticed that the air got thinner and thinner. But I was even more struggling with the high steps. I was ever so happy that sometimes I had to really climb, use my hands. Like this I could pull myself up with my arms. Slowly, very slowly I got closer to the summit. But where is Ramona? I coud´t see her anymore. But I had to continue, it was going quite smoothly for me. Only ever so often I had to stop for a short break. Ramona will be doing the same. She also is an old pro in climbing mountains!

At 5.32am I was at the summit, had climbed the Volcano Chirripo. Ramona followed only a few minutes later. Now, up on 3,820 m we were so proud. The view made up for all the exertions of the last hours. As it was pretty windy and damn cold up there - our fingers were almost frozen - we soon started to descend.

We reached the Base Camp at 7.30am, got our stuff and had a hot chocolate before continuing our walk down. It was 8am when we left the Base Camp to San Gerardo.
It was lovely weather, the sun was shining and everything went smoothly. We were both really good even though Ramona complained about her painful soles of foot after about 5 km. After only 2.5 hours we had managed half of the hike and we took a long break. The German guys joined us and together we continued walking. Ramona went ahead and at the beginning the boys were still following but soon we were on our own again. *smile*

If Ramona keeps on her pace we will be really good. But not only the pretty muddy path, no, also our feet and knees started to hurt. We still had 7 km to go but my knees didn´t want any longer. Every step was like a cut with a knife. Ramona didn´t feel good either.
We didn´t speak anymore. We both had enough to do with our pain. I tried to get distracted but everything only lasted for a second or so. The meters were an endless haul. But what could we do? Somehow it needs to work. How much we looked forward to every km sign ... and how much we were disappointed when we still didn´t see it after the next bend. Time was flying, but we didn´t get far.

I got to a point where I only looked at the ground in order to be sure not to slip or twist my ankle. This though led to pain in the neck and I clenched my shoulders. Not to mention the blisters on my feet.
Ramona was quicker than me, within seconds she was several meters in front of me. For the first time descending was worse than climbing a mountain.

We were ever so happy when we eventually reached kilometer 0. But how far is it to the hostel? We couldn´t remember but wanted to make it by 2pm. It didn´t take long though to realize that this was impossible. Our bus to San Isidro leaves at 4 pm - will we manage it? We were lucky ... a local seemed to suffer with us, he took us to the hostel so we didn´t have to walk the last couple of km.

Totally exhausted and tired we sat down. Tired, knackered, full of pain. We didn´t want to move at all. Tonight we will have an easy evening in our hotel in San Isidro. Something to look forward to!

At 4pm we took the bus to San Isidro. Luckily, it wasn´t far from the bus terminal to our hotel - however, with our heavy backpacks it was still too far! We got the same room as last time. Walking upstairs was like hell. Nevertheless, we went off again to get some instant noodles. After a luke warm shower we had these for dinner.
We were ever so happy to finally lay in bed and not to have to move anymore.

San Isidro - San Gerardo de Rivas

It was already after midnight and we were still not sleeping. Outside it again was pouring down with rain and we were happy to be lying in a warm bed. Hopefully it won't rain when we want to climb the highest volcano in Costa Rica, Chirripo. We must have fallen asleep eventually.

We first went to the bank in order to change our US-Dollar into Colones. We had to queue for a long time. The queuing line was marked on the floor, just as at the airport. After about half an hour - luckily they had a TV - it was our turn. Changing money was not possible with the ID, only the passport was accepted. Everything needed to be right.

After the bank we were off to the post in order to send two little parcels. Again we had to queue. When it was our turn we learned that we couldn't buy envelopes here. For that we need to go to the shop, 50m back. Really ...

At the supermarket we bought some food for our hike tomorrow. Time seemed to fly and it was time for check-out. As again it was raining and our bus only left at 2pm we used the time to have breakfast. Cold pizza - the last bits from yesterday. Yammy!!

The bus ride to San Gerardo took 2 hours. Here at our accomodation El Bosque we should even have hot water ... negative! At the ranger station opposite the hostel we paid entrance fee for the national park and booked accomodation at the Chirripo Base Camp for tomorrow night.

Today it was an early night, as the alarm-clock will ring at 4.30am already.

Cerro Punta - Paso Canoas (Costa Rica)

Only slowly we got up today. What should we do? Hiking with John in Cerro Punta? Take a bus to the other side of the volcano, to Boquete? Or should we go straight to Costa Rica? Wir decided for the latter.

John didn't feel like hiking as it was raining cats and dogs. Thus we all three took a bus direction David. Ramona and I got off at the office of Maria and Raphael. Both were really happy to see us again and Raphael even took us to the bus to Rio Sereno. There we wanted to cross the border to Costa Rica. The road to Rio Sereno is supposed to be as one of the most fascinating in Panama. It really was great: narrow streets, lush, many bends ... The mountainous landscape was immersed in fog and clouds. Really beautiful. I wonder whether back at home I will appreciate thouse kind of things or whether I will rather complain because the sun is not shining.

In Rio Sereno we had to walk a bit from the bus station to the border. But the woman there refused us. This border is not for tourists any longer. Oh no! What do we have to do? Cross the border in Paso Canoas. 2 hours with the bus. If we had known this we would have taken the bus with John to David...

The bus to Paso Canoas only went at 4pm and some hours later we arrived. We got the exit stamp without any problems. After crossing the border we got our stamp for Costa Rica. Luckily no-one asked for an onward ticket.

Originally we wanted to immediately take a bus to Santa Elena. But there were no buses anymore. Thus, we looked for an accomodation. Our first impression of Costa Rica was not really a nice one. Dirt, everywhere rubbish on the street. We didn't have this for a long time.

After dinner we went online.

Pedasi - Cerra Punta

We checked out and asked for the bus station, we wanted to get to Boquete today. A small village near Volcano Baru. But what was the good old lady of the hotel talking about? Strike, no buses, petrol prices increased ... Did we really understand her?

On our way to the bus station a taxi driver stopped. He took us to Las Tablas for $2. Same price as with the bus so why not? In Las Tablas he even took us to the right bus. Further to Divisa than to David. Everything went so smoothly, we didn't have to wait long at all. Not one sign of a strike. We probably had misunderstood the good old lady.

We got to David at 3.50pm and had missed the bus to Boquete by 5 minutes. No problem though, the next one already leaves in 15 minutes. But the people surrounding us said something like "no bus to Boquete" ... ??? Why is that? Strike! So it is true! When will the next bus leave? Maybe later in the afternoon, maybe tomorrow. No-one knew about it. Hmmmm... what shall we do? We decided to go to Cerro Punta instead. It's on the other side of the volcano, just opposite of Boquete.

The ride to Cerro Punta was a neverending story and we only got there at 7.30pm. In the Pension Primavera we got a room of 2.5m x 2.5m. Really not something to be mentioned but the cheapest in the village.

Chitre - Pedasi

I (Nicole) was again awake so early. 5.50am, far too early to get up. I turned around and around and I got to a point where I couldn't stand it any longer. I took a shower and went to buy these 10 ballpens I had seen yesterday. It's not that I needed 10 of them but they were only $1. When I got back, Ramona was up already. TV was switched on ... what's that? A German movie, with Spanish subtitles!

Just about 10am we were sat in a bus to Las Tablas. Somehow riding buses in Panama is not like we had imagined it. It's not noisy, not really cramped, music if there is any is ok. It really is not adventorous. What a pity!

In Las Tablas we changed buses to Pedasi, a 3,000 village near the Pacific coast. The bus driver dropped us off just in front of our hotel where we got a room for $4 per person. Without bathroom and TV of course. But who needs a TV?

At the only dive shop in Pedasi we booked our diving for the next day. Next door at the tourist office - we were actually really surprised that there is one in this tiny little village -we tried to get some information about Pedasi and its surroundings. The man didn't speak any English and we hardly speak any Spanish. Still ... somehow we got the information we wanted. The man really made efforts.

We were then off to the beach where we went for a walk. Barefoot. The sand was quartz-coloured and wet. Obviously as it's the rainy season.
Already from far away we had seen birds on carrion. What's that? Seals? No, there were 3 dead sharks lying in the sand. Certainly one had caught them illegally. Let's hope that we will still see some tomorrow in the sea.

At the supermarket we bought some food. The salesman there was cool. He had a book with all the continents and most important countries worldwide. Every tourist who buys stuff in the supermarket is supposed to mark his/her home. We were lucky as no-one from Cadenberge or Serrig had been here before.

A few meters further, in the Dulceria Yely, we tried the best cake of Pedasi. The woman is famous for her cake in whole Panama. That place apparently is a must for every Pedasi visitor. But honestly, the cake was ok but nothing special ...

We spent the evening with diary writing and reading about other countries in Central America. What is there to see?

Panama City

This is not true. What is the time? - 11am! We wanted to get up at 8.30am. Quick now. Have a shower and off to the canal.

Where is the bus station? Gee, that far? Let's take a taxi to the bus station. The driver offered us to take us to the canal for only $5 so we agreed. Why not? We were late anyway! 15 minutes later we were there. $10 admission - to the museum, restaurant, souvenir shop and to the viewing platform ... Hmmm! This is not cheap, but what can we do?!

The next ship only passes through at 1.30pm thus we still have 1.5 hrs to explore the museum. It is on 4 floors informing about the construction of the canal, the importance of water in general and for the canal, the animal world in the surrounding jungle and the importance of the canal in the world. The time passes quickly and we need to go to the viewing platform. From here we can see how several ships pass through the Miraflores locks. Basically the same as at the locks in Serrig but still ... a masterpiece! Nearly 14,000 ships pass through the canal each year. Ships worldwide are built with the dimensions of the Panama Canal's locks in mind. Ships pay according to their weight, with the average fee US$30,000. The highest amount paid was US$184,114.80, paid in January 2000 by the M/V Sisler, a 950-foot US-registered container ship; the lowest amount was US$0.36, paid in 1928 by Richard Halliburton who swam through. It took him 10 days.

We took the bus back to Panama City where we strolled around in the pedestrian street. In the park Cinco de Mayo we enjoyed the sun and tried to plan our further travels. Again not so easy and we have to find out costs tomorrow.

INFORMATION TO THE PANAMA CANAL

How does the Panama Canal work?
The Panama Canal is a lock-type canal, approximately 80 kilometers long, that unites the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans at one of the narrowest points of both, the Isthmus of Panama and the American Continent. The Canal officially opened its doors to international trade on August 15, 1914, and since then, more than 880,000 vessels have transited the waterway.
The Canal's three sets of locks, each of which has two lanes, operate as water lifts to elevate ships 26 meteres above sea level to the level of Gatun Lake, in their transit of the channel across the Continental Divide, and then lower them back to sea level on the opposite side of the Isthmus. During these lockages, which use water obtained from Gatun Lake, the miter gates seal the locks chambers and gravity drains the water to the lower levels. Approximately 197 million liters of fresh water are used for each lockage and ultimately flushed into the sea. Each set of locks features a Control House on the center wall of its higher chamber, from which this entire operation is directed.
Though vessels use their own propulsion for the greater part of their Panama Canal transit, they are assisted, when passing through the locks, by electric locomotives which use cables to align and tow the ships. Working in pairs, locomotives move on rails and keep the vessels in position within the locks chambers. Depending on its size, a vessel can require assistance from four to eight locomotives.
The 12.6 km Gaillard or Culebra Cut is the narrowest stretch in the Panama Canal and represents 15% of the waterway's total length. The Cut, extending from Pedro Miguel Locks to Gamboa, crosses the Continental Divide.

General information on the Panama Canal
- Locks chambers are 33.5 meters wide and 305 meters long
- Instead of using salt water for its operations, the Canal uses fresh water from the rivers of the watershed. For the canal to use salt water, it would have to be pumped from sea level, 26 meters below the waterway channel. The cost of installing and maintaining such pumps would be exorbitant, while the salt water would corrode locks mechanisms and destroy vegetation.
- The tallest (25m) and heaviest (730 tons) Canal miter gates are on the Pacific side at the southern entrance of Miraflores Locks (where we have been) and were designed to handle the Pacific cast's extreme tide fluctuations.
- During Canal construction days, over 152.9 million cubic meters of material were removed, almost half of which came from Gaillard or Culebra Cut alone. Were this material to be placed on railroad flatcars, it would circle the globe four times.

Principal trade routes using the Canal
- From the East Coast of the US to Asia
- From the East Coast of the US to the West Coast of South America
- From Europe to the West Coast of the US and Canada

Principal commodities
- Containerized cargo
- Grains
- Petroleum and Petroleum products

Panama City

I was shocked when I woke up: 11.30am - we really must have needed some sleep.

2pm and we start to explore Panama City. At the reception of our hotel, which is near the centre, we got it marked on our map and only a few minutes later we were already in the pedestrian-only shopping street. By the way: We haven't seen pedestrian-only streets for ages and we still remember having looked for a cafe on them in different countries. Whether we will find a cafe here?

No, although the pedestrian-only street is about one km long, there's no cafe. Instead of this inbetween McDonalds and Burger King are department stores offering i.e. 3 pants for $1. Here again everything is just dirt-cheap. A Hamburger and a coke for just $1. It's obvious what we'll have dinner on the street.

But first we were off to the colonial part Casco Antiguo, also called San Felipe or Casco Viejo. This area juts into the sea on the southwestern side of town and is one of the more interesting parts of Panama city. Sadly, nowadays many of the buildings are dilapidated. In our travel guide it is said that it's unsafe to walk here at night and we must be careful walking down side streets even in the daytime. But we feel quite safe, also because the tourist police is cycling everywhere. Unfortunately, their English needs still to be improved but mixed with our Spanish knowledge a short conversation is still possible.
On the tip of the area is the Plaza de Francia. Large stone tablets and statues tell the story of the French role in the construction of the Panama canal. Unfortunately in Spanish! The plaza is dedicated to the memory of the 22,000 workers, most of them from France, Guadeloupe and Martinique, who died working on the canal. Most were killed by yellow fever and malaria, and among the busts is a monument to Carlos J Finlay, who discovered how mosquitos transmit yellow fever. His work led to the eradication of the disease in Panama.

We went further to the museum of the Panama canal. We were lucky then today is "International day" and therefore free entrance. Well, not that $1 would have been a lot of money. :) The museum was well put in place and also interesting if not again all the information had been only in Spanish. Not even one word in English. In fact, we did understand the one or other word but ...

When we got out of the museum at 5.30pm it was still daylight! Fantastic! But there were a lot of clouds - it won't take long and it'll rain. We shouldn't be surprised though as it's the wet season here.

We had a jumbo hotdog for dinner. A sausage with some Kraut (typical German, isn't it?) in a breadroll some ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise on top of it. For $0.50. Perfect! Served with Chicha, THE drink in Panama - a fresh fruit juice, sweetened and mixed with water.

As Internet is also only $0.50/hour we spent our evening there. We have to make good for the last weeks, haven't we?

Sydney - Miami

Last night´s red wine wasn't good for me (Nicole) at all. I didn't feel good. Why today when we have to be on a plane the whole day?

Yes, we had to say good-bye. Good-bye to Antonia and Thomas, to a flat, to good food and wine, to a daily shower - yes, indeed it was a good-bye to home!

After having given recommendations to the two of them (they will still travel to Thailand, China, Japan and Tibet), we were taken to the airport by them. They picked on us that we will be back home already in two months whereas they will be still on the road for at least another six months. Grrrr ...

Our flight to Los Angeles was at 2.45pm. We arrived at 10.45am. ??? Yes, it's right. We arrived earlier than we had left and thus live May 16, 2004 twice. A weird feeling. But apart from that there was nothing spectacular as we again had to take a flight to Miami.

This flight was at 2.55pm where we arrived at 10pm. Where should we stay for tonight? Our flight to Panama City is only tomorrow morning. Well, the floor at the airport should do. And we shouldn't complain after so many nights on a good mattress. I (Nicole) laid down immediately whereas Ramona preferred to read for a bit. Until we caught the attention of an elderly man from Costa Rica. He offered Ramona to stay overnight in his hotel room. But Ramona was good and said no. Who knows what this guy wants? The guy went off ... and came back now offering not only his bed but the whole room. He would find somewhere else to stay. He has an early flight anyway and doesn't need his room any longer. ??? Apparently he has travelled a lot as well and now just cannot see that we have to sleep on the floor. Well! OK. Before he beats us ... He gave us his room key and as if it was the most normal thing in the world we walked into the hotel, room no 414. There were two big beds in the room and we jumped on them immediately. Switched the TV on - who had thought that we would have it that good? ... Well, not for long as it didn't take long until someone knocked at the door. Oh no, what´s going on now? Ramona should join me in my bed. She opened the door and a drunken man from Costa Rica entered. He apologized a few times that he would now need the room. I pretended to sleep, didn't want to have a conversation with him. Bernie really was drunk as he thought I was addicted to drugs (because I was asleep!), talked of himself as a demon, repeated everything at least twice ... We both were really careful, but nothing happened. He eventually fell asleep - and we as well.

Sydney

Again we had a shower to start the day with. Should we really get used to having a shower on a daily basis? And even a hot one?

Breakfast with Antonia as Thomas had to go and work. It goes without saying that we spent again a lot of time telling and talking.

In the afternoon we went for a bit online and then to Paddy's market where one can buy souvenirs and little things for dirt cheap.

Highlight of the day was definitely our trip to the supermarket. With Antonia and Thomas we have found two people who have learned to love to go shopping. But on top of that today it was supposed to be a special supermarket. ALDI South! In Sydney. Ramona and I didn't want to believe it. We have to go there. People there thought we were crazy when we asked them to take pictures of us in front of the ALDI sign. But otherwise you wouldn't believe us, would you? We took a trolley and went in ... yes, unbelievable. We felt like being at Aldi in Saarburg. On the left side jam, then bread, ... it even smells the same! Now, we are in paradise!

Tonight we had Mexican food for dinner with guacemole made by Antonia. We all couldn't move anymore after that. Luckily we had planned a video night. You won't believe how nice it can be not to do anything but lying in front of the television and doing nothing else.

Sydney

Jesus Christ, 6.15 am and I (Nicole) am again awake. Why is that? We only went to bed about two hours ago!

I read a bit in the German magazine "Stern" - for once a German magazine, it really didn't matter which one it is - and had a shower. When I got back, Ramona was awake as well. Antonia slept better and we only woke her up at 10.30am as we had to bring back our van by noon. But there was still time enough for a nice breakfast!

We drove the van to the wicked office, Antonia followed us with their firered 20 year old van, and left it there without any problems. Antonia took us back to the flat where we again chatted for a while. Girlie talk ... how nice!

Later in the afternoon we managed to go for a walk. Over the harbour bridge - gee it was so cold and windy - to the Opera House where we asked about tickets for Swanlake. We have to come back tomorrow.

For dinner we cooked Kraut, mashed potatos and sausages - very delicious - and spent the rest of the evening talking, talking and talking. It really is nice to talk to people from back home. About people everybody knows.

Pambula - Cooma

Today we slept a bit longer and only got up at 7.45am. We drove South to Eden which is supposed to be a nice place - well, not really special for us though.

But they have a killerwhale museum here. If we cannot see them alive, we want at least learn about them. The huge skeleton of whale Tom was already quite impressing. Tom has in the 20ies worked together with whalers from Eden. One can hardly believe it but Tom was one of the killerwhales, which helped the whalers to catch baleen whales. They would alert the whalers of their prey’s arrival by “flop-tailing”, (thrashing the water with their tails), and the chase would be on.
After the whale was harpooned, some of the killers would expedite its death by rolling over its blowhole to stop it breathing, and others would swim below it to prevent it sounding.
When the whale was dead, the killers would take the tongue and lips as their reward and leave the carcass for the whalers to bring ashore. Whaling from Twofold Bay continued until the late 1920’s, by which time, on this scale, it certainly could not have been a profitable concern. The last whale was taken in 1928.
Tom’s body was found in Twofold Bay on 17th September, 1930. His remains were treated and his ORCA skeleton is now on exhibition in the ‘Davidson Gallery’ at the Eden Killer Whale Museum.

Today we had breakfast at the Disaster Bay of which we had read in the museum. It was a long drive on gravel road - is that the reason for its name as it was actually quite nice and lonely at the bay.

And again we drove inland. Via the tourist drive, which we weren't allowed to take as it was again a gravel road. Who cares? It's only for about 50 km.

We arrived in Cooma where we wanted to go online but in this town they have Internet but only during the day. Gee, where are we?

As we didn't want to cook tonight we went for a burger at McDonalds. Here I (Nicole) saw the good news in an Australian newspaper that Werder Bremen beat Munich and is thus German Champion. Now, it didn't matter that we couldn't go online. It made my evening. :)

Karuah - Minnamurra

Can you believe it!? Again we are just turning from one side to the other. What's the time? 5.45am. Unbelieveable!

We couldn't do this for long and were on the road again at 7.30am. First we went to Lake Macquerie, the biggest salt lake in Australia. It is three times as big as Sydney's harbour. We drove around the lake and enjoyed the beautiful and idyllic area.

We then went further to 'The Entrance'. The Entrance is named after its location at the Tasmanian Sea, Entrance to the Lakes of Tuggerah. Back near the water it was time for our breakfast. Today we didn't only observe pelicans and sea gulls but also all the people who passed us like being on a catwalk.

We then found out that not far from us there is a festival of the local salvation army. Including Harley and Oldtimer meeting. We had to watch that. But there was not much to see except for the crazy looking rocker.

Off through Sydney - Ramona was ever so happy that she didn't have to change lanes too much - until Minnamurra. There we had to go to the supermarket again which here in Australia really is one of our favourite places where we could spend hours.
We had packed everything in the car and wanted to start. Fasten the seat belts and ... hey, what's Ramona doing? I couldn't believe it. She holds the holding device for the safety belt in her hand. How did she do that? Innocently she looked at me "I didn't do anything!" Well ... let's have a look tomorrow in the daylight.

At the rest area we did some pasta which we had for dinner in front of our television. Australias Popstars - really the same as back home - and after that "In the line of fire" with Clint Eastwood.

Ballina - Wollomombi

I (Nicole) was already awake at 5.20am. Why only? It was late for us last night! Ramona, too, was awake and we kept on turning from one side to the other.

We again had breakfast - as always - somewhere near the water. It was windy and quite cold but it didn't matter to us. During breakfast we observed huge pelicans.

Today again we drove inland. We wanted to see the mountains again. Or at least some hills. :) The way to Glenn Innes and Armidale took ages although it only was about 200km. In Armidale the waterfall highway back to the coast starts which we want to drive tomorrow.

We stopped in Wollomombi and at its National Park. We should stay overnight here as well, it gradually gets darker. But we are not allowed to camp/stay overnight in National Parks. Well, there's a camping ground over there but... we don't want to pay. Let's drive to the picnic area instead. Here we were on our own and didn't have to pay - unless someone catches us! But who would stroll around in a national park at night?

As it was already dawn we started to cook immediately. Peel potatos, cut them in slices, cut and steam onions and garlic,... the fried potatos were delicious!

In order to burn our calories we walked to the look out - 75 metres. We couldn't see much although it was full moon. It actually was quite scary and we didn't want to walk any further. We were surrounded by trees but there were no noises at all. Not even crickets! We packed ourselves in our blankets and again it was going to be a long cold night.

Gympie - Brisbane

Again we were up at 6am and drove to Tin Can Bay to see the dolphins. Today they have to be there - otherwise yesterday we had a slacker day for nothing.

We were the first ones in Tin Can Bay and took our seats on the bench. We had four long hours of waiting spending to observe people. Some tourists are really ... funny! :) When it comes to the dolphins we again were unlucky. They have certainly realized that we come on a daily basis to see them and they want to mess about us. Well, tomorrow it's us laughing as we won't come back!

We drove to Brisbane as quick as possible. There our campervan was supposed to be checked. We had to wait for about half an hour and in the end were rewarded with an icecold bottle of champagne. Many thanks - but who's supposed to drink it?!?

Today we want to go to the Internet again. Here in Brisbane there must be Internet Cafes. Yes, indeed, there are but no car parks. At least not for us. Our campervan was too high for all the basement garages. About 2 hours we drove around and eventually we found a normal car park. For $7.50 we were even allowed to stay until tomorrow morning. Great, we don't have to look for another sleeping spot after our Internet session.

Gympie - Noosa Heads - Gympie

We were ready to leave at 8.30am when I (Nicole) read about Tin Can Bay on the information board at the rest area. There are supposed to be dolphins which one can even feed. Every day from 7 - 10am. Let's go ...

We arrived at 9.20am. We saw a few boats, a few jet skis, but dolphins far and wide not to see. We are probably just too late. Damn! What shall we do now? We changed our arrangements ... and only drove to Noosa Heads for a day in order to spend the night in Gympie again. Like that we can drive to Tin Can Bay tomorrow morning again.

In Noosa Heads we found a parking slot just next to the entrance of the National Park. Originally we had planned for the beach. But now we first have breakfast, it's already noon! Here in Australia there are barbecues everywhere and the locals go there not only at the weekend to have a picnic. We joined them - without meat but with our ever so beloved cheese and bread. Even the birds seem to love that. Ramona was about to eat her last piece of bread when such a black-white bird came out of the blue and took the cheese of her bread. One couldn't look as fast!
That's the result if one sticks to the rules and doesn't feed the wild life. The animals come and get the food anyway.

As this morning we didn't see any dolphins we wanted to go for the Koalas. We walked about 7km through the Noosa Heads National Park but the koalas seemed to have hidden from us as well. We only spotted many many different and colourful butterflies. Again no dolphins at the Dolphin Point - everything just ganged up on us.