Geoverse

Several weeks ago I have been on a bushwalk trip for a weekend. We drove into Tidbinbilla national park and we set out on a walk up a ridge as aim to climb the highest mountain in the region of about 1650m. We started at 800m. It was a relatively easy walk to reach the saddle point of the ridge as we walked over a firetrail. From thereon we made our way through the shrubs from hilltop to hilltop until we finally made it just below mount Tidbinbilla. There we set up camp and me and a mate went to get water from a stream in a valley on the otherside of the ridge. I was pretty exhausted by then and it was getting dark too. Finally we did find a trickle of water and filled the bottles and platypuses. We made it back up to the camp just when night set. We then set off to hike up the mountain with our torches which only took about 15 minutes. It was very cold especially on the mountaintop because of the chilly wind. The view was spectacular though as we could see the whole of Canberra at night with all the lights. On the otherside was nothing but wilderness and mountains and no lights. Canberra really seemed like an oasis in the desert. After taking some pictures and generally having a good time we decided to head down again back to camp. We were freezing our arses off too! With the gas stoves we prepared a couple of simple meals and pretty much after that dove into our sleeping bags under the nightsky. We did have a big piece of plastic covering us which turned out to be quite a nuisance rather than a means to provide shelter. The wind picked up during the night and it came down on us several times and each time we had to fix it again. It was pretty moist too so our sleeping bags got pretty damp too. Despite temperatures did not drop below zero degrees celcius, it was dang cold! I did get some sleep though. We woke up the next day with sunrise which was like 6 am! and packed our stuff and moved out again for the second part of the bushwalk. This time it was more rockier and less scrubbery but still we had to wade through many new shoots of Eucalypt trees. These have grown as a response to the bushfire from 2003 which destroyed the whole park and beyond. It was a good descend and we made it down by one o’clock in the afternoon. We were then picked up and drove back to Canberra. Below are some pics of the adventure.

And _HERE_ and _HERE_ are some with me on it. (I’m pointing to Canberra in the first one)

Overall it was a great experience and i’m sure going to do this kind of bushwalking again when spring comes.

Today I went on a quick trip to Sydney Airport from Canberra with a good friend who was willing to drive me there and back. It takes about 3 hours to get to Sydney from Canberra as it’s a good 300km away, probably a bit less. The trip was real nice because it enabled me to see some more of Australia. From Canberra everything looked very dry but as we drove further towards the coast, the grasslands became greener and there are big eucalyptus forests too and very narrow gorges where rivers flow through. Lots of sandstone outcrops where the road cuts the hills. Sometimes you could see massive forsets and cross bedding probably indicating that these were dune deposits.

At the Airport we had no trouble finding the customs building. It took about an hour before I cleared my stuff and then we set out to collect it. It was all very straightforward. Soon enough some guy on a forklift came with my stuff and we packed it into the van and headed back to Canberra. We left at 8am and returned at 4:45pm. The van was returned immediately which was just as well because we didnt need it any longer.

I had a good supper at my friends house and rode back on my bike through the rain and thunder to my place. We’ve been having afternoon thunderstorms on and off since i arrived here in Australia. There was one particular heavy storm a couple days ago with hail and very loud thunder. Quite an experience! Anyway there goes another attempt at breaking the myth that when a dutch person visits you, rain follows. 😉

I finally managed to book flight! It had to take so long because every cheap flight is booked full well into March and I couldnt wait that long. I have to start my PhD before March or I might get into trouble with my scholarship. Details are below:

When: Monday 12 February, 06:45
Where: Amsterdam/Schiphol

I fly to London first. Then I have to change airports and I get a direct flight London Heathrow – Sydney. Then I have to change flight to Canberra. Sounds pretty relaxing for a 24 hour trip huh? 😉 So…let the packing begin! 😛

Saturday 30 December I moved out my room. I took some pics of the process. See them here. I’m living at my folk’s house for the time being. It’s OK really. On monday I’ll have my medical checkup for the visa. Everything is going so slooooowwww….oh well…