Down Under

Enjoy the photos of our wedding day

Please note that this video comes with sound!

May we introduce the guests:

The seniors

Gerda (Tommy's Mum), Werner and Christa (Nicki's parents)

The Daeumlings

Ulla (Tommy's sister) with husband Guenter and kids Lena, Felix and Alexandra

The Froeschls

Olli (Nicki's brother) with his wife Steffi

The happy couple

And here the whole lot in action (click on video)!

(and don't forget to turn up the volume!)

Nicki left two weeks earlier than I to Germany, so I took the chance to go bushcamping on my own (for it would have taken a disproportionate amount of persuasion for her to join me on such an endeavour).

In Canberra it's only one hour from office to bush. Orroral Valley in Namadgi National Park was my destination. I didn't bother to carry a tent and found a good place to spend the night well before dusk. Interestingly, it was very quiet during the night – the only sounds I heard were a bit of snuffling, presumably a possum (well, a marsupial in any case), and the unmistakable domp-domp-domp of a single wallaby hopping past. The wake-up call came from currawongs and magpies, and I heard wild dogs barking in the distance (which are genetically mostly dingo, I learned later).

The next day Orroral Valley presented itself in full glory. It's an awesome place. Long, with a wide grassy base and surrounded by wooded hills – the views are a real bliss for the eye.

I only met one group of people but uncountable numbers of kangaroos; they have truly taken over from the cows and sheep that used to graze here a hundred years ago.

In the afternoon a dramatic thunderstorm broke loose – one hour of downpour, half of which was in the form of hail! I sought shelter under a lonely tree in the middle of the valley, but I could just as well have stood in the river…

The thunderstorm coming…

… and going.

Luckily there was the old Orroral Woolshed (the first use of which was as a dance hall…) and I gratefully spent the second night there, for it allowed me to dry up again. Before sunset I watched three pairs of male kangaroos exercising their fighting skills.


Orroral woolshed

I'll be back in Orroral valley to show it to my then wife (for the next entry will be the wedding!). Maybe with a different accommodation though…

The Alps are another fascinating Australian landscape. If you think Australia is only a dry desert, then have a look at these pictures!

With 1.6 million ha the Australian Alps have a lot to offer. Walking made easy.

On New Year's Eve we had the chance to come close to wild brumbies.

On our walk on New Year's Day we came across this little joey that had a bad start to the new year - it couldn't get back into mum's pouch! After several attempts it finally managed to climb back - good luck at last.

There is nothing better than a campfire after a good days walking with grilled sausages and damper.

Only 300km from Canberra is this magnificant area called Sapphire Coast. It is a huge area of pristine beaches, national parks, nature reserves and state forests. By the way, 300km on an Aussie scale is still called local!

First we spend a few days at the coast in the beatiful town of Eden, a historic whaling station. And it was whale season!
In spring, humpback whales travel down the east coast of Australia from the tropical waters to Antarctica to feed. With having their young calves with them they travel slowly and take the opportunity to play about in almost every bay. You can easily see them from the shore (thank goodness - taking Nicki on a boat is not a good idea...)!

Flukes up, splashing water, nose up and even breaching - of course to get that on camera is difficult, all we got was the big splash afterwards.

This is not the tail of a Humpback. We have no idea what whale it is.

Near Eden, in Ben Boyd National Park (10,486ha) is the magnificent "Light to Light Walk". It is a three-days costal walk. Unfortunately we just had time for one day but it was so beautiful that we'll come back and do the whole tour one day. Why not? It is still a local walk!



Just sitting at the beach and watching a few more whales.

We have been accompanied by a Lace Monitor lizard and sea eagles


Echidnas have also been out and about.

Rainbow Lorikeet in bottle brush tree

After a few days in Eden we headed off to some country cabins on a working farm called "Fulligans". What a challenge that was!

We had a hard time finding the way on "minor roads" , no map and no sign posts anywhere between Yambulla State Forest (70.000ha) and South East Forest National Park (115.534ha). We should have read the book "Never truly lost"!
Our poor, English Skoda car even had to cross a river!

The view from our accomodation was magnificent!

What wasn't so magnificent was our accomodation. It was one of the worst and run-down places we have ever been. Let's put it this way: anything could crawl anytime anywhere over you! The last evening we even had a frog and snails in the kitchen...

On the way home we hiked Pheasant's Peak in South East Forest National Park. Another beautiful place. It seemed like we had the whole park to ourselves.

We love Australia!