Arrival in the land down under

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Hello my friends,
Probably you know already, that I got somehow to Australia - the land down under.
One of my first contact experiences was the Women at the Customs. She took my passport, read it and said:

Welcome to Australia, Stefan. I hope you enjoy your time here.

I thought wow, the officer calls me by my first name. :-)
So far I've experienced this country as very fresh and friendly country. If you ever thought America is the country of indefinite possibilities Australia is too. Especially when the Aussis speak English... OK, back in Japan I met some guys from Manchester with a terrible accent, but since Australia is a melting pot of culture and language.... well well. Sometimes its just funny. Oxford English...? Who cares...!

Melbourne is a lovely city with plenty of european influences. The Italien Quarter, the Greek... etc. Well it does not necessarily look like Italy or Greece, its mainly the food and the people.
I would also like to thank my host family here in Melbourne/ Williamstown. I am staying with Vesnas family, who I've mentioned previously in my blog. They are very nice to me and really want to make my stay as pleasent as possible. I really appreciate this.

Well during the last couple days I walked through Melbourne's CBD (central business district) and mainly looked at the city itself. Between the skyscrapers appear cute victorian style houses. And check-board street system makes it easy to orientate. Probably you've heard of australien vine, so did I and yesterday I went on a vine tasting tour through Yarra valley. Unfortunately I am a backpacker, and not able to carry tons of vine bottles with me. But vine always tastes better, once you've seen the region and the process.
We tasted the famous sparkling vine from the region of Chandon. If you see it in the shelf at your local dealer- I recommend it. It tastes like Champaign, but its not from the Champagne.

Probably tonight we'll leave to see the great ocean road with 12 Apostles.
So far, enjoy the pictures.
Stefan

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Photos

Pirates of the...
It's a green activist ship, painted all black. They try to prevent whale fishing and simmilar things...It seems like they are quite successful

Pirates of the...
It's a green activist ship, painted all black. They try to prevent whale fishing and simmilar things...

Water is short in Australia
The water reserves are down to 40%.

Little water in the rivers...
The water reserves are down to 60%.

Tourist Information
The tourist information and the whole Federation Square have recently been built. The odd shapes should resemble the variety of Australias population.

Melbourne Metro
In comparison to Tokyo it seems a little antique. On local trains you have to open the doors by hand. LOL
The fare for a 7days tiket in the city is about 26 A$ - ca 15euro

Melbourne
I think in the foreground you can see St.Pauls cathedral. Which is close to the Federation square.

Melbourne, Southbank
This is one of those riverbank quaters where you sit down with a cup of coffee and just watch the pederstrians go by. Nearby is also the Casino.

Melbourne, no drinking in public!!
All Aussis love to that when they come to europe.

Yarra Valley
Just a sign... LOL

Yarra Valley, Tour guide
He did a pretty good.

Cellar at Domaine Chandon
Here they produce their famous and delicious sparkling vines.

Domaine Chandon
Here we tasted their famous and delicious sparkling vines. hmmmm

Domaine Chandon fields
Some two weeks ago the region was hit by a terrible frost that killed many of the young branches.

Comments

[Olli]

Vine over Vine !
Weiter so mit Deinem Trip durch Oz ! und immer dran denken, immer sind irgendwelche Schlitzaugen dabei. Egal weloche Tour Du machen wirst. Also fast wie zu Haues mit mir ! Immer in der Nähe :-) ! Ciao olli