Australia delivered!

Cool places in Sydney? Tick.
Kangaroos and Koalas? Tick.
Dolphins, Parrots, Baby Turtles? Tick.
Picture-perfect beaches stretching for miles? Tick.
Amazing sea life at the Great Barrier Reef? Tick.
Surfers, from pseudo-cool to real cool? Tick.
Jellyfish? Tick. (Well, the what we say were not the really dangerous ones, just slightly dangerous ones.)

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We stayed on the coast mainly, as we considered this to be the most fun part for kids. Basti was so happy with all the animals, and our camper van! We were amazed that the country was not just easy-going (we had expected that), but also seemed very wealthy (and, different from the US, you do not see a lot of poor people). Amazingly, those Aussies do not seem to have to work very hard for their wealth … or they hide it very well. We still do not know whether the wealth comes primarily from natural resources, our from the fact that an apparently young and dynamic Population can do amazing things. In any case, we met a lot of French people with a one-year work and travel visa, and a few Germans as well. Not to forget Sophie, Karine’s French ex-colleague who decided to stay down-under for good and became an Aussie herself, with whom we had an enchanting evening near the Sydney Opera House.

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By the way, it seemed that we gradually got more and more used to those Australian easy-to-drink wines, and our consumption gradually rose. On the other Hand, while we had lots (and I mean LOTS) of times Australian-BBQ, I was so glad to have real German sausages on a real coal BBQ once we were back home. Aussie sausages on a Gas BBQ just don’t taste the same (even not if the sausages are called German style).

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